We Three Multimedia Takes Live Production
to the Next Level with VT[3]

David Tichenal's and Dan Hong's California-based production company, We Three Multimedia, started producing cable commercials back in early 90’s. At the fledgling production house, Dan became one of the first producers to use NewTek’s nonlinear editor, the Amiga-based VT Flyer. Dan introduced David to the new system, and with this first taste of what was possible with computerized editing, after having long been a CMX editor, David was immediately hooked on the concept of nonlinear.

VT used at Animal Rescue Foundation Fundraiser; Chicago onstage warming up.

This team is something rare, in that they have partnered with Curtis Wright’s Professional Video and Sound, a solutions reseller in Modesto. The two urged Curtis to become an authorized NewTek reseller, which he gladly did once he saw VT[3] in the hands of this creative team. For more than a year, they have been going strong in dual roles as event producers and VT evangelists. They get to show how fast and easy VT is to use, and they are in a very credible position as people who use VT for their own productions every day.

Tichenal says even without their affiliation to Pro Video, their love of VT’s streamlined workflow makes them tell everyone about it. “We’d still be out there doing VT demos because it’s the coolest tool we’ve ever used.” He adds that real-time color correction, real-time slo-mo and real-time uncompressed editing brings a power they’ve never seen before on any other platform. “We love seeing the expression on AVID owners when we demo VT for them.”

His partner, Dan Hong, quickly adds that broadcast engineers also get blown away. When showing off VT’s production prowess, Hong doesn’t follow a script, he just answers questions on the fly, not even bothering to use “canned” or prepared demos. He knows how to emphasize the many strengths of VT. They have sold two VTs to local FOX stations after showing their engineers what the straightforward design of VT is capable of performing in real-time.

VT at Fundraiser; Dan Hong clearly has VT on his brain.

Hong says he’s always enjoyed live production. “In the past, my equipment list included MX switchers but that’s all changed. Now, I can provide unbelievably slick looking shows, with a tiny footprint in the room we’re in, and shows that look like they should cost $50,000 even though we charge a fraction of that.” Hong says they show up at the event prepared with lower thirds and pre-produced segments ready to roll using VT’s Digital Disk Recorders, or DDR’s.

Stability is crucial for live producers, since there are never ‘second takes’ when mixing live cameras, multimedia content and audio for a large audience. Hong says he’s never worried about stability with VT. “We’ve never had so much as a hiccup. In live production, we can do so many things with it, we’re always trying something insane, and it never fails us. We’ll probably push it to the point where it breaks, but we haven’t gotten there yet.”

VT was used to switch live show as well as create animated opens at the gala fundraiser.

Hong says this ability to expand their production flexibility on the spot means they’ve now become the “de-facto go-to guys” in the Modesto area. “We typically use three 9-by-12 screens in our presentations and the other A/V companies don’t really have the ability to do what we’re doing. Working from content creation to actual show performance gives us a great rapport with our major clients.”

We Three Multimedia rolls up multiple VTs to the site, and after powering up, just hits two space bars to have both VTs happily rolling clips in tandem. Hong says this power causes many of the in-house A/V staff to return stares of disbelief. “It’s just amazing to watch stage managers and others who understand what we’re doing. Stage managers can’t believe their eyes. Someone with a little bit of understanding of what they want in the project can produce something really easily, because VT is so easy to use. It’s our mission to get as many people in front of VT as we can. VT is just so astounding, we use it every day and it’s still mind-boggling! We always joke, 'Well, we better send NewTek another $1,000. Look what it can do now.'” Hong is pleased to work with a company and a product that truly delivers. “It works as advertised,” he says, and his partner, David, quickly corrects him, “No, better. It does 120 percent of what NewTek says it does.”

How easy is it? Hong says, “A couple of our customers are now using VT as both their first nonlinear system and their first computer, including a client for International Channel that is now producing 1-hour programs each and every week. The whole show is shot on chroma-key and the host is supered. These guys shouldn’t be able to produce something this complex, but they do. Every week.” VT’s flexibility also continues to amaze We Three Multimedia clients, such as when one client loaded 800 songs into a DDR, expecting to overload it, and the VTDDR(TM) just played merrily along.

They briefly did production within Premiere, but quickly grew frustrated. “The most basic little straight-cut edits would take 45 minutes on something that should take 4 or 5 minutes. Other producers using AVID or Media100 are amazed at how fast and stable our workflow is. We took on a one-hour program that was 100% green screen built on virtual sets. We had created some mock-ups in AfterEffects, but it was taking too long. Two minute mockups took 2 hours to produce. Then, we switched to VT-Edit and it took us maybe a day and a half, where it would have taken three solid months of editing on our other apps.”

When it comes to real-time real clean keying, Hong says you can’t go wrong with VT’s pristine uncompressed capture combined with instant feedback of what you’re doing. “Green screening is SO easy to do on VT. If you look at the actual footage before we keyed it out, it is pretty crude, but the final effect just amazed our clients. If our client had taken this job to a San Francisco post house it would have cost them $100,000 but we did the whole show for $15,000 . We saved them that much money. Chromakey is SO phenomenal in VT.”

Spending so much time on the road caused the digital duo to create their own portable VT system. Mounted within an anvil case, their system, dubbed “Terror_Byte” comes with SX-8 [aka BOB] mounted in back where the wheels are. This configuration, along with VT’s integrated per-channel proc controls makes set-up a snap. “Roll it up to the show, pop off BOB and you’re ready. There’s a built-in UPS in the back, so there’s only one plug to worry about. On the front of the case are 5 LCD monitors to use as ISO loop-through, and it’s just a lot of fun to use.” Once that’s accomplished, they only need bring in two 19” flat panel computer monitors, and the crew is ready to wire the cameras and get busy. During the live production, they record direct to a Firestore drive, and then copy the files over to the edit bay system upon return to the studio.

Terror_Byte” rack system housing VT[3]

Hong urges everyone in the market for real-time production power to do their homework. “Do yourself the service of at least seeing VT before you purchase. Go see all the other systems before you purchase, and see how unique VT’s workflow is. There is nothing at any price, at any level, that can do this 5-star stuff on a coffee-pot budget.”

Partner David Tichenal compared VT to his previous studio experiences with both the Grass Valley 100 and with Premiere: ”VT finishes ahead of both. In the last 4 months we have completed several high level projects using T [2]. One project was for a national shoe manufacturing company. We shot 200 shoes rotating on a lazy Susan in front of a poorly-lit green screen. We were able to set them up and test the key live before we captured the images to the hard drive. We made a few adjustments to try and even out the lighting and then hit capture. Then, we composited over some customized Digital Juice Jump Backs, added frames with text from Photoshop and had a spectacular composite that held up great on a nine-by-twelve foot projected screen.”

Tichenal concludes, “I have tried the same kind of stuff with Premiere, and let me tell you, hours and hours later you will not have nearly the results that VT provides in real-time! But you know what? The proof is in the demo. If you would like me to post some before-and-after clips, I will. If you are near California, let me come show you in your facility what VT will do. You will not be disappointed. You may even be amazed. I am.”

When they’re not having fun on-site with their Terror Byte VT rig, We Three Multimedia can be reached at info@we3m.com