First and foremost, the health and safety of LiveU employees, customers and partners is our top priority and we have rigorously implemented safety instructions published by government authorities and healthcare organisations.
At the same time, we are committed to ensuring business continuity and supporting the industry during this worldwide crisis. Here are some interesting examples of how our technology is helping people to communicate at this time.
Government communication
Portugal
Samuel Martins, president of the Centre for the Government Electronic Network (CEGER), explains: “LiveU Solo has been a fundamental technology in allowing the Portuguese government to be able to communicate to the whole country the work that is being carried out to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister’s main communications via the government’s official Twitter feed have been made possible by LiveU. Other important information about the COVID-19 situation, such as communications from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Finance and the Economy, have been achieved using this technology. With the communication this LiveU technology allows it has been possible to avoid having too many people (especially journalists) in the same space. Journalists follow up remotely to ask their questions. The streams are produced by the production company StreamDust.”
Here are a couple of the most recent examples:
- Prime Minister’s statement on the coronavirus / COVID-19 situation:
Declaração do Primeiro-Ministro sobre a situação do coronavírus/Covid-19 https://t.co/WC3oyzWME9
— República Portuguesa (@govpt) March 15, 2020
- Minister of Economy of Portugal explaining important measures of economic and social support:
Declarações após Reunião da Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social https://t.co/V0K5as67ut
— República Portuguesa (@govpt) March 23, 2020
Houses of worship
Germany
German streaming company Motherstream produced a Sunday Mass that was live streamed on YouTube. This took place in the Chemnitz Castle Church (Schlosskirche Chemnitz), the Saxony state church.
Markus Wilmsmann, Motherstream video producer, said: “The Schlosskirche Chemnitz does not have a stable or high enough bandwidth LAN, but the mission was to do it live, so a LiveU Solo wireless video encoder was the product of choice, equipped with two SIM cards and connected to an iPhone via personal hotspot. It delivered flawless quality without a single error, signal loss or quality reduction. The input signal was received from a Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD. A Panasonic HC-X1 was the main camera plus we used two additional Canon XA10s. The sound was fed into the XLR inputs of the ATEM via a Roland digital audio desk. We had an audience of 800 people at any one time and were very pleased.”
Portugal
Pe Nuno Rosário Fernandes is a Catholic priest and journalist in Lisbon, Portugal. He explains: “I have been using LiveU Solo for about two/three years to broadcast certain Catholic church events. Because of the pandemic, we are unable to celebrate mass with the assembly present. So, I started transmitting mass in the church where I am a parish priest as well as other moments of prayer to feed people spiritually who no longer have the ability to celebrate their faith because they can’t leave home at the moment.
“I started by only using a Canon XA15 camera and LiveU Solo with three connections. Then, because this situation is ongoing, I wanted to provide a more professional and better quality image. Even without being able to leave the house, I bought an ATEM Mini from Blackmagic Design to which I now connect the video camera and the Macbook Pro, my personal computer, with Mimolive software for graphics.
“I also use a Neewer F100 video monitor. It’s all very simple but gives really good results. LiveU Solo is a marvel and has not let me down in any way. LiveU’s LRT (LiveU Reliable Transport) technology is very good for signal stability. The LiveU Solo is in a backpack with a power bank and a little fan to keep it cool.”
Online fashion show
UK/USA
Buffoon Media, bilingual media production and distribution company based in the UK, was approached by Enzoani, a bridal gown fashion house, who asked them to produce a virtual show for them where they could showcase their new collection because Chicago’s Bridal Show was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Buffoon Media worked closely with Enzoani’s website developers, User Fusion, who added the live stream player into their online hub. This meant that their resellers could login and watch the live stream with a live chat facility, as well as place orders online to minimise disruption to their business.
On the day of the show, which was filmed in Los Angeles, the camera operator delivered a live video feed, using an LU600 HEVC unit, along with a live audio feed that was used for commentary. This was received by our LiveU server and then flawlessly streamed into our vision mixer in our UK-based studio, where we added graphics for each garment along with music and holding slides. The high-quality live stream meant we recorded a high-quality version of the stream for further editing and use post event.
Music / entertainment
Germany
Corona TV is an initiative from TranzCafé Ilses Erika, a Leipzig nightclub, featuring local musicians, comedians and poetry slammers on their Facebook page, keeping their fans entertained during these social distancing times by streaming with a LiveU Solo. Onstage, every artist has their own microphone so as not to spread potential infection. Viewers applaud from their sofas at home and donate money online.
