Doing More with Less…and then less…(and soon, even less)!
I’ve always been up for a challenge, and I’ve had a few over the years in the world of media production. But over the years, developments in technology have meant we can do things we’d never have thought possible, with less kit than we would have believed while still producing high quality, effective content. But how long can this ‘slimming-down yet stepping up’ continue? I think I’m about to find out…
To give you an example, pre-pandemic, we had a solid rhythm going, livestreaming shows - including a series for The Open University (OU). Their goal? “Taking the distance out of distance education.”
We’d have academics, students, and support staff come into a fully equipped studio, and we’d stream light-hearted, interactive sessions to students worldwide via Vimeo and the OU’s own platform, Stadium.
But the real heart of The Student Hub Live wasn’t just the video stream—it was also in the emotional melting pot of the chatroom. That’s where students connected, shared, swapped tips, and left feeling truly excited about their studies instead of worried about studying alone.
The OU live studio
Behind the studio magic was a dual gallery with vision mixer, graphics, sound desk… all the traditional stuff, plus the studio and green room team looking after the contributors and making sure everything ran smoothly.
The vision gallery in Milton Keynes
Then COVID hit.
Suddenly, we weren’t just streaming to remote students - we were all remote!
We didn’t want to stop streaming, so we started searching for a way to keep it going without a physical studio. That’s when we discovered just how powerful the vMix live streaming and live production software could be. We’d used it before for bringing in a few remote guests, but now? Now, we were running entire shows from a small remote gallery.
Up to eight guests could join from their own homes, see and hear each other in real-time, and interact as if they were in the same room. We could mix video, images, graphics, and even keep the chatroom exactly as it had always been.
The Pandemic Gallery
The gallery was in Warwickshire, the green room split between two sites in London, the interactive graphics from Orkney, the presenter in Wales, the chatroom support in Milton Keynes and the guest contributors, like the audience, were all over the world!
And you know what? The audience barely noticed the difference. In fact, the presenters and guests loved it—no more long trips to Milton Keynes. They could just log in from home, do their bit, and carry on with their day.
Yet the content stayed as ambitious as it had ever been. We had dance sessions, a knight in shining armour, quizzes, interviews and props galore. The presenters joined in our ambition and kitted themselves out with permanent green screens and lighting. They presented from vast libraries, tranquil beaches and even an Orc cave…
Other organizations caught wind of what we were doing, and soon we were streaming everything from a live beer-tasting session to an international conference! The time, cost, and travel savings were huge, and even after lockdowns ended, many shows stuck with this format.
We built a rock-solid system with a powerful, custom-built computer at the core, four screens, SDI and NDI-linked cameras, and a fantastic team. Our event manager, Angela Lamont, worked alongside me in the control room, coordinating with presenters and crew via WhatsApp, Google Docs, and a dedicated audio talk-back channel. Gerard Giorgi-Coll and Liis Mikk ran a virtual green room, checking guests’ cameras, sound, and lighting before bringing them into the main studio. Michelle Ireson managed interactive elements like word clouds and polls.
But what about the all-important crew camaraderie? Well for the international conference, which should have been based in Sweden, we sent every crew member a hamper of Swedish goodies to get them feeling fully involved, so their lunch, drinks and snacks all had a Swedish vibe throughout the three days on air. And when the final session closed, we all piled into vMix and had an after-party.
We were doing more with less.
Then, earlier this year, I found myself having to do even more with even less!
I ran three SHL events from a tiny London flat instead of our Warwickshire studio base. On top of that, Angela was in Italy and couldn’t be involved at all, and Liis—who had stepped in as event manager before—was in Albania!
There was no choice but to make it work. I quickly invested in a high-powered laptop and swapped my usual four big screens for a laptop, a TV, a small USB-C monitor, and an iPad.
The cut-down gallery… Mark I
Somehow, it all came together. Liis managed the show remotely from Albania (with an amazing internet connection, better than many in the UK!). Gerard handled the green room solo, and Michelle ran the interactive elements as usual from Orkney.
And guess what? The events ran smoothly. Viewers had no idea anything was different —thanks to the incredible team and the magic of vMix.
The Cut-Down Setup
Here’s what I was working with:
Hardware:
• Dell XPS16 laptop (Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 32GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060)
• Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD22TB4
• Dell KB700 keyboard
• Elgato Stream Deck XL
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
• Kensington SlimBlade Pro trackball
• TerraMaster D2-310 RAID
• AKG P170 mic
• Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pro headphones
• Samsung external monitor
• Electriq external monitor
• iPad Pro 11” – used as a stream monitor
Software:
• vMix – the brains of the operation
• WhatsApp – for crew communications
• Google Docs – for real-time producer/presenter coordination
• Excel – production documents
• Word – presenter scripts
• Vimeo Producer – encoding
• Vimeo – streaming
• KMi Stadium – final platform
It’s been a wild ride, but if there’s one thing this experience has taught me, it’s that with the right tools and the right people, you really can do more with less.
So what’s next? Well, I’m going to become a Digital Nomad. And I’ll be getting my kit into a standard airline-sized suitcase…stay tuned…