RealmSmith.tv is a popular Toronto, ON based live streaming and tabletop gaming company, and “Into the Mist” features improvised live play of Dungeons & Dragons’ “Curse of Strahd” campaign setting. Jason Azevedo, founder and president of RealmSmith.tv, acts as Dungeon Master alongside weekly players gathered around an immersive table setup, where players and viewers are made to feel they are part of the game experience. Joel Augé, co-owner of RealmSmith.tv, manages all aspects of the stream’s production and workflow.
When RealmSmith.tv embarked on “Into the Mist,” they decided to produce the show as a multi-camera live stream to keep viewers entertained throughout the episodes. They invested in an ATEM Television Studio HD live production switcher, two Blackmagic Micro Cinema Cameras, and two Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks to achieve a more cinematic feel. They later incorporated two additional Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks for more camera angles.
“A lot of live streams are based on a single, frontal view where players call in from their own homes with webcams; we wanted ‘Into the Mist’ to show everyone in the same room with multiple camera angles and proper lighting,” said Azevedo. “That’s how we separate ourselves.”
Two of the Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks capture front shots, one pointing at the Dungeon Master and the other for the entire table of six players. The other two Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks look across and over players’ shoulders. Additionally, RealmSmith.tv uses an ATEM Television Studio HD to switch between the cameras and to map out sequences of camera changes and animations.
When the team has to stream remotely, Augé uses a Blackmagic Web Presenter to power his workflow from home. “It’s been a workhorse, helping us deliver a high-quality stream even when battling lower bandwidth situations,” said Augé.
Following each week’s three hour Twitch live streams, RealmSmith.tv uses DaVinci Resolve Studio’s cut page to create a recap for the beginning of each show on their YouTube channels.
“We go through the full stream the day after a show goes live and highlight markers and times in the episode that we want to emphasize in the recar,” said Augé. “The editor takes the live stream files and brings them into DaVinci Resolve Studio’s timeline, using the cut page to edit together the recap.”
RealmSmith.tv also used DaVinci Resolve Studio’s to create the popular intro to the “Into the Mist” series, an animated sequence that reveals each player, blending together their real life selves with their characters. The team relied on the edit page’s Retime Curve tool to create the dramatic effect of smoke going through the characters during the intro. They then modified the video’s speed by mapping out different segments of audio with markers and then timed the video clips to the music.
