VideoNieuwsBericht

The line to CUE support was quickly established. A former colleague had worked with Roger Creemers in the past, and information had already been gathered for a studio at one point. “I called Roger and said, ‘It’s getting more serious, I need a stage set and robotic cameras. It all needs to be faster, it needs to be good, but I don’t have the budget of a big broadcaster’.”

Fast switching

From then on, there was a lot of switching between the two sides. CUE-Support came up with some suggestions and Video News was allowed to try out equipment. VideoNieuwsBericht works not only from its in-house studio, but also on location. Every week, Rick and his colleagues arrived at their customers with more cases of new equipment. That new equipment brought new challenges.

Rick: “It became more and more. And eventually it got a little messy, too, because we had put everything in suitcases and bags.” So Rick switched with Dave from CUE-Support for a suitable solution. Meanwhile, everything is built into one beautiful case, which can be easily transported to location in a van. “I’m really happy with that. Everything is just neat: the sound, the mixer, the playout, emergency power there and we can just go.”

More possibilities

The new compact studio can be set up within three hours. So within 3 hours, VideoNieuwsBericht can be live, not entirely unimportant for a news company. The new technology also allows for more creative productions. “Especially with interaction, we are very helped. For example, we can now initiate videos or get people on the air by dialing in or chat. We now show much more than just people talking.”

The capabilities have expanded considerably, but at the same time Rick does not need to hire additional people. “We now have a small directing set that can be manned by two people and one intern. One person does the directing and one person operates four robotic cameras and the sound. We have a very nice audio mixer that controls a lot of things automatically, like mixing volumes. That way one person can control the cameras and sound. For larger livestreams with more speakers and interaction, we switch with more people. “

Collaboration

Rick is pleased with the advice he received. “What I like best is the knowledge and experience. But especially the flexibility is a huge plus. It was nice that CUE-Support went along with our thinking. The goal is not to send you home with a half-million dollar studio, but to send you home with stuff you need for the job. Not too much and not too little. Roger and his colleagues looked at what we could do with the stuff we had and what we could purchase in the process.”

To say the collaboration went smoothly is an understatement. Meanwhile, VideoNieuwsBericht has already involved CUE-Support in proposals for their own clients. “Many customers say they want a studio of their own. There are now a number of offers from parties that we can do together with CUE-Support. CUE then does the technology and we do the consulting and operation.”