2024 has been a fantastically busy year for sport, with both the Euros and the Olympics dominating the broadcast and media industry. The new opportunities and endeavours for media providers are abundant amongst these major sporting events – with a significant increase in consumer demand as a result. Many broadcasters are moving towards adapted workflows, utilising new elements such as automation, remote operations or even completely customisable solutions to meet demand.
Post production teams are experiencing the increasing demand for content with tight deadlines and higher consumer demand – both of which are affecting workflows and tested by project restrictions. While the nature of high content demand is a challenging one, the result is often a faster, more efficient workflow.
Carrying on the legacy
Following on from the success of A View From the Terrace in 2023, Edit 123, Studio Something and Cinedeck joined forces yet again, this time to deliver the Euros to BBC Scotland with Late Night at the Euros with Compston & Smart. The summer of sport has so far created higher content demand amongst consumers, in turn demanding a faster turnaround and more customised, personalised approaches to content distribution and workflow construction.
To achieve this, the same ‘post-on-location’ workflow was utilised as in 2023, but this time adapted for the rapid turnaround that Late Night at the Euros with Compston & Smart required.
Bringing the Euros to Scotland
Each episode is hosted by actor Martin Compston and broadcaster Gordon Smart, featuring football, fans and celebrity appearances filmed before a live studio audience in Munich for nine, 30-minute episodes. With a tight turnaround between shooting the footage and delivering to BBC Scotland, the team at Edit 123 were tasked with delivering the show in the space of four hours. While most elements of the project were the same for the post production team, there were a few significant differences that needed to be accounted for in the new workflow.
While the work completed with A View From the Terrace allowed for all grading, editing, dubbing, AQC and file delivery to be dealt with back in Glasgow – Late Night at the Euros with Compston and Smart required all these stages to be finished on-site in Munich, which meant a drastic workflow adaptation. What was previously an on-site location in Edinburgh now needed to be transformed into a fully functional post production workflow in a temporary location. It also needed to ensure seamless coordination and maintain high-quality output under significantly tighter turnaround times.
Adapting the workflow
For the same workflow to work in this instance, Edit 123 worked with Cinedeck to achieve a customised approach to the previous way of working. To do so, real-time production tools such as VMIX to facilitate live playback of VT segments during the recording needed to be integrated. Edit 123 also integrated an Atem switcher to perform a live cut of the show as well as ingest and synchronisation of the live cut applied to all individual camera ISO recordings. These changes gave the post production team a coherent, time-aligned base to work from, which significantly reduced the time needed for editing. Alongside this, the construction of a temporary post production location on-site in Munich allowed for a quick dub to be performed back in Glasgow, with the main edits and post production workflow taking place in Munich before being transferred to BBC Scotland within the four-hour turnaround.
Much of the original workflow was kept the same, with six cameras connected directly to a Cinedeck ingest system. This fed into a mixer for camera switching, the VMIX system, and a server system where the final sequence was built. The efficiency of this workflow allowed time for any editorial changes to be made while additional dubbing was done separately to the workflow, all with plenty of time. As a result, Late Night at the Euros with Compston and Smart was a successful and energetic late-night show, topping the iPlayer charts while contributing to hours of viral content.
Andy Maas, head of production, Studio Something says: “With the creative broadcast engineering Edit 123 put in place, it was like having a more cost-effective equivalent of an OB truck plus a post production suite all in one…ultimately it was the key component behind the scenes that enabled a show like this to happen.”
Highlights and takeaways
Delivering Late Night at the Euros with Compston & Smart, despite the challenges, was a positive and evolutionary experience for Edit 123. The quick turnaround, while it presented restrictions, ensured that the show was highly topical, featuring VTs that were recorded and edited the same day. The content was brought to viewers almost in real-time, allowing for a dynamic and engaging viewing experience that captured the essence of the Euros and the unique qualities of the show.
Adjusting the workflow from A View From the Terrace, an already successful project, and having the chance to improve on this further was key in delivering this project. “By combining live recording and a fast turnaround with an efficient workflow for editing and quality control resulted in remarkable results,” says Edit 123’s Lewis Holleran. “Not only was the show one of the most popular ever for BBC Scotland, but it proves just how efficient post production workflows can be in the face of high consumer demand.”
