LiveU Bonded Cellular, NewTek TriCaster Facilitate Live Stream of The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating the world’s oceans of plastic, is taking an important step forward in the fight against pollution with the deployment of its first ocean cleanup system this month. To celebrate the launch, The Ocean Cleanup hosted an ambitious live broadcast with several LiveU connected camera points, switched by a NewTek TriCaster TC-1 operator stationed miles away.

This two-hour broadcast was led by veteran Executive Producer Dan Van Der Kooy and Florent Beauverd as Creative Director.

“We knew from the start that this event had to be shown to the world in the best possible way,” mentions Beauverd. “The organization has been supported by millions of people throughout the years. Providing them a live stream in a way to view and engage this day with the team was a tribute to all the support we received from around the world.”

To achieve the production that The Ocean Cleanup dreamt of they needed permitted drones, locked down cameras located across multiple locations, audio controllers, field reporters — all coordinated by a production team using wireless communication systems.

“Being out on location is always difficult, cause you have so many other logistics that you have to deal with,” comments Van Der Kooy. “In this case, we were dealing with being on the water, on a tiny boat, but still stream standup from our field reporter back. You cant traditionally be out on a boat like we were and have a direct link back to the control room.”

The master control room was placed in a nearby assembly yard. Multiple LiveU LU4000 cellular bonded receivers brought in signals from LiveU LU600 HEVC backpack connected cameras located in the field. The LiveU receivers video and audio signal were sent via NDI to a NewTek TriCaster TC-1 and master router. The TriCaster was also preloaded with premade content, motion graphic lower thirds, and other graphics that would play out during the broadcast.

“Technical Director Ron Vargas was a key asset in switching the flips and making sure we were right on time with everything in the control,” says Beauverd.

“The HEVC technology on these LiveU units was also unbelievable,” says Van Der Kooy. “The ability to stream from the locations we were streaming from with such a clear signal back to the control room, using such a minimal amount of equipment. You wouldn’t been able to think about doing this 10 years ago.”

While Van Der Kooy and Beauverd were busy prepping for the live stream in Norway, they quickly realized there were a lot of unanswered questions about equipment requirements and the workflow to put on a massive event. That’s when LiveU put The Ocean Cleanup in touch with Key Code Media.

“I was put in touch with Mike Cavanagh at Key Code Media. I told him what we were looking to achieve. Key Code was interested in helping us in whatever way that they could,” says Van Der Kooy.

Cavanagh setup weekly calls to help The Ocean Cleanup team navigate the equipment needs, crew, and technical details for the broadcast. The Key Code Media team researched cellular accessibility in the San Francisco Bay, and drone permitting- ensuring technical requirements would be met to pull off a successful show.

When it came to live stream, Key Code Media provided a NewTek TriCaster TC-1, Panasonic cameras, LiveU LU600 HEVC units, and technology consulting that helped make the event successful. They also used their vast network of NewTek TriCaster operators to hire Technical Director Ron Vargas to operate the switchboard during the stream.