Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Simple Thought Productions Streams Rare Flower Blooms with AJA HELO

29/06/2022

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
LINK: https://creativecow.net/simple-thought-productions-streams-rare-flower...
See more stories from creativecow

North America Stories

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as CEO, Effective July 1

Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...

27/05/2026

FOX MLB Leads Live-Event Categories; ESPN Is Tops Overall at 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards

ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...

27/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50th Anniversary, Announces New Product Launch for June

Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...

27/05/2026

MLB Announces Fan Engagement Initiatives for Americas 250th Anniversary

Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...

27/05/2026

Advanced Systems Group Hires Brian Gross as Account Manager for Audio Team

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...

27/05/2026

Nielsen Research: Hispanic Fans, Asian Markets Drive Global Soccer Audience Ahead of World Cup 2026

Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...

27/05/2026

ESL FACEIT Group Debuts First Ever Esports Vertical Stream Co-Developed With TikTok

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...

27/05/2026

Two Weeks Away: FIFA Outlines Production Plans for Highly Anticipated North American-Based World Cup

FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...

27/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Maggie Lynn, Virginia Tech

The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions In t...

27/05/2026

A Global Festival of Football: FOX Sports Illustrates Strategy to Bring Every FIFA Mens World Cup Match to the U.S. Audience

FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...

27/05/2026

Top-Tier Storytelling: Host Broadcast Services Works at Capturing the Atmosphere of the FIFA Mens World Cup

HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...

27/05/2026

Matt Gangl & Pete Macheska on FOX MLBs Huge Night and an Unforgettable Postseason Run

FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...

27/05/2026

FOXs Mike Davies and Team on Outstanding Technical Team Win for 2025 World Series

One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...

27/05/2026

NBC Sports Rob Hyland Reflects on an Unforgettable Sunday Night Football Season

NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...

27/05/2026

Prime Videos John Ward and Mike Francis on Groundbreaking NBA on Prime Video Studio

The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...

27/05/2026

Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to Winter Games

With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...

27/05/2026

L3Harris Introduces the XL Converge 300P Portable Public Safety Radio

The XL Converge 300P radio system emerges with a groundbreaking feature set enhancing the mission-critical communications of public safety, federal and critica...

27/05/2026

Modernizing Public Safety Communications

Pairing Two47 MCX software with existing LTE networks means tailored system upgrades that can save time, money and lives....

27/05/2026

L3Harris Strengthens Global Solid Rocket Motor Supply Chain With New PAC-3 Propulsion Supplier

PAC-3 MSE offers improved range, speed, and maneuverability, making it an effect...

27/05/2026

Brightcove Adds New Features to Its AI Suite for Video Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan Camera

Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan ...

27/05/2026

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live

Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live Brie Clayton May 27, 2026 0 Comments Large screen displays and slow motion replays dynamically ...

27/05/2026

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia Prez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona

Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Origi...

27/05/2026

Gravity Media Expands Into Creative Services With New Agency

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Tegna Names Patrick Paolini as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Taps Company Vet Benjamin Desbois as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

HDR10+ Technologies to Launch Eclipsa Video Certification Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

ATSC to Gather in Washington Next Week for Annual Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/05/2026

Telestream Appoints Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive O...

Co-founder Dan Castles to transition to Executive Chair; internal promotion reinforces continuity and long-term growth Telestream, a global leader in media wor...

27/05/2026

Big Blue Marble Announces First End-to-End 5G Broadcast S...

Big Blue Marble today announced that its Nakolos platform is the first end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution worldwide to implement the complete feature set introduc...

27/05/2026

Lightware Continues Its ESG Commitment Through Girls Day...

Lightware recently hosted the Girls' Day event in April at its headquarters in Budapest, welcoming students for an interactive introduction to engineering a...

26/05/2026

Matrox Video Marks 50 Year Milestone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Roku Expands Premium Subscriptions With Fox One

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Brian Gross Joins ASG's Audio Team as Account Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

MPA Urges FCC Not to Reclassify vMVPDs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/05/2026

Cobalt Digital to Showcase End-to-End IPMX Ecosystem at I...

Cobalt Digital to Showcase End-to-End IPMX Ecosystem at InfoComm 2026, Making ST 2110 Easy for Pro AV blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designe...

26/05/2026

Matrox Video Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation and Looks...

Matrox Video today celebrates its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of innovation, engineering excellence, and customer-focused evolution from its headquar...

26/05/2026

Cuez Helps ITV Studios Run Three Live Shows as One includ...

ITV Studios, the production arm of the UKs largest commercial broadcaster, has deployed the Cuez live production platform to unify the management of three back-...

26/05/2026

CETA Software releases Morpheus, an AI tool for real-time post-production project oversight

CETA Software releases Morpheus, an AI tool for real-time post-production projec...

26/05/2026

Ikegami Accelerates Motorsport Broadcast Innovation with...

In a move set to redefine motorsports coverage across the Asia Pacific region, Ikegami Electronics announces that Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn Bhd (TWMR), a lead...

26/05/2026

Netflix Releases Official Trailer and Poster for 'The Root Of The Game,' A Documentary Series Premiering June 20

Back to All News Netflix Releases Official Trailer and Poster for The Root Of T...

26/05/2026

'MED,' Production Begins on Netflix's First Medical Drama From Brazil, Starring Clara Moneke

Back to All News MED, Production Begins on Netflixs First Medical Drama From Br...

26/05/2026

Netflix Announces Five New Brazilian Productions and Expands Its Presence at Rio2C 2026

Back to All News Netflix Announces Five New Brazilian Productions and Expands I...

26/05/2026

Netflix Celebrates the Release of the New Animated Series 'Due Spicci' With a Major Event at Circo Massimo in Rome

Back to All News Netflix Celebrates the Release of the New Animated Series Due ...

26/05/2026

Made In New Mexico: Building The Boroughs' From the Ground Up

Back to All News Made In New Mexico: Building The Boroughs' From the Ground Up A photo from The Boroughs.' (Courtesy of Netflix 2026) Entertainme...

26/05/2026

Broadcast Pix Introduces ONix Pro Control Panel

Smart Production Control. Total Confidence. Tyngsborough, MA, May 27, 2026 - Broadcast Pix today announced the ONix Pro Control Panel, its most advanced hard...

26/05/2026

NVIDIA Vera CPU Is Packing a Heavy-Hitting Punch' Against Competition

The shift to agentic AI creates a new CPU requirement for the AI factory: fast cores, massive memory bandwidth and the ability to sustain high performance when ...

25/05/2026

SVG All-Stars: LJ Helbig, Senior Manager, Broadcast Engineering, FloSports

The former University of Wyoming wrestler is essential in helping the rapidly growing streamer delivers more than 50,000 live events per year The sports-produc...

25/05/2026

Enabling Persistent Arctic Surveillance

Image courtesy of GA-ASI...