This is the third part in the series on setting up the studio. If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2 yet, I suggest you head over and read those first. I know this might seem a little weird that I just did a post a few days before this one, but the blog decided it didn’t want to publish the week I wrote Part 2…

Progress Continues

This past weekend (10/15/22-10/16/22) was mostly spent on technical items. The laundry list of computer things included:

• Repurposing an old computer into the streaming server by,
  • Installing a new graphics card into the machine,
  • Moving the capture card into that machine,
  • Installing all the streaming and graphics compositing software,
  • Configuring all that software, and
  • Replacing the capture card because my old one finally bit the dust somewhere along the way…

I did finally get over to the studio on Sunday afternoon, which gave me time to do some camera testing and lighting design/troubleshooting, do a little bit more on the set itself, and finish running the last of the cables from the booth over to the tech “control room” (which is just off camera, as you’ll see in the final part of this series). A desk and closet curtain were also installed in the studio sometime between when I originally wrote the last post and this one, but I can’t remember exactly when. Pretty sure it was 10/7/22.

The lighting is proving to be a fun issue. As with all lighting, I have to balance the colored lights in the set and my key and fill lights. This is proving tricky to do without getting the lights in the shot. I’m sure I’ll get there in the end; I need more time with the setup to perfect this on camera. This is far different from what I originally bought these lights for – the green screen. With a green screen, you want to fill the scene with bright, even lighting to differentiate your subject from the background. This leads to a more effective color or chroma key-able scene.

The booth speakers are installed, so I can hear what’s playing. I may reposition them, but they’ll be where I want them to be in the end… I’m about 75% complete with the OBS setup; there are just some static overlay items to finish, and I need to port over the backend software I use to pull follower data from the Mixcloud API.

I also noticed that the DJ laptop is a little worse for wear, so I’ve reinstalled macOS and all the usual software. I also worked on the code I use to pull data from Traktor to make it more user-friendly (after four years of praying it wouldn’t fall over every time I used it). I will soon post another blog entry about that code and my Mixcloud follower code. Both will also be available for other DJs who want to use them.

I have no pictures to add to this post… I didn’t take any, and I’m not sure I’m ready to show anything off just yet.

So, what’s left?

At this point, I think this is the to-do list:

• Finish OBS overlay
• Title and End sequences need polishing
• Dial in lighting and camera settings
• Pull wired LAN connection into the studio
• Cable manage the booth
• Fix the backlight on the frontboard
• Organize the booth better
• Bit more set design pieces
• Possibly add a program monitor to the streaming server setup for additional visibility
• Dial in all the extra audio bits

Once those are done, it will be time to tech test. Currently, I am aiming for Saturdays between 12:30 and 1 for tech tests, with the actual Digital Identity show lining up around those times once we’re out of trial runs.

The next part will likely show off the studio in its entirety, some static images of what the set looks like on camera, and probably a “what I see” view. There will also be a follow-up series about the technical side of the setup, which will include all the lighting, camera, audio, and streaming software.