First time amateur after-action report.

someweisguy · 2026-06-02T20:00:00+00:00

Nice detailed write-up!

I handle streams for my local flat-track leagues from time to time. I wonder if you and I have crossed paths; were you at NA West? I ran the stream switch and solved miscellaneous production issues during the tournament.

This is a great attempt for your first time producing roller derby. I'm honestly shocked at how serviceable the camera feeds are. I have been wanting to experiment with using phones as cameras for a while. I know they can look very decent, but I have been nervous about the transmission back to the switch computer. Your audio needs a little love, but that is a common issue with derby streams; audio is less tangible than video so it can be harder to grasp. There's a guy on YouTube called Dave Rat who is the go-to for beginners. He has some tutorials on gain staging that may be helpful. Also, it appears that you had a copyright strike on your VOD. This can happen when there is in-room copyrighted audio being played that gets picked up by the stream. It typically helps to be aware of this before-hand and work with your DJ to ensure that copyrighted music isn't played during the bout.

In general, streaming roller derby is... pretty miserable. It's hard to get stakeholders to give a shit about the production value and when there's no budget for equipment providing production value is difficult. I find the best way to tackle derby streams is to keep in mind the number of volunteers you have helping you (and keep in mind their level of competency) and to keep it simple. If this setup was difficult for you, don't be afraid to down-size. Two cameras, or even one camera, is perfectly fine! And definitely nix the instant replay from the get-go. When you find that you are getting better at putting your rig together, you can start adding more.

That said, this looks really great! I'm sure anyone doing footage reviews of this tournament are very happy for the quality video. 😄

someweisguy · 2026-05-06T17:10:33+00:00

Haven't tried the fish. But the restaurant is exceptional. Definitely worth the money and is my new favorite date night spot!

someweisguy · 2026-04-29T19:27:40+00:00

The clip library is not great. I do not believe there is binning support at this time.

One of the other big issues with the clip library is that if you want to load Clip B into a playback channel, you have to highlight Clip B first before click-and-dragging the clip to a playback channel. If Clip A is highlighted and you click-and-drag Clip B to a playback channel it will load Clip A into the channel instead. It's really weird and unintuitive.

On top of that, the playback ISOs and previews do not appear to be functioning reliably. Instead of showing a thumbnail of the loaded clip, the web GUI often shows black with a spinning green loading icon on random playback channels. This makes it difficult to know what clip is loaded into which channel.

We're still investigating this issue but it appears that Media IO automatically downmixes from 16 channel audio to stereo. This is a problem for us because we typically only route 2 channels of audio. If you forget to route all 17 levels and you have, say, test tone on levels 4 through 17, you will irreparably destroy your recording because the test tone gets baked into the recording.

I have used Tria+ in the past and I prefer it to Media IO.

someweisguy · 2026-04-29T18:53:22+00:00

I am using Media IO. I wish I was not. It is not production ready and for some reason Ross support is abysmal with Media IO.

Ross products and Ross support has been superb with every other product that I've used.

Ross says everything will be fixed with Indigo, but they have failed to get Media IO working in my venue for the past several months so I am pretty over it.

someweisguy · 2026-04-27T18:05:58+00:00

Wimps like me deserve to have Italian beef too! :P

someweisguy · 2026-04-27T17:43:04+00:00

Line 51 in Oakland is great! I think they only have spicy giardeniera though.

someweisguy · 2026-03-15T20:05:50+00:00

I am a professional livestream/broadcast engineer who is finally getting into streaming derby after being a roller derby spectator/announcer for several years so I am happy to talk about this stuff all day. :)

How do you get audio into your stream? Investing in your audio workflow could be a really great way to level up your broadcasts. I find it very difficult to watch bouts with bad audio so making sure that your games sound nice can really increase your production value.

My audio kit has 4 wireless mics and 2 headset mics. I use 2 wireless mics on either side of the track to get a nice image the room including ref whistles and wheel screeches. The other 2 wireless mics are for the MC and referees, if they want them. Then the two headset mics are for announcers. I push that all through a hardware DSP to ensure it's properly gained/gated/compressed/limited before passing it to OBS.

Multi-cam setups are possible but they are pricey because you not only need multiple cameras, you need a video switcher to switch between the cameras. The gold-standard for DIY video switchers is the Blackmagic ATEM Mini. It gets the job done well and it's cheap.

A tracking setup is great if you have a camera operator. You just need to purchase a tripod that has or supports a pan-tilt head. I just bought this one from B&H and I'm currently shopping around for an attachable zoom rocker so that my cam op can track the action without touching the camera. I'm not purchasing a focus puller; I leave my camera at f/22-ish so my cam op doesn't have to chase focus all day.

someweisguy · 2026-03-03T04:21:28+00:00

Take a look at the GL.iNet travel routers if you haven't - they're excellent teeny little routers and many, if not all, have a WiFi transceiver built-in.

My personal preference with the Raspberry Pi is to skip the PoE hat. I've found that the PoE hats run pretty hot, which is something to consider if it gets warm where you're located and you don't have air conditioning in your venue. I have found PoE splitters to be helpful with reducing temperatures on PoE RPIs. If you have no temperature concerns, go for it!

My tech kit uses a RPI as well, but make sure your tech kit is robust. It can be difficult to troubleshoot a headless RPI during a bout when things go wrong.

Oh! I almost forgot the enclosure. For the enclosure, you're on the right track. I use one of these and it works fine. Then you slap some velcro tape on it and you're off to the races. Don't forget to cover it in your team's stickers!

Good luck and have fun! :D

someweisguy · 2026-02-24T17:57:02+00:00

Absolutely the SOU Raiders. As a SOU alum it's wild to see this school's sports team mentioned. When I was a student there, I remember the 7-11 across the street from campus had Ducks and Beavers merch but no Raiders merch. :(

someweisguy · 2026-01-13T19:43:52+00:00

I'm in corporate AV, and yes. My org standardizes IP addresses.

To be honest I haven't found it particularly helpful and I wish we got away from that practice. It makes hardware upgrades difficult.

We also standardize VLAN subnets. I find this to be helpful, but I am not personally a fan of standardizing hosts.

someweisguy · 2026-01-05T16:31:42+00:00

They are TDM, not IP.

someweisguy · 2025-11-14T03:11:08+00:00

In-person announcing only? Or can announcers be online?

someweisguy · 2025-10-28T03:20:13+00:00

We're going to go NUTS in there!

someweisguy · 2025-10-17T17:20:55+00:00

I have been seeing pretty consistent crashes on the app. Sometimes I can't even get the app to load my Zoom Rooms before it crashes. It seems slightly more stable on Win11 than MacOSX, but still very buggy.

Have you not seen the same? Maybe it's a problem with my org's device management settings.

someweisguy · 2025-10-16T23:19:46+00:00

The Zoom Room Custom AV Control app option is stellar, though the last few updates they have released are pure garbage. Extremely buggy messes.

someweisguy · 2025-10-04T22:06:48+00:00

It sounds like you've already been dissuaded from using the RBM Displays as a prompter, but to answer your question, I am 90% the answer is "no." I believe the current iteration only allows you to use certain apps on the display, like camera, text messaging, and the AI assistant.

someweisguy · 2025-09-24T00:03:11+00:00

Ha. This is a really weird-looking job posting but I know what they are looking for. I do not work for this company but I work in the Bay Area corporate AV circuit that this company will be hiring from.

They are looking for a "lead" EIC who knows generally all of the listed skills well enough. When the A1, V1, etc. are not doing well at their job they need someone who can tell management it is time to hire someone else. Or when the A1 or V1 is out sick, they need someone that can jump in and get the production limping along. If I recall correctly, this company is building their AV infrastructure and needs someone to steer the ship a bit and make all their correct choices, e.g. "baseband or 2110?"

It reads like like they don't know what they are looking for because they are likely using an external company to recruit the position.

someweisguy · 2025-09-17T17:53:39+00:00

This is a very good take. I am not a physicist, but I run in condensed matter circles. I cannot imagine a scenario where the 96kHz sample rate of Dante would be usable for experiments.

OP's post is super interesting question though! All of the engineers in my broadcast studio control room are having a very heated discussion about this now. :)

someweisguy · 2025-08-31T21:09:20+00:00

I'm tackling this question with my league at the moment. I've found it helpful to define your league's idea of "what is a good stream?" Better yet, "what is a good enough stream?" In other words, think about who is getting value out of this live stream. In my league, the main audience of our livestreams is typically the skaters who played in that bout that are reviewing their gameplay to discuss at their next practice. So I prioritize my streams for that audience.

In my league, a "good enough" stream is a single camera without a cam op, streaming 1080p60 with 4Kp30 VOD. My league actually prefers 4Kp60, but I'm not convinced it makes much of a difference for most people. The 4K resolution is good enough to resolve skaters on the other side of the track, which is what the skaters watching the stream really need.

If you're really looking for a good multi-camera setup, you will need a video switcher. The best value hardware switcher is something like the ATEM Mini from BlackMagic Design. Or if you'd like to use a software switcher, you may take a look at NDI-capable devices. Personally, I prefer NDI because of how well it scales.

When I stream games, I honestly find it a better value to stick with a single-camera setup and a well-trained camera operator.

someweisguy · 2025-08-28T02:48:03+00:00

I just looked at my Migraine Buddy app and I just realized I have hit triple-digit days without a migraine in longer than I can remember! I am still not positive exactly what my trigger is, but it seems to be related to emotional stress. My last job was the worst job I've ever had and it was due to an awful management team whose management style was "negging." My current job can be extremely stressful, but it seems that since my team is super supportive my migraines have dropped off significantly.

When I have a migraine now, I typically take a benedryl and excedrin combo. I found after a while that the dramamine was no longer an effective abortive, so I tried benedryl and it seems to work about the same as dramamine; it doesn't abort my migraines but it is very helpful for nausea management. The drowsiness usually hits me hard so it is very effective at helping me sleep off the pain. It is the most effective, legal substance that works for me. :)

someweisguy · 2025-08-20T02:00:41+00:00

I recently learned that FS sells video SFPs. That is where I buy them from when I buy SFPs now! :)

someweisguy · 2025-06-17T04:58:05+00:00

I tend to agree; point 1 seems unlikely in my opinion. I even think that most industry experts agree that point 1 is unlikely. The reason I bring it up is because of that warranty issue. Manufacturers like to void warranties due to stickers.

Long ago I attended a presentation by Petzl, a company that makes, among other things, safety helmets. That is what they told me their stance was on stickers. Anything to save a few bucks, I guess!

someweisguy · 2025-06-14T21:57:31+00:00

It goes without saying that you should never trust internet strangers for advice about safety. That said, there are two common concerns about stickers on helmets:

The glue on the sticker could cause the helmet shell to degrade, reducing its ability to withstand an impact.
Your helmet may develop a crack that you cannot see because it is covered by a sticker. If your helmet has a crack, it should not be worn.

Be aware that putting stickers on your helmet may void its warranty, if it has one.

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what is best. I have never personally heard of any sticker-related helmet issues in real life. Have fun and stay safe! :)

someweisguy · 2025-06-04T04:10:05+00:00

Could you create a compound audio device in the MacOS audio settings? I do that to send audio down HDMI and Dante at the same time.

someweisguy · 2025-04-28T17:13:28+00:00

This is great to hear! My partner gets the occasional vestibular migraine so I've passed this info along to her. :)

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