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Advanced Video Tricks

Most video applications such as Zoom are built on a single fixed camera —sometimes intercut with a slide show. This talking head approach can cause viewer boredom. Broadcasters make things much more interesting by using multiple cameras and other video tricks. Recent changes pioneered in the gaming world have put ‘broadcast technology’ capabilities within anyone’s grasp to support more engaging business meetings and training sessions.

By Peter Aggus

Peter, as an engineer & technology management consultant, has developed innovative & cost-effective solutions for clients in many industries.

Your Brain on Video

Most business video communications uses a single fixed camera and microphone—typically the ones built in to the laptop. Quality is not great, particularly with regard to sound. No wonder video meetings are more tiring than in-person meetings.

TV broadcasts that use video conferencing for contributions, require a professional camera and microphone with decent lighting at the remote end. They also know that there is a limit to how long a viewer will accept a fixed talking head pose. It is measured in seconds not minutes.

Similarly, if you attend a live lecture you do not spend an hour with your head fixed in one position looking at a podium-based presenter. You look around and the lecturer moves around - your brain is not over-stressed.

Using More Cameras

Broadcasters use ‘virtual cameras’ where they use a digital zoom to cut to a close-up shot. They can have a fixed camera, looking at two people and generate two ‘virtual cameras’ from that one shot of the two people. That way they can cut in post-production between 2-person, person A, and person B—looking like they had three cameras. They also use additional cameras.

Systems like Zoom and WebEx allow you to select your video and audio sources. Typically we use the defaults—built-in camera and mike. However you can easily plug in a better camera and microphone. I use a video conference camera and a boom mike designed for podcasters as the first step in improved quality.

You can also run software, like OBS (Open Broadcast Software) to produce easy, impressive quality improvements. It can switch between more than one camera or between virtual cameras as the broadcasters do. The difference is that no post- production work is required. Each switch happens with a keystroke.

One virtual camera can use the picture in picture function so that a speaker can stand in front of their PowerPoint projection, as they would in a live presentation.

Look at the photo and see that I have set up a few keys so that I can switch between several virtual or real cameras. The OBS screen on my laptop shows the current camera view as well as the intended next camera view. When I’m ready to change, I press the transition key.

Watch a city council meeting on Facebook Live and consider what it might look like if they used several real and virtual cameras. You could have a camera for the presenter as well as virtual wide angle and close-up views of each council member. It’s easy enough that a clerical person could attend the meeting and handle the camera transitions with almost no training.

Recommendations

If you’d like to comment on this article or explore these ideas further, contact me at .

This article was published in the June 2021 edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:8 Issue:3

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