Steadi Command Center 13

Written By Chris Carson

Friends it has been a long road to get to this point. When I first started in live streaming, there wasn’t a manual. I merged the world of high-end video equipment with iPhones as cameras. Those days were full of bloat and a lot of learning for how not to do mobile streaming and video production. Steadi Command Center 13 is a testament to those failures, lessons learned and is truly a major milestone for capability, efficiency and quality. There is no sacrifice between those 3. So let’s dive in:

I’m constantly aware of our situation, clients expect quality and shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything to achieve it – and neither should we.

The questions I constantly ask myself:

  1. What are we missing?

  2. What are we sacrificing?

  3. What don’t we need?

  4. Can it still get through an entire production day?

In the early days, setting up for a production was exhausting. Load in took well over an hour and was grueling with all of the cables and giant gear. I started with a trunk full of stuff. That stuff though, provided a reason to justify my fee for the production. The complexity only added to the pricing structure. Could I still justify the price or even increase it if I made my everyday life easier? Yes.

Let’s be clear, no one is getting rich here… well maybe Amazon with the accumulation of stuff over the years! My pricing was initially set really low — mainly because I was establishing my name and reputation and needed somewhere to start. By finding and utilizing gear sized appropriately for the iPhones, life became MUCH easier. Command Center 5 was a huge breakthrough — setup time decreased to 20 minutes or less(!), which at that time was unbelievable. It wasn’t until Command Center 9 that true mobility with a single person crew was achieved. 9.0 was built with only mobility in mind and didn't offer a better way for fixed position productions. 8.0 was that solution for the longest time.

The true enabler to simplicity: 2020 — yes, something actually positive from that year. The need for the new technologies like 5G, Wifi 6 and others finally arrived. Live streaming would never be the same. 5G solved the need to have multiple wired internet connections. Wifi 6 solved interference issues for camera communication. iPhone 12 enabled smarter camera tech + a 5Ghz wifi 6 network, deleting the need for things like Google Wifi or Netgear M5. Enter The Steadi Command Center 13:

cc13.jpg

But wait, where’s the stand for the iPad? EASY — Your hands! So what about sound? Our favorite sound solution up to this point was the Zoom F6, but Teradek’s AirMix live streaming app has a built-in audio mixer(!) and unlike Switcher Studio, enables the cameras to be used to send audio into the mix. Wifi? iPhone 12 Pro that’s always in my pocket (and soon the new 2021 iPad’s will be able to create a 5Ghz wifi 6 network too). Batteries? Just under the phone, is a cylindrical battery.

Not sold yet? What about ALL Day battery life? Sounds too good to be true, I agree. All production days have a lunch break. That gives your roughly 50 minutes to shut down — and quick charge all of the gear, resulting in making through a 8 hour shoot day. Ok.. I’ll stop wasting your time with all these amazing details and give you the breakdown and links to build yours:

Build Your Steadi Command Center 13:

That’s it! This is by far the most practical and affordable solution for pro live streaming we’ve ever built or come across. So I guess the only question left is, are you building a Steadi Command Center 13? Let me know in the comments.

Want more live streaming tips? Check out our community.

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Chris Carson

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