KABB-TV Chief Meteorologist Alex Garcia Talks COVID-Era Remote Live Weather Reporting

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated pivots to remote production across the industry in 2020, 而且几乎没有哪个领域比夜间新闻更迅速. 这种支点在不同的情况下有不同的形式, in some cases likely dictated--at least at first--by how much of a news broadcast's usual high production values could be replicated by essential crew members in studio working with whatever setups could be quickly slapped together for on-air talent reporting from home. 当然, much news broadcasting is always done remotely with reporters in the field, 因此，这些广播节目的制作灵活性是给定的. But weather reports integrate production and tech elements that could conceivably prove particularly difficult to reproduce under stay-at-home orders.

献给亚历克斯·加西亚, 圣安东尼奥KABB的首席气象学家, 事实证明，向远程广播的过渡出人意料地无缝, thanks to an in-home setup he'd been using for a daily Facebook Live show, his longtime (though recently suspended) involvement with conference and conference video production, 他的广播背景, and a broadcast-ready production kit that had him fully equipped for multi-camera, 多源, chromakeye现场制作.

A key motivating factor in the transition for Garcia at a high production level was the need to quickly pivot the National Tropical Weather Conference (NTWC) to a weekly livestreamed show that would satisfy the event's sponsors. "When it finally got to the point to where we realized this was not going to happen,他回忆道, “我们必须联系所有的赞助商，告诉他们, 我们不会取消, 但我们正在转向. 这就是我们的焦点:一个电视直播节目, 现场直播, 部分网络研讨会, 部分访谈节目, 部分脱口秀, 一周一次. 他们都赞成. 他们说，‘去吧. 让我们看看会发生什么.'"

For both the new weekly live show and the nightly "Fox 新闻 at Nine" broadcasts, Garcia started with a Blackmagic Design ATEM Television HD Studio for simple A/B punch switching, 一个参与, 松下DVX200, 灯, 中等收入国家, 还有两台笔记本电脑. 对于最初转向远程现场生产, 他说, “我们已经拥有了小型的ATEM电视高清工作室. 所以我所做的就是把那东西拉过来, 插上电源, 带上我的相机, 拉开了镀铬墙，打开了镀铬. It was a little bit of a challenge, when we first started, because I put things up very quickly. 这件事必须在24小时内完成. 于是我就拿出了一个照明设备. I just kind of threw things together to make it work, and getting the audio frequencies right. 我得确保我说得很清楚, and we had issues where every once in a while we get either a break or there'd be some type of static coming on the line. 所以我必须不停地变换频率. 除此之外, it was just a matter of waiting for the right time where I could take two or three days off, take it all down and then put it up the way it should be like it is now. 但除此之外，这只是一个快速的转变." 

马上, he was able to deliver his weather report to the station via a KABB-supplied LiveU (same as those issued to the news anchors). 在现场，剩下的工作人员在演播室里混合这些视频. 因为他的家庭设置的复杂和无缝, 加西亚说,, “至少在天气部分是这样, 很难分辨出我不在那里." 

Garcia kicked off his live show for Storm Science Network on April 2 with a similar approach and kit. But it wasn't long before he discovered he'd need to step up his game to produce the kind of show he had in mind. "Quickly realizing I couldn't just do something that simple and keep our sponsors happy, I wanted to increase the production value and get it up close to what you'd see on 网work. 所以为了做到这一点，我不得不花一些额外的钱."

His current workflow incorporates a full complement of Blackmagic Design gear--an ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, 一个ATEM 1m /E高级面板, Web演示者, and HDMI-to-SDI Micro Converters--plus multiple Panasonic cameras and five laptops to bring in remote feeds for interview segments. 为了每周的现场表演, 他可以做叠加, 并且在百家乐软件之间切换，或者一次最多显示四个小组成员. “所有的东西都蹦出来了. 准备好了. 我们10点准时去看演出, 我打开了, 让我的搭档蒂姆来做一个简短的演讲, 谈谈我们的赞助商. We hit the sponsor promo, we go to build, and then we're off to the races and flying." 

回到晚间新闻栏目, 加西亚说, KABB-TV will continue with remote operations and in-studio restrictions through the end of 2020, 然后在1月1日之后重新评估他们明年将如何前进. 加西亚说, the remote approach has both run smoothly and demonstrated that it has some advantages over the traditional in-studio workflow, to the extent that he believes stations would do well to consider an ongoing hybrid approach after the pandemic subsides and current restrictions are eased.

“如果我经营一家企业或一家电视台,他说, “我会认真考虑保留这种混合动力车, 因为这意味着你不需要在大楼里安排那么多人. 你不必有这么大的建筑. There's a lot of cost savings involved in doing a remote workflow like this. 而且这对我来说很简单. If there's something that happens really fast and we need to be on the air, I can just come in here and turn on the 灯 and the cameras I'm ready to go at a moment's notice. 所以我觉得还是留着混血儿比较好. 我认为这可能是我们最终要去的地方. 现在, 除了一场演出，我都是远程操作, 我在演播室里待了一个小时. 我做完节目就马上回家. 所以我认为这种模式可能是我们将要采用的."