After you've decided on your broadcast location, set up your camera and tripod where you've intended.

You will want to ensure that you have power directly connected to the camera as batteries will typically be depleted sooner inside of cold environments, and that the camera is connected via HDMI or SDI cable directly to the encoder.

Frame Rate

It is important that your camera operates at 60 Frames Per Second (FPS).

This means that there are literally 60 still pictures being taken per second by the camera that are sent.

Resolution

All cameras must output 1280 wide x 720 tall. Most modern cameras can do more than this, but ensure that your camera output will support this resolution!

Video Settings / Brightness

AKA - EXPOSURE Camera Settings

Creating a good video recording of ice hockey is challenging as we want to see that players clearly who are wearing protective equipment that create shadows on their face creating what is called underexposure.

This can be corrected by brightening the image which can lead to the ice being over 100% bright and the camera cannot reproduce the look of the ice. This is called overexposure.

Exposure is controlled by 2 things.

1. How much light is in the room. This is typically set by the venue

2. What your camera settings are.

A camera can increase or decrease the amount of light being captured with 3 settings. The 3 settings are: Iris, Shutter Speed and Gain.

IRIS - An iris is a device inside a lens that can open or close mechanically that will allow in more light or less light. This is measured in an F-Stop.

Example Iris settings.

F1.0 is very open. letting in lots of light.

While

F36 is basically completely shut. letting in a small amount of light.

We recommend starting at F4 as a starting point if you have not used your camera in ice hockey before.

SHUTTER SPEED - Shutter speed is how fast the camera "looks" at the world through the sensor. This is typically represented as a fraction of a second.

Longer durations allow more light (and more motion blur)

such as 1/60th of a second

while shorter durations allow less light (and less motion blur)

such as 1/1000th of a second

To get a clear image, we recommend starting at 1/120th of a second or faster.

GAIN - think of gain of how much electricity are we allowing the sensor to use to see the world around us. By adding more gain - the camera will see better in the same lighting environment. But you will also start to notice an increasing amount of unwanted bits of color flickering in and out of the camera image.

This is where you will see the biggest difference in cheaper vs. more expensive cameras.

It can be measured in dB or ISO

ISO vs dB

100 vs -6dB

200 vs 0dB

400 vs +6dB

800 vs +12dB

We recommend setting gain last and turning it up until the ice appears to lose all definition - then back down one or two gain steps so you can see detail in the ice again.

So a sample exposure setup would be

IRIS F4.0

Shutter Speed 1/120

Gain +6dB or 400 ISO

With any camera you are using it is recommended that you download a User Guide specific to camera's model. This User Guide should have step by step documentation on how to change the above referenced settings.

Tripod

Many beginners overlook the value of having a solid tripod setup to use. A good tripod allows for camera operators to easily track fast moving action at a distance and prevents viewers from feeling "Seasick"

Most tripods are built in two pieces the "Head" which attaches to the camera and the "Legs" that hold the weight of the package.

Ensure the tripod you deploy has sufficient capacity to support your camera setup.

If your tripod comes with a removable tripod plate that fixes the camera to the tripod head, it is recommended that you lock the plate in place. Doing so will prevent the tripod plate and camera from sliding forwards and backwards on the tripod head as you tilt (move the tripod head up and down) and pan (move the tripod head left and right) with the tripod arm. This will make your experience behind the camera substantially easier and produce a much more consistent result.

The camera person should follow the puck and play at all times.

The camera person should also regularly show the scoreboard during stoppages in play (if not embedded in broadcast already) to show score and time remaining.

Player Safety Note: It is imperative that the camera operator follow the play AT ALL TIMES, including during stoppage of play. Continue filming after stoppages to ensure injuries, incidents, and penalties are captured for review. This is for the protection of the players. Each major penalty this season will be reviewed by video, and it is non-negotiable that the footage be clear and accurate.