Broadcasters are increasingly looking to multicam production to deliver exciting footage that immerses viewers in the action. However, producing multicam footage can be extremely challenging, especially when multicam means 60 cameras and thousands of hours of footage to be sorted through, edited, and finished, as was the case for BattleBots®.
Unsurprisingly then that the production process of multicam filming is vast; hours can be spent uploading and labelling content before the editing process begins. Once content is stored centrally, attention must be turned to the challenges surrounding workflows and feed management within the editing process. Maintaining an efficient process is crucial in maximizing the potential of content. Time can easily be wasted searching for files, using disorganized review workflows, and swapping between cuts of feeds. An effective system can overhaul content production and help get that content to viewers quicker.
Here are our top considerations when managing multicam streams:
- Make the most of metadata
Metadata can transform how you search for your content. Are you looking for content shot by a certain camera? Or are you looking for content of a certain presenter? Instead of trawling through hundreds of folders or thousands of hours of footage, marking content with metadata enables users to use a search function and quickly retrieve the content needed to enhance the broadcast.
- Prioritize feed management
Editing multiple feeds brings its own challenges. Matching timecodes across different feeds can take time whilst determining which feed to use and when can be complex when handling lots of content. This complexity can often result in editing resources being exhausted through carrying out repetitive tasks. Content selection and matching can be done efficiently through an interface which simultaneously allows editing whilst clearly displaying multiple feeds on one screen, with relevant information accessible through simple navigation.
- Streamline the workflows
The editing and reviewing process requires more than one person, and therefore ensuring that the entire workflow is logical and dynamic is vital. It is important that the systems in place can enable a tiered system in which certain users have permission to perform tasks. For example, editors need to be able to make significant changes whilst producers need to have an overview of content to make suggestions. Having a solution that creates a tailored user experience, based on a person’s role, not only improves the workflow, but also ensures that the correct people have full access to content as and when required.
- Utilize proxies to improve time management
Transferring large files within the editing process can become a time-heavy task. Removing the task of uploading/downloading content to the central system is hugely beneficial; a dual proxy record mode can revolutionize the editing process when handling thousands of hours of content. By simultaneously recording master cameras with an avid low-res editing proxy, post-production teams can work through the footage whilst making edits without spending hours and hours on content exports through alternating between the low-res and high-res file types.
- Manage multicam in the cloud
The cloud is becoming an increasingly popular option within production processes. Infrastructures are now in place to enable content to both be stored and processed solely within the cloud, if and when required. Many production teams are choosing to manage multicam content in the cloud as its flexibility improves cost and operationally efficiencies. The cloud offers varying levels of services, allowing production teams to tailor their use of the cloud to their projects. With multicam projects having the potential to create hundreds of hours of content per day, many productions teams benefit hugely from having a cloud-based management of their assets. Storage can quickly be dialled up if a project were to run over by a couple of days, offering a flexible and dynamic infrastructure. Additionally, cloud-based editing and feed management allows for minimal hardware infrastructure, resulting in fewer overheads and more flexibility within the workforce.
Ultimately, multicam productions can deliver a much more engaging experience for viewers. However, they are not without their challenges. Having cloud-based workflows and the right tools and processes in place can make those multicam productions seamless, helping the production team focus on creating great content.
At Cinedeck, our modern UI streamlines multicam management. Our standalone application improves multicam production through intuitive design and sophisticated workflows. Find out more.