Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

I’ve started a little lessons learned doc. There were quite a few things we could have done to make this conference project go easier. So here’s the highlights.

Create a Tape Naming Scheme: I actually had this on my To Do list but it dropped in priority. We came up with a scheme on site but it could have been better. We settled on Room name, Date, Time, Tape Number. I think I would have come up with a Session Code that correlated to the conference agenda.
Print Tape Labels: For consistency I would have printed up a set of labels for each session, maybe 6 for each; one for the tape, one for the case spine, for up to three tapes for each sessions. The labels would have the Session Code, Room, Date, Time. The camera operator could fill in the time.
Get Familiar With New Equipment: We’re using a new piece of gear; the Newtek Tricaster (more on that in another post.) We had a great operator (Bob Anderson) from TS Computers who was with us for the first day. He made it sound VERY easy, which in fact it was, but it would have been nice to get to know it while not under fire. Also, the client purchased five camera “packages”. The cameras were SONY HDR-A1Us. The cameras came with the aforementioned “packages”: a tripod, lens cleaning kit, camera case. Yes, you know the one. It was just $49.95! I’ll talk about the camera in another post but the tripod was nearly not usable. It was appropriate for mounting the camera so it didn’t sit on the floor. Panning? No. Tilt? No. Sturdy? No. (we actually broke one of the legs as we collapsed one.) If I had known (because I had “dry runned” the gear) I would have known what to expect.
Prep Graphic Elements: Didn’t. Would have added value. I’m doing lower thirds as we go but having some branded overlay graphics, lower third backgrounds, bumpers, etc. would make webcasts shine. The Tricaster only allows so much without a bit of work; It does not have a character generator built in for example. It’s not like I don’t know to do that prep. But its been nearly 20 years since I did this level of live production. Graphic prep slipped through the cracks.
Use Your Own Mixer: We did not have one (or nine, in this case) but we managed to get decent audio. We pulled a feed (not sure if it was line or mic level) from the room’s PA mixer but our own mixer would have allowed to control our audio better. (Tricaster has audio capabilities that I will cover in my Tricaster post.)

There’s more but I’ll stop there. I’ve said many times before that preparation is the key to project success. I just need to start taking my own advice.