ESA 2014 - Main planning thread

2013-12-28 02:12:30 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Haha, as long as I don't need to lend my apparantly golden voice, all is well 8D

2013-12-30 11:44:42 am

Seeing as the much hypes youtube clip has ~5000 views. I'd say it not worth spending too much time and energy on a promo is not worth the effort.

Polishing up the hype video from last year with 3-4 highlight / blooper moments from ESA2013 should be enough and will get our point across!

Is it too early to get game suggestions started on January 19th?

ozzy88

2013-12-30 05:40:25 pm

I'd like game suggestions to kick-in as soon as possible, setting a date is not necessary however. Just post when it's ready!

In any case, I disagree with you for how to handle the promo video but the first statement is very true. I'd still want to see something new and fresh. Even if it might not be "worth the effort" so to speak ^^'

Easy for me to say...

MrLonghair

2014-01-06 11:03:16 pm

Baldioengineer

My health is slowly improving so I'll get a sample to the videoguy and we'll see. Now I had an early idea about layouts, as I'm watching AGDQ. For this I kinda wonder if measurements or more photos of the blue room can be had eventually, or if there just are some lying around. Would the usable area be square? Would everybody be okay not having anything spillable except water for drinking in there at most in a no-spill container, and having visitors sign a contract acknowledging that they are the ones who pay if they bring in and spill something like tea or coffee?

Layout idea 1: Square
Couch and crowd areas of the dual streams sitting back to back, with a little lane inbetween. "Control room" tables are along the sides, so it's easy to cover both streams, and easy for people to travel back and forth. This would allow for a lot more impressive "professional" (in a good way) business than I can explain at the moment, even if the couch and crowd areas were reversed so that they sat front to front (maaaaaybe with a divider between TV desks in that case

Layout idea 2: Rectangle
Couch and crowd areas of the two streams sitting side by side with a good amount of space between them, including simple separating walls that dampen sound that aren't visible over camera. "Control room" tables behind the TV desks. Far less distances for cables to travel.

My health is slowly improving so I'll get a sample to the videoguy and we'll see. Now I had an [b]early [/b]idea about layouts, as I'm watching AGDQ. For this I kinda wonder if measurements or more photos of the blue room can be had eventually, or if there just are some lying around. Would the usable area be square? Would everybody be okay not having anything spillable except water for drinking in there at most in a no-spill container, and having visitors sign a contract acknowledging that they are the ones who pay if they bring in and spill something like tea or coffee?

Layout idea 1: Square
Couch and crowd areas of the dual streams sitting back to back, with a little lane inbetween. "Control room" tables are along the sides, so it's easy to cover both streams, and easy for people to travel back and forth. This would allow for a lot more impressive "professional" (in a good way) business than I can explain at the moment, [u]even if the couch and crowd areas were reversed so that they sat front to front[/u] (maaaaaybe with a divider between TV desks in that case

Layout idea 2: Rectangle
Couch and crowd areas of the two streams sitting side by side with a good amount of space between them, including simple separating walls that dampen sound that aren't visible over camera. "Control room" tables behind the TV desks. Far less distances for cables to travel.

Edenal

2014-01-07 12:43:42 pm

Longhair: Would you mind making sketches?

Btw, the room is squared!

MrLonghair

Edit history:

MrLonghair: 2014-01-09 07:12:58 pm

2014-01-07 05:19:03 pm

Baldioengineer

Sweet.

Also
1) direct-feed audio carefully mixed with whatever the mics pick up
2) try to always have somebody at a mixer adjusting volumes and EQ to prevent from barely audible muffled voices espec for donation readers
3) oh AGDQ I wish I could have gone there and helped out

e:
- Waiting with sketches until AGDQ finishes, making observations, clear is that some like to sit on a separate chair in front of the couch, might be a good thing to take in mind. Some want to sit closer after all, I probably would too.
- Also got some more ideas for audio between the two streams, I'll bring my patchbay unless somebody finds another 200-300 SEK cheap one. Essential-ish for splitting a bunch of audio.

Alko

2014-01-09 10:39:27 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Concerning photos: You could check my post in the ESA2013 Photos thread on SDA. It should contain at least one picture of practising in the blue room.

I do like the idea of back-to-back in your squared layout, because it additionally means, that sound will travel away from the other screen … Except for TV sound, as I think of it. Damn. Maybe head-to-head might be the better setup with somthing mildly dampening in between?

MrLonghair

2014-01-10 10:27:12 am

Baldioengineer

Making sketches as I watch, donation station and host station (..person controlling timer and screens? NEED contact hard with one) are close to the runner.

- Donation ticker(s) and reading not every single donation is the key, but how should that be handled and arranged? Can we get donation comments tagged with streamA, streamB as options?
- Host station brings back my idea of a little speaker under each TV-desk for a runner giving replies, messages, times.

Host station and donation readers would of course at all times have to be listening to monitoring headphones of the outgoing audio. (Close to mixers with simple instructions). AGDQ2013 has suffered from not having anybody monitoring the audio.

Back to back = wide crowd spacing behind runners? How many rows and columns of chairs?

MrLonghair

Edit history:

MrLonghair: 2014-01-12 03:49:23 pm

2014-01-12 02:54:18 pm

Baldioengineer

After AGDQ I will say that I would like to see six digits earned for ESA2014, as much of a realist knowledgeable of how the key to getting money is USAUSAUSA I am.

Lets say enough good runs and games for two streams show up no problem, here's a sketch (considering practicing Star Ocean 4 speedrunning because I like the game a lot)

Contact with runners is an issue, will be solved by a directional speaker one can talk into from a tech/audio station. My idea here is to have the option for one audio-tech to sit and monitor both streams via monitors, via audio, in realtime, being able to tweak one or the other without having tun run back and forth. Streamomputers by the side of the desk-array. Donationreading, MC, whatever inbetween. Then cameras on tripods behind TV&Console desks to turn toward the desks whenever there's a speech-bit and no game is going on, you get the idea.

I'm counting on smaller closed rooms watching a stream of choice if there ends up not being enough room, or if people just want to chill without being in a busy crowd. I don't think we're going to be all WOOYAYSPRINGBREAAAAAAK like the AGDQ crowd, when it comes to audio pollution in general. Many ideas, I hope you get them. Today is -9C and I'm healthier than I've been for months and months. Will get some work done.

e: And tying donation tracking to individual streams, since it's fun to see donations roll in for runner X of game Y.

After AGDQ I will say that I would like to see six digits earned for ESA2014, as much of a realist knowledgeable of how the key to getting money is USAUSAUSA I am.

Lets say enough good runs and games for two streams show up no problem, here's a sketch (considering practicing Star Ocean 4 speedrunning because I like the game a lot)
[URL=http://s37.photobucket.com/user/MrLonghair/media/soreallythebasicidea_zps8dcd57b5.png.html][IMG]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e99/MrLonghair/soreallythebasicidea_zps8dcd57b5.png[/IMG][/URL]

Contact with runners is an issue, will be solved by a directional speaker one can talk into from a tech/audio station. My idea here is to have the option for one audio-tech to sit and monitor both streams via monitors, via audio, in realtime, being able to tweak one or the other without having tun run back and forth. Streamomputers by the side of the desk-array. Donationreading, MC, whatever inbetween. Then cameras on tripods behind TV&Console desks to turn toward the desks whenever there's a speech-bit and no game is going on, you get the idea.

I'm counting on smaller closed rooms watching a stream of choice if there ends up not being enough room, or if people just want to chill without being in a busy crowd. I don't think we're going to be all WOOYAYSPRINGBREAAAAAAK like the AGDQ crowd, when it comes to audio pollution in general. Many ideas, I hope you get them. Today is -9C and I'm healthier than I've been for months and months. Will get some work done.

e: And tying donation tracking to individual streams, since it's fun to see donations roll in for runner X of game Y.

Alko

2014-01-13 10:54:16 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

At least tracking donations to each stream should be easily solved by adding an additional variable users can enter (Red stream, blue stream or both streams).
Should we allow for the possibility of a donation being read on both streams?

Concerning six digits: Well, according to extrapolation, we raised ten times the amount of ESA12 in ESA13, so that means 200k ESA14? Kappa
On a more serious note, it's possible, but we should set a lower goal. Same with AGDQ's OneMillionHype.

MrLonghair

Edit history:

MrLonghair: 2014-01-14 12:32:51 am

2014-01-14 12:31:18 am

Baldioengineer

I could see the "MC" microphone, a microphone used by somebody with a check on audio and both mixers or by the help of somebody handling the mixers, reading dual-stream donations.

My proposed one-room dual-stream layout means this wouldn't disturb the runners, but there would still have to be the right time to read donations for both games. When I'm in good shape my senses are so sharp I could listen on two sets of headphones and figure that out with ease.

Basically:
streamPC1 || DonorReading Stream1 || central desk with mixers with line-of-sight of streams || DonorReadingStream 2 || streamPC2

No need for the donorreaders to keep check on headphones unless doing it alone, with an active controller, something sorely lacking. Good pair of eyes/glasses = mixmaster has a decent check on if either stream is ready for donations.

When it comes to communicating with runners I. (..maybe it's time for an audio thread? In a way, sorry for being such a kinda-perfectionist obsessionist about it but heck, it's my life and "job") am looking into actively powered small speakers to have under each desk, that a mic could talk with them over, without having to yell from a many meters away desk.

I could see the "MC" microphone, a microphone used by somebody with a check on audio and both mixers or by the help of somebody handling the mixers, reading dual-stream donations.

My proposed one-room dual-stream layout means this wouldn't disturb the runners, but there would still have to be the right time to read donations for both games. When I'm in good shape my senses are so sharp I could listen on two sets of headphones and figure that out with ease.

Basically:
streamPC1 || DonorReading Stream1 || central desk with mixers with line-of-sight of streams || DonorReadingStream 2 || streamPC2

No need for the donorreaders to keep check on headphones unless doing it alone, with an active controller, something sorely lacking. Good pair of eyes/glasses = mixmaster has a decent check on if either stream is ready for donations.

When it comes to communicating with runners I. (..maybe it's time for an audio thread? In a way, sorry for being such a kinda-perfectionist obsessionist about it but heck, it's my life and "job") am looking into actively powered small speakers to have under each desk, that a mic could talk with them over, without having to yell from a many meters away desk.