Interview

1. Tell us something about you and your school?

My name is Richard Ryles. I teach the Audio and Video Technology and Film pathway at Jeff Davis High School in South Georgia. I've been teaching for 27 years and I've been teaching video production for about eight years.
Our JDH-TV website can be found at www.jdhtv.net.
Jeff Davis High School is a small high school in Hazlehurst, GA, Jeff Davis County.
We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 students.

Several years ago, when it became more affordable, we purchased equipment that allowed us to stream our productions.
This has evolved into JDH-TV which is an extracurricular extension of the classroom.
JDH-TV allows my students to gain real world experience. For all of my students this is their first introduction to the broadcasting world. Many are fascinated and most do not realize how much work is involved in a production of this type. We usually spend four to five hours when streaming an event, that includes set-up and break-down. ESE Networks has joined with us to provide our educational institution a streaming platform at no cost to our school system.

We mostly stream sporting events, softball, football, cheerleading, basketball, soccer and baseball. Occasionally we will stream some other event such as a music concert or other school program. Since JDH-TV is an extracurricular activity we have an all volunteer staff. We try to cover from three to five home games of each sport.

2. How did you find Live Score and what was your first impression?

In the Fall of 2014, Jeff Davis High School was one of many Georgia high schools who received the Georgia Audio-Video-Film/Technology Grant. This grant provided school with the specific equipment needed to stream events live as well as a platform for the streaming and archiving of those events. The encoder included with this grant utilizes Wirecast.
Though Wirecast 6 included a scoring graphic, which we used for the 14/15 school year, it was difficult for students to use and was limited. At the beginning of this school year I began my Internet search and found several solutions that looked like they would work. Only one problem, they all cost more than JDH-TV generates in a year.

I finally came across Live Score.
After working through the demo I realized I had found a low cost solution that would actually help us.

3. How do you use Live Score and how does it change the way you work?

With Wirecast as the encoder we were switching with it, running sound through it and running CGI through it (of which Wirecast's scoring graphic is part). Beginners were being overwhelmed and even my experienced students were having trouble keeping up with all of this.

Live Score has allowed me to pull the scoring part out the hands of the student running the encoder and place it in the hands of a student with an iPad elsewhere. The score bug is much more accurate now and looks great.

We use an inexpensive Windows 10 laptop as the server and an iPad as the controller. We've purchased the different iPad controls for each of the sports we broadcast so for just a little over $100 we've got a much more professional looking score bug that is "usually" correct. We bring in the Live Score window from the laptop as a remote desktop in Wirecast, trim out all the extra in the window and use the chroma key function to delete the green background. A few times we've not had time to do the keying and simply used a black background.

A side note here: Christian has been great in working with me and has made several updates to the app that have enhanced the functionality and usefulness of the app from a user and viewer standpoint in the last four months alone.

4. Which projects and shows have you been involved and what are you currently working on?

So far this year we've streamed softball, football and some basketball.
Soccer is a new sport at our school and we will be streaming some of those games as well as baseball.
Again, check us out a www.jdhtv.net.