When COVID first hit, along with almost every other industry, film and TV productions all over the world were immediately shut down. The number of people required on set, along with the inability to socially distance, made shooting untenable. Throughout April and May 2020, studios and film sets were ghost towns.
It was clear that some fundamental changes needed to be made to ensure that the industry could resume operations in a new, socially-distanced world. Digital Orchard used the first lockdown as a chance to think strategically about options to enable their part in the production process to continue safely once more. The company had used QTAKE for several years with its team of 11 operators, to provide instant playback for major features and high-end TV. However, due to its ability to provide both local and remote streaming, they could now see the potential for a new role for the system to be used on smaller budget productions, including those commercials and TV shows that had never previously used QTAKE, as a ready-made option to speedily aid the safe return to set.
QTAKE enables live feed streaming from cameras directly to multiple devices: on-set, near set or entirely remotely, with international streaming functionality connecting people working on the other side of the world with a production in real time. It’s also invaluable for multi-unit shoots, as two QTAKEs can transmit to one another, ensuring that both have constantly updating footage from each unit.
Although Digital Orchard originally recognised the benefits of the social distancing aspect of the kit, they are now automatically using the streaming functionality as part of their standard set-up for all kinds and sizes of production. It speeds up the process by giving people across the production the ability to watch footage instantly from their own screens or tablets, enabling a seamless workflow without everyone needing to be in the same space. It means the end of people crowding together around a single playback monitor on set, keeping productions of all sizes safer, with more people working away from the action, whilst maintaining communication with all key departments and HoDs.
Digital Orchard has used QTAKE to revolutionise its production process with improvements in speed, fluidity of workflow and crew communication. The benefits of having comprehensive and scalable QTAKE packages set up by experienced technicians is bound to continue beyond the pandemic, helping productions of all sizes deliver countless efficiencies for crew on set.
“During the pandemic, many productions had to find a way to deal with the socially-distanced film sets. QTAKE has been ready for this with its real-time local and cloud streaming. It provides a true remote video village experience and therefore the transition for any type of production is painless. Using streams of up to 4K HDR quality with talkback and studio-grade security, remote team members can collaborate interactively, just as if they were on the set or sharing the same editing or colour grading room,” said Vlado Struhar, co-founder of IN2CORE, developer of QTAKE software.
