Florida-based Video Village Miami provides on-set video assist for local commercials and music videos. Frank Collins established the outfit in 2019 after a 20-year career in sound mixing when he was inspired to add video management to his skillset and adapt to changes brought on by 2020. Today, it’s his job to know who needs to see the image that the camera is shooting and where they need to view it, which is often in the video village. To do this, he leverages a well-equipped cart sourced by Nebtek in Utah that includes the hardware and software needed to log, capture, playback, edit, and process video inputs and outputs, as well as a few monitors.
Compactness and reliability were key features that Frank Collins looked for when he searched for the right equipment for his company, and that made AJA the logic choice. Here is information shared by AJA about how Video Village Miami uses the products from AJA.
Each project follows a similar workflow, with the main variable being the number of cameras used. Collins typically receives the client video feed from transmitters on the camera using a wireless transmission system. The signal then goes from the camera to the wireless receivers. From there, he cables back to his system in the video village. The signal is then sent through an AJA KUMO 1616-12G router and AJA KUMO Control Panel to an AJA Io 4K Plus, and output to the computer running QTAKE. The feed is then spit back out to an output device.
“AJA Io 4K Plus just works; it’s recommended by QTAKE and does what it says it’s going to do,” Collins shared. “The reliability is there, and it also works well with the QOD output hardware.”
Across jobs, Collins ensures all parties on- and off-set are viewing the same image, helping to create a streamlined feedback loop to keep productions running smoothly. That insight is especially crucial to the video village, where creative stakeholders must be able to see and collaborate over the shots and actions taking place on set on their own monitor, separate from the director’s display.
In some cases, Collins will also stream out to remote collaborators, and if a project shoots using green screen, he may add overlays to help inform the creative process. When production calls for playback, he immediately starts from the point where they called action, so time isn’t wasted sorting through footage. For playback, Collins typically records a 1920×1080 proxy file and plays it back; however, he built his system with Io 4K Plus to be able to support two 4K systems if the need arises.
“When I bought my cart, mobility and reliability were top of mind, which is why I love that Io 4K Plus is compact; I have two of them and they fit nicely into my rack,” Collins noted about the setup. “Reliability was also a consideration because my gear needs to be stable in many different temperature environments, from outside on the beach to the Everglades, in a cold studio, etc. Florida is extremely humid and can affect electronics, plus the cart I use has to be durable because it gets banged around during transport. All of our equipment is subjected to many elements, but it needs to hold up; for one of the last projects I worked on, the special effects team made it rain. I only use quality products that can withstand those elements and demands, and my AJA Io 4K Plus, KUMO, and KUMO Control Panel continue to run uninterrupted, even with everything they’re put through.”
As technology continues to rapidly advance and gear becomes smaller, Collins is considering adding another cart to his arsenal. “If I’m able to invest in a second one, I’d like to build it out myself slowly and source the parts from Nebtek. Sometimes jobs overlap or a rental system might be needed locally, so it would be good to have a backup. I could also use it for training, and possibly create one that’s lighter, smaller and a little more mobile.”