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Bringing the boutique fitness class experience online
Boutique fitness brand Digme launched their online platform Digme at Home in 2020. Re-creating the immersive atmosphere of a live studio-based Digme class in a virtual format presented many challenges, and Crossover were brought on board to assist.
The joint effort paid off, according to The Independent's review of the 10 best online fitness classes, which claims that Digme at Home's online workouts have 'nailed the kind of music and lighting that you need to recreate a studio experience at home’.
Streaming and recording solutions for fitness studios
Digme created dedicated booths to create and stream spin classes from their London HQ. Crossover were asked to equip these studios with streaming systems that would be easy for an instructor to use, whilst playing their choice of workout music for the class and providing clear instructions for the viewers following along at home.
Crossover provided recording and streaming hardware allowing the fitness instructor to provide clear instructions over the energising music accompanying the class, whilst keeping the volume levels appropriate both in the studio and on the stream.
Production for online training content
In addition to hardware solutions, Crossover helped Digme at Home implement extra production value to their live streaming and 'on demand' content in a very cost-effective and user-friendly way.
OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is an open-source, cross-platform program, which allows Digme at Home to create and switch between customised ‘scenes’ whilst live streaming their online fitness classes.
An Intro Screen featuring a countdown timer and music builds anticipation for the class. Integrating video clips and fades when switching between scenes creates seamless and professional transitions. ‘Hotkeys’ are assigned to various features that the class instructor may wish to trigger live, such as the playback of video files - and being able to do this at the touch of a button whilst teaching at the same time.
Boutique Fitness Online - The Future
Crossover's technicians continue to work with the Digme At Home team to develop innovative enhancements to their online offering, in a thriving but very competitive online fitness class market.
As well as the physical and mental health benefits of joining boutique fitness classes, accompanying a community of like-minded people on their personal fitness journeys is an essential element of the experience. Whilst Zoom is the platform many interactive fitness classes are using to bring the community together for real-time engagement, it seems inevitable that other platforms will challenge that dominance, either in terms of the quality of video and audio they provide, or the user features on offer, which might be customized to the needs of a particular boutique fitness brand or even style of class.
‘Digme is a brilliant live online platform, and is a great way to try out a new workout routine’
