What Replay and Graphics Operation Costs, and What Moves the Price

Why this work is priced as a role, not a gadget

Clients often ask whether replay and graphics are a piece of equipment they can add to a booking, like an extra monitor. In practice they are a person, or two, sitting in the gallery for the whole show, working in step with the director. The kit matters, but most of what you pay for is skilled attention across the running time of the event.

That shapes the quotation. We price the operator's time, the preparation before the show, the hardware that operator needs, and the setup and strip-out around it. A short event with simple needs costs far less than a long festival stage with constant on-screen change, even where the equipment list looks similar on paper.

I write this from the streaming side of the gallery, where I see how graphics and replay feed into everything leaving the building. When they are planned late, the cost rises because someone has to rework the signal path under pressure.

Show length and the number of operator hours

The first driver is time. We count the hours the operator is needed from arrival to hand-back, not only the minutes of live output. That includes loading the graphics, checking names and spellings, rehearsing replay triggers with the vision mixer, and a final run before doors open.

A single three-hour evening is a different proposition from a festival day with several acts across ten hours. Long days may call for a second operator so that attention stays sharp, and that changes the figure. We tell you in the quotation how many people we propose and why, so you can see what each one covers.

Our prices page gives starting figures for typical formats. Treat them as a guide to scale, then let the written quotation reflect your actual schedule, including any gaps between acts where no one needs to be at the desk.

• Hours on site, not only hours on air
• Rehearsal and line-check time before the show
• A second operator on long or busy days

How much graphics content you want on screen

Graphics range from a handful of lower thirds naming performers to a continuous layer of scores, sponsor slots, timings and social messages. Each element has to be designed or at least laid out, approved by you, loaded and then called at the right moment. More elements mean more preparation and a busier operator.

The most useful thing you can do is send us a running order and a list of names and wording early. Corrections during the show are possible but they take the operator away from the live work, and a last-minute rewrite of twenty captions is paid for in time like anything else.

If you already have a visual style, such as colours, fonts and logos, we build to it. If you do not, we can propose a plain, readable set. Either route is quoted separately from the live operation so the costs are easy to compare.

• Number of captions, titles and sponsor slots
• Whether artwork is supplied or needs preparing
• How late the final wording is confirmed

Replay: how many angles and how often

Replay is where the technical cost climbs fastest. Capturing and recalling clips from several cameras at once needs recording capacity, a dedicated operator and a clear agreement with the director about when replays run. A show with two replay-worthy moments needs far less than one that expects an instant replay after every key passage.

Concerts rarely need heavy replay, but stage events with sport, demonstrations or competitions often do. We ask how many camera angles you want recorded, whether slow motion is expected, and how replays should be introduced on air. Those answers decide the equipment and the staffing.

Where only a few replays are wanted, we sometimes fold the work into the graphics operator's role and keep the cost down. We say so plainly in the quotation, and we will not suggest a second person where the show does not call for one.

Setup, venue and what the quotation includes

The venue affects the figure more than people expect. Cable runs, power, space for the operator's desk and how far the gallery sits from the stage all change setup and strip-out time. A fixed gallery with existing connections is quicker to use than a temporary room built in a side hall.

Travel and overnight stays are listed separately when the event is away from Durham. Hardware hire for the replay and graphics system is shown as its own line, so you can see which part is people and which is equipment.

Every written quotation states what is included, what is not, and what would change it, such as a longer running time or extra camera angles. If something changes after you accept, we tell you before doing the work, not afterwards on the invoice.

• Gallery location and distance from the stage
• Travel and accommodation outside Durham
• Equipment hire shown as a separate line

How to get an accurate figure from us

Use the contact form to send a short description of the event: date, venue, running time, the kind of graphics you expect and whether replay is needed. A running order, even a rough one, helps a great deal. Hannah, our production manager, replies with questions if anything is unclear.

You then receive a written quotation. Once you confirm it in writing, we issue an invoice payable by bank transfer, and cancellations follow the payment and refund policy. Nothing is bought on the website itself.

If your plans are still loose, say so. We would rather price a clear, modest version of the job than a vague large one, and we can show you what each extra element would add.

Replay and graphics operation costs what it does because it is skilled attention held for the length of the show, plus the preparation that makes it calm. Time on site, amount of content, replay demands and the venue explain nearly every difference between two quotations. Send us your running order and we will set out the figure line by line, so you can see where the money goes.