New hardware deployed as On Screen Creations goes full time

Here, at On Screen Creations, we are always looking to push the boundaries of what is possible with live video production. We remain aware of the latest technological advances within the video production industry and invest where we see that new hardware will bring additional value to our client productions. Over the festive holiday period we up-skilled on two new pieces of video production equipment which we knew would bring value to clients we are set to work with in 2023. Last week we deployed the first of two new pieces of hardware, this being an advanced video mixer offering more inputs and outputs than any other piece of hardware in our already extensive kit bag.

The integration of eight video inputs wasn’t the primary reason for deploying this new piece of kit at the event we were commissioned to provide video production services, namely the online public Tax Review Q&A event organised by the States of Guernsey. We only needed two video inputs and an additional input to include the slides on that broadcast, however this new hardware enabled on screen graphics using the hardware itself, reducing the need for additional hardware to be integrated into our workflow on location.

However, the greatest benefit derived from deploying this new piece of hardware was the dynamic integration and combining of multiple video inputs on screen at once. Yes, we have delivered many livestreams where two video inputs have been featured on screen at once, and we have been known to frequently use a ‘Picture in Picture’ effect or ‘Split Screen’ composition in our broadcasts in the past. However this new technique permits the inclusions of up to five video inputs on screen at the same time in whatever size, scale and position we like.

For this event we designed a dynamic background featuring a written text prompt encouraging viewers to submit questions to the online panel. This displayed whilst the panel member was speaking to any of the graphical representations that featured on-screen. Using advanced software presets we had created ahead of the event, we were able to switch dynamically between a combination of layout presets we had designed to provide the best way of bringing clarity to the information being discussed by the panel of experts. It certainly beats a ‘cut’ or 0.2 second ‘dissolve’!