John Driskell Hopkins Band releases its new LP with a world premiere stream featuring the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Lonesome High, the latest album by John Driskell Hopkins Band, has been presented with a streaming broadcast recorded with several Blackmagic-Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, John Driskell Hopkins himself was looking for a workflow that was not overly complex, but still met certain quality standards. His goal was to show little by little what’s new on the album he was working on, as well as to keep in close contact with his fans.

In collaboration with video editor and designer Harold Sellers, Driskell decided to set up a workflow consisting of a selection of Taschenkinokamera 6K cameras and the ATEM Mini Pro ISO mixer. The latter was key, as it allowed him to directly export the footage to a DaVinci Resolve project, facilitating further editing.

The workflow installed in the Brighter Shade Studio in Atlanta was used recurrently during the months of confinement. However, for the release of Lonesome High, Hopkins decided to expand the workflow: he needed more cameras to capture all possible angles of his instrumentalists. Hopkins and Sellers decided to add two Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro to the setup, as well as two Taschenkinokamera 6K, resulting in a final workflow of eight cameras. Shortly thereafter, an ATEM Mini Extreme ISO mixer was added to handle the inputs from the additional units.

The importance of color

For Harold Sellers, one of the keys to the project was achieving color balance between each capture device. This was no easy task, given that they had little in the way of professional lighting elements to shape the streaming.

After exploring various options, he found the solution he needed in the Blackmagic-Design products: “A consistent look between cameras is important during a live production, so the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO’s ability to color match all the cameras remotely is particularly helpful. The setup process also could not have been easier. We really appreciate the fact that it all works seamlessly when we plug it in. I’m blown away by what you can do with such a small box. I can’t say enough about this amazing system.”

The Lonesome High album launch concert was streamed live via Maestro auf der Virago TV website.