Case Studies

Customer: St. Luke’s Cathedral of Portland, ME

Project: Provide live streaming of worship services

Results: If you’re looking for a control room, you’re not going to find one at the historic St. Luke’s Cathedral. The only evidence of video production in this Episcopal church is a compact Sony SRG-300SE robotic PTZ camera mounted on the back wall – though you might also spot Jack Swanton, co-founder of Broadcast Pix, in a pew controlling the production from a tablet while attending the service.

With Broadcast Pix Commander, the touchscreen control platform that’s part of the BPswitch broadcast and streaming software toolset, Swanton or another church volunteer can control the camera, add graphics, and more from inside the church or across the country.

St. Luke’s has streamed more than 300 services, as well as ceremonies and other activities, since it began live webcasts in September 2015. The setup is relatively simple. The Sony camera, which receives an audio feed from the church’s sound system, streams the signal via IP to a Broadcast Pix integrated production system installed at Broadcast Pix headquarters in Chelmsford, MA. From there, the service is streamed live to the church’s website.

“Any volunteer with an hour of instruction can stream the service,” Swanton said. “The trick is to make it look like you’re present at the service.”

Swanton has programmed a number of Media Aware Macros that position the camera, display graphics, and control the streaming from either a phone or tablet. One macro keeps the production on schedule even when there is no volunteer available. He pushes the button exactly one hour before the service begins – the system starts to stream a few minutes before the service begins, follows the choir procession from the back to the front of the church, and locks down a semi-wide shot of the altar for the rest of the service. After 90 minutes, a credit screen is shown and the stream shuts down.

“There are a lot of folks who could do what we’re doing,” Swanton explained. “This is not a megachurch setup. That’s a very different application. This is for streaming services for people who aren’t present, or for people who want to hear the sermon again.”

John Downey (standing) and Christian Gempesaw show the new Broadcast Pix Mica 1000 integrated production switcher for CFM-TV, the government channel for the City of Fort Myers, Fla.

Customer: CFM-TV, government channel for the City of Fort Myers, FL

Project: Council chambers refresh featuring a Mica 1000 integrated production switcher

Integrator: Encore Broadcast Solutions in Tampa

Results: The new Mica system “has been a big success for the city,” said Richard Calkins, technology director for Fort Myers. CFM-TV covers up to 30 meetings per month in the chambers, between the city council and various advisory boards, and production is usually handled by one employee.

John Downey, IT network technician, said viewer reactions have been very positive. “It looks a lot better,” Downey added. “People have definitely noticed the difference.”

Although CFM-TV has a traditional control panel, meetings are often switched using a keyboard and mouse. Downey, who said CFM-TV is “just scratching the surface” of the Mica’s capabilities, praised the Mica’s customizable multi-view and the choice of control surfaces.

In addition to a new ELMO document camera, there are five Sony PTZ cameras installed in the chambers. Three cameras are positioned at the back of the room for coverage of the seven council members on the dais. The fourth provides a view of the podium from the front of the room for citizen comments, while the fifth provides coverage of the city manager and city attorney. The Mica also receives a feed from a PC input at the podium for PowerPoint presentations.

The Mica replaced aging Datavideo and Compix hardware, which helped reduce the amount of equipment in the small CFM-TV control room next to the council chambers at City Hall. Upgrades also included closed captioning systems for its Comcast channel and live web feed, new cameras and microphones in the chambers, and an HD feed for the web.

The City of Mankato, Minn., upgraded to HD production for its city council and school district meetings a new Broadcast Pix BPswitch integrated production switcher.

Customer: City of Mankato, MN

Project: Upgrade to HD production for city council and school district meetings with BPswitch FX integrated production switcher

Integrator: Video Services, Inc. in Mankato

Results: The new system has simplified the production workflow and improved the quality of meeting coverage, which is available locally on public access channel KTV and streamed live on the city’s website. The meetings are recorded to the BPswitch for archive while the system simultaneously outputs a live stream for the web.

Instead of a traditional control panel, Mankato uses the Broadcast Pix Commander touchscreen interface. Designed for non-technical personnel, Commander offers intuitive controls to simplify switching, camera control, and the use of graphics, clips, and graphics. The personnel responsible for Mankato’s meeting coverage are not video professionals, but they are able to produce high-quality meeting coverage by using the touchscreens. Presets are used to follow the action, but the cameras can be adjusted on the fly to fix headroom or other issues.

“We’re finding it so much faster using the touchscreen,” said Christine Buller, computer and network administrator explained. “It’s so intuitive. It’s amazing – it’s just really smooth in how it works.”

About five years ago, the Mankato City Council and Mankato Area Public School Board were moved to new chambers, but most of the old video equipment was transferred to the new space. As a result, the city had three aging SD cameras in its council chambers and outdated hardware housed across the control room workspace. Now, there are three HD PTZ cameras, which are controlled through the Broadcast Pix, and the control room workspace only houses a keyboard, mouse, and two touchscreens. “It’s just so seamless, that’s what I like about it,” added Buller.