Camera count is the wrong question.
Most quotes get compared on how many cameras you get for the money, which is the one number that tells you least. Six cameras with nobody directing them produces a worse programme than three with somebody who knows when to cut, because the value is in the decisions rather than the hardware.
So we work backwards from the room. What does the audience need to see, where will the venue actually let a camera stand, and what is happening that a single angle would miss. Then we bring the crew to cover that properly, and no more than that.
The other half is what happens when something breaks. A crewed rig means a failed camera gets cut around and swapped. Encoders and uplinks are duplicated, and recording runs on separate paths, so a bad moment costs you a shot rather than the whole programme.
What comes as standard
A programme, not footage.
Questions worth asking.
How many cameras do we actually need?
Fewer than most people assume, and always fewer than you need if nobody is cutting them. Three well-placed cameras with a director beat six left running. We work it out from the room, the sightlines and what the audience needs to see rather than from a package tier.
What is the difference between this and a videographer?
A videographer records for editing later. Multi-camera production makes the finished programme in the room, live, with a director cutting between angles as it happens. Different skill, different kit, and different price. For a lot of jobs a videographer is the right answer and we will say so.
Do you handle the audio?
Broadcast audio, yes. We take a clean feed from the venue sound desk and mix it for the programme, with an ambient microphone rigged as backup. We do not supply the PA or sound reinforcement in the room, and it is worth being clear about that early.
What happens if a camera fails mid-show?
The director cuts around it and somebody swaps it. That is the practical value of a crewed multi-camera rig over a single locked-off camera: one failure is an inconvenience rather than the end of the recording. Encoders and uplinks are duplicated too.
Do we get the recording as well as the live cut?
A programme record of the show as standard. Where you also want the material behind it, we quote separate recording paths so a problem with the live output does not cost you the archive.
Can you work with a venue’s existing cameras?
Sometimes. Fixed venue cameras vary enormously and some are genuinely usable as extra angles. We will look at what is there, tell you honestly whether it helps, and bring what is missing.
When is one camera enough?
A talking head to a small internal audience, a rehearsal record, or anything where nobody outside the building is watching. Paying for a crewed rig there is money spent on production rather than on the thing you are producing.
Tell us about the room.
The venue, the date and what the audience needs to see. We will tell you how many cameras that actually takes.