Goal #1 for the World Finals was leveraging the latest in remote production tech to cleanly integrate both player communication AND feeds from multiple platforms into the Championship broadcast. To accomplish this we used a platform already endemic to the Player base: Discord. Goal #1 (which is really always goal #1) was combining all of the various remote feeds (sometimes with dubious connectivity) into a clean broadcast. We accomplished that by not skimping on the production staffing, which promoted the attention to detail and efficient use of time and resources to deliver eight hours per day of clean broadcasts.
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Magic The Gathering
A REMOTE PRODUCTION PIVOT DONE RIGHT
The simplest (but not easiest) victory for any Broadcast production is always smooth tech. With COVID forcing the MtG World Finals to pivot towards a fully remote production, and with all Players and Broadcast talent at home (with a variety of different connectivity issues), producing a clean show was harder than it would have been in person BUT ultimately also more satisfying.
client
WIZARDS OF THE COAST
location
REMOTE
days of production
3
BURRITOS CONSUMED
23
MISSION
CLEAR OBJECTIVES. DEFINITIVE RESULTS.
26 HOURS
TOTAL ON AIR TIME
7
REMOTE ENGINEERS
GOING ENDEMIC
Pulling gameplay through Discord simplified player onboarding and worked without a hitch. A centralized sub-switch with our tech partners at Ross also streamlined communication and created some budgetary efficiencies. One little trick up our sleeves was using color correction to give our casters a uniform appearance despite wildly-varying light conditions made for a more cohesive show.
Boombox HQ experienced a severe storm during broadcast BUT our power and internet redundancy investments paid dividends by allowing us to continue the show seamlessly and without any interruption. Another secret to success was the strict 'Refresh' protocol we adhered to: Keeping on top of the talent to make sure they refreshed their call-ins significantly reduced delays and technical hiccups.
Fun facts
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The beauty of a reoccurring series is the ability to constantly innovate. On average we introduce at least two new elements each broadcast
For the first time in set-champs history the graphics team was missing nothing, zilch, nada. Zero missing cards may not sound like much to those out of the loop, but for those in the know, this is BIG!
For each Magic the Gathering broadcast we also produce on average 52 unique pieces of shoulder content