Producing Conference Video Pt. 1: Setting Up

Choosing Cables

A few years ago most of my conference shoots went straight to tape. But more and more, I’m called upon to provide live video feeds to be webcast live to a remote audience and/or to be shown on one or more floor-to-ceiling screens with a projector (also known as IMAG or image magnification) for the audience seated at the back of the room. We’ll cover those applications in detail in Part 3 of our conference video series, but I want to spend some time on the actual setup in this installment.

Selecting the right cables can be just as important as selecting the right camera and tripod. About 5 years ago, I was preparing for a large conference at a brand new hotel in town, and I remember being very satisfied that I was able to find a couple of thick-gauge 50' extension cords on sale at a national hardware store. I was on a limited budget, so the safety orange color of the casing didn’t bother me as I was going to be taping down the entire cable anyway.

Everything went well on the setup and the shoot, or so I thought, until the hotel’s general manager, who referred me for the job ahead of the in-house AV company, pulled me aside and told me that if I ever wanted to work in his hotel again, he would appreciate it if I replaced my power cords with professional-looking black ones that were more consistent with the professional image the hotel wanted to convey. So even though only 2% of the orange cord was visible, it was enough to make an impression.

I was fortunate that the manager took a liking to me and took the time to share his feelings on the matter. It taught me to always be aware of my appearance and setup, as it is often the lasting impression that is left with your referral sources, especially considering they rarely see the video result, unless they happen to pop their heads into the conference room and see a live feed.

On the subject of cables, I used to use black duct tape-style gaffer tape, but I found it left a sticky residue on my cords, the carpets, and any equipment I taped it to. So I changed over to the less-sticky cloth gaffer tape. It’s a bit more expensive, but the lack of sticky aftermath and the cleaner look of the matte cloth back are worth it, in my opinion. When taping down cables, I found that a single line of 2" tape was usually not sufficient for most thicker cables, especially when I had a run of more than one cable.

More often than not, the 2" tape did not allow for a sufficient ramp, and attendees would often stub their toes or “trip” over the cable, even if they didn’t make contact with it, by trying to avoid it. Switching to a double-wide tape line helped, but the ramp-up was still not sufficient. And in high-traffic areas (across doorways) the tape would often wear through, and the traffic was tough on the cable casings, especially on multiday events.

So the solution was to purchase a cable mat—a very low-tech, inexpensive, and reusable solution. I once saw an audio guy who owned his own small business using one. In retrospect, it makes sense that this innovation would come from a small-business owner, as all the cables as well as the liability were his, should something to go wrong.

Rather than use an industrial-strength cable ramp that you can drive a car over and has to be ordered from an expensive, specialty movie industry supplier, a cable mat is something you can make yourself at home with a pair of scissors and a rubber floor mat available at any hardware store. I bought a thin 27"-wide mat and cut it into 9" x 3' sections, which I roll up when not in use.

The increased width allows room for multiple cables, without using additional gaffer tape. Adding or removing a cable once you’re set up is much easier as the tape doesn’t touch the cable. There’s also no chance of getting the tape and cable in a nasty tangle, and residue left on the rubber mat isn’t an issue.

The point of running cables and cords is to get power, audio, communication, and video signals to and from a camera position. Most cables are standard, such as an XLR cable for soundboard and communication headset audio and, as previously mentioned, a black extension cord for electricity. But there is a far greater variety in cables to send a video signal out.

For longer runs, coaxial cable with a bayonet-style BNC termination has long been the industry standard; it holds up well over distances because the electromagnetic field carrying the video signal stays within the inner and outer conductor layers, which provides protection from external electromagnetic interference.

Unfortunately, the lines of resolution starting from an RCA-out connection is low compared with S-Video and component cables, and as demands on higher-resolution video increase, SD through BNC is no longer adequate. Most HD cameras have component output (YPbPr), and it’s possible to send this signal using three separate BNC coax cables connected to the RCA-style plugs with an adapter. But the requirements for this triple-cable solution are expensive.