How a production house uses Socialive to remotely capture studio-quality video content

CHALLENGE

Producing quality broadcasts with dispersed talent

Hamlin has extensive experience capturing video in studios and out in the field with professional crews and camera equipment. At the onset of the pandemic, however, the production house had to find ways to capture that content remotely while still delivering the high level of quality its clients have come to expect.

After producing a few virtual events, Hamlin quickly discovered video conferencing tools like Zoom didn’t scale well or provide studio-quality feeds. Hamlin needed a solution to:

• Produce video content remotely while maintaining quality
• Eliminate home internet quality issues with a cloud-based solution
• Deliver both composite and isolated guest feeds (ISOs) for post-production
• Record unlimited broadcasts in the cloud
• Capture multiple people simultaneously in a more convenient way

SOLUTION

Capturing and distributing video content in the cloud

Historically, video was used for broadcast or cable. With the dawn of the internet, YouTube, and other platforms where brands can host their own curated messaging, however, video has become much more ubiquitous. But production hasn’t advanced nearly as swiftly. Sure, we’ve made leaps and bounds with the quality of video production equipment and editing software. Yet creating videos this way still requires deep technical expertise, as well as an in-person studio.

Hamlin lent this exact type of video expertise to its clients for decades. While the need for advanced onsite video production isn’t going anywhere any time soon, the rise of more distributed workforces has resulted in other needs as well. Now, organizations need the ability to remotely produce, broadcast, and distribute video content featuring speakers spread all over the world.

Hamlin turned to Socialive to support its remote productions. Socialive’s cloud-based technology makes video production more accessible by enabling anyone to host or join a broadcast from anywhere in the world using their web browser or mobile device. Most importantly, Socialive captures pristine high-definition (HD) video of individual guests, regardless of network conditions, ensuring quality while streamlining post-production.

Hamlin primarily leverages Socialive to remotely capture isolated guest feeds (ISOs), which are then adjusted in post-production and re-uploaded to the platform for later distribution. For instance, Hamlin captured over 200 speakers and their presentation decks, before editing and packaging everything together into one composite virtual conference streamed out via the Socialive platform. The team will even use a green background if the graphics aren’t built out yet, so they can add them later in post-production.

Reynolds says they’ve gotten really creative with how they build scenes in the Socialive platform. During one event, for example, Hamlin hosted a live panel in the middle of two different pre-recorded segments. Reynolds was able to build all of the assets before the show, rolling straight from the pre-show into the live panel, before ending with a pre-recorded segment. This level of automation and control enabled Reynolds to give his full attention to prepping the panelists, without worrying about the run of show.

OUTCOME

A hands-on video production approach — from anywhere

One of Hamlin’s biggest outcomes has been solving the proximity issue that many organizations are grappling with as distributed work environments become more popular. By remotely capturing video content with Socialive, Hamlin can continue creating high-quality broadcasts for its clients — without the need for expensive and time-consuming travel to a single location.

Additionally, the opportunity for branding has been a huge selling point to Hamlin’s clients. With Socialive, Hamlin can add custom graphics, video and audio overlays, and lower thirds to create a fully branded video experience for a specific client. Combined with the platform’s high-def ISOs and Virtual Green Room, Hamlin has been able to instill greater confidence in its clients.

The Virtual Green Room enables Hamlin to communicate with and direct clients behind the scenes, putting them at ease and prepping them for success. Now, when they’re producing virtual events or video content with a virtual capture component, clients no longer have to fear a bad experience, such as lagging video, accidentally muting themselves, or not knowing when to start their presentation.

While Hamlin has resumed in-person video shoots, the production house sees an ongoing need for virtual broadcasts. Over the past several years, its clients have seen the value in remote video production opportunities through increased reach, more convenient scheduling, quicker timelines, and lowered costs. Now, they’re choosing virtual over in person in many cases.