Due to this being a private event, no video content is included for confidentiality. However, some photos of the setup are included.
Moorhen Media recently offered their webcasting services to run a compact and professional livestream for a major UK bank in Central London.
This was a virtual event focusing on a panel discussion for a major UK bank – made up of a single host and three panellists. As it was a virtual event, all viewers joined online through our webcast. Because space was only needed for four presenters, the client decided to host the event from a meeting room in one of their Central London offices rather than use an external venue.
Creating a professional webcast from a client’s office usually means restrictions in space. For some companies, this would cause major issues, but Moorhen Media are well suited to offering a compact yet high-quality solution. We use 4K Sony Cinema-Line cameras, but despite the name they are housed in a compact, lightweight casing, which makes them ideal for an office environment. Along with compact cameras, we also use lightweight tripods to minimise space taken up. In this particular case, we could fit our three cameras in the space while keeping the panel’s chairs set forwards of the wall for depth (and even leave enough space between the wall and the cameras for our camera operator!).
Whilst not always at top-of-mind for clients, lighting is one of the most important parts of making a professional webcast. Even in the tight space, we could still fit our Aputure 300X lights in, each with a large soft-box. These powerful lights project a large amount of light onto the subjects to make them pop with clarity on camera, while avoiding sharp shadows or shine. As we could only position the lights relatively close to the panellists, we operated them at a lower brightness than usual. This allowed us to get a balance between lighting the panellists well and also ensuring they were comfortable.
Another essential item Moorhen Media provide is a comfort monitor (as pictured above). The monitor is controlled using NDI, a network-based video connectivity standard. This lets us send or receive video from any device connected to our network, both wired and wireless. Using NDI, we can instantly update what is pictured on the comfort monitor via our vision mixing software. Most often this will be a PowerPoint presentation or videos being played in the event. As this event was a panel discussion without any slide or video content, we used the comfort monitor to display the current time and a countdown of the event’s planned duration. Other content we can push to the comfort monitor within seconds includes:
In this case, putting the questions onto the comfort monitor would have meant the whole panel could see them. Instead, we provided the host with an iPad to view the live-updating questions. This meant they could moderate any questions before posing them, while not distracting the panel.`
The most fundamental part of a successful webcast is a stable wired (not wireless) internet connection for streaming. We always visit any venue we are streaming from ahead of time to perform a stream test and record our findings in a document for the client. For this particular office, we found that we were not able to make use of a wired internet connection. Even testing the wireless connection, we found this would not be a suitable alternative.
To overcome this, Moorhen Media have two alternative solutions. The first is a 4G-bonded streaming anywhere solution. This is a device which makes use of four different SIM connections, as well as Wi-Fi, in a ‘bonded’ system to provide a stable video stream even in locations with very poor signal. This was used for our primary video stream. Secondly, we have a 5G router which allows us to use a mobile connection to create a wired and wireless network, with sub-second failover to a backup SIM. This was used for our secondary video stream. Making use of these two solutions, we were able to work around the particular challenges of the venue and provide the client with a stable and successful webcast.
The event was a big success, with great audience engagement and retention. The client loved how the event looked and how smoothly it ran. With our compact cameras, we were able to efficiently fit in the space and keep a low profile, whilst providing a high-quality professional production. Using modern technology such as NDI, we were able to make life easier for our host and panellists. And even despite no wired internet connection, we were able to provide a smooth, HD stream using our backup solutions.
To find out how we can help with your event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
We thrive on making your corporate event look and sound the best it can for everyone in the audience.