Coy, a theater and English literature double major, is working for
the first time with vMix software for live streaming. He has been
learning it on the fly and dealing with its intricacies as he
incorporates the technology into his central duty of managing the
quality of the show production.
Overseeing a live production means remaining nimble, Coy said, and
part of the beauty of live theater is that anything can happen. He
embraces that. However, this level of technology means it can take
longer to fix a problem than if something happened on stage.
"With the digital presentation, it's a lot more scary. There is
a lot of planning because we don't want to look messy," Coy said.
"While I am sometimes frustrated with the technology, I'm still
enjoying the art that we're making. I'm very excited to show the art."
The production team member charged with developing the technological
setup is Chris Mahlmann, the technical director for theater. One of
his usual duties is capturing images from stage and projecting them.
With this production, he is capturing images to place into a streaming service.
That process has more steps amid an "ambitious" plan to
have the actors set up in separate rooms with green screens, he said.
The biggest challenge is the chain to transmit images: Webcams to
routers to servers to software.