SLCN Corporate Services

SLCN are experts at filming events inside virtual worlds. Our facilities and staff can be hired for private or corporate events such as:

Live event filming and streaming to the web or inworld overflow areas

Live event archiving for later on-demand viewing

Raw multi-camera capture for later editing by your staff or the production company of your choice

The “Virtual OB”

In the real world, the services of an outside broadcast unit (OB) are used to provide multi-camera video shoots at the location of a client’s choice.

SLCN has pioneered the virtual equivalent, the “Virtual OB”.

Here is how it works...

You or your company have organized and planned a virtual activity such as an entertainment or corporate event.   Using our Virtual OB facilities, we arrive at the scheduled time in the virtual world, and are responsible for filming, capturing, and delivering either live or edit-ready footage to you or your clients.

During filming, you have the option of using our Virtual OB console (right) which shows you the live feed from each camera.  Your director can be in direct contact with our studio personnel on talkback to provide shooting directions, decide on retakes, and refine shooting to assure perfect results.  Then, within 48 hours, each isolated camera feed, in broadcast quality, is expressed for use in any commercial editing program such as Final Cut or Avid.

All provided footage is timecode synchronized, so you can use features such as multi-clip editing to use our resulting footage to maximum advantage.  Audio from a variety of sources can be included as part of one or more ISO feeds.

Live Feed Options

If we are filming something for immediate live broadcast, SLCN provides streaming services as well as technical liason to providers you may already be using (such as Akamai).  Live events can be shown inworld at overflow areas, or incorporated into one or more websites to deliver the virtual event to a much larger audience.

Live events use a typical “OB-style” vision switch mix, which includes title supers, multi-camera transitions, and even information or advertising inserts according to your specifications.

Pricing

All of our work is provided by custom quotation, but pricing for most events is reasonably easy to estimate.   Total event pricing combines the following four components:

• Studio time:  USD$500 per hour for our facilities
  
  
• Personnel:  USD$150 per hour per person.  Most events will require three full time studio engineers for the duration of the event plus about 1 hour extra for set-up and tear down.  Usually an event will require an additional 3-5 hours of time for planning and archiving.  All SLCN personnel have significant experience and operate efficiently and professionally at all times.
  
  
• Media:  Media costs and delivery costs are separate and depend upon client requirements.  Delivery of PAL or NTSC quicktime files is our preferred media, and we ship USB-compatible Mac or PC formatted hard-drives using insured carrier.  Delivery on Betacam or other tape media may add delays and additional cost.
  
  
• Streaming:  Most live events do not incur sigificant streaming costs unless the audience size exceeds 400 simultaneous viewers.  SLCN can provide services for much larger events, but often require significant advance planning, so customers are advised to understand their potential audience size and needs well in advance of the event. The minimum USD$75 streaming setup charge covers streams for typical live events of 2 hours or less.
  

SLCN uses professional facilities for all corporate work. Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss your needs and schedule studio time with SLCN.