MARS Bromont CCI 2026 — How The Broadcast Works

Written for Lou Ann. Plain English. No code.

What this is, in one paragraph

MARS Bromont CCI is RNS Videomedia's first remote broadcast. The show happens in Quebec from June 4 through June 7. Mike runs the broadcast from RNS Videomedia's production machine, which lives at his place in Hickory Hills, Illinois, instead of in a truck at the venue. Mark is on the ground in Bromont as RNS Videomedia's partner-on-grounds — he hires the crew, scouts the cross-country course, and decides where every camera op stands. Hank is on a camera. A small crew of hired hands runs the cross-country cameras. You produce. The cameras at the venue get back to the production machine through LiveU rental gear, Mike cuts the show in OBS, and the program feed goes out to YouTube Live. No CMH. No H&C. Just YouTube. Everything else in this doc exists to make that one path solid.

The five boxes

rendering diagram…

What each box does, in plain language

1. The Broadcast Computer — RNS Videomedia's iMac at Hickory Hills

This is the switcher. It is RNS Videomedia's main production machine — the company's rig — physically hosted at Mike's place in Hickory Hills so the LiveU returns and the broadcast software all live in one room. It runs OBS, which is the modern equivalent of the Wirecast you've used. Cameras from the Bromont venue arrive over the public internet through LiveU's bonded-cellular rental gear — think of LiveU as the long fiber run that replaces a truck cable, except it's invisible and runs through cell towers. The iMac is what ultimately puts the program feed out to YouTube Live. If this machine is on and OBS is up, there is a show.

Alongside OBS, the iMac also runs NewBlue Captivate — the live graphics tool that stays open the whole show. Captivate is the only graphics program running on the broadcast machine during the stream. More on graphics in the Graphics Engine section below.

2. The Helper Computer — the Mac Mini sitting next to the iMac

This is the back-of-house edit bay, and it wears three hats.

Hat one, before the show: the Mac Mini is the art department. It runs After Effects, where Mike has been authoring and rendering pre-produced content for weeks — rider story packages, opening sequences, marquee fence bumpers (the water complex, the sunken road, the brush-and-drop), end-of-day wrap segments, and replay stingers. These finish as MP4 files. By show week, those MP4s are sitting on the Mac Mini's drive, ready for OBS to play back as media or for SPX-GC to reference. After Effects does not run during the live stream. It does its work before and after.

Hat two, during the show: the Mac Mini gets a clean NDI copy of every camera the iMac sees and records all of them continuously, all day, every day. It uses AI to find the start and end of every rider's trip — whether or not that trip aired on the broadcast. By the end of dressage day, it has a folder of every test. By the end of cross-country, it has a folder of every round, including the ones we cut away from. It also keeps a rolling replay buffer Mike can scrub into if you call for a replay.

Hat three, after the show: the Mac Mini goes back into After Effects to cut highlight packages, post-event wraps, and anything that needs the prettier render for socials or sponsor delivery.

The Helper Computer is completely independent of the live broadcast. If it crashes mid-show, falls off a desk, or catches fire, the show keeps going. The pre-rendered MP4s it produced are already sitting in OBS's media pool, so even a Mac Mini outage during the show doesn't pull those pieces off air. The Mac Mini physically travels with Mike to Hickory Hills before show week, and both machines sit on the same local network so the NDI camera copies have a clean path.

3. The Console — Mike's "Now Playing" app on his phone or laptop

This is Mike's producer panel. It is a simple web page he keeps open on a second screen or his phone. It shows him, in big letters: what is on the program output right now. Underneath that, it shows him the next handful of things he might want to do — fire the next rider's lower third, cut to the cross-country leaderboard, roll the sponsor bumper, take an IFB to Mark. He pushes a button. The console sends the command to the iMac. The iMac changes what's on screen. Critically, the console does not touch the program feed itself. It is not a switcher. It's a remote control with sensible labels. If the console crashes, Mike can still drive OBS by hand. The console exists so he doesn't have to.

4. SPX-GC — the graphics data server in the cloud

This is the CG operator, except it lives in a data center instead of in the truck. SPX-GC is the playout tool for the live numbers — penalties, time, current rider, leaderboard rows. You can think of it like Chyron Lyric, but running on the rented server in the cloud instead of on a local box. The iMac pulls SPX-GC in as a "browser source" — a glass overlay that floats above the cameras inside OBS. Because SPX-GC is in the cloud, the same data the rider database already knows (start lists, dressage scores, jumping faults) flows straight into the on-screen graphics without anyone retyping it.

5. The Shared Brain — the rest of the rented server

This is the shared brain. It is the same rented server in the data center that hosts SPX-GC, doing the rest of the cloud work alongside it. It holds the rider database (start lists, dressage scores, jumping faults, time penalties, sponsor counts), the schedule watcher that knows which rider is up next, the public-facing brand book site at bromont.schifftacular.com, the SJ Timer site at sj-timer.schifftacular.com, and the dashboards Mike uses to see whether anything is on fire. Both the iMac and the Console talk to the cloud to stay in sync on "who's riding, what are their marks, what time is it, what's next." If the cloud goes down, the show can still run on what the iMac already knows — graphics will go a little stale, but no one watching will notice for the length of a normal failover.

The Graphics Engine — how the look is built

There are three pipelines feeding the look on screen, and they split cleanly by when they run.

During the show — live graphics, two tools:

• SPX-GC, in the cloud. This is where the live numbers live: current rider, penalty count, time on course, leaderboard rows, lower-third name strips driven by the rider database. It comes into OBS as a browser source over the internet. This carries the bulk of the rundown-style live graphics load.
• NewBlue Captivate, on the iMac. Captivate is the second live graphics tool, open and running alongside OBS for every minute of the broadcast. It handles graphics that need to be triggered manually with broadcast feel — replay wipes triggered on the fly, ad-hoc lower thirds, big moments that don't fit a templated rundown. It also stands ready to catch any cue SPX-GC drops if the cloud connection hiccups.

SPX-GC and Captivate are co-equals during the show. They are not a primary-and-fallback pair. They divide the live graphics work: SPX-GC for the data-driven rundown stuff, Captivate for the broadcast-feel moment-to-moment stuff. Each can absorb the other's cues in a pinch, which is why both stay open.

Before and after the show — pre-rendered content, one tool:

• After Effects, on the Mac Mini. AE is where the polished, animated content gets authored: rider intro packages, opening sequence, sponsor bumpers, marquee fence bumpers, EOD wrap, replay stingers. AE renders these to MP4 files in the weeks before the show. The MP4s are dropped into OBS's media pool and played back as media during the broadcast — same as any other clip. AE itself does not run live. This means there is no "AE freeze" risk during the stream, and it means the iMac doesn't have to host a heavy render application alongside OBS and Captivate.

The mental model: SPX-GC and Captivate are the live graphics surface; After Effects is the upstream content factory.

What happens on June 4, in order

Show day is dressage. Here is the rough sequence.

Two hours before first horse: power up. At the venue, Mark turns on the cameras and the LiveU encoders and confirms each camera is bonded and pushing a clean feed. In Hickory Hills, Mike powers up RNS Videomedia's iMac, opens OBS, opens NewBlue Captivate alongside it, brings up each LiveU return one at a time, and confirms he sees Bromont on his preview monitors. He confirms the pre-rendered AE content from the weeks of prep is loaded in OBS's media pool. Mike turns on the Mac Mini and confirms it's recording every camera and that the Claude-powered rider auto-cut and replay segment buffer are running. In the cloud, the SPX-GC server and the shared-brain services come up on schedule; Mike eyeballs the dashboard to confirm green across the board, then pulls the SPX-GC browser source into OBS and watches the live numbers populate. Mike opens the Console on his phone.

One hour before first horse: comms check. Mark, Hank, the XC ops, and you do a POC radio check (the PTT-over-cellular handsets — the specifics of who carries which channel are still being finalized with you). Mike confirms IFB to Mark works in both directions. You and Mike confirm you can hear each other on a separate producer line.

Thirty minutes out: dress rehearsal. Mike runs a fake rider through the system — fires the lower third out of SPX-GC, plays a pre-rendered AE rider intro clip from the OBS media pool, runs the scoreboard, takes a replay, takes a sponsor bumper. He fires one cue out of Captivate as well, on purpose, to confirm the live punch path is exercised. The goal is to flush out anything cold before the real first ride.

First horse, dressage. The rider enters at A. Mike takes the wide. Mark calls camera moves over IFB. Mike rolls the rider's pre-rendered intro from OBS, then fires the rider's SPX-GC lower third from the Console. As the test scores come in, the cloud database updates SPX-GC and the scoreboard on screen updates with it. When the test ends, Mike takes a beauty shot, fires the rider's final score graphic, and resets for the next horse. Repeat all day. The Mac Mini quietly records every test the whole time.

Show jumping day (June 6). Same pattern, but with the SJ scorebug live on screen — penalties and time update as the rider goes through the course. The SJ Timer site on the cloud handles the clock. Mike's job is camera cuts and replays.

Cross-country day (June 7). This is the busy one. The XC ops on the course track which rider is at which fence and feed that back to Mike via POC. Mike listens, decides which camera to take next, and presses the button — there is no auto-tracking and no auto-camera suggestion this year. The Console shows him the three riders currently on course as three big cards, a place to mark which one he wants graphics following, and a one-button way to fire fence graphics or pre-rendered marquee fence bumpers. The Mac Mini records every camera the whole time, so after the show we can cut every rider's round even if we cut away on the broadcast.

End of day. Mike fires the sign-off graphic, takes a beauty wide of the venue, plays the closing AE bumper, and ends the YouTube stream. Mark powers down at the venue. The Mac Mini keeps running for another hour to make sure every recording is closed cleanly and uploaded to the cloud for post.

What happens if something breaks

These are the most likely failure modes and the recovery for each.

The venue internet dies. This is what LiveU is for. LiveU bonds multiple cell carriers, so the venue's WiFi being down doesn't matter — the cameras keep coming back to Mike on cellular. If all cell carriers drop simultaneously (rare, but possible in a Quebec valley), Mike holds on the most recent good shot, you cover with a "technical difficulties" slate that lives in OBS, and Mark works the problem on the ground with the LiveU rep.

OBS crashes on the iMac. This is the worst-case-fast-fix scenario. OBS comes back up in under thirty seconds. The YouTube stream drops, the audience sees a momentary "stream offline," and Mike restarts the stream from a hot-saved scene collection. He's back on air in under a minute. The Mac Mini is unaffected and keeps recording, so we don't lose any footage during the dropout.

A pre-rendered AE clip is missing or won't play. The intended rider intro, fence bumper, or stinger fails to fire from the OBS media pool — wrong file, missing file, corrupt render. Mike catches it on his preview before it hits program. Captivate carries the moment live with a simpler equivalent graphic, the show keeps moving, and the missing clip gets re-rendered overnight on the Mac Mini so it's ready for the next day. Because AE isn't running during the show, this is a content problem, not a software-crash problem.

SPX-GC in the cloud loses its connection. The live numbers stop updating mid-show. Mike sees this on the dashboard before the audience notices anything stale. He punches the affected cues over to Captivate, which has equivalent looks available locally on the iMac, and works the SPX-GC server in the background.

The Mac Mini falls behind or hangs. The Mac Mini is juggling continuous multi-camera recording, AI rider-cut analysis, and the replay segment buffer all at once. If it starts dropping frames on the recording side or the replay scrub gets sluggish, the live broadcast is unaffected — OBS doesn't depend on the Mac Mini for the live air feed. Mike loses the ability to call a fresh replay until the Mini catches up; he covers by either holding the live program or rolling a pre-rendered package. The continuous recordings are the priority and they survive the slowdown.

The broadcast iMac dies. This is the only true show-stopper. There is no second broadcast machine. If the iMac hard-fails, we are off the air until it comes back. The fallback is the Mac Mini, which can be re-roled in under fifteen minutes to run a stripped-down OBS with cameras-only and no live graphics — ugly, but on the air. We treat this as the lowest-probability, highest-cost failure and we mitigate it by having the iMac on a UPS, the LiveU on its own UPS, and the home internet on a cellular backup router.

POC radios drop signal. Comms going dark is the loudest failure because everyone notices immediately. The fallback is phone calls — Mark, Hank, the XC ops, and you all have each other's mobile numbers. We lose the speed of PTT but we don't lose the ability to talk. Mike continues directing on the IFB return through LiveU, which is on a separate path from the POC and won't go down at the same time.

Who does what during the show

Mike Schiffman — Director / TD / playout. Hickory Hills, Illinois. Sits at the iMac with the Console on a second screen or his phone. Wears a headset on IFB to Mark plus a producer line to you. Drives OBS, fires graphics from the Console, manages the YouTube stream. He is alone on his side — there is no AD with him.

Mark — RNS Videomedia partner / on-grounds lead / XC location-scout. Bromont, Quebec. Mark is a co-owner of RNS Videomedia, and on a show his job is to hire the crew and design where every camera stands. For cross-country specifically, that means walking the course, reading the course map, and deciding where each operator sets up — accounting for which fences they can cover and how realistically they can move between divisions. During the show he calls camera moves to Hank and the XC ops over POC and handles any physical problem at the cameras or LiveU. Wears a POC handset and an IFB earpiece from Mike. He is Mike's eyes and hands on the ground.

Hank — camera operator. Bromont, Quebec. Primary on dressage and show jumping cameras. Wears a POC handset. Takes camera direction from Mark over POC, takes the occasional direct call from Mike on IFB when the shot matters enough.

XC operators (hired by Mark) — cross-country camera and spotter coverage. Bromont, Quebec, scattered along the course. They run handheld and fence-mounted cameras during cross-country, and they call rider positions back over POC so Mike knows which feed to take. Exact assignments and how many ops we hire are still being finalized — this is one of the open items you and Mike are working through this week.

Lou Ann — producer. Wherever you want to be — at the venue with Mark, or at home on the producer line with Mike. You run the show clock, you make the editorial calls about what we cover and what we skip, you handle sponsor read-ins and any on-camera talent, and you are the only person who can tell Mike "we're moving on, next rider." Mike directs; you produce. Same as always — just with him 1,500 miles away.

What's locked, what's still moving

Locked: the five boxes above, the remote-from-Hickory-Hills model, LiveU as the venue uplink, YouTube Live as the only distribution, NewBlue Captivate running alongside OBS on the iMac as the live graphics co-pilot, SPX-GC in the cloud as the live data-driven graphics surface, After Effects living on the Mac Mini as the pre/post-show content factory (not a live tool), the Mac Mini running independent of the broadcast, and the Console as Mike's only operator interface during the show.

Still being worked out: the exact POC radio channel plan, how many XC ops Mark hires and where they station, the dress-rehearsal schedule for the three days before Day 1, and which specific graphics make it into the Day 1 template set versus get pushed to a later show. Mike will walk you through each of those as they close.

Nineteen days to Day 1.

If anything in this doc is unclear, tell Mike. The whole point of writing it is so that on June 4, no one is surprised.