Every year, students at Toyama College and Toyama University of International Studies in Japan organize a festival. The event, Kureha Campus Joint University Festival, is a unique occasion for students to present projects. Music performances and other creative presentations enlighten the stage, conceptualized, and built by the students.
The festival was held entirely online until 2021. However, the College and the University wanted to celebrate as a community and have the event in-person in October 2022. They also wanted to provide an option for those who couldn’t attend in person. Therefore, they decided to stream the festival online as well. Wanting an efficient but versatile hybrid event, they turned to experts, Orange Voice Factory (OVF) and KAN-NARI, who knew which tech would support the best live streaming option for their needs.
OVF supports the planning, production, implementation and operation of music, entertainment, SPs, exhibitions, ceremonies, and forums. Bringing entertainment such as concerts and live performances to schools and companies, OVF often manages events in various areas within Japan. Many company anniversary parties, administrative ceremonies, and other events in the region, count on OVF to successfully showcase their events.
Capturing audience attention in-person, and online
OVF needed to the consider two audience perspectives in their planning, for the event: audience attendees in-person and online. The hybrid event also had to work with the student performers considering how they could make the experience engaging for both audiences. The student performers, as digital natives, had many ideas about how to raise the live production to the next level.
“[The students] are of a generation that is so used to video content, so I think they have a discerning eye. In the live-streaming production, there were many requests for high-level stage direction like those used by TV shows and big-name YouTubers, and there were also many cases of sudden ad-libs and changes during production checks and rehearsals.”
Sojiro Mikado, Director at OVF
At the heart of TriCaster 2 Elite is a high speed 60×45 video cross point, which includes 32 external inputs that automatically determine video format and resolutions up to 4Kp60. Unlike conventional routing switchers, where creative limitations are the norm, each input includes proc amp tools, independent keying and cropping for crisper video, as well as triggers for automation.
No tradeoffs are required with eight configurable mix outputs in HD or 2 in 4Kp60, direct NDI® outputs of media players, multiple streaming encoders, continuous NDI conversion of all 8 SDI inputs, and 8 independently selectable recorders for immediate replay
“When I saw Izumi creating visuals and streaming live images, [he was] already using a TriCaster back then. I remember being impressed by the diversity of what could be done with streaming, thinking to myself, ‘Wow, you can do all this new stuff with online streaming?!”
Sojiro Mikado, Director at OVF
Nowadays, the power of this live production system is a given: “When OVF and KAN-NARI work together, we often end up trying out new production techniques, so it’s a good opportunity to try out new features of the TriCaster that we haven’t tested yet,” adds Izumi.
In addition to the three camera sources, the production team for the festival also imported materials including presentation slides, on-screen titles, as well as videos and photos for cutaways into the TriCaster 2 Elite.
Behind the streaming console, they prepared a laptop PC to generate and edit presentations and titles, having the students handle the slide switching and title creation, much like a director switching projectors. Izumi set up a flow in the TriCaster 2 Elite for placing the student-produced titles on the screen layout.
Avoiding online audience abandonment
Concerned that online viewers would leave the live streaming during stage intermissions, the students proposed a live feed tour of the College and the University. This involved walking around the campus with handheld cameras, filming the booths, and interviewing students.
Izumi suggested students get involved with the live feed, knowing the TriCaster 2 Elite would smoothly adopt this flow.
“I asked the students to do the live feed shooting. I thought I could personally handle the receiving of the video feed, adding simple titles, and sending it out to YouTube using the TriCaster 2 Elite. We were able to receive the live feed video directly into the TriCaster 2 Elite as a source, and route it directly. It was very convenient for the students to check the return of the main program video.”
Yuto Izumi, Manager of the AVC Division at KAN-NARI
Organizing the production of this hybrid festival was a big undertaking, but the operation was a huge success. The additional creative elements that the students, and the production teams were able to incorporate added to the experience for audiences in person, and online. They had the trusted partner and trusted tech powering the production and were able to achieve even more than they set out to in the initial plans yielding unexpectedly incredible results.
“Normally, for a single event, the content of the event can be organized and packaged in advance, but in a case like this, where several groups bring in their own projects, it was essential to have equipment and technology that had a wide application. The TriCaster 2 Elite was the perfect choice.”
Sojiro Mikado, Director at OVF
