How Rāngai produce live football games for Gisborne Thistle A.F.C
At Rāngai we are regularly asked what equipment we use for our football broadcasts, and how others can achieve similar results.
Here we will give an overview of the equipment we provide for Gisborne Thistle A.F.C away games. A tidy little setup that is capable of live streaming to our studio where we add graphics and commentary.
This setup is designed to avoid the need for a laptop as we send this kit away with the team, not with a cameraman. Making it as simple as possible, with a battery life exceeding the duration of a full game plus overtime and pens was essential.
You can add a laptop for graphics and microphone for commentary to this package. You could then do it all on site. Replace the live stream switcher with a hdmi capture card to save a few hundred dollars, although setup is more complex and laptop battery life has been an issue when streaming, make sure you have power available.
Equipment Overview
Tripod and Video Head = $370
Live Stream Switcher + Power Cable = $894
Power Bank + $200
Total Cost = $2718
As a package we also provide a cheap Hard Case although this is not essential, and Rāngai also provide a mobile phone with data because each game will use around 4GB, more than most people have spare.
How it works
You will see in the video the simplicity of connecting the devices together and going live. You should be aware that we have pre configured these, they remember their settings and will work out of the box.
If you are setting up yourself you will need to learn about stream keys, this is simply the unique address of where your video is being sent. We have one for our YouTube football videos, and one for our studio Streaming Bridge depending on where we want the video to appear.
Once connected it really is point and shoot, the quality tripod (including video head) ensures smooth movement, and the Panasonic camera offers a big range of zoom. Nothing else needs to be touched during the broadcast.
Considerations
By far the most difficult problem to solve is ensuring network speed to broadcast. We have found the 4G mobile coverage to be patchy in areas so if you can't get wired internet or wifi choose your provider carefully.
Elevation is important! Any extra height you can gain above pitch level makes the broadcast look much better, also try not to be right on the sideline. Being too close makes it very difficult to track the players when its on the near side of the pitch, you also can't zoom out and see the ball in motion if someone sends a long pass on that side.
If all else fails just press record, we have had broadcasts not go to plan, it’s inevitable. Make sure there is a memory card in the camera and be ready to record the game if it can be streamed. You can always jump on a laptop after and have it uploaded before the away team is back on the bus.
What we offer
Rāngai offers a range of live broadcast options and discount packages for multiple events. We are also working toward having student camera crew available nationwide in 2022, to support code aspirations of broadcasting their league.
With several levels of equipment available, a commentary team, and the ability to provide sponsor segments and advertising, we can assist in providing an attractive package that could be monetized.
Appreciate seeing behind the scenes of the stream. Quite a bit of kit and knowledge. Good effort. 😀