To answer the question regarding how many video cameras you need in a meeting room we would need to understand a few things about the show.

  • How many attendees will be in the room?
  • How big is the room?
  • Is it worth recording?
  • Do you have the desire to Live Stream the show to an off site audience?

Let’s dive into this. The first question asked, how many attendees is probably the most critical. The number of attendees counts for this question. 

If you have less than 150 people in a room you would not need video unless you are live streaming. The smallest groups are easier to manage and require less audio visual technology. 

I want to jump into a term before I go any further. IMAG.  IMAG stands for Image Magnification. When you take a video signal from a camera and you project it onto a screen in a room so people in the back of the room can see what’s happening on the stage.

We believe that based on the room configuration and the numbers of attendees there is a formula for how many cameras you will need and and the size of the projection surfaces or LED Wall size.

Lets start with the minimum standard for the number of cameras to have good IMAG. 

We always start with two cameras. Based on the budget and need one camera could be powered on and locked off with no operator. This shot would be a wider angle shot of the stage that shows the entire stage. 

The second camera would have a tighter shot and would require an operator to follow the action on stage. 

The signals from both video cameras would be sent to a video switching device that would allow the operator to change what signal goes to screen based on the action.

For instance, someone is being announced too stage by the MC. The tight shot is on the MC until he announces the next speaker. At that time the wide angle camera would show all of the action on stage until the tighter angle camera can get a shot of the speaker. At that time the tighter shot would be used until something else happens. 

That is a very basic explanation of a two camera IMAG set up and how it works. 

You can add many cameras that have many different uses. Here are a few:

JIB – A JIB is a device that has a long steel arm that is usually 20’ to 30’ in length and it allows the camera to float above the audience. These are very impressive shots based on using wider angle lenses and are very common for bigger shows. Bigger shows meaning 2,000 plus attendees. This camera set up also is great if you are Live Streaming because it gives the viewer a better sense of the room and environment.

Lip of the Stage – Having a camera setup on a moving tripod at the lip of the stage gives a unique vantage point for the attendee. The other use is if you are showing off a new product and you want to get some close ups during the show. We use this camera setup often.

Hand Held Camera – We often use a hand held camera set up on the stage with an operator. We do this when we know there are lots of products being revealed and we know we need good live close up shots. We also use these with our clients that like a show to be a little more fluid. We have had many presenters use this type of camera for effect, I.e. walking right up to the camera and getting the face close to the lens. This is a fun camera to add.

If you would like a recommendation for the number of cameras or true type of camera please reach out to us. We are here to serve you.