My "Don't Judge Me" Rig (21' Hi-Pod + Dell Rugged Laptop) #4

santiguese · 2021-08-20T04:25:10Z

santiguese
Aug 20, 2021

Here is a write-up I share with folks that ask about my gear and how they go about recording and livestreaming games.

When thinking about recording a sports game I would put the order of importance of equipment as follows:

Video Camera
Video Tripod with Fluid Head
Zoom Remote Control
External Microphone
External Monitor

Everything else IMO are nice to haves but not really necessary. But a real quick note on tripods. A tripod will essentially work with any camcorder but when filming video (especially sports) you want to avoid jittery and abrupt movement and therefore you will want to configure a tripod with a fluid head.

Regarding camcorders, the accessory that I find the most essential is a zoom remote control. In my opinion, I’d take a mediocre camera that has the ability to connect a zoom remote control over a really nice camera any day. Without a remote zoom controller it is difficult to stay close to the action without making your more sensitive viewers motion sick. Below you will find a link to the one I use. To use a zoom remote control you will just need to find a camcorder that has a connection port for this type of accessory (for example Canon uses LANC). The other ports that would be good to have is one to connect an external mic (so a mic out port) and one to connect an external monitor (mine has a mini-HDMI out). The other thing you will want to look for also is one that shoots in 60p at the minimum and with 30x optical zoom at the minimum, for sports it’s really the bare minimum and is nice also in case you want to edit in some slow motion in the future. Lastly, a camcorder that records to a SD card is preferable than one that records to internal memory.

With all of that being said, each thing above will bump up the price of a camcorder so if you really believe you will only record and post and not do any edits then this the prioritized list of features I would look for in a camcorder:

Shoots in 60p (60fps) minimum
30x optical zoom at minimum
Stores to a SD card
LANC controller port

In terms of livestreaming, there are a few components you will need to add to your arsenal.

Livestream Software (SimpleSportsCaster)
Laptop/Tablet
A video capture card

Lastly, let's discuss wagons and carts. I've broken quite a few carts and wagons before finding the one that I use now. The Rock-N-Roller has big wheels for easy pulling/pushing on all types of terrains and is built to last. The only negative about this cart for me was that it didn't come with a handle to pull. Because I had tons of broken wagons I cut a handle off of a broken one and bolted it to my Rock-N-Roller and it has now worked better and lasted longer than any cart I've ever owned. (picture and links below)