In February 2018, SQLBits, Europe’s largest data platform conference, convened at Olympia London, bringing together thousands of data professionals, developers, and industry experts. With a packed agenda featuring simultaneous sessions across multiple rooms, the conference aimed to provide attendees with a wealth of knowledge and insights. To extend the reach of this valuable content beyond the event, SQLBits partnered with Stream7 to capture, produce, and deliver high-quality on-demand content.
The SQLBits 2018 Developer Conference spanned several days, offering a diverse range of sessions, including workshops, keynote speeches, and technical presentations. The key objectives for Stream7 included:
Simultaneously recording sessions across 12 lecture theatres.
Capturing both live video of presenters and their presentation materials.
Producing polished, branded videos suitable for on-demand viewing.
Ensuring rapid turnaround for post-event content delivery.
To effectively capture content from 12 concurrent sessions, Stream7 deployed a robust technical setup:
Tricaster Systems: Four Tricaster units were utilized, each capable of recording multiple inputs.
Camera Operators: A team of 12 camera operators managed the live video capture in each room.
Audio Integration: High-quality audio feeds were captured directly from the venue’s sound systems.
The Tricaster systems enabled real-time mixing of video feeds:
Picture-in-Picture Layouts: Combining presenter footage with their presentation slides.
Branded Overlays: Incorporating SQLBits branding, session titles, and speaker names.
Live Editing: Reducing post-production time by creating near-final versions during the event.
Following the conference, Stream7 undertook a streamlined post-production process:
Data Management: Handling over 140 hours of footage, amounting to 5TB of data.
Editing: Minimal editing was required due to the live mixing approach.
Encoding: Videos were encoded into formats suitable for online streaming.
The final videos were integrated into SQLBits’ on-demand platform, allowing attendees and the wider community to:
Access Sessions: View presentations they missed during the event.
Revisit Content: Review complex topics at their own pace.
Share Knowledge: Disseminate insights within their organizations.
With 12 sessions running simultaneously, coordination was critical:
Solution: Detailed scheduling and clear communication ensured each session was adequately covered.
Handling large volumes of data posed storage and processing challenges:
Solution: Utilization of high-capacity storage solutions and efficient data workflows streamlined the process.
Delivering content promptly was essential for maintaining engagement:
Solution: Live mixing reduced the need for extensive post-production, enabling quicker delivery.
The two day event produced over 140 hours of recordings totaling 5Tb of raw data. Our media management workflow allowed us to transfer the recordings from each Tricaster and catalogue them. These were then quickly trimmed and uploaded to the client’s server for On Demand viewing.
By creating the compositions of live camera and laptop feeds live, the time taken for post production was greatly reduced to a few days as opposed to months using traditional filming and editing techniques.
The collaboration between SQLBits and Stream7 yielded significant benefits:
Enhanced Accessibility: Attendees could access sessions they missed, and non-attendees could benefit from the content.
Extended Reach: The on-demand content attracted a global audience, expanding SQLBits’ influence.
Increased Engagement: Availability of high-quality content fostered ongoing engagement within the data community.
Stream7’s expertise in content creation and on-demand content delivery played a pivotal role in amplifying the impact of SQLBits 2018. By effectively capturing and disseminating the conference’s wealth of knowledge, Stream7 ensured that the value of the event extended far beyond its physical confines.
