Daniel Shields
Hi, I'm Dan! I'm a broadcast software developer, sailor and private pilot.
I offer a range of services to anyone looking to take their broadcast graphics to the next level, whether it be for esports or otherwise.
Check out my experience below and get in touch if you'd like to discuss how I can help with your next project.
Complete
real-time graphics
solutions
for live and offline productions
Streamer Overlays • Esports Tournaments • Game Shows • Live TV
I'm currently offering my services through Orthographics, a company I founded in January 2023 alongside my good friend Tom Mewett.
Please visit our website to learn more.
Broadcast & LED Graphics Development
Web-based graphics for integration into live broadcasts or LED stages, pulling data from operator control panels, stats & social media APIs and directly from live games.
Projects include:
- Fully-custom Rocket League HUD
- Rainbow Six: Siege game state LED asset
- DOTA 2 draft phase LED asset (pictured)
Graphics Operator
XPression and CasparCG operation at major international events including:
- Rainbow Six Majors (Charlotte & Mexico)
- FLASHPOINT 2 & 3
- ECS Season 8 Finals
FACEEATS
A fullstack web-app for facilitiating COVID-safe catering at FLASHPOINT 2 and Six Major: Mexico for over 250 guests.
Features include personalised orders, meal-time notifications, menu translations and integration with existing kitchen infrastructure.
Tech stack: Vue, Node.js, MongoDB.
Other Projects
Remote Broadcast Graphics Pipeline
Proof-of-concept project to explore the possibilities for streamlining FACEIT's process of getting broadcast graphics to air.
Assets started in After Effects before being exported to a web-interface and played out in-browser. A .NET app handled layering and playout to Blackmagic Decklinks. Operators accessed the system via a browser-based XPression-like control panel.
Unreal Engine Augmented Reality Studio
At FLASHPOINT 2, a 5-week-long production, we experimented with adding 3D assets to the broadcast using Unreal Engine and FreeD camera tracking.
Unreal Engine Virtual Studio
For the R6 Siege EUL Finals in early 2021, FACEIT wanted a new virtual studio to house their remote talent. Simple pre-programmed cues controlled by a Stream Deck added production value for little effort.
Automated Quake Observer
Script for swapping between Quake Champions players without the need for an operator. Computer vision was used as the game did not offer gamestate integration.
Discord Player Camera Controller
Computer vision-based script for controlling a Discord video call, ensuring users' presence and enabling camera focus. Used on FLASHPOINT 3.
Data-Driven Broadcast Graphics
McLaren Shadow's "Watchalong" shows are all about audience engagement, and so for their Indy 500 show they commissioned an overlay with a section dedicated to following their 3 drivers' times and positions. This required pulling live track data and rendering that in a web-graphic.
The package also included live-updating bingo and news ticker graphics that could be controlled from behind the scenes.
XPression Operator
Working from Esports Engine's Stratford studio or OB trucks, with and without dedicated on-line GFX producers.
Events include:
- Twitch Rivals: TwitchCon Amsterdam
- FIFA Global Series Playoffs
- FIFA Team of the Season Cup
- Apex Legends Global Series Qualifiers
King of the North
King of the North was a student-run gaming festival hosted at the University of Manchester. The events featured a country-wide open qualifier followed by a weekend-long finals show. At its peak in 2019 there were 400 participants.
I was broadcast lead for the 2018 and 2019 events, creating the broadcast graphics package and the webapp for teams to register for the qualifiers and verify their student status.
I was also the project lead for KotN VII, an event scheduled for March 2020, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to COVID.
HiveAid
Raising money for Special Effect, HiveAid was billed as an all-star mixup, pulling players from across the university esports scene.
I was broadcast lead for both events which raised over £500 each. As well as the broadcast graphics package, I created and deployed a fork of the Games Done Quick donation tracker which integrated with the broadcast and allowed donors to give money via PayPal.
Open Source
League of Legends OCR HUD
A Node.js program for scraping gamestate data from a League of Legends game feed, allowing creation of custom broadcast HUDs.
Makes use of Google's Cloud Vision API to get the data that is unavailable to small tournament organisers.
NodeCG Utilities
A couple of utilities useful for developing NodeCG bundles.
The first allows the use of Vite via a plugin, a modern bundler (finally no more webpack!). The second attempts to bridge the gap between a NodeCG Replicant and Vue's reactivity model in a sensible way.
Familiar Technologies
