“That first broadcast was accomplished with video boxes over a graphic background,” Cotiart said. Just a few short days after their world had been turned upside down, LocalGames’ first redesigned broadcast, powered by a new TriCaster Mini 4K, went on the air. Plugging that legacy equipment into a Spark device allowed LocalGames to continue to use this old equipment and still utilize all the technological advantages their TriCaster offers. After purchasing their TriCaster Mini 4K, the company had legacy, non-NDI equipment they needed to continue to use. While many Spark owners use their units to integrate remote cameras anywhere on their network into a TriCaster, LocalGames found a unique way to use the versatile devices. The Spark unit converts HDMI or SDI video sources to NDI making it available as a video source. Spark Plus converters allow producers to capture video from digital cameras and other devices wirelessly or over an Ethernet network. The company also owns four NewTek Spark Plus units, which play a vital role in their redesigned productions. “And since we knew the power of NDI, it made sense to go with NewTek products when it was time to make upgrades.” “Even before we bought our first piece of NewTek gear, we were using NDI under the free protocol,” Pizurnia said. LocalGames makes extensive use of NDI® (Network Device Interface), a revolutionary software standard developed by NewTek that enables video-compatible products to communicate, deliver, and receive high-definition video and audio over a computer network in a high-quality manner suitable for switching in a live production environment. Our experience with the 3Play has been nothing but positive.” And honestly, I find the 3Play to be much more versatile and dynamic than those other machines, and all at a much smaller price point. The only thing that changed was the location of the buttons. “The transition to using 3Play was extremely simple. “I was used to using EVS or K2 for replays back in my broadcast days,” Cotiart says. The reliability and versatility of the 3Play was one of the reasons LocalGames felt so comfortable turning to NewTek when the pandemic hit. Just like any other sports broadcaster, replays are an important production tool in LocalGames’ production arsenal, and the company has made use of NewTek’s 3Play® to produce instant replays for their eGaming programs.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to get your hands dirty. That’s how I learned to record macros, create camera pre-sets, modify the Multiview, and build buffer animations.

So, I just got in there, sat down at the TriCaster, and got my hands dirty. And I’m not the sort of person who likes to read manuals. Many staff members at LocalGames came from that legacy world of broadcast production, but as Rodrigo Cotiart, broadcast engineer and Chief TriCaster Operator for LocalGames said, “I found the TriCaster to be very easy to learn.

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