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I attended as a spectator from Friday through the championships. Speaking as an attendee:
I had a great time man. Overall a very professional production, the Circus Maximus was a totally awesome theatre (with the bar outside no less! Kickass!), and whatever staff I interacted with were very cool and helpful.
I actually walked up during the 'net outage (just after the Truck that Killed the Internet Incident) -- and they had the whole thing up and running after a very short time, it was handled very well I thought.
Only complaint (and this is a fairly large one, would / will make a huge difference):
The resolution on the screens - both at Bally's and Ceasar's -- was pretty low guys. The action was fuzzy, the menus for score / resources / etc were unreadable.
Watching the matches live in the venue was like watching the stream or a VOD on YouTube @ 360p. The projectors were low rez and this detracted from the overall experience alot.
Not being up on the cost of pro-theater hi-def screens -- I do think this is one of the factors that can help make or break live eSports.
Seeing a nice, huge image at at least 480 if not full 720p is going to be essential for the full enjoyment of the genre.
Not having a sharp view of the actual games didn't destroy the experience -- but I do feel strongly that this is something that absolutely has to be addressed as time goes by.
Is the screen resolution at that size mainly a tech issue, a budget issue, or both?
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Great write up! I really enjoyed IPL3 tremendously (when 18-wheelers weren't ruining e-sports!). One thing I noted from your post was that you decided that the mics in the booths to pick up the keyboard sounds was a bad idea, and I must say I COMPLETELY disagree! I thought that hearing the keyboards click-clacking away when there was a shot of the players' hands was EXCELLENT! Obviously you don't want that going at all times, but when there is a shot of that in the picture-in-picture then it makes perfect sense to have those sounds playing. It gives it such a more real/live feel.
Anyways, again great post, and good luck with the next live IPL event!
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I loved the production when it was working.
The only thing that you did rly bad was to have the LoL-finals before the 2nd sc2 semi-final and the grandfinal. You basicly lost 99% of the European viewers...
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This was a great read, thanks for putting this down on paper. Can't wait for IPL4.
And to answer your questions...
1. Loved the panels to soak up downtime. Both player panels and Lo3 were great
2. The pre-game handshake was kind of awkward. Probably skippable.
3. More use of that LiveU, that was cool stuff being so up close
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Does anyone have a link to the Huk Idra player panel? The only one I can find is the one with MC.
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For the Player shots, why not instead of cutting away with the whole picture, just make the small portrait video on the botton right slightly larger in those key moments while keeping the in game footage, at least that way you still get the player reaction to the situation while still having all the starcraft action being viewable. And then when the "intense moment" is over make the player shot smaller again. ... at least that way you get the best of both worlds. On top of getting both the reaction and action at the same time it will also queue in the fact that that is a key moment in the game to more casual viewers or even viewers that are not all that familliar with starcraft.
Or even make the main picture the player shot while putting the starcraft action in a smaller box or even split screen the 2 .... I think all are viable solutions to getting player reaction without disrupting the starcraft footage.
Player panels are a must in my opinion for a few reasons. The main being that it adds personality / likeability to some of the players as it showcases thier personality and not just their play. And secondly it actually helps explain a few things about the game for the newer people trying to get into and understand the game more.
With these casts you should not only cater to the already regular spectators but maybe draw in interest from people who really aren't aware of the competitive aspect of starcraft and e-sports in general. As you said in your blog a few of the backstage crew at ceasars who previously knew nothing about the game were getting interested in it. If you can bring in more new fans like that your not only expanding your brand but interest in esports in general. And thats something that you were able to pull off more than a other tournaments.
With that being said being able to host the tourney at a venue like Ceasars in my opinion was brilliant. I was unaware that some of the matches and previews were being shown throughout the casino. Having that ability to broadcast to people not familiar with it within the venue is a great way to bring in new fans and interest young and old.
Also maybe an idea for your future events is to get ahold of some local and national news stations and agencies to maybe do a little story on your event. That way again you'll bring in some interest from people who know nothing about esports and it will also put a positive spin on it. A big part of the reason why e-sports hasn't exploded here in north america as much as it has elsewhere in the world is that it hasn't had that exposure to people other that the casual gamer. Lets be real here, gaming is still tabood as being dorky and not necesarily something that can be done professionally and have a positive affect on society. But if you can get the additional exposure out there showing that yes esports is something positive and more than just kids wasting their time away in front of their computers you could bring in more fans and like i said before, more brand exposure.
And if you like that idea i could always use a second job ^^ :D
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Great blog. I have to say this was one of the best live events yet. The production was quite amazing for something that was built in a few weeks. I'll try and note a few things that could use some tweaking.
First about the handshake/interview. The handshake moment seemed awkward in most of the times I've seen it. I got the feeling that the players weren't expecting it and when they got on stage they were taken by surprise or something. They also didn't know when to actually enter, was it when they called their names or when they were asked to shake hands. This can be solved simply by explaining the introduction process and following that process throughout the event. As for the interview, I didn't like the questions so much, and the translating was a bit awkward as well. Have all of the conversation mic'ed up for the Korean fans to understand everything in their native language. We do that here in Quebec and it isn't weird, just takes some getting used to.
Next, the setup/delays. I have absolutely nothing negative to say here, we got so many matches with little to no interruption that I barely had time to go eat/toilet. I don't know if the normal delay can allow it, but a small break for lunch would be great for everyone I would think.
Now for the camera crew. I applaud the effort to adapt as the event went on. As you pointed out, a few situations were a bit fail but overall it was great. If you really want live player reactions, you will need a camera director that is well experienced in SC2 to know when to do those dramatic closeups like we see in the BW casts. Edit: Sometimes the player only notices much later what we see now. That's why a camera play (aka dramatic closeup) is mandatory to 'create' the reaction if the player has none. And since the way we cast SC2 is significantly different from the BW cast style, that camera director person would also need to keep an ear out over what the casters are saying since they will give the queue compared to BW where the director shows what the casters and spectators see which leads me to my next point: Casters commenting on the crowd. It was a bit weird that the casters would comment on signs or crowd actions and we would see nothing of it. Again, have a very good cameraman on stage to spot the sign and the director to switch camera to show the crowd what the casters are talking about. The explosion transition was great in the Lo3 part which made it 100% more hilarious of an event, but in the actual games I think it was a bit too much. Keep flashy transitions when changing subjects and simple transitions to camera switches. But again, overall it was great and I can only anticipate it getting better in the next event.
Again, big congratulations at running an almost flawless event that was action packed from start to finish. You definitely raised the bar for any future live events. A big thanks to the players for helping you guys produce content when there was downtime, I do hope they keep being this helpful in the future as long as it doesn't hinder their game.
Can't wait for next event and to see how MLG will respond to this badassery :p
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The only part that fell short in my opinion was the awards ceremony.
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Great event, IGN. Handled the internet issues with class, I thought.
The lighting in the booths matching the ingame color was so subtle yet badass, I loved it. I noticed it immediately. Just shows the thought going into the production.
The handshake thing/interviews were so awkward. The girls would be like "shake hands" and the players would walk all the way across the stage to shake hands, many didn't look like they wanted to. Full body shots during interviews are also awkward, even if you were trying to show hot those babes lol. Also the girls would introduce the casters and we'd watch them walk up and put their headsets on, wait 90 seconds while the girls stood there uncomfortably; awkward. These are all pretty minor observations, however.
Finally, player profiles and more interviews are a must. esports definitely needs something to make matches more personable to viewers and these are the key.
In true IGN fashion, I rate the event an arbitrary 8.3/10
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OMG this would be epic:
On October 12 2011 18:47 nepeta wrote:
One thing you really lacked though was a celebration at then end. The winner hops out of his booth and onto the stage, and there's nothing there for him to do but grin at the audience. You seriously need an OSL kind of setup: Coaches/team mates rushing the stage, champagne, people tossing the new champion in the air (and catching him after), the anouncer booming in a deep dark voice something like "ALL HAIL THE IPL SEASON 3 CHAMPION, MA - JAE - YOON NAMIDA!!!" all the while an epic tune is playing, confetti, stargirls, pyro stuff, the lot.
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On October 11 2011 10:15 darkrabbi wrote:
Something I'd like to get community opinions on is this - after a big epic battle or a player is surprsied by something how would you guys feel about cutting away from gameplay for a 2-3 second full screen camera shot of the player?
"Check out the WCG Korea that OGN has done for SC2, or just BW casts, they do a really good job at cutting to a player in tense situations during the "oh shit I might be dead" moments etc."
Edit: Missed the [ /quote ] boxes for the above.
Firstly nice blog and great effort and overall good job. Some unfortunate things happened but you guys adapted pretty well, in future perhaps can try and prepare for such contingencies.
On the BW casts, I truly second this. It boils down to the players reaction so this 'depends'. An awesome example is the WCG (2009 semis?) game between JaeDong and Flash and whenever the camera pans to JaeDong you see him literally sweating from intense concentration over the 30min game. The serious eyes and sweat dripping from his brow... I could feel the intensity watching from the comforts of my couch.
Flash not as intense but just cold, calm and collected heh. Also their reactions when they win, lose, cry, etc. is important in making the competition and players more personable so good camerawork is important there. Love the background and a lot of the new features you guys brought, personally don't like the text 'font' though.
Panels are a good way of connecting fans and the players, but do not over-kill it as not all viewers are fans of all players so there are bound to be some uninterested viewers as well. The handshake I say leave it to players, rivalries make interesting stories (lol @ Idra not shaking Cruncher's hand) so long as does not go get overly ugly.
Just my 2 cents.
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Very nice event, thanks a lot ! Best streamed tournament I've seen so far 
You still have room for improvement, for example with the awards ceremony or that LoL stuff, but overall I enjoyed it a lot, and Stephano made it even more enjoyable <3
Looking forward to IPL4, gonna be awesome
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I got the biggest nerdiest smile on my face from reading this. I really wish I could have gone, however I am not 21.
Keep up the good work, It blows my mind that this was the first event you guys have ever done. I am looking forward to the next one.
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Wow i love hearing stories like this. Project management is so interesting!
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Finnaly finished reading it. Definatly worth it and the pictures were awesome.
Its nice to hear about what goes on behind the scenes.
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more awesomeness! thank you for the blog! :D
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I wanted to say that I think you guys did an incredible job for your first live event. Guys at MLG need to take note and NASL should see that they need to step their game up hardcore.
I didn't think about or realize until the credits rolled how many people are involved in putting the whole thing together, but you guys did awesome and I think if you grow from here you could be producing content on par with GOM even.
Congratulations and thank you so much for all of your hard work to everyone at IPL, Caesars, and anyone else involved in making IPL3 so successful.
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You know what would be cool? If, after a big battle, when there's usually a short downtime, you could show us a short replay of the battle !but! from the perspective of the victor by catching the video signal of his computer. This would also work in the early game when the players micro less units, for example, PvP 3 stalkers 1 zealot vs 3 stalkers 1 zealot.
It would be a a short picture in picture so you don't lose track of the match.
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On October 11 2011 10:15 darkrabbi wrote:
That brings me to the picture in picture int he bottom right. We originally were going to only show the casters here - however I think this is an extremely boring shot that no one is interested in seeing. Neha decided to take one of our static cameras and set him up as a roaming camera on stage - giving us a total of 2 stage cameras and one for each player. This gave us a lot more options. We did things like set up split screen shots of the players, get action shots of mouse/keyboard of the players and just get nice shots of the players in their booths. By Day 3 we had the Caesars lighting crew setting the booth lights to the players in- game color and taking the players themselves to full screen during the early game introductions. It was starting to feel like a show.
Something I'd like to get community opinions on is this - after a big epic battle or a player is surprsied by something how would you guys feel about cutting away from gameplay for a 2-3 second full screen camera shot of the player? I think if this is done correctly and not overused it can add a lot to a broadcast. While I'm on this point let me admit that we definitely messed up (twice) by showing a full screen caster/player during an important part of gameplay - this was not intentional. We had given our primary TD a break and had our AD filling in for him. Something else we tried and eventually decided didn't work was setting up mics inside the player booths to get audio from the mouse/keyboard. The response was not great and people thought a PA had left his mic on backstage. Also in regards to the explosion transitions - our director was getting a little frisky and was just having fun with the tricaster presets - we won't be repeating those LoL.
I loved the way you guys did the PinP, and the action shots including players hands were awesome. I wish more live events incorporated that, because it's fun to see. The booth lights were a fantastic effect and I definitely noticed them. I think your idea of cutting to head shots for reactions is great too, but I agree with the advice in this thread to use it sparingly
Our two translators Susie (LiLSusie) and Sue were amazing - always ready to go and providing the best translations I've heard from Korean pro players.
The interpreters were obviously quite knowledgeable and skilled. One criticism I'd offer for next time would be to try and standardize the style of translation. One of the interpreters spoke directly on behalf of the player she was interpreting for "I've been practicing very hard, thank you for your support", and the other was more indirect "He said that's something he practiced, and he wants to thank his fans for supporting him". I preferred the direct method, personally, but a uniform approach would lead to an overall more polished effect.
Overall, this has been a great season, and the live coverage was the best I've seen yet! Thank you so much for all your hard work, it really shows!
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Very very great write and event.
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EPT
