{"id":5006,"date":"2014-08-11T14:20:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T12:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rackfish.com\/?p=5006"},"modified":"2020-01-09T18:31:25","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T17:31:25","slug":"live-streaming-digital-campaigns-with-installationss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rackfish.com\/en\/live-streaming-digital-campaigns-with-installationss\/","title":{"rendered":"Live streaming from installations"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0challenging campaign production for an agency is when installations need live streaming. Rackfish has been working with live streaming from remote rural areas in Mexico to Potter’s Field outside the mayor’s office in London. In this article, we provide some insights into how we have solved the delivery in cooperation with creatives from involved agencies, developers from production companies and our own expertise in streaming technology.<\/p>\n

Projects involving live streaming are\u00a0becoming increasingly popular thanks to a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

Firstly, the creative work in these projects often involves live video feeds on the campaign page, which usually tends to be more interesting than \u201cstatic\u201d campaigns. They also lend themselves to special events or interactive installations during the campaign (e.g. inviting celebrities, doing performances in front of the cameras, etc.)<\/p>\n

Secondly, technology advances have made it more feasible to provide live video to a large number of visitors, even from remote locations. Cameras that can be operated remotely that are weather- and tamperproof as well as internet connections from temporary locations are\u00a0easier thanks to 4G\/LTE connectivity, satellite Internet links, short time rented uplinks, etc.<\/p>\n

When doing a campaign that involves network cameras that are supposed to feed live video there are a number of things to think about.<\/p>\n

First of all, planning beforehand is crucial. Often there is little time or resources to fix problems on site and while live. Almost every aspect of the campaign has to be taken into consideration \u2013 expected number of visitors, broadband link possibilities\u00a0and speed, types of cameras to use and even weather conditions (when using the cameras outside), etc. This applies especially to the project if the project is a short time project (a few hours \u2013 a few days). Projects that stretch for months at end are far more flexible in that way. Still, planning is needed beforehand; it is too late when the visitors arrive since they see what is happening live.<\/p>\n

The Workgroup<\/h2>\n

The first step is to set up a workgroup of the people that are going to be involved in the project. These are the agency people that do the coding, the creative team, producer(s), and the campaign hosting company providing cameras, networking, streaming services as well as the servers for hosting the campaigns web services and pages.<\/p>\n

Who is responsible for what? This is probably the most important part of the project. Everybody in the workgroup needs to be informed about his\/her responsibilities. When the project is launched there is little time to point fingers and avoid responsibilities. If everyone involved has a clear responsibility, everything will go smoothly.<\/p>\n

The workgroup needs to discuss several things before even deciding whether the project is feasible or not. In this case, it is imperative that the agency part of the workgroup shares every aspect of the project. This is important because usually, the campaign hosting company\u00a0has extensive experience with projects like these, whilst the agency might be doing their first project involving live streaming and cameras. Any small detail can be of utmost importance in the execution of the project. It can have to do with the choice of encoding, or the choice of camera equipment or placement of cameras due to weather conditions etc.<\/p>\n

Timetables and inevitable delays<\/h2>\n

Once the workgroup has set up all the responsibilities and gone through the project, a timetable is needed. This can \u2013 at first \u2013 be a rough timetable, and as the project nears launch, it is refined. Again, it is of utmost importance the timetable is followed. Any delay \u2013 for any part \u2013 can cause great stress and trouble. Delays are \u2013 of course \u2013 inevitable in any project. But it is important that the flow of the project setup isn\u2019t stopped because of one delay. For example, if one person in the workgroup is in charge of networking (crucial to the cameras) and creative coding, a delay from him\/her will stop the entire project. It is important to have backup plans should something happen. If this person can delegate the networking work to someone else in the workgroup, the delay will be minimal at the end. If not, it will become like a snowball rolling downhill \u2013 it will get\u00a0bigger by the minute.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

If the planning is done ahead and there are a number of failover-plans, there is nothing that says that any project could become a disaster. There are no projects that work out 100% without any problems, but if planned, problems can be handled smoothly, and that is the meaning of this short article. Plan ahead to avoid problems.<\/p>\n

Things to think about<\/h2>\n

Assuming most of the camera projects are done outside, these are some (not all) of the things that need to be thought about. Responsibilities are as follows:
(A) Agency, (C) Campaign hosting company, (W) Workgroup<\/p>\n