Pascal JacquelinMIAMI—Capsule Media is a Miami-based full-service production and post house that works on film, television and commercial projects across the United States, Europe and Latin America. We collaborate with clients such as PBS, Discovery Channel and Univision, and during the past 12 years we’ve helped produce and edit a multitude of projects, ranging from “Shark Week” documentaries to a miniseries on the legendary musical artist and producer Quincy Jones.
Earlier this year, we teamed up with PBS and the YoungArts foundation for the fourth consecutive year to webcast YoungArts Week live from Miami. Each year, the event draws more than 170 talented artists. Throughout the week, participants collaborate with master teachers and mentors from their respective fields of study, and then share their talents through performances and exhibitions.
Capsule Media was responsible for capturing and broadcasting all of the event’s action worldwide. To achieve this, we built a 13-camera setup with Sony HDCAM EX3s that were switched to two AJA Ki Pro recorders to provide ProRes 4:2:2 recording. We also used AJA HD10DA mini-converters to boost the signal. Our team then fed one of the Ki Pro outputs through an Io XT connected to a laptop, encoded the footage to H.264 and distributed it live to YouTube, as well as to the YoungArts and PBS websites. (A separate feed without graphic overlays was recorded, then edited and archived after the event.)
RECORDER RELIABILITY REALLY HAD TO BE PERFECT
By the end of the week, we’d captured some 400 hours of footage and recorded 15 hours on the Ki Pros, which proved to be incredibly reliable. That was critical for a live-event production such as this one. When we hit “record,” we had to be confident that the devices were doing their jobs. If they weren’t, we could have missed something that would have been impossible to recreate, which would have been catastrophic.
With Ki Pro, or any AJA gear for that matter, we never have to worry about our workflow being interrupted; it’s quality gear with proven reliability. The firmware is also easy to navigate, and warns you when you may be setting yourself up for mistakes. I have a high regard for the company, as their support team is always there to help you, so you never feel like you’re alone on an island.
STRAIGHTFORWARD WORKFLOW
Once we completed the live broadcast, we uploaded the footage recorded on the second Ki Pro to our workstations back home where our editors began cutting the footage. By using a combination of creative software that included Avid, Adobe, Final Cut and Resolve, they fine-tuned the footage which we then sent off to HBO to use as B-roll for their Master-Class series.
We regularly use several other AJA products in our work and I really love them, as they’re easy to use and you can always rely on them. AJA’s team is really dialed into our needs in the field, and this shows in every product.
Pascal Jacquelin is the founder and CEO of Capsule Media. He may be contacted throughwww.capsulemedia.tv.
For additional information, contact AJA at 530-274-2048 or visitwww.aja.com.
