Media Apex Taps AJA HELO for Live Streaming Music Festivals

From Reggae on the River to the Enchanted Forest Gathering, live streaming has become a new norm on the music festival circuit, opening up doors for Humboldt, CA-based video production company Media Apex Productions whose sweet spot is multi-camera live production. With a full project slate planned for the year spanning music festivals and other events that require live streams and archives, the company recently updated its workflow with an AJA HELO for H.264 streaming and recording.

“Before HELO, I relied on a bunch of different applications, including a dedicated laptop just for archiving. HELO brings streaming, recording and archiving into one small box, which has been unheard of until now,” shared Media Apex Director, Chris Smith. “All I have to do is plug it in and I’m in business.”

Smith’s live streaming setup typically includes multiple cameras fed into a Panasonic board for live switching of signals that are then sent to a laptop running Telestream Wirecast through to HELO, which enables both live streaming online and recording for archival purposes. Smith incorporates Wirecast into his workflow to add title graphics and ad content into the live signal.

While working on a recent event, Smith was able to successfully stream hours of content to Facebook and record for archiving in a single stream using AJA HELO. “I love HELO, and have found a dedicated spot for it in my workflow,” Smith said. “The way it works with Wirecast and for archiving, it’s a second back up. If I have an artist who wants their recording immediately, all I have to do is plug in a thumb drive, and can hand it to them the second they get off stage; it’s that easy.”

As live streaming has become more popular on the festival circuit for its ability to extend audience reach and boost interactivity, Smith has found a unique niche for himself and Media Apex. “I believe live streaming is the future; it’s a next level feeling for audiences,” he said. “And on the sponsor side, there’s huge potential. I can easily integrate sponsor graphics and ads through my Wirecast and HELO workflow and stream them out to multiple sites like Periscope, Facebook and YouTube.”