Video Activities

CONTENT PRODUCTION

The BOR meetings that have been held at UF provide an example of producing high-grade video in a location that is not designed or equipped for that purpose. The request was to broadcast the meetings using live video streaming on the Internet. It is a simple matter to capture sound and video on a computer and send it out on the Web. But, for a formal public presentation like the BOR meetings, this is unacceptable. In this case, a large mixer and nineteen individual microphones had to be used. They required individual adjustment that took hours of preparation time. A video switcher and three cameras were used requiring three camera operators and a director to operate the switcher. Studio lighting was also brought in. For the first meeting in Touchdown Terrace, several hundred feet of fiber optic cable was temporarily installed and then removed when the meeting concluded. The video was carried by this fiber to encoders at CSE. Web pages with links to the video streams were set up.

Several units on campus have combined their staff and equipment in order to provide this service for a variety of programs. Much of the equipment is pulled out of its regular service and outside contractors are used for the functions we are unable to support. 

If additional equipment was available to augment what already exists, this process would be much more efficient with less chance for things to go wrong. By establishing a well-defined production capability for public events, staff from multiple units would be able to make this service available for more events. A high-quality encoder for digital video connectivity could be used wherever network support existed. The end results would be better and there would be less impact on the daily operations of those involved. 

 

Recommendations Formalize a transportable high-quality production capability by supplementing the efforts already being made by several units on campus. This capability currently is patched together for the BOR and other meetings on campus that are broadcast externally over satellite, the Internet or by other means.