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Day One Media helps businesses tell their story in memorable ways. Employing the tools of video production, photography and graphic design, Day One Media crafts beautiful and moving pieces that have a lasting impact on customers. We have worked for numerous clients and delivered world-class service resulting in elevated brand awareness and motivating current and new buyers to our clients' businesses. We work with your target in mind: results in your bottom line. Current clients include Fluor, Xerox, Billy Graham Association, Samaritan's Purse.

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Day One Media's News, Blog and other Good Happenings.

Articles to stir your mind and creativity.

Livestream Fast Track Checklist for Business

Gil Ngai

Greenscreens let you do really cool things.

You’ve been charged with a livestream for your company. You’ve done your share of research and videos on the topic. Now it’s time to gather what you need. You’ll need a budget of $10K+. If that doesn’t ruffle your feathers, read on! Here’s the checklist to ensure you don’t forget anything.

  1. The Team: It’s pretty tough to do a livestream event solo. Of course it’s technically possible but why put yourself through that immense stress? Here are the roles you need to fill:

    A. Director: This will most likely be you. Someone needs to ensure everyone is on task and be the one to make any crucial decisions as they are needed. You will also give prompts and commands to your team, your stage talent and directing all your switcher and camera operators, to your audio tech. It’s a big job and its critical. You might even add a Stage Manager if you it’s a bigger production.

    B. Switcher: This role ensures all the cameras are functional at your command station and will make the cuts from one camera to another throughout the event.

    C. Camera Operators: You’ll want to 2 or more camera operators. For a professional feel, aim for at least 3–5.

    D. Audio Technician: You may have one or two of these depending on their skill. Audio Techs manage the room sound (commonly know as the PA system) as well as the livestream audio. This requires two separate mixer boards.

    E. Graphics/Media Tech: A graphics tech manages the placement of slides, logos, lyrics, photos, and any other external content like videos, into the program. If there is a lot of content, you’ll want two individuals.

    F. Online Moderator: This roles manages the chat box, the Q&A, and any other tasks related to the platform, such as on Zoom, they can set pins, assign permissions, etc. This person also monitors the quality of the livestream video and audio and relays this information to the Director.

  2. The Gear: You’ll need to rent, borrow or purchase this list of gear. For reliability its best to avoid consumer grade gear such as those you’d find on Amazon. You can rent at AV rental shops such as Long & McQuade in Canada and Ciné AudioVisual.

    A. AV System. For venues that don’t provide this, you’ll need a system for sound. This typically includes speakers and stands, and a mixer board.

    B. Microphones: Choose between wired handheld stage microphones or wireless lapel-style microphones. You'll need one for every person that speaks on stage. You could swap them out between your talent if there are time gaps between some individuals, however this can be risky and stressful in a live setting.

    C. Lighting: For venues without stage lighting, you need at least a 3 light kit for video. This typically includes three 1K LED panels or LED video spotlights with soft boxes. You may need more than three for larger spaces.

    D. Audio Mixer Boards: To manage more than one speaker on stage, you need one mixer for the rooms sound and one mixer for the livestream. If you only have only one talent, you can get away with running the mic into your video camera providing that camera has audio level controls.

    E. Video Cameras and tripods: For small simple events, small SLR and M4/3 cameras can work fine providing they can run a clean HDMI out signal and does not have a time limit on its HDMI output. These cameras cost about $1000 and up. Professional camcorders are a better choice as they include smooth zoom and exposure adjustments. This allows you to make adjustments to the image while live without an amateurish jarring or shakey effect. Pro camcorders are around $2500 and up. To avoid mismatched images, it’s best to keep all your cameras the same, or at least the same brand. Cameras of different brands and types will each have their own image style. Different camera images can be quite jarring when cutting between them. For tripods, be sure it is a fluid-head video tripod. Test to ensure it pans and tilts like butter: smooth as silk. Low budgets ones under $100 don’t usually work.

    F. Switcher: A switcher console such as the DJI Atem Mini allows you to plug in all your cameras and switch between them giving you a more professional look. A one static camera livestream is so boring it almost guarantees no one will watch until the end. Choose a switcher that has recording ability so that you can record the entire livestream to disk.

    G. Monitors: You’ll need a minimum of one monitor for your switcher. It’s ideal to have another so that your team can see what’s going on. Another one for your talent is also helpful so they can see how they are presenting themselves.

    H. Computers: Laptops are needed to manage graphics and other external media as well one laptop dedicated to monitor the livestream. The moderator should also have their own computer.

    I. Cables: You need a ton of cables: HDMI cables to connect all your cameras to the switcher. Audio XLR cables to connect mics to the mixers (unless you have wireless mics) Internet CAT5/6 cables. Long power cables. USB-C or Thunderbolt cable to connect your laptop to the switcher.

    J. Software: There are numerous options for streaming software such as Restream, Vimeo Livestream, OBS, all with varying features and costs. Most have a free or trial option for you to try out before you commit. Switchers such as Black Magic’s include some basic software.

    K. Com System: You need a way to communicate with your team during the event without running around and talking to them. You can use:

    1. Cell phones with an intercom app and earbuds/AirPods with mics.

    2. Walkie Talkies with headsets

    3. Dedicated intercom systems with headsets and mic built-in.

    You might guess that each level of coms above increases in cost progressively but also in quality and reliability.

    L. A hardwire internet connection. For reliability your location should provide internet that you can plug into with a CAT5/6 cable. Test the speed of their internet with a site such as Speedtest.net to ensure solid high upload speeds.

  3. Optional Items: Projector, screen, TVs, extra monitors, batteries for cameras, capture cards such as Elgato Camlink if plugging HDMI cameras into your laptop. These additional items may be needed to further enhance the event experience.

    Phew! We made it. OK that is a pretty long list. But if you want to do it right, don’t skip anything. If all this is not your idea of a good time, bring on a livestream video production company. Be sure to meet with them to discuss what your vision and goals are to ensure they have the know-how and all the gear needed to deliver your livestream event.

    Livestreaming can be an overwhelming experience but with careful planning and having all the right pieces in place, it can be a very fulfilling experience broadcasting your event to the world.

    If you need recommendations of what and where to buy, connect with us directly. We would be glad to help!

The Future of Events

Gil Ngai

There’s no going back. Events suddenly became one of the biggest casualties of the pandemic. The toll also has no foreseeable end in sight. It is plausible that mass gatherings will be restricted well into next year. These strange times have forced us all to rethink what events look like.

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What do you do with customer feedback?

Gil Ngai

Most of us business owners have some process for customer feedback. Often it is as simple as just asking our clients if they are pleased. But what is your process to record, track and respond to this feedback? Surveys continually show that 50% of customers will seek out other vendors due to a poor customer experience.

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Lessons from Nenshi

Gil Ngai

I spent 3 months with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and his campaign team during the 2017 civic election. We worked on 8 video projects together, helping him share his vision and tell his story. Here's what I learned from the guy who won a World Mayor Prize.

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Lessons from Pixar and Beyond

Gil Ngai

This story was a wild ride with numerous business lessons to be learned. Two extremely remarkable things occurred to me in this story. The first was that from the time that Levy met Jobs for the first time in 1994 and accepted the job, to when Pixar released A Bug's Life and subsequently Toy Story 2 in 1999, only FIVE years had passed. In five years, Pixar was already a world wide sensation. Think about this for a minute. How many of us, as owners of small businesses have even a fraction of this kind of vision for succeeding in mind for the next five years?

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MacBook Pro 2016 - An Entrepreneur Review

Gil Ngai

Thin, light, fast, expensive.

Thin, light, fast, expensive.

I started the new year with a new 2016 Apple MacBook Pro Touchbar. I chose the 13” model, with the 3.3 Ghz Intel Core i7 and upgraded all the other options included 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. I wasn't able to upgrade the Intel Graphics Iris 550 card, which was disappointing. I’ve used it for two solid months and here is my impression. This won’t be about the detailed specs or any speed tests, as there’s plenty of others commenting on that. Instead, this is my experience as a small business owner.

This notebook is incredibly thin and light. It is truly a thing of beauty. But the most asked question is, "how useful is that touch bar?" The Macbook touchbar is a thin touch screen strip placed above the keyboard where the F-Keys were. It places context sensitive functions for the current app being used. For example when showing my work to clients at a café, they love the touch scrub bar that appears for videos. It's extremely responsive and works perfectly. In fact all my apps have some useful options that appear on the touch bar to make my work just a little easier. As I am typing this, words are appearing (completion suggestions) on the touch bar just like they do on my iPhone. The touchbar can be edited to include my favourite shortcuts as well, through the Finder app.

It certainly took some time to get use to this approach. The more I use the touch bar, the more it became something of real value: it's not just a shortcut from using the trackpad. Instead, it shows many useful actions culled from the busy desktop screen.

The keyboard is now lower profile and requires less effort but still has a solid click. The finger ID log in works quickly and is a nice feature, allowing up to 5 different fingerprints. The trackpad is much larger. The entire computer is thinner and lighter. The two thin speakers on each side of the keyboard sound really good.  

Now the downside: the beloved magsafe port is gone, all to be replaced with 2 or 4 USB-C/Thunderbolt ports (depending on the model you choose). The only other port is the headphone jack. I have to carry a multi port adaptor with me at all times. The wings on the power brick for winding the the thin cable are also gone as is the extended power cable. That has been replaced entirely with a longer USB-C cable. 

So ultimately how useful is this touch bar MacBook Pro? Is it a game changer?  Yes and no. If you have the previous generation, I wouldn’t rush out to get this. The performance improvement on it is rather slight. However if your laptop is much older, this machine is going to be a delight. It is light, fast and performs beautifully. Some of my video colleagues are considering upgrading to a loaded previous generation MacBook Pro so they don’t have to fight with dongles. That is certainly a viable option. But like all things in the Mac universe, once initiated, plenty of others tend to jump on board. This is witnessed in the GoPro Hero 5 with a USB-C port. This article may lead you to believe USB-C is the one cable to rule them all. http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8704551/usb-type-c-is-the-future. As apps develop specifically for the touch bar, more and more useful features will appear on it. And just like everything else we get use to, in time, I will likely say that it has become a part of my workflow and I would never go back. 

3 Steps to a Personal Rebrand

Gil Ngai

Rebrand yourself in 3 easy steps.

In an economic downturn, it is more crucial than ever to stand out amongst the crowd. This is the season to take the time to rebrand yourself and get noticed. There are endless pages of mediocre profiles on LinkedIn, filled with people who are there because everyone else is. Taking these steps will make all the difference when someone is looking to hire.

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Gil Ngai

While in Vancouver, I had a little time to brush up our photography skills. I ventured onto Cambie and Broadway which was packed with shoppers and traffic on a Monday night. I played with some long exposures of City Hall. How fun was that?!

Medical Shoot

Gil Ngai

This week we traveled to Vancouver, BC for one of our American clients to highlight their new medical technology in the operating room. We shot with 4 cameras covering every angle of this procedure. This required close cooperation with the surgeon and the surgical team in close confines. Overall, it was an exciting experience.

Martin Parnell Shoot

Gil Ngai

Thanks to DohertyBryant, we just shot an inspirational presentation by international speaker, author and athlete Martin Parnell. At 47, Martin Parnell wasn’t in running shape.  Now only 10 years later, he’s completed an astonishing 250 marathons in one year, set four Guinness World Records and, in March of this year, returned from Kilimanjaro after running a marathon and three days later summiting the mountain is 21 hours. In 2010 Martin ran 250 marathons and raised $320,000 for the children’s charity Right To Play. He has now begun his “Quests for Kids” initiative, aiming to complete 10 quests in 5 years, raise $1m for Right To Play and  change the lives of 20,000 of the world’s most disadvantaged children. He is author of “MARATHON QUEST”, published by Rocky mountain Books, which shows how, through determination and persistence, one person can affect change, one step at a time.

Our patio is open.

Gil Ngai

Now the rains have finally subsided, our rooftop patio is open. With lots of cushy chairs, and a great skyline view, this is a primo place to hang out. Drop by any weekday to enjoy it!

View from the deck.

View from the deck.

Online Video: The latest stats

Gil Ngai

Our friends at Funnelbox have released the latest stats on video. These stats are pretty hard to ignore. Video is not a fad or just for fun anymore. Customers now expect it. It gives credibility to your business. Your competition is using it. If you aren't at least considering video, you are missing a huge piece of marketing advantage.

Honest Logos

Gil Ngai

youtubemocklogo.jpg

If corporations were honest, their logos might look like these. Viktor Hertz, a Swedish designer created these clever logos highlighting the shortfalls of these corporations. 

Hypervibe reminds us to get fit

Gil Ngai

This month, we worked with our super-fit friends at Hypervibe again, producing more great exercise videos. Deb and Lindsay reminded us that life/work balance is so crucial. Despite how tirelessly we focus on our video projects, we all need exercise desperately. Here's to Hypervibe for keeping us in check. We are committed to staying creative and fit! No amount of success in business is worthwhile without our health to enjoy it.  Congratulations to Deb Pelletier for the opening of her own fitness studio ReVibe on 16th Avenue!!

CPVA

Gil Ngai

Day One Media is a member of the Calgary Professional Videographer's Association. The CPVA is a group of professionals engaged in producing top-notch video in Calgary. This month I led the discussion and demonstrated the power of using #slomo #slowmotion footage in our videos. As cameras become increasingly more powerful and sophisticated, we as professional not only keep up with technology but are exploring leading-edge techniques that benefit our customers. Slow motion footage has a beautiful ethereal quality that captures moments in time. It is like a striking photograph with motion embedded. Talk to us if this technique will benefit your product or services.