Simple Thought Productions Streams Rare Flower Blooms with AJA HELO
Brie Clayton June 28, 2022
0 Comments
There's a live stream for nearly everything today from high school sports matches to the International Space Station, cat shelters, and even rare plant blooms like that of the Amorphophallus titanum. Commonly known as the corpse flower, the endangered plant takes up to ten years to cultivate in captivity. In blooming, it can grow up to 6 inches a day, and emits an unforgettable putrid scent. Public interest in watching these rare blooms online has grown in recent years, and botanical gardens and university greenhouses have risen to the occasion with live bloom broadcasts. Simple Thought Productions recently produced a live corpse flower bloom stream on YouTube for Rollins College in Florida using a camera and an AJA HELO H.264 streaming and recording device.
Rollins College Greenhouse Manager Alan Chryst obtained the college's first corpse plant seedling in 2004, and its first bloom took place over a decade later. Having successfully streamed the first event, Simple Thought Productions was asked to return ahead of two anticipated April 2022 blooms at the college. Always up for a challenge, Simple Thought Productions Founder Josh Chesarek was thrilled to take on the job. Evolving his approach for the previous stream, he opted to build his workflow for the project with AJA HELO at the core.
It's not every day as a video production pro that you're asked to capture a live feed of a plant that grows upwards of six feet in under a week and unleashes a scent so rancid that it reminds you of roadkill roasting on a hot summer day, he said. The environmental conditions also made it a fun challenge. We had to figure out the right gear to withstand incredibly hot, humid, and wet greenhouse conditions, and AJA HELO proved just the right fit.
Prior to the bloom, Chesarek positioned the camera and HELO within proper view of the corpse flower and encased the gear in a large plastic bag to prevent water damage from damp greenhouse conditions. With the camera connected to HELO over SDI and HELO connected to Ethernet and a power source, Chesarek could easily stop and start the 1080p YouTube live stream remotely.
He shared, I chose HELO because I've used it in production and felt confident it could manage the job. During the previous bloom, we used other encoders, which would go offline randomly, and interrupt the stream, so I'd have to stop what I was doing and drive in to reboot the encoder. This time around we had more than 10,000 viewers tune in without interruption, thanks in large part to HELO.
Even when running 237 consecutive hours in a 90-degree, humid climate, the stream ran smoothly - a feat that impressed even Chesarek. He explained, I kept thinking the camera or HELO might die, but neither skipped a beat, even when baking inside the greenhouse for nine days. It was great!
When Simple Thought Productions isn't streaming stinky plant blooms, Chesarek and team can be found producing live local Division 2 sports matches, esports competitions, and events for the city of Orlando. Looking to the future, they're exploring 4K production. To the untrained eye, the differences between 1080p, and 4K are not easily distinguishable, and most live events today are streamed in 720p. That said, we're seeing more interest in higher resolution production, especially in sports, Chesarek added. Even if a match isn't streamed in 4K, some clients are requesting 4K recordings for replay review, the ability to pan and scan, and more. We can easily shoot in 4K, mixing the footage with graphics and sound and hand it over to HELO in 1080p60 for HD streaming.
Whatever the production, Chesarek advocates constantly researching gear. He concluded, I can spend hours sweeping Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit for gear advice, recommendations, and reviews, but I also make a point to get out and talk to professionals and vendors where possible; it's a strategy that's paid off and one that led me to HELO. In talking to vendors specifically, you can also get an idea of how receptive they are to feedback, and that's what I like about AJA. They truly listen to users and iterate the technology to align with customer needs whether through software and firmware updates or new products.
###
Enjoying the news? Sign up now for the Creative COW Newsletter!
Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.
Enter your email address, a first and last name, and let us know what you'd like to see more of in the message!
.grecaptcha-badge{visibility:hidden}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header{display:flex;margin-bottom:10px}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header__content{flex:1;display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:center}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header--image--left{margin-right:10px}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header--image--right{margin-left:10px}.meow-contact-form--editor input{color:gray}.meow-contact-form--default{font-size:18px}.meow-contact-form--default input:not([type=submit]),.meow-contact-form--default textarea{width:100%}.meow-contact-form--default input[type=submit]{padding:10px 40px;font-size:18px;line-height:18px}.meow-contact-form--default .meow-contact-form__info{margin-top:-10px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:14px}.meow-contact-form--default .meow-contact-form-message{font-style:italic}.meow-contact-form--default .meow-contact-form__group{margin-bottom:15px;font-si
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
Simple Thought Productions Streams Rare Flower Blooms with AJA HELO 
