LeTV relies on Blackmagic for Wang Feng concert production
Published: ASIA
CHINA: A large number of Blackmagic Design products were used to provide a live stream of Chinese rock star Wang Feng's recent concert at the Beijing National Stadium (aka the Bird's Nest). Online video service provider, LeTV, produced the event using the manufacturer's Atem 1 M/E Production Studio 4K switchers, Atem 1 M/E Broadcast Panels, ATEM Studio Converters and ATEM Camera Converters.
Ten digital film cameras with PL lenses were deployed for the concert, each equipped with an Atem Camera Converter to convert the SDI output of the camera to optical fibre. All camera feeds were then transferred via fibre to an array of Atem Studio Converters, which converted the fibre feeds back to SDI again and sent them to an Atem 1 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher (controlled by an ATEM 1 M/E Broadcast Panel).
'Blackmagic Design’s optical fibre based live production solution doesn’t need cumbersome hybrid cables, because one fibre cable is enough to transfer video, talkback and Tally between a camera and the switcher and it can reach locations which are too far for a coaxial cable,' explained Li Mingyue, engineer for Oxygentec, which took care of the live production system design and technical support. 'Plus, more and more modern stadiums have built-in optical fibre networks, which makes fibre cabling very convenient.'
The production team also incorporated on-set grading into its workflow for the concert. 'The diverse light sources and colours on the stage and high contrast shots go far beyond the Rec. 709 space that is used by traditional television productions,' commented Hua Cheng, CEO of Homeboy Cine Studio, which was tasked with on-set colour management for the concert. 'The digital film cameras for Wang Feng’s concert chose S-Log 3 profiles for the widest possible colour space and latitude, which required on-set colour management during the live production.
'We built our colour management solution around Blackmagic Design’s HDLink Pro LUT box and Pomfort’s LiveGrade software tool,' continued Mr Cheng. 'With this solution, not only were we able to correct the colours of the image, but also add any creative look the director wanted in real time. For example, when the singer sang a song about memory, we made the colour fade away gradually. This enriches the techniques of live production and brings more possibilities, ideal for art performances like music concerts.'
The graded PGM feed was sent to another Atem 1 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher, which was used to insert logos and song titles, and control the audio from an external mixer. The feed was then delivered to LeTV's live streaming system, which broadcast the stream via its website.