Virtual sketch show

[sandall]

Returning to the original question - for a Zoom event pre-recording everything you can is a no brainer. In broadcast TV there are huge logistical & financial factors to consider. "Live" can mean anything from a live discussion, with just the generic titles on VT, to a few seconds of live introduction to a basically recorded programme. Pre-recording an opening sequence involving lots of clips, & then spinning-in the good take of it, is quite routine (sorry dosxuk; I though you were suggesting the whole of the "10" was recorded), though some directors used to insist on doing it the hard way, relying on rehearsal & adrenaline to get through it.

 

Question Time was (& presumably still is) recorded about an hour before transmission. It didn't allow time for any editing (though I did once have to remove a hiatus by joining the 2 halves - a doddle with non-linear, but a bit nail-biting with tape), but it gave the lawyers time to say "no" & it saved a fortune in studio, OB & location-VT time. The BBC late-night weather used to be pre-recorded, as it allowed a complete studio to be stood down. Now it's a self-drive operation some forecasts are still pre-recorded, but I suspect that has a lot to do with covid-security & change-round times.

[Dave m]

I have been using an atem mini pro to stream a couple of art shows. They were basically zoom calls for the hosts, switched through the atem. All the hosts did was to speak for around 5-7 mins as links between filmed segments. We used a posh hyperdeck to play out the video but it all works really well.It ends up on Facebook. You could do it on zoom but generally zoom is harder to get the "tv" effect. You need to pin the video and have everyone else's cameras and mics off

You could do similar with obs but you'd need a lot of rehearsals

Edited March 20, 2021 by Dave m

[GaryNattrass]

Ha ha I love live TV and it is always fun to do.

 

Been in broadcast 41 years now and the best I ever did was The Tube for Ch4 1982-1987 and it was live from studio 5 at Tyne Tees for 90 mins on Fridays. All of the bands were live in the studio too but we also had film packages and doco style stories. The late Gavin Taylor was the director and it was quite rare for things to go wrong in those days as it was a great team effort.

 

Done many live OB's too and they tend to be a bit more chaotic but with plenty of rehearsal and set-up time it can all go very smoothly as we owned and looked after all of the kit ourselves.

 

These days there tends to be more reliance on hired resources and therefore costs get cut and guarantee engineers are more prevalent but it tends to run Ok if everyone has the time to do their jobs.

 

The big problem these days is that we rely on digital technology far more and when it all works it is great but when it goes wrong you can lose an awful lot. I did Ascot for a major broadcaster last year and we lost the main fibre that had most of the feeds on it so 7 out of 9 screens all went black for about 30 mins. We did had the back-up race feed and a presenter back at base in the studio so at least to air it didn't look too bad but as all the comms were on the fibre too it was all a bit hectic.

 

As others have said pre-recording openers or any other complicated content is very common and then just linking the whole lot together is the easy bit.

 

OBS is excellent and free and it is getting a lot easier to stream live to platforms such as Facebook and You Tube etc but I would recommend a sep laptop for the stream set-up and investing in a hardware encoder to take the strain and also allow multiple stream paths for back-up etc. I personally have bought this TBS box for streaming and do a hybrid set-up with a vision mixer that is fed with live cameras and a macbook with OBS for VT playback and other things such as graphics and small go pro type cameras for cut aways etc.

 

I do a little IPTV project and have this vision mixer and a behringer XR18 with an X toouch for the audio. There are three main line HD cameras and a couple of Go Pro thru the OBS which is also doing VT playbacks etc: https://www.digibroadcast.com/editing-c2247/switchers-c135/datavideo-data-se650-4-input-hd-digital-video-switcher-p20853/s21159?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=datavideo-data-se650-4-input-hd-digital-video-switcher-data-se650&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-43bitv27AIVBevtCh3FnQwfEAQYASABEgJKF_D_BwE

The TBS stream box I have is this one and it even gives you NDI support and a reverse video feed too: https://www.pciex.ne...=32571628060756

Edited March 20, 2021 by GaryNattrass