By Brandon K. Hedgepeth
Telecom Crew Member

On Saturday, November 11, NNPS Telecom livestreamed the Kellam vs Menchville Girls' High School Volleyball Quarterfinals held at Menchville High School.

The day after the Menchville vs Warwick Playoff Football Game at Todd Stadium, which was livestreamed on YouTube and broadcast on NNPS-TV by the Telecom crew, my brother Ryan Hedgepeth and I streamed the volleyball quarterfinals game.

Following guidelines presented by the Virginia High School League (VHSL), the quarterfinal games must be streamed live whenever possible. As such, it prompted NNPS Telecom to put together a strategy to showcase the game.

Ultimately, I was selected to put together the stream for the production, also serving as the director. Ryan served as the sole camera operator during the match.

After using BlackMagic ATEM devices since September 2020 for remote productions, this game served as a test for Telecom's newest piece of equipment, the YoloBox Pro.

The YoloBox Pro is a new device from YoloLiv that allows for remote productions to be produced with less equipment and fewer operators than our remote truck requires. Coming from the ATEM, however, I did face a steep learning curve, though this production provided the perfect opportunity to learn to use it. Unlike the ATEM, the YoloBox has built-in graphics capabilities and is ultra-portable.

To ensure the production went smoothly, Telecom Supervisor Ray Price, who served as producer of the production, went with me to Menchville on Friday morning to test out the equipment and learn more about the device.

After a successful production on Saturday, it has become evident that the YoloBox is a game-changer when it comes to remote productions from NNPS Telecom, and will be utilized more frequently heading into the second semester.