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The Oates Victorian Open is one of the premier events on the Australian golf calendar. Both men's and women’s championships are played simultaneously over four days at the beautiful 13^th Beach golf course. This year organisers Golf Victoria wanted to raise the standard and level of innovation higher than ever before and include live streaming of the tournament. For that they turned to Sean Mulcahy from Australian Network Productions and Videocraft who provided all the OB and live streaming facilities. Mulcahy explained, “This event has gone from strength to strength and the addition of live streaming really took it to new heights. As a result I wanted an OB company that were innovative and that I could trust. Having dealt with Videocraft for years I knew they would be the perfect OB partner. They are a boutique operation who have great people like Andy Liell and Mark Grooby on their team, stock the very latest in equipment, have great local support and backup and a fantastic work ethic.” Having again been entrusted with the coverage of the Oates Victorian Open, the job of integrating live streaming and knowing golfing superstars including Karrie Webb, Nick Cullen and Richard Green would be taking part Mulcahy knew a great tournament awaited them and for that they needed to provide the very best services to meet expectations. He continued, “We asked Videocraft for a professional, high quality production and live streaming solution that could be backed up and supported by a substantial local presence and be very cost efficient to work within our tight budget. I’m delighted to say they 100% delivered. Most impressive was the way they answered all of our requirements with the utmost dedication and commitment. This meant I could trust them as I always have and knew I could rely on their solution.” Mulcahy and the Videocraft team designed and implemented a flexible and powerful onsite OB setup that included Yamaha audio, six channels of EVS, a Blackmagic 4K switcher, Ross Xpression graphics and RF links all based around Videocraft’s unique FlyPack. With the production day at the Open starting early and the live feed going to air at midday everyone on the team had to be prepared.

Mulcahy added, “Videocraft live switched the coverage whilst also integrating EVS replays and packages. The entire event was then played out to the Open’s official YouTube channel via a Livestream box. The aim was to provide a more intimate and informal coverage that included talking with the players in between shots. This also meant we had to be nimble and agile. We also set up a marquee where a host did player interviews. All in all the production was slick and efficient.” With a tight budget but a requirement for high production values Mulcahy and the Videocraft team in conjunction with the crew produced an end result which spoke volumes for the kind of OB production Videocraft has made such a name for itself in. Sean Mulcahy concluded, “I am extremely proud of our team for the job they did at the Oates Victorian Open. For such a small operation, the product was outstanding and in my view, has revolutionised golf coverage. Golf Victoria were ecstatic with the result and rightfully so as they can now comfortably lay claim to this country's most exciting golf tournament. I must again thank Videocraft who really went above and beyond in terms of service. They were committed, dedicated and professional at all times from prep to tournament to pack up and debrief, striving always to produce a job that everyone would be happy with. I genuinely couldn’t have done it without them.” To view some of the material that was streamed go to http://www.golfvic.org.au/oatesvicopenlive