At first glance, a new podcast studio opened by a marketing and events agency may not seem entirely relevant to readers of SVG Europe. But there is more than initially meets the eye when it comes to the new Blueprint Studios facility that has just launched in south-west London.
Compact in size, the space has been designed from the ground up to be a flexible, easy to use and affordable studio that can cater to a whole host of content creators.
Mark Anand, chief creative officer at Blueprint Group, explains: “We wanted to have a space that we could use for podcasters, going right up to broadcasters, and then also give it as much flexibility as possible.”
This has been achieved through a detailed design and an investment in high-quality kit.
“We designed the studio around a big LED screen, because it’s very quick to change the branding and the light. We wanted quite an abstract background that’s quick to rebrand and that we can use in different ways.”
While users can shoot towards the screen in a news-desk style format, the compact room also offers mutiple other sets – from a country house-style plain wall to a chat space with sofas and shelving. There’s also a tab track that runs around the outside of the space, with white, black and green screens meaning virtual sets can also be accommodated.
As standard the space comes with four Canon C80 cameras, including an automated jib that can be controlled from the gallery via Bluetooth. Cameras and lenses were purchased from CVP.
“We’re trying to have that extra production value, that little bit of movement that you get in a broadcast studio, without having to have multiple operators to do it,” adds Anand. “In its simplest form, one operator can operate the whole space, but we can add in different people in different areas, and even things like the prompt. The prompt is voice driven, so we can tie the presenter’s mic into it and it drives itself.”
The gallery has been designed to be able to run a full broadcast production and can be expanded to fit multiple people as needed. Clients so far include the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Adobe and a Ryder Cup golfer, while conversations are ongoing with broadcasters and clubs among other organisations.
“The gallery is very connected. We have everything from a 48-channel sound desk, which is fully Danted in to everywhere – we have a small operating desk, but fundamentally the power’s in the rack; multiple 4K recorders for all the content, so we can do mixes and ISOs; and talk back, both in-ear presenter talk back, but also if we’re tying into outside broadcasts or other elements, we can do that very quickly.”
In total, the space can handle 20 camera sources coming in if needed, including remote sources.
‘The real trend that I think we are ready to embrace is the move for sports organisations to start licensing footage to non-traditional broadcast channels’
When it came to kitting out the studio, there were some pieces of kit that were must haves and many more that have been discovered throughout the process.
“I knew vMix would probably play a role,” he continues. “I’ve got a radio pilot show in next week and we’ll have multiple people calling in, so I need some kind of multiple in and out. And I knew it was good way to get from video to digital and back again. If we’ve got vMix, we can also do telestration. So we’ve got an iPad, pundits can sit in the studio, we can feed them the footage, they can draw on it, and we can take that straight in as a feed. It’s real time. It works seamlessly because we’ve got our own dedicated WiFi network and we’re not competing with anyone else.
“Also, Blackmagic has changed the game. The Constellation range and the HyperDecks just make it easy, things like Genlock and all the stuff that you needed an engineering degree before to do, now it’s relatively straightforward.”
The actual installation process was something of a learning curve, however.
“I have an events or broadcast background where it’s all hire, so I’m used to picking up the phone today and having a truck here tomorrow with whatever I need in it. The install was a complete learning curve, because I’m like, ‘What do you mean? It takes eight weeks. What do you mean? We’re not doing it tomorrow?’.”
Blueprint worked with Media Powerhouse on the project, which has taken around six months to complete, although Anand’s broadcast experience means he was on-hand to ensure extra care was taken to avoid the many annoyances that he’s encountered over the years – from low-hanging lights to cable trip hazards.
“You do need some broadcast experience to troubleshoot in advance the things that you know you’re going to hate for the next six years,” he adds.
While a key use for the studio is to service Blueprint’s corporate clients, changes in the world of sports rights have also created a whole new potential market that he is particularly excited about.
“The real trend that I think we are ready to embrace is the move for sports organisations to start licensing footage to non-traditional broadcast channels. So I think with LaLiga and Goalhanger, the Bundesliga YouTuber [Mark Goldbridge] who’s got the rights to that, suddenly you’ve got podcasts which now are effectively Match of the Day, or have the same requirements. So all of those podcasts that have been recording in spaces which are designed to look great, sound great and capture three or four people chatting, suddenly those same podcasts now need to be able to do VT inserts, live links from the ground, slo-mos, telestration, all of the things that you’re used to seeing on traditional sports broadcasts, but that podcasts have never had to worry about because they haven’t had rights.
“I think that’s a trend, I don’t think it’s going to go away, and what we’ve built, partly by design, partly by happy accident, is perfectly suited to that. We’ve got all of the technical facilities that you need to facilitate it, so I’m really excited by that market.”
