Outside broadcast technical planning
Before the main outside broadcast truck and vans arrive with the equipment, the core of the production team visit the location to make a technical plan for the broadcast.
In this video, outside broadcast truck owner Steve Harris, cable rigger Bob Parry, engineering manager Ron Clare, and producer Geoff Wilson give their first impressions of the space in which they are required to set up cameras in order to broadcast coverage of a darts contest.
Camera positions
They note that the venue is very small, and they are not happy with the initial placement of the dart board – so they make changes to the layout of the room.
Next, producer Geoff Wilson begins to mentally map out the location of cameras in the space, describing the shots he would like to achieve from each position.
Placing microphones
Next, Geoff Wilson briefs his colleagues on where he would like microphones to be positioned.
Geoff ensures that the main audio requirements of a darts match are covered: capturing the sound of darts hitting the darts board, the speech of the on-screen announcer, the noise of the audience, and the general atmosphere of the room.
Finally, Geoff determines the best position for the commentary booth and requests a monitor to be provided so that the commentator can see the programme content.
Camera cabling
Engineering manager Ron Clare now consults Steve Harris in order to establish the type of cables that must be run from each type of camera back to the outside broadcast truck.
He also checks where there are available windows through which the bulky cables can be fed.
Power
Finally, the team establishes that the venue’s power supply is sufficient for the requirements of the truck, the lighting rig, and the cameras.
The truck needs more power than a domestic power supply can provide, but the crew discover that electricians have upgraded nearby power outlets in order to supply the required energy.
These videos are edited out of the full record of the team’s techplan meeting. For the full discussions of the space and necessary equipment, have a look at the medium-length version of the video (5mins) or the full-length version (16mins).