Streaming Salsa: Producing the 2012 World Latin Dance Finals Webcast

High-Quality Webcast

At the 2012 finals, the ability of a four-person crew--including Alamares as director, Emmanuel Pacheco as TD/switcher, a graphics designer, and camera operator--to handle the entire live streaming production also helped hold the line on production costs. Relying solely on the venue's theatrical lighting grid and house lights, while blending in extremely loud PA music, announcing, and ambient crowd sounds, Mobeon captured the look and excitement of the event and streamed it for online viewers.

Of the three Sony PMW-EX1R XDCAM EX HD camcorders, one provided a fixed wide master shot from a tripod 150 feet away from the stage, while another was locked off on a tripod on the side of the auditorium near stage right. An operator used the third camcorder for close-ups and medium shots close to the front of the stage.

The cameras' signals were fed to the Wirecast Pro/VS4 solution, which was set up on an elevated platform in the middle of the auditorium. The SDI cables used for professional HD/SD-SDI video equipment (with BNC connectors) like XDCAM can carry video signals over 300 feet without affecting the video quality.

Producers can also use HDMI and DV video equipment with the flexible Wirecast/VS4 system. With the addition of low-cost adapters, such as an HDMI to SDI, it's also possible to connect HDMI and DV equipment to the SDI cable in order to enable longer video cable runs.

"The ISO record capability proved to be an absolute lifesaver," says Alamares. "Since the finals ran four hours longer than expected, we ran out of SxS media cards that XDCAM records at the camcorder. Had we not been ISO recording those cameras onto our hard drive as well, we would have lost the awards ceremony, a crucial part of the whole three-day event."

Proven Performance

"The Wirecast Pro software and VS4 card had just come to market when I installed them back at my Santa Monica studio a week before leaving for Miami," says Alamares.

"I'm a person who likes to take managed risks and I knew I was taking a risk by using an untested, untried solution in a live situation. When I considered my positive experience with both Telestream and Matrox tech support and my confidence in their brands, I decided to take the plunge," Alamares says. "Wirecast Pro and VS4 proved to be a rock solid, cost-effective solution that surpassed my expectations under very challenging and demanding live production circumstances."