Notes from the control room: production techniques, kit choices and lessons from live shows across the East of England.
We publish about one article a day, covering vision mixing, streaming, control room design and the practical side of crewing live events. Browse the latest below.
Live streaming
A practical walk through the stages of a live stream, from the first venue visit to the last viewer leaving, written for organisers planning a first broadcast.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Replay and graphics
Before you book a replay and graphics operator, settle a handful of practical questions about content, kit, timing and sign-off. Priya Nair sets out the list she uses herself.
Priya Nair
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Outside broadcast
Temporary control rooms at festivals and large stage shows go wrong in predictable ways. Callum Reeve sets out the mistakes we see most often and the habits that prevent them.
Callum Reeve
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Fit-out costs
A plain look at what shapes the price of a control room fit-out, from room size and cabling to monitoring and how much your crew already owns.
Hannah Brooks
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Customer story
Callum tells the story of Marcus, a charity concert organiser who had never cut a multi-camera show, and how a calm vision mixer turned his evening into a clean broadcast.
Callum Reeve
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Production tips
Hannah Brooks on how to prepare cueing, scripts and crew schedules for autumn and winter events, when short days, cold venues and tight load-ins change how a show is called.
Hannah Brooks
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Streaming terms
A plain-words guide to the delay between the stage and the viewer's screen, why a live stream always runs behind the room, and what we can and cannot shorten.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Replay and graphics
Daniel Whitcombe compares a single operator running replay and graphics together with a split crew of two, and says which suits a festival stage or a seated concert.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Behind the scenes
Callum Reeve walks through how an outside broadcast crew turns a muddy field or an empty hall into a working control room, from the first cable run to the final strike.
Callum Reeve
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Control rooms
The question we hear most before a fit-out: how much space, how much kit and how long it takes. Here are straight answers for venues and studios planning a compact control room.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Company news
As the evenings draw in, Priya Nair explains how the vision mixing desk is being readied for autumn concerts, stage shows and indoor events, and what that means for organisers booking a crew.
Priya Nair
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Methods
A look at the working tools behind production management and cueing: the rundown, the cue sheet, talkback and a rehearsed call, and how each keeps a live show moving to plan.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Live streaming
Hannah Brooks sets out the questions worth answering before an event goes online: connection, audience, graphics, monitoring and a fallback plan, so the stream holds when it counts.
Hannah Brooks
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Replay and graphics
Most trouble with live replay and on-screen graphics starts well before the show. Callum Reeve walks through the slips we see most often and the simple habits that prevent them.
Callum Reeve
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Prices
A plain look at how a temporary control room crew is priced for festivals, parties and stage productions, and which decisions on the organiser's side push the figure up or down.
Hannah Brooks
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Case story
How we planned and fitted a small production deck for a community hall, working with a volunteer team whose first name is Margaret, and what the finished room taught us.
Daniel Whitcombe
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Seasonal advice
Hannah Brooks sets out what organisers can settle in these autumn weeks so the vision mixer has a clear plan, usable cameras and a calm gallery when the winter events begin.
Hannah Brooks
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Calm control rooms for live television
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