Sidepodcast

It’s that time again, live streaming comes to Sidepodcast HQ for the second time.

Now, I should preface this post by saying we’re not going to do an entry every time we are record the video. The idea is to set up a ‘Live’ page and give the streaming TV it’s own space. You can keep your eye on the schedule to see when we’re planning to record.

The reason for this blog post, then, (aside from the fact that we haven’t set up the page yet) is that there are changes afoot.

As a bit of a test, we’re moving from UStream.tv to Justin.tv. Personally, I think UStream is a great site, and I’m already missing it, but Justin.tv offers a lot more options. The kind of thing that the techy one gets excited about. So here’s Sidepodcast how Justin see’s it.

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In part 1 of our behind-the-scenes look at chroma keying, we covered humble beginnings and the nightmare’s encountered therein. In part 2, let’s look at how we solved some of the issues while creating ourselves some brand new ones.

Going Pro

We struggled on with the duvet cover for as long as we could (ironing it actually made a significant difference) but the truth is, it just wasn’t good enough. We made a total of 13 videos before giving in and purchasing a professional green / blue screen.

The new backdrop made its debut on the Italy preview show and the results were instantly impressive. The screen folds away inside a soft bag which means some creases are still apparent, but when opened it remains flat and is very luminous in colour, making post-processing a relative breeze.

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Seeing as there’s a brief lull in the racing action at the moment, we might just be able to squeeze in a quick behind the scenes look at green screen technology. I should declare upfront that this post isn’t remotely related to Formula 1, but a couple of people have expressed an interest in the inner workings of Sidepodcast, so please excuse the self indulgence.

The Early Years

The idea of keying out a single colour from a piece of film has been around since the 1930’s. The principle is simple, pick a solid colour as a backdrop, ensure that it’s not present in the foreground and then replace said colour with other footage during post-production. The techniques for doing this have dramatically improved in the last 70-odd years (while costs have drastically reduced), but the original concept remains the same.

Chroma keying is used in all forms of video production nowadays, the local weather programme is the most commonly seen example, but given its relatively low cost, there’s little reason not to make some use of the technology.

That’s Me in the Spotlight

Although we essentially have no knowledge of television production, when we started making videos it was pretty clear that chroma keying was a great way to turn a very small space into a larger one, and as all we had was a small space, it was worth looking into.

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I don’t want anyone to think that I’m obsessed with Formula One television coverage, but when I saw this fantastic demo the other day, the only thing I thought was - Bernie needs to see this:

If you play the video and sit back, all you’ll see is a ride on board a VW Beetle around what I’m assuming is New York City. However, grab your mouse, click on the video and drag for a few seconds and then the thing really comes to life.

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It’s about time Formula 1 had a dose of reality, or rather a dose of reality television.

You see it everywhere these days, in the UK it seems there’s always some C-list celebrity doing something daft to get themselves TV exposure. Eating bugs, prancing on ice or whatever. Even IndyCar got the jump on F1 when Helio Castroneves recently won a television dance competition.

It’s not just the stars that get a go either, after all Simon Cowell became a household name spotting the planet’s untapped talent and putting them on our screens. A never ending stream of fresh-faced hopefuls paraded in front of a society that appears to have an insatiable appetite for more of the same.

Formula One should take note, a reality show could expose the sport to a much wider audience, specifically targeting armchair viewers which, let’s be honest are the ones FOM are really interested in. So, if F1 could benefit from such a program, what would it be about?

Right now I’m led to believe there’s a program on British TV that has something to do with choosing a singer to appear in a West End musical. Seems like a perfectly reasonable idea, the musical gets promotion, the audience gets to pick the star, the television company make money from phone-in voting.

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• Length: 05:44 
• Size: 60.5 MB 
• File: track3.m4v 
• Transcript: track3.pdf 
• Torrent: track3.torrent 
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One year on from our very first Formula 1 race preview video, and Sidepodcast looks at the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix.

The asphalt may not have changed much this year but the cars certainly have. Driving without traction control on this dusty surface will be a leap into the unknown for many of the teams, so let Christine guide you through the twists and turns of this Hermann Tilke designed circuit, to see what the drivers have in store.

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In part one we looked into the problems we faced when considering a second season of F1 video podcasting. In part two, we’ll look into some of the things we’re doing to stay fresh and up-to-date.

A Video Forum

On the same day that Renault released their R28 challenger in Paris, Sidepodcast was at the Broadcast Live and VideoForum in London. This forum is the traditional stomping ground for the great and the good of the British television industry… and Keith Chegwin (don’t ask).

You might think we’d be a little out of place in such company, but the thing is, we don’t do “video clips” and we have no interest in simply being a conduit for whatever video press release an F1 team decides to push out this week. We want to create brand new and original Formula 1 content, so although nothing we create goes anywhere near a television station, we’re sort of making TV.

It turns out that our trip wasn’t at all in vain, and the forum turned over a wealth of ideas that gave us a whole new viewpoint on the possibilities of video creativity. Aside from the millions of pounds worth of television equipment stacked high inside Earls Court 2, there were a whole bunch of fantastically invaluable seminars to sit in on. Also, Sequence Post Production were in attendance - F1 fans may recognise the name as the company behind Martin Brundle’s brilliant F1 Insight series - and they were an amazingly helpful bunch of people.

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Now that we’re getting into the swing of the 2008 season, and seeing as we’re coming up to the anniversary of our very first Formula 1 preview video, I thought it might be worth taking stock of what we’re doing in terms of visual content this year.

Because the subject is a bit long winded, I’ve split this behind-the-scenes post into two parts. You can view part two here.

Previewing History

As you may know, we sort of fell into video podcasting by accident, and only planned on creating a couple of shows a year, filming footage at various events we attended. This idea was based on the fact that we knew Formula One Management had notoriously strict rulings on who could use racing footage, and back then none of those restrictions covered online viewing.

Our plans changed however, when almost exactly a year ago we were watching a motorsports program on television, and the presenter took us on a 3D virtual tour of the Bahrain circuit. They didn’t do a particularly great job of the narration and we thought we could do better, so after sourcing the 3D animation and figuring out how on earth Blue Screen technology works, we made the Bahrain preview video.

Looking back, it feels like a lifetime ago.

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Formula 1 fans in the UK received a second helping of good news this month when it was announced today that F1 television coverage is returning to it’s natural home, the BBC. Last week Formula One Management finally caved in to pressure and allowed races to be broadcast online, and next year they will also be shown uninterrupted and commercial free.

This is excellent news for any Formula 1 fans living in the UK, and as pointed out by Lou in a comment earlier:

We are gonna get to watch the WHOLE race!

For many years ITV has been the subject of criticism from fans for it’s poor coverage and incessant advertisement breaks, ruining the flow of the action during what are often the most important points of the race.

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• Length: 05:41 
• Size: 65.7 MB 
• File: track2.m4v 
• Transcript: track2.pdf 
• Torrent: track2.torrent 
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Once the Formula 1 season gets going, it seems there’s simply no stopping it. One week on from the opening race in Australia and we’re racing in Malaysia. Join Christine as she looks backwards, forwards and every way in between at the second event on the Grand Prix calendar.

Catch up with Trulli and Rosberg and hear their thoughts about the upcoming race, enjoy a fast lap around the Sepang International Circuit and remind yourself what went on last year. In short, everything you could possibly need to know about the upcoming race in under six minutes.

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