digitalbuilt

I stopped in at the Newtek StreamOrDie.com event in LA earlier this week, I have chosen to stream as my profession I had no idea of the apparent immortality benefits!

They had the XD300 and 3Play systems on show.  There were at least three XD300’s in the room, one on stage, one running the live production and one shoehorned into the back of a Mini Clubman.

Lean in for a closer look.

It’s a tight squeeze, but with help from Jef Kethley at Pizazz the end result is a very clean install.  Operators can sit in the back seats of the mini (well those shorter than 6′4″) and run the 3play and Tricaster.  Now this is just a concept vehicle, fully functional I am assured, but obviously not extremely practical.

The point is made however, you can do top notch production with a small set of (the right) equipment.

The 3Play has been out for a while, the XD300 is still Beta, to be out in November for just under $15k.  That’s not much more than the Tricaster Studios that I currently use, and with a generous upgrade offer, it’s almost a no brainer, almost.

HD, virtual inputs, dynamic chroma key, complex video and CG layering, the spec. list shows they  are listening to their customers, a list too long to post here, but here are a couple highlights that may not be clear when just looking at a list of features.

Audio following video: picture a race track; F1, Nascar etc. the cars are flying around, as each camera picks up the action the track audio can follow the action around the entire course, taking the audience with it.  Standard fare on ESPN or SpeedTV, but new for the Tricaster.  And that’s just one example of potential use, it would certainly make throwing down to an on field interview much easier.

Saved user profiles: if you have multiple operators you can customize settings for their own preferences, or keep unique presets for the different kind of events you do.  Show up to a Snowboarding event and load your snow playlists, Liveset studio, overlays, audio settings and anything else tied to that style of event.

The XD300 does, or will do, a lot of things right, allowing producers to create complex high quality shows.  The limitation?  Three inputs, sure they are 1080i HD 4:4:4:4 32bit color inputs, but it’s hard to capture everything with three cameras, especially sports.  Call me when the hardware can handle six inputs, XD600 here I come.  Until then I will be using the TC Studio for most live events, if the client wants HD, then I will certainly rent a XD300 for the day, after managing client expectations.  For some of you the XD300 is the answer, for me it’s a tease of things to come.

Images are mine from the event, or screen shots from the rebroadcast.