与远程生产Going Pro

Apps

As mentioned earlier, there’s a wide selection of apps you can run on your computer to switch a live show with your remote guests. However, the downside with all of these tools is that they sit on the computer in front of you and are subject to the same vagaries of power and connectivity as anything else you’re running. 如果你的网络连接坏了，整个节目就结束了. 没有连接进入，您的流也不会输出. 那么解决方法是什么呢? 你可以在云端生产. And no, I don’t mean in Zoom, 尽管人们已经这么做了, Zoom确实有一个钩子，可以直接向Facebook或YouTube发送feed. 所以这是可行的，但它真的不是为这个设计的. I recommend using a solution that is designed for what you’re doing: producing a show with multiple live-switched cameras, video playback, titles, graphics, and more. Use one that runs in the cloud and can push to any of the destinations you were already going to go to.

一个例子是StreamYard (go2sm.com/streamyard)，可同时容纳10人. 其中一个是你，制作人，所以实际上只有9位嘉宾. Restream有一个类似的解决方案，叫做Restream Studio (restream.io/studio) that lets you switch between cameras, graphics, video, and titles, all in the cloud. These cloud tools do not make all of the remote cameras come down to you; only your screen view comes down, 你只传送你的点击, 这使得制作对网络带宽的消耗非常少. 云工具也可以在非常基本的计算机上运行, so the potential investment in sufficient hardware and internet bandwidth to handle eight remote callers is almost eliminated.

If you want to step up from those, there are more-configurable solutions, like Dazzl (dazzl.tv) and Gnural Net (gnuralnet.com). 就连索尼现在也推出了云生产解决方案(pro.索尼/ en_IE /解决方案/ virtual-production). NewTek’s parent company, Vizrt, also offers what is essentially a TriCaster in the cloud with its Viz Vectar Plus (vizrt.com/en/products/viz-vectar-plus). 熟悉的节目制作播放器Shoflo添加了Shoflo Studio (shoflo.tv/studio)，可容纳10人，总人数可达25人. That’s very impressive. Sienna (sienna-tv.com) and Medialooks (medialooks.com/video-transport) have a whole raft of remote contribution and NDI tools available to producers who need to integrate remote guests and content.

And finally, don’t rule out putting the app you know on a server in the cloud. There are a lot of producers who are putting vMix on Amazon servers and mixing shows in the cloud. But, of course, if you wanted to do it with Wirecast, OBS, or Livestream Studio, you certainly can.

使用OBS等新的开源解决方案.Ninja (obs.ninja), what the app can do is really limited only by your ability to understand and implement what you want it to do. Thankfully, these tools have Reddit, Discord, and Facebook groups to assist new users who are trying to get up-to-speed and build out the functionality they need. There are tens of thousands of producers who are doing exactly what you’re doing—you just need to reach out to them for help and then help others in turn. 随着你知识的增长, there’s always some one else right behind you who needs the assistance you got not too long ago. 一定要像别人帮助过你一样去帮助别人.

另一个可以考虑的选择是绑定互联网连接. 在低端市场，Speedify (speedify.com) will give your computer two or more concurrent internet connections to help maintain reliability in tough situations. 还有一些硬件解决方案包含绑定服务, 例如Peplink的SpeedFusion技术(peplink.com). But beware those that seem to offer multiple wide area network (WAN) connections to the internet, 因为很多只是在做“负载平衡”——也就是说, assigning different tasks to different connections and not dividing up a video stream among all of the connections at the same time. Bonding requires a server and service at the other end to put those packets that come in across multiple networks back into the order they were sent, 在将它们传递到目标服务器之前. 如果没有特别列出或收费的担保服务, 可能根本就没有真正的联系.

Streamlining

一旦你搞清楚了大事, then you’ll be ready to start streamlining your production workflow to make it easier and more fluid. 这通常涉及到一个控制面. 像NewTek TriCaster这样的大型工具有很大的控制面. But they are designed for certain inputs and to work a certain way that’s not applicable or adaptable to other approaches or solutions.

There are a lot of other control surfaces out there that allow you to pick what every button does, 让他们按照你想要的方式工作, 甚至在两场演出之间做些改变. 其中一些工具包括P.I. Engineering’s X-keys (xkeys.com)、Skaarhoj的“计算机控制面”设备(skaarhoj.com)， Elgato的简单而优雅的Stream Deck (elgato.com)，以及Akai (akaipro.com/products), Behringer (behringer.com), and Novation (novationmusic.com). 你甚至可以使用USB游戏控制器(amzn.to/
37QDL9B).

许多工具自带软件, 比如来自Skaarhoj和Elgato的, but there are also third-party software coders who are making digital glue that can likely take the controller you want to use and make it work with the software you want to use. 这包括Central Control (centralcontrol.io)及Bitfocus Companion (bitfocus.io). There’s also TouchOSC (hexler.net), a touchscreen-based configurator that enables you to repurpose an old iPad to provide whatever buttons, sliders, and knobs you want. And Elgato has made virtual Stream Deck Mobile so you can use an old phone when you need just a few more buttons (Figure 7, below).

埃尔加托流甲板移动

Figure 7. 埃尔加托流甲板移动

以上就是我目前(写这篇文章的时候)的建议, tricks, 以及远程流媒体专业人员的链接. 可能有一些是你以前没见过的, and I’m sure there are many out there that I am not aware of either or will have discovered by the time you read this. 干这行总有很多东西要学, 总是有更多的方法来完善我们的工作流程和改进我们的工作.