Couchtrippin for Lagunitas

Cameras are getting more powerful with each new iPad release, so when Lagunitas came to us and asked us if we thought we could build a video booth application to help document and promote their latest beer convention we said we'd give it a shot (like we always do.)

After doing a bit of testing with less then optimal green screen conditions (yep, they wanted transparency so they could composite with some custom backgrounds) we were getting pretty good results, and so Couchtrippin for iPad was born.

First, we refined the keying, video capture and composition functions. Using simple sensitivity and smoothing sliders, and a custom color picker, Lagunitas employees can easily adjust the chroma key in real time to accommodate differences in lighting and green screen colors.

Next we built a Django powered CMS to capture email addresses and final videos. Then we generated an email with a link to a Lagunitas branded web page that showed the user's video, including Facebook and Twitter share options. The whole process from capture to email generation takes about 30 seconds, and lets users see and share their content almost immediately.

Finally, we built an always-on video feed at couchtrippin.com/feed that displays the ten latest videos that Lagunitas displays on large screens at their events so guests can see all the fun.

To date, there's been over 8500 shares over four events, and Couchtrippin has been one of Lagunitas' most successful social campaigns to date.