For the camera nerds

The Rig

The roof is off. Here is every camera, cable and box inside an early 1984 944, and how a 42 year old Porsche goes live on five platforms at once.

Inside the 944, from Above

Hover or tap any piece of gear to see what it is, tap a number to jump to it in the gear list, and switch layers on and off below the drawing. Planned layout: it gets proven on warm up streams from November and changes as the build happens.

Top down view of Juan's early 1984 Porsche 944 with the roof removed, showing the stream rig Four cameras sit at the front of the cabin. A Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 on each windshield pillar gets SDI and 12V from runs along the door sills. Two action cams on the dash connect over HDMI to two HDMI to SDI converters under the center console, which send SDI down the tunnel. There are no rear seats. Every SDI run ends at the switcher in the hatch, whose program out feeds one 5G bonded encoder and whose multiview feeds a second one for the director. An onboard router with Wi-Fi connects by ethernet to the switcher, both encoders and a satellite dish on the roof. A power station in the hatch powers everything. A roaming camera outside the car carries a wireless video transmitter, received in the car and fed into the switcher, plus a 5G phone it streams through when it is away from the car. Roof and hatch glass cut away Rear Front 12V 5G 5G ROOF 5G to cloud 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Layers

The Gear

Brands are named where they supply the rig.

  1. Action camCenter wide cam on the dash, facing back at both hosts. HDMI into a converter (11).
  2. Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2Blackmagic DesignMicro Studio Camera 4K G2Driver cam on the passenger side windshield pillar. Ultra HD broadcast camera with a Micro Four Thirds mount. One SDI cable carries the picture to the switcher and brings tally and camera control back, so the director can adjust it from the production car. 12V from the rig.
  3. Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2Blackmagic DesignMicro Studio Camera 4K G2Passenger cam on the driver side pillar, the same camera looking the other way. Juan and Luke swap seats, the cameras stay put.
  4. Action camRoad cam behind the mirror, facing out the windshield. HDMI into a converter (11).
  5. Blackmagic PYXIS 6KBlackmagic DesignPYXIS 6KThe roaming cam on a gimbal. Full frame 6K with SRT and RTMP streaming built in: with a 5G phone on its USB-C it streams from anywhere into Blackmagic Cloud and on to the cloud server as its own source. Near the car its picture also comes in through the wireless receiver (9).
  6. Blackmagic ATEM SDI Extreme ISOBlackmagic DesignATEM SDI Extreme ISOThe switcher in the back. 8 SDI inputs and 4 SDI outputs, records every camera on its own plus the program, and sends tally and camera control back to the Micro Studios. One output carries the show to encoder 7, another carries the multiview to encoder 13 for the director.
  7. 5G bonded encoderEncoder 1, the show. Sends the switcher's program to the cloud over satellite and 5G at the same time.
  8. Satellite internetOn the roof, the main internet source, plugged into the router (12).
  9. Wireless video receiverCatches the roaming cam at the roll ins and feeds the switcher over SDI.
  10. Portable power stationRuns everything in the car on 12V, so nothing hangs off the 944's 42 year old electrics.
  11. Blackmagic Micro Converter HDMI to SDI 3GBlackmagic DesignMicro Converter HDMI to SDI 3G (x2)Under the console. They turn the action cams' HDMI into SDI, so every camera reaches the switcher on the same kind of cable, down the center tunnel.
  12. 5G router with Wi-FiTies the satellite dish, the switcher and both encoders together, and lets the production car control the switcher over a secure tunnel.
  13. 5G bonded encoderEncoder 2, the director's view. Sends the switcher's multiview to the production car.

From the Lens to Your Screen

Four paths: the show itself, two live previews for the director in the production car, the director's commands going back, and remote cameras streaming in from anywhere, including phones. Everything heavy happens on a GPU server in the cloud.

How the signals leave the 944 The cameras: the two Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 studio cams, the two action cams through HDMI to SDI converters, and the wireless receiver for the roaming cam all feed the switcher over SDI, and the switcher sends tally and camera control back to the studio cams. The show: the switcher's program output goes into a 5G bonded encoder, which bonds satellite internet through the onboard router with its own cellular and sends it over SRT to a GPU server in the cloud, which streams to YouTube, Twitch and Kick in 16:9 and Instagram and TikTok in 9:16. The director's views: the switcher's multiview goes into a second 5G bonded encoder and through a cloud relay to the production car, and the GPU server sends its own multiview there too. The director app in the production car shows both previews and, over a secure tunnel, switches the 944's cameras on the switcher and the sources on the GPU server. Remote cameras: the roaming PYXIS 6K on a 5G phone and phone cameras running the Blackmagic Camera app stream into Blackmagic Cloud Stream Router, which feeds each one into the GPU server as its own source. In the 944 In the cloud Out Outside the car Studio cams Action cams Receiver Switcher 5G bonded encoder 2 5G bonded encoder 1 Router Micro Studio x2 HDMI to SDI roaming cam SDI ATEM SDI Extreme ISO program + multiview director view program, SRT out satellite + cellular Wi-Fi, satellite + 5G, tunnel Roaming cam Phone cams PYXIS 6K on a 5G phone Blackmagic Camera app Video relay GPU server Stream Router passes the 944's view on switching, graphics, replays, holding screen, its own multiview every camera a source Blackmagic Cloud one input per camera Production car Live One director app Preview 1: the 944's switcher multiview Preview 2: the cloud server's multiview One controller cuts the 944's cameras and the roaming and phone cams YouTube, Twitch, Kick in 16:9 Instagram, TikTok in 9:16 Bonded SRT Secure tunnel Satellite + 5G bonded, SRT 5G, SRT 5G, SRT
The show Director previews Director control Remote cameras

The show

  1. The cameras in the 944Two Micro Studio 4K G2 studio cams, two action cams through HDMI to SDI converters, and the wireless receiver for the roaming camSDI
  2. SwitcherATEM SDI Extreme ISO cuts the program
  3. 5G bonded encoder 1Bonds the satellite link through the router with its own cellularSatellite + 5G bonded, SRT
  4. GPU server, in the cloudSwitching, graphics, replays, holding screen, every camera a source
  5. LiveYouTube, Twitch and Kick in 16:9, Instagram and TikTok in 9:16

Director previews

  1. Switcher multiviewEvery camera in the 944 on one screen
  2. 5G bonded encoder 2The director's viewBonded SRT
  3. Video relay, in the cloudPasses the 944's view on
  4. Production car, preview 1The 944's switcher multiview. Preview 2 is the GPU server's own multiview.

Director control

  1. Production carOne controller cuts the 944's cameras and the roaming and phone camsSecure tunnel
  2. Router in the 944Wi-Fi, satellite and 5G
  3. SwitcherTakes the cuts from the production carSDI back
  4. Studio camsTally and camera control, so the director can adjust them from the production car

The same controller also cuts the sources on the GPU server.

Remote cameras

  1. Roaming cam and phone camsPYXIS 6K on a 5G phone, phones running the Blackmagic Camera app5G, SRT
  2. Stream RouterBlackmagic Cloud, one input per camera
  3. GPU serverEach camera is its own source in the show

The Production Car

The Civic behind the 944 is the director's chair. One app shows two previews, the 944's switcher multiview and the cloud server's multiview, and one controller cuts the 944's cameras, the roaming cam and the phone cams, so the hosts never touch a button.

Why It Is Built This Way

Broadcast bonded systems cost tens of thousands. This rig aims for the same result at about a tenth of the budget, and we will show other IRL streamers exactly how.

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