Participation Ceremony production issues
Support shrugged me off to here, and general category is locked, so this is some issues regarding the recent Participation Ceremony
Here's a link to the recent VoD https://www.twitch.tv/videos/885370340 and this is a quick list of some potential issues:
00:17:45 to 00:19:19 - 1st clip segment - No attribution.
00:37:25 - Most Raids - You gave the award to a bot.
00:43:18 to 00:44:22 - 2nd clip segment - No attribution.
00:51:20 to 00:52:35 - 3rd clip segment - No attribution.
01:06:04 to 01:07:13 - 4th clip segment - No attribution.
01:07:55 to 01:08:14 - Barry's audio - Fault on his end, but production failed to check.
01:20:08 to 01:22:50 - Day9 segment - Audio/Video sync issues.
01:28:00 to 01:29:47 - 6th clip segment - Finally, user attribution! lower 3rd, all done right. GG
01:33:08 to 01:34:18 - 7th clip segment - It was good while it lasted, back to no attribution.
01:39:52 to 01:41:12 - 8th clip segment - No attribution.
01:50:55 to 01:52:09 - 9th clip segment - No attribution,
01:58:52 to 02:00:22 - 10th clip segment - Inconsistent attribution, also cuts off one users name.
The lack of attribution on the clip segments is worrying, credit should be appropriately given to the creators. While not technically an issue as you may have rights to use their content without attribution, it doesn't show much respect at a time when the community is still feeling hurt by Twitch.
The attribution where present was also inconsistent. Some clip segments that did have attribution (either for the event itself or the broadcaster's name) used a lower third, appropriately positioned and sized. The 10th clip segment though positioned the attribution randomly in the upper right of the screen, but more egregiously the user 'ChocolateKieran' had their name going off the side of the screen, so it only displayed 'ChocolateKie'. This is basic production 101, you check your VT's, there's no excuse in the video editor not catching the issue, and the graphics operator not checking prior to air.
Barry's audio issue was on his end, and a last moment thing, but still they should have done a level check prior to transitioning him in. They would have already had an initial sound check, and that's all good, but in the lead up to a transition to a host it's common practice to check their levels and not transition to someone who has no audio at that time.
Day9's segment appeared to be a pre-recorded VT, I'm not sure if the audio/video sync issue was in the source material on the broadcast software, but either way the graphics operator should have picked up on this prior to broadcast and fixed it. There's no excuse for letting these issues go live when it's a 5 second fix.
As for a bot being awarded most raids, that got a good laugh out of us in TwitchDev, as well as in chat and many Twitch communities. They may be a real person, but in the same way that CommanderRoot is a real person, and the stuff they do (such as the award you gave them) was for scripted actions. I know some of the names were passed around to do a basic check, but this one fell through the cracks and whoever collected the analytics to come up with the list failed to do appropriate due diligence.
Finally, there were some of the same bad production choices present for this stream as there has been for past streams such as Glitchcon. An example being the soundboard, it's over used, with generic sounds, and most of Twitch outgrew soundboards years ago, it's a dated style choice and diminishes both the live broadcast experience, and the longevity of the recorded content. Thankfully this time around you didn't have as many flying Kappa's, and didn't use them after a big donation announcement like Glitchcon.
I only know bits and pieces of the internal side of Twitch production, but whoever you have running it (particularly graphics and audio operators) are doing a poor job and evidently have little on the job experience. The stylistic choices (such as soundboard and flying Kappa's) show that perhaps the producer has been told what Twitch is, but has no experience on the platform itself as they make choices that doesn't fit with the platforms brand.
Now none of these are big issues, but they are things that keep happening, and I may only notice some of them because my industry experience as a live production engineer and years in the Twitch Dev community, but even in Twitch Chat during the broadcast, Reddit, and numerous video production discords and slacks that were commenting on the show live did notice some things, particularly things that would have easily been caught and fixed by a graphics operator with experience.
I hope this feedback may help lead to a show that both Twitch and the viewers can be proud of and excited for the quality of.
Regards,
Dist.
Live event engineer, TwitchDev admin and Strategic partner.