AV help - showing event on big screen

jbainbridge

We have a popular event coming up in church. Suggestion is that we have a screen downstairs showing the event live to accommodate extra people.

I'm not sure how to achieve this. I can see having a laptop and projector in the remote room - these can be borrowed easily. But the camera and software I'm struggling with. I'm wondering if this can be done at minimal cost? Perhaps an SLR? I can get hold of an EOS 500D. Or would a dedicated IP camera be better? Link could be done with wifi or we'd get some CAT5 run.

Suggestions / ideas gratefully received!

paddyrg

Is quality an issue? Are we watching a half-dozen PowerPoint slides over 20 minutes, or is it 90 minutes of live performance? The former you can get away with cheap and cheerful, the latter will be a miserable experience on a CCTV camera setup, and even a DSLR isn't the tool for the job.

The first problem is audio, you'll have to handle that separately, and that'll mean microphones, and if it's a choral piece or similar, you need a professional job.

The second, actually bigger problem is that covering a stage with a single camera 'lock-off' is, regardless of quality, excruciatingly dull to watch. It's painful. It's like staring at a microwave. Watch ANY live event TV coverage and see how much cutting there is, how many angles they use, etc. A modern music concert for TV will use maybe 20 cameras and angles, some locked off, some handheld, some on dollies, some reverses on the audience! Obviously you aren't going that far, but you do still need a bit of variety in shots. In real life, our eyes dart around, creating an edit for us, which is what the coverage needs to do, so I wouldn't bother with fewer than 3 cameras, and cutting between them live. Or if you're right against it, two - one lock off master wide, one close up following the action, and then someone choosing when to use which shot live (and switching the feed). It's a real job in itself, people get paid real salaries to do just this kind of thing!

If it's commercially worth selling seats downstairs and making a DVD of the event to sell to attendees upstairs, downstairs and who can't attend, then contact an OB company who'll do a good job, otherwise I think you'll find the results disappointing at best and awful at worst.

paddyrg

Oh, third issue, lighting. Cameras need more than the human eye, so you'll need to arrange some!

RobTang

The EOS 500D has a HDMI output so you can plug is straight into the projector.


As above though I don't think its a great idea, getting an acceptable production value will be difficult on the cheap.

jbainbridge

Thanks for the comments, they are helpful.

I do agree though - it's not a good idea (and not mine I hasten to add!!) ... hopefully common sense will prevail.

paddyrg

Yep, I think the very best you'll get is a huge headache with significant disappointment ;-)

There's a reason why good TV is expensive to make!