Lightweight TV Production

Learn how LiveU's Lightweight Production workflow can revolutionize your current production workflows by leveraging encoders and cloud production.

By eliminating the need for on-the-ground production sites and physical control rooms, it empowers production teams to better allocate talent, become more nimble, and most importantly increase profitability.

What is Lightweight TV Production?

Lightweight TV Production is a method of producing content in the cloud.

By eliminating the need for on-the-ground production sites and physical control rooms, it allows production teams to better allocate talent, become more nimble, and most importantly increase profitability.

By pairing hardware with cloud-based services, LiveU provides broadcasters, production houses, and content creators with the tools to seamlessly produce and distribute live content remotely, without needing full-scale production facilities, onsite production trucks, or satellite and fiber data uplinks.

How Does it Work?

LiveU stands out by offering a unique combination of highly portable video-over-bonded-IP encoders and a cloud-native production suite operated as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. Designed to work as a seamless workflow from point of video capture to point of distribution, Lightweight TV Production solutions put ease of use, reliability, quality and cost-effectiveness at heart of any event.

Rather than sending full production trucks and crews to capture events, teams can simply send cameras and LiveU portable video encoders, like the LU300S, to the site, relaying these individual video sources to a cloud-based control room or off-site production facility.

Weighing just over 2 lbs, the LU300S supports native 5G and leverages LiveU's patented bonding technology, LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT™) to provide the highest bandwidth and ultra-low latency, even in challenging cellular coverage areas. LRT is the leading Video-over-Bonded-IP protocol and is the secret behind many hundreds of thousands of hours of live video production.

With support for up to 30 Mbps and the ability to combine up to 6 IP connections (4 cellular, WiFi, and LAN) into one robust pipe of bandwidth, the LU300S delivers reliable transmission of live video feeds. With HEVC/H.265 encoding, you can captivate your audience with 4Kp60 10-bit HDR video, delivered over 12G-SDI or HDMI, with support of up to eight audio channels for rich audio production.

By seamlessly integrating video feeds from the LU300S and other LiveU portable encoders into LiveU Studio, our cloud-native live video production solution, teams can easily manage and switch between multiple frame-synced remote video sources and collaborate with worldwide talent, while distributing digital content to up to 30 digital platforms simultaneously.

Now production teams of all sizes can swiftly create different types of content, complete with remote callers, video switching, audio mixing, graphics, and social media interaction and monetization options, all directly from a web browser.

Each production technique has been designed to be delivered with the minimum of complexity, so more attention can be focused on the story. Want to include a remote guest in your show? Simply send them a secure link, direct form LiveU Studio that gives video, audio and tally, all with no need to download an app.

Benefits of lightweight TV production

If you’ve been tasked with delivering better content faster, with limited resources, you’re not alone. Lightweight TV Production helps you do exactly that.

Efficiency

Think of your most recent full-scale production. Weeks of pre-production planning. Tens of thousands of dollars on crew allocation and gear transportation. A full on-site production truck.

With compact, portable encoders like the LU300S, a single freelance camera operator can be deployed to any event location, while your production crew can work on multiple events simultaneously from a central studio. This approach minimizes on-site personnel requirements, typically needing only 1-2 people per event while slashing production costs by up to 70%. Rather than sitting on ‘planes or trains travelling to jobs, your team can be working on multiple productions from any location you choose.

The real game-changer is the ability for production teams to create stunning broadcasts from virtually anywhere. Whether shooting outdoors, in hotels, or in locker rooms, teams can break free from the confines of local networks, uncovering new storytelling opportunities and remote production capabilities previously inaccessible with bulky equipment and extensive crews. From there, LiveU Studio’s full SaaS solution eliminates the need for extensive technical knowledge, allowing for quick deployment at any time and reduced operator errors.

Quality

But don’t be fooled, lower costs doesn’t mean lower quality. With the lightweight tandem of LiveU encoders and LiveU Studio, the availability of 4G and 5G cellular networks and the power of LRT™ guarantees greater video quality while using less bandwidth.

IP bonding also supports low latency, and high resiliency streaming while allowing contributions from team members from both in-venue and on-field locations without any delay or interruption. With audio-visual technologies like intercom and video return, Lightweight TV Production makes interviews, remote monitoring, and better team communication possible.

These capabilities let teams deliver richer, multi-angle storytelling, increase production value, and ultimately drive engagement to published content.

Adaptability

Modern fans don’t just want more content, they also want context. They want content on the right

platforms and devices, delivered at exactly the right moments and they want to be closer to the action than ever before. They want to get the inside story. To meet these demands, production companies need speed, scale, and the ability to act on a dime in an ever-evolving environment.

Unlike traditional production, Lightweight setups support decentralized collaboration, so team members from across the globe can work on the same project, doing different tasks at the same time. With a lighter, more convenient setup, teams can also simultaneously handle more projects and ad-hoc commissions from larger companies, regardless of equipment availability or location.

Using LiveU Studio, production studios can even produce multi-language broadcasts and easily

create content on demand. The ability to stream your content to up to 30 simultaneous destinations also gives you the flexibility to reach your fans, wherever they are. The increased accessibility and faster distribution of more content open doors for more ads, sponsorship, sales, collaborations, and other monetization opportunities for production teams.

Components can also be deployed in LiveU’s cloud, a third-party vendor’s cloud, the end user’s

cloud, or on-premise servers, enabling teams to create workflows that work best for them, including a hybrid cloud setup. With LiveU Lightweight Production, unlocking the flexibility and scalability of a cloud based architecture is as simple as opening a browser and clicking a button.

Case Studies

Powering LA Rams Content

By harnessing the power of LiveU Studio and LiveU encoders, the LA Rams were able to generate various video content streams, such as press conferences with bumpers and logo, post-game shows with team graphics, and a talk show, called “Between the Horns” with remote guests. Thanks to LiveU Studio’s one-click distribution feature, the team can now also seamlessly distribute their video assets across their owned and operated channels, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and their website — all from one browser.

With expanded coverage and an exceptional way to showcase sponsorships, it was easy for the LA Rams to reach a wider audience and offer an unmatched viewing experience, all while unlocking fresh monetization opportunities.

Saving Money for the Bladder Cancer

Advocacy Network (BCAN)

When the pandemic forced the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) to shift its annual in-person "walk for a cause" to a virtual event, it partnered with the production house Social180Group to raise awareness online. Social180Group's remote production workflow, powered by LiveU Studio, kept operational costs down while bringing in the best talent and teams from all over the globe to pull off the multi-camera, simulcast live event.

LiveU’s product suite enabled BCAN to stream a live multicast webinar on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, featuring seamless graphic templates, logos, videos, photos, testimonials, and real-time social interaction and viewer comments via LiveU EcoSystem partner, Dizplai’s, L-Bar overlay integration.

The broadcast featured live and recorded videos of walk participants from all over the country, musical performances by bladder cancer patients and caregivers, as well as cameo appearances by bladder cancer doctors, patients and advocates.

With the unlimited creativity and flexibility offered by LiveU Studio, BCAN was able to successfully advance its mission, reach global audiences, and significantly reduce production costs.

Conclusion

Since 2006, LiveU has supplied a complete range of products for live video transmission, cloud-based management, and video distribution, serving clients across sports, news, and broadcasting in over 150 countries worldwide.

Our mission has always been to democratize live broadcasting, making it accessible for any reporter or person with a camera to simply plug it into an encoder and go live in the highest quality, with no technical expertise required.

With LiveU's Lightweight TV Production solution, production companies and their customers can now produce high-quality digital or virtual events previously considered too expensive. This opens up new opportunities for smaller events and communities to gain global visibility, leading to exponential growth and increased awareness.

From small sporting leagues and college sports to niche communities and production houses, LiveU helps content creators to share their stories with the world. By making superior efficiency, quality, and adaptability practical strategies, we help you push the boundaries of what's possible in live video production, or as we would say, we help you to be ‘Live and Unlimited’.

We have played a pivotal role in transforming the broadcasting industry, and our commitment to continuous improvement and cutting edge research and development ensure we can help you stay future ready.

With Lightweight TV Production and LiveU, superior efficiency, quality, and adaptability become practical strategies rather than inconceivable bullets on an annual slide deck.

(c) LiveU

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