Mobile TV is alive!

Transcription

Mobile TV is alive!

TVBE_March_P1,8-20 News v2
8/3/11
17:39
Page 1
Inside: NAB Preview, Tapeless TV Production, Technology Training
TVBEUROPE
Europe’s television technology business magazine
MARCH 2011 £5.00/€ 8.00/$10.00
www.tvbeurope.com
Mobile TV is alive!
TVBEurope360
UTV Live: Paul Clark, presenter of flagship show UTV Live Tonight
UTV to archive
with intelligence
The Workflow
By Philip Stevens
UTV — formerly Ulster Television — has provided UK
channel three programmes to
Northern Ireland since 1959.
From its beginnings as one of the
smallest stations on the ITV network, the organisation behind
the channel has developed into a
major player in the media market. Alongside the television
operation, the group is involved
with a number of radio stations
in the UK and Ireland and new
media businesses.
In October 2010 UTV HD, a
simulcast of the SD transmissions was launched on Virgin
Media — a service that will be
extended to Sky and Freeview
over the coming months. Despite
its relatively small size, UTV has
developed a number of systems
to help production throughput.
One of its most recent moves has
involved the acquisition of an
intelligent archiving solution.
The purchase was organised by
Dublin-based technology provider Tyrell CCT, and consists of
Marquis’ Parking archive and
retrieval software and a three
node MatrixStore cluster from
Object Matrix.
“This is an integral part of our
move to a tapeless environment,”
states Sean Ferrin, UTV’s head of
Resources. “Two years ago UTV
moved to a complete Avid newsroom system. Six months later we
changed our acquisition format
from tape to Panasonic P2 — and
this made our newsroom completely tapeless.”
According to Ferrin, this not
only produced significant benefits, but also some interesting
challenges. “Initially, we continued to archive to tape, however
Continued on page 14
Mobile TV has experienced a quiet
and rather confusing couple of
years — but at this year’s Mobile
World Congress show held in
Barcelona last month, TVBEurope
got a real feel for where this
exciting technology is going next.
Heather McLean reports
Overall, the main change within
the world of mobile TV felt at
Mobile World Congress was a
move from the idea that scheduled
TV on broadcast technology will
take the technology forward, to a
stronger business case for personalised services on unicast or integrated mobile broadcast (IMB).
In fact, TVBEurope struggled
to find anyone with anything good
to say about the now-former champions of mobile TV, namely broadcast technologies DVB-H and
mobile DTV, and scheduled TV.
Also in the past year, the mobile
TV industry has watched the death
of broadcast standard FLO TV
unfold; last year, we wrote that
FLO TV had made inroads in the
US, with coverage of over 110
major populations in the sprawling
country following on from the US
digital switchover in July 2009.
From the show last year, Vikki
Mealer, senior director of product
management at FLO TV, was quoted
saying: “The digital TV transition in
June [2009] was like a chequered
flag to us. We now have the coverage, the network and the direct to
consumer business model.”
However, in December 2010,
Qualcomm announced it was to
sell its FLO TV spectrum to
AT&T for $1.925 billion. The sale
The game is changing: Tablets, smartphones, MobiTV and IMB are
now to the fore in the world of mobile TV as FLO TV and DVB-H fade
of channels 55 and 56 — unpaired
spectrum in the lower 700MHz frequency band — will see Qualcomm
turning off its FLO TV business
and network from March 2011.
The move marks the end of an era
as FLO TV finally draws to a
close; the service was one of the
few examples of a commercial
INTRODUCING
See Selenio at the NAB Show, Booth #N2502, or at www.harrisbroadcastlive.com.
NAB Sneak Preview
Over the next two issues we'll do
our best to let you know what's
hot and what's new at April's NAB
extravaganza. Part Two of our NAB
Product Preview will follow next
issue. NAB Section starts page 23.
— Fergal Ringrose
OTO/TVBE Page Template
28/2/11
16:02
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TVBE_March_P3-4_news v2
8/3/11
17:43
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TVBEU R O PE N E W S & A N A LY S I S
Matrox helps Ant & Dec
reduce production cost
By Melanie Dayasena-Lowe
Matrox’s Convert DVI was chosen to assist in the live workflow
on Gallowgate’s entertainment
show Ant & Dec’s Push the Button
which returned to peak-time
ITV1 on 12 February.
Gallowgate’s line producer
Marcus McKinlay said, “We
are using Skype to webcast from
the homes of four families to
Fountain Studios in Wembley.
Each Skype feed then uses
a Matrox Convert DVI to
provide live SDI video for
transmission… The combination
To The Editor
Flying
Monsters
Sir,
I came across your February
issue article on Flying Monsters
and was pleased to notice the
interest raised by this 3D documentary. To be honest, I was a
little less pleased to see that the
project is described as the ‘the
first 3D documentary intended
for general cinema release’ —
because you may have heard
about the project Sea Rex, currently playing in La Geode in
Paris? Sea Rex is also a 3D documentary for movie theatres
and may actually be the first
one in that area.
Mikros Image has completed a number of CG creatures
for Sea Rex with director
Pascal Vuong, and if you need
any further information, we’ll
be glad to provide some details
of our work.
Yours etc,
Carine Quignon
Chargée de communication
Mikros Image
www.mikrosimage.eu
Matrox Convert DVI provides live SDI video for transmission
of Skype and Matrox technologies has dramatically reduced
our production costs and in
turn has enabled greater creative freedom.”
The Convert DVI scan converts from any DVI source to
SD/HD-SDI with support for
external bi-level or tri-level sync.
It also allows you to output a
Region of Interest and scale the
source as well as operate in
‘standalone’ mode.
A PC laptop equipped with
16:9 webcams was placed in
the homes of the contestants
and using their broadband
connection a Skype call was
made to workstations based at
Fountain Studios Ant & Dec’s
Push the Button demonstrates
how a combination of freely
available software and lowcost hardware can help push
the boundaries.
www.matrox.com
Galaxy grabs FOR-A converters
FOR-A has supplied two FRC-8000
multi-format frame rate converters
to Galaxy Light and Power. The
new converters, already deployed to
provide conversion of live TV coverage of international sporting events,
complement Galaxy’s fleet of
FRC-7000 frame rate converters.
The FRC-8000 converters feature a range of options including
Psf/P progressive format handling
and the 16-channel audio cards that
can handle up to two channels of
Dolby E. These are the first units to
be supplied with the new innovative
touchscreen control panel.
Andy Grant, chief executive,
Galaxy Light and Power, said, “We
now have the largest hire stock of
broadcast level HD standards
converters worldwide. Performance
is our primary concern and these
FOR-A converters are unsurpassed for frame-rate conversion
quality. The FRC-8000 adds even
more for performance with handling for SD and up/down/cross
SoundField 5.1 audio
for Super Sport in SA
South African Pay-TV channel
Super Sport has installed another
SoundField
DSF-2/DSF-3
surround-capable digital microphone system in its latest HD
outside broadcast vehicle, constructed by Sony Broadcast
Professional in the UK. The latest
installation totals six DSF-2
systems in use in sister pay-TV
channel MNET’s OB vehicles.
Super Sport broadcasts a mix of
sporting events similar to those covered by BSKyB in Europe — rugby,
cricket, soccer, boxing, and tennis’
Davis Cup. When the South African
channel moved to HD transmissions
with audio in 5.1 in the mid-2000s,
they considered the HD workflow
BSkyB had adopted. SoundField
systems including the DSF-2 mic and
the DSF-3 digital surround processor
are now the broadcast standard for
The FRC-8000 frame rate converter
has a touchscreen control panel
conversion as well as HD. Also,
customers really like the new intuitive touchscreen user interface as
it gives them easy access to the
operational parameters.”
www.for-a.com
5.1 OB transmissions at Sky, and
MNET/Super Sport has pioneered
the same technology.
“The DSF-2s and our DSF-3s
have done some great work on HD
rugby, cricket and boxing coverage
here in South Africa,” commented
MNET/Super Sport audio supervisor Mark Boyle. “Once we had a few
SoundField systems up and running,
the managers of MNET insisted on
coming in to have a listen to the
system. They trusted our technical
judgement, but wanted to hear what
was possible from a 5.1 mic setup.
All it took was a quick listen and
they were convinced. We raised the
fader on the DSF-3, they listened for
a while, and were blown away.”
www.soundfield.com
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE
FAMILY OF MEDIA MONITORING,
MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS
PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD
www.bridgetech.tv
www.tvbeurope.com M A R C H 2 0 1 1
1-6 News & Analysis
6 Conference Preview
Save the dates for
TVBEurope’s first two
conferences of the year:
3D Masters on 15 June
and The IT Broadcast
Workflow on 5 July
8-20 The Workflow
8 Tapeless debate
David Fox talks to camera
owners on their
experiences with
tapeless media
production
16 Sky files through
Will Strauss speaks to
Sky’s Director of
Operations John
Lennon on the
broadcaster’s move
from a tape to filebased workflow
23-41 NAB Sneak Preview
The microVB™ is a breakthrough in both
form-factor and functionality for real-time
analysis of customer home network performance.
This unobtrusive device provides deep packet
inspection and end-to-end visibility in
broadcast quality media delivery over
any IP based infrastructure.
m
CONTENTS
Whether or not you’re
going to NAB Las
Vegas this year,
TVBEurope gives you
a sneak preview of
what you can expect
from the show floor
42-44 The Business Case
42 Solving the skills crisis
Dick Hobbs talks to the
IABM’s Roger Crumpton
to find out how the
industry vendor
body aims to get
technology training
back on the agenda
46-47 News & Analysis
46 BVE Wrap Up
David Fox covers the new
products on show at the
Earls Court exhibition
48-49 Channel in a Box
Picking up from last
month’s debate, Russell
Grute asks whether
there has been too much
emphasis on the ‘box’
rather than ‘channel’
part of the discussion
50-53 News & Analysis
52 HPA forecast
‘Snowflake’ workflows
were a topic of
discussion at the
Hollywood Post Alliance
Tech Retreat, writes
Carolyn Giardina
54 The Workflow
Global broadcast
with iTX
Philip Stevens finds out
how one large playout
centre acquired new
equipment to meet
increasing demand
3
TVBE_March_P3-4_news v2
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13:56
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TVBEU R O PE N E W S & A N A LYS I S
NEWS
IN BRIEF
People on the move
the merger of HME’s Pro Audio
Division with Clear-Com,
Estrin is now joining the ClearCom team to promote the
brand globally
Brian Massie has joined
Hamlet as UK and International sales manager. His
experience in the industry
includes positions with Oxtel,
Miranda and Omnitek.
Two connected TV
studios for Playout247
Broadcast playout company
Playout247 has announced the
completion of two flagship
connected TV studios. These
provide state-of-the-art
equipment and live playout
facilities to satellite and internet
television — from one single
managed service. Tanya Vidmar,
sales director at Playout247,
commented, “These facilities
provide everything needed to
future proof a TV channel as
the market and manufacturers
move more rapidly into the
consumption of TV through
connected devices; from TVs and
games consoles, to phones and
set top boxes.” The facilities have
been created for broadcasters
looking to consolidate their
playout needs while making the
step into ‘over the top’ internet
distribution. “Demand for this
powerful service combination is
growing and we anticipate space
in these studios will be highly
sought after,” said Vidmar.
“Despite the general economic
situation, TV viewing is up and the
revenue opportunities from
combining both traditional
satellite and now internet delivery
are very attractive.”
www.playout247.com
IDX supports Live
IDX Technology has announced
an exclusive EMEA distribution
agreement with Canadian
manufacturer Dejero Labs.
Under the agreement,
IDX will provide distribution and
sales support functions for
Dejero Live Platform, including
the new wireless ENG
transmission system that uses
multiple 4G and 3G cellular
networks to transmit live
broadcast quality video. The
Dejero Live Platform allows
broadcast professionals and
news crews to connect their
camera to the Dejero
transmitter, a compact portable
peli-case and broadcast live
within a matter of seconds.
www.idxtek.com
Norman Rouse, Snell
Vincent Eade, Snell
Leif Orkelbog-Andresen, Martin Pro
Artur Podzorski, TSL Products Group
Snell recently announced the
appointment of Vincent Eade
and Norman Rouse. Eade has
joined the company’s European
sales team as regional sales
manager for the Nordics
and Ireland. Prior to joining
Snell, Eade served as technical
account manager for Sony UK.
Rouse joins Snell from Sony
Professional in the role of market development manager. He is
tasked with being chief evanglist
for Snell in the global broadcast
and media marketplaces.
Artur Podzorski has joined
TSL Professional Products
Group as regional sales manager
for Central and Eastern Europe.
He comes to TSL PPG from
Digital Video Systems where he
was regional sales director for
Eastern Europe.
VSN has hired Van Duke to
operate its North America sales
division. Pedro Serrano, VSN
VP sales, said, “Until now we
have been focused on developing
our business in regions such
Europe, South America, Middle
East and Asia Pacific. After
VSN’s successful growth there, it
is now the time to expand into
the US market.”
Lucas Wilson, 3ality Digital
3ality Digital has recruited Lucas
Wilson as director of business
development, based in LA. Over
the last 15 years, Wilson has
worked with Intergraph, Avid,
Quantel and Assimilate.
Broadcast Networks has
hired Paul Wallis as sales director. He brings over 20 years
experience with Sony Broadcast
and Professional Europe, Pixel
Power and most recently as managing director of O-Video.
Clear-Com has named Larry
Estrin as its new strategic technology specialist. As a result of
Larry Estrin, Clear-Com
RouteCase™
Compact, portable AV mixer
Brian Massie, Hamlet Video
Six new staff members join
Linear Acoustic’s TV broadcast
team. In sales, the company has
added four new representatives:
George Elsaesser, corporate sales
manager; Paul Insco, sales development, US eastern region;
Anthony Wilkins, director of business development, EMEAR; and
Guy Hufferd, director of marketing. The company has also added
two engineers to its operations:
Mike Richardson, senior hardware
engineer, and Ed Bitel, technician.
Martin Professional has hired
Leif Orkelbog-Andresen as new
business area manager-projects,
overseeing project activities throughout Europe for Martin’s Danishbased EMEA sales organisation.
Video transport solutions provider
Nevion has appointed former
BT Broadcast Solutions head
Andrew Rayner as director of
Ventura product management.
Rayner has been involved in
several key network deliveries
while at BT, including the UK
digital switchover and Channel 4
distribution network.
RouteCase is a powerful, compact and affordable
4 channel HD/SDI production unit incorporating
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7/3/11
15:52
Page 1
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TVBE_March_P6 News
8/3/11
17:45
Page 6
TVBEUROPE
Europe’s television technology business magazine
EDITORIAL
Editorial Director Fergal Ringrose
[email protected]
Media House, South County Business Park,
Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland
+3531 294 7783 Fax: +3531 294 7799
Deputy Editor Melanie Dayasena-Lowe
[email protected]
+44 (0)207 921 8346
UBM Ltd, Ludgate House,
245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UR
Editorial Consultant Adrian Pennington
Associate Editor David Fox
USA Correspondent Carolyn Giardina
Contributors Bob Charlton, Mike Clark,
Richard Dean, Chris Forrester, Jonathan Higgins,
Mark Hill, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett,
Heather McLean, Bob Pank, Nick Radlo,
Neal Romanek, Philip Stevens, Will Strauss,
Reinhard E Wagner
Digital Editor David Davies
Digital Content Manager Tim Frost
Publisher Joe Hosken
ART & PRODUCTION
Group Production Editor Dawn Boultwood
Production Executive Alistair Taylor
SALES
Sales Director Steve Connolly
[email protected]
+44 (0)20 7921 8316
Deputy Sales Manager Ben Ewles
[email protected]
+44 (0)20 7921 8233
Business Development Manager Alex Hall
[email protected]
+44 (0)20 7921 8305
US SALES
Michael Mitchell
Broadcast Media International, PO Box 44,
Greenlawn, New York, NY 11740
[email protected]
+1 (631) 673 3199 Fax: +1 (631) 673 0072
JAPAN AND KOREA SALES
Sho Harihara
Sales & Project, Yukari Media Incorporated
[email protected]
+81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800
New 3D and Workflow challenges
Conference Preview
By Fergal Ringrose
Hopefully you have already seen advance notice of our first two 2011
conferences in the TVBe weekly enewsletter? 3D Masters will return
to BAFTA on Wednesday June 15; and The IT Broadcast Workflow
2011 moves forward (from a November timeframe) to Tuesday July 5
at America Square Conference Centre in the City of London.
What’s different this year is that we’re working with a specialist
new conference team at United Business Media who have already
carried out in-depth research with past delegates and nonattendees alike to really focus in on the most compelling content
offering we can possibly bring to these conferences.
In the case of 3D, this information-requirement clarity is essential. When James Cameron’s Avatar smashed box-office records
early last year it looked as though 3D was about to turn the global
entertainment technology business on its head overnight. We now
know that’s not the case: but we also know that 3D is not going
away and we all need to learn where it will fit into production and
technology strategy in the years ahead.
3D Masters is not a ‘tips and tricks’ event; it is a high level technology
management forum, attempting to plot out the future for 3D in European
television broadcast operations just as our HD Masters event did in the
nascent years of the HD roll-out across the continent. Key sponsors
already on board include Decode, Presteigne Charter and Quantel.
As I write our team is still building the content for the programme; keep an eye on www.3d-tvmasters.com for speaker
updates in the coming weeks. Of course we will feature a keynote
address from Sky 3D one year on — including an examination of
the infrastructure, monitoring and distribution challenges associated with building a 3D channel.
We will examine the practicalities of launching a new channel primarily dedicated to pre-recorded 3D content. We’ll look at how 3D
TV is developing in Europe and what the major technical limitations
are to date. What mainstream formats work well in 3D and which ones
don’t? Can up-conversion be used effectively or should it be avoided?
Dr Hans Hoffmann, representing both the EBU and SMPTE (as
newly appointed Engineering VP) will lead our session on 3D TV
standardisation; and there will be a panel discussion on generation
3D content for display on screens ranging from IMAX to the iPod.
Our insider interview with Steve Schklair, CEO 3Ality Digital
Systems, will be followed by a special 3D production spotlight featuring at least four in-depth production case studies from around Europe.
3D TV is not a gimmick, and it may or may not be the next big
thing. But the reason we stage 3D Masters is to really provide
high-level thought leadership on technology, production and business strategies that will help you make your own decisions about
3D into the future.
To look for America
The IT Broadcast Workflow event moves venue this year, to America
Square Conference Centre in Crosswall, City of London EC3. The
reason it’s called Crosswall is that the original London Wall, (one of
Breakout-time in the David Lean Room at 3D Masters 2010:
Each event features several networking breaks where vendors get
the opportunity to make presentations to delegates
the largest construction projects
carried out in Roman Britain) runs
right through the venue, providing
a unique feature.
This is the only conference to
focus on this most critical transformation occurring right now in
broadcast operations. We’ll be going
in-depth into the migration from
videotape to file-based workflows;
cloud-based services for broadcasting; the changing role of the SI in the industry; harmonising broadcast
workflows across multiple territories; multi-platform content distribution workflows; and identifying the challenges of the latest archiving
and storage options. Confirmed sponsors to date include Front Porch
Digital, MediaGenix, Symbox, Telestream and TMD.
The convergence of Information Technology with traditional broadcast engineering is happening fast. Any chief technologist tasked with
building a broadcast infrastructure today would use IT solutions to
power the bulk of facilities. Any CFO tasked with making the business
more flexible to new platforms, and more efficient in the process, would
seek the automated and extensible systems that only IT can provide.
These strategic decisions are based on getting the technology
choices right, not least if the station is to be kept on air during the transition. It also implies significant change management of personnel.
TVBEurope’s unique IT Broadcast Workflow event is dedicated to
putting the facts before an audience of broadcast decision makers.
Hear how broadcasters around Europe have implemented new digital workflows. Learn what worked and crucially, what did not.
Understand what IT actually means in a broadcast environment; how it is best implemented for staff and technology; and the
value to the bottom line a properly installed solution can provide.
Many broadcast organisations across Europe have partially
adopted IT-based workflows; but all of them would agree that not
everything works together as expected and there is still much to
learn from others undergoing the same changes.
CIRCULATION
UBM Information Ltd, Sovereign Park,
Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 9EF, UK
Free subscriptions
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© United Busienss Media Ltd 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or
any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior
written consent of the publisher. TVB Europe is mailed to qualified persons
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Allow 8 weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery.
Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, United Business Media Ltd,
Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England.
ISSN 1461-4197
6
BBC Broadcasting House is synchronised by Crystal Vision
By Melanie
Dayasena-Lowe
Systems integrator Dega Broadcast Systems is
installing
100
Crystal
Vision
Indigo 2 frames as
part of its ongoing project to
provide the central
technical
areas
and infrastructure
for the redeveThe SYNNER-E 3G is used to
lopment of BBC
synchronise the incoming circuits
Broadcasting
House in London.
Dega was appointed as systems integrator for W1 central technical areas following a competitive procurement process under EU
regulations, and is using Crystal Vision synchronisers, audio
embedders, fibre optic receivers and video and audio distribution
amplifiers to help create the 3G-capable backbone for the routing
and distribution of programme content.
SYNNER-E 3G synchronisers will be used for synchronising
the incoming video circuits, and additionally as audio shufflers for
sorting out any embedded audio that might be on the wrong track
assignment. Working with 3Gbps, HD and SD sources, the multifunctional SYNNER-E 3G combines a video synchroniser, tracking audio delay, embedder, de-embedder and audio processor with
optional fibre I/O on one board, and allows the embedding or
de-embedding of up to eight AES in any combination as well as
special Dolby E processing. An integrated fibre output on the
SYNNER-E 3G boards was selected for this project because using
one module to both synchronise the incoming lines and turn them
into fibre was the most space-efficient solution.
FRX 3G fibre-optic receivers will be used for feeding outgoing
lines. Meeting the SMPTE 297-2006 short-haul specification and
using a Class I laser, this dual-channel board provides two optical
inputs and two reclocked 3Gbps, HD or SD outputs per channel,
allowing it to double as a distribution amplifier. Most of the
equipment will be controlled via the BBC’s Broadcast Network
Control System using SNMP.
11/1/11
15:57
Page 1
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8/3/11
12:20
Page 8
TVBEU R O PE T H E W O R K F L O W
Format choice: tapeless debate
Although it is possible to buy a new tape-based camcorder, any models introduced recently have been
tapeless — but how do you choose? David Fox talked to camera owners (members of Guild of Television
Cameramen) on how they select the right camera and their experience with tapeless media production
There are at least six types of
tapeless media on offer: Compact
Flash, disc, Memory Stick, P2,
SD and SxS, all capable of
recording a variety of formats.
For anyone buying a camera, the
choice is daunting. No wonder so
many still shoot on tape, even
though there are many good reasons for going tapeless.
“File-based video has huge
advantages,” says Mike Thomas,
sales director at UK dealer Top
Teks. “The shots are logged for
you; you can add metadata on
any computer; there is instant
access to each shot; and proxy
versions for fast distribution over
standard internet.”
“Tapeless has been an amazing
boon for me as a cameraman and
editor,” adds DP and editor
Michael Sanders. He loves the quality from his Sony PDW-800 and, for
the price, from the EX3. “As an editor, having the material come in
already in clips is wonderful and
being able to ingest in faster than
realtime is great for news and some
fast turnaround corporates I do (we
recently did a 10 minute three camera shoot at 10am and uploaded a
fully cut version two hours later).
Reliability has been fine so far.”
Sanders is a fan of XDCAM
HD disc. “I don’t have a problem
with solid state at all — I love it,
especially if I’m editing and
ingesting.” But he does have a
problem with adding to his costs
by buying extra cards so a production can keep shooting without
stopping while he can’t charge
extra for it. He also dislikes
“recording to a media which is too
expensive to be able to keep forever and needs archiving. I have
three projects that have been
ongoing for three years and regularly need me to go back to the
rushes.” Using media that are so
small they fit in a pocket and can
easily get lost is a further problem.
“That’s why I love XDCAM HD –
and the pictures look lovely.”
Party piece: Bramley at a UK party political conference, shooting on XDCAM
“One of the greatest features of these cameras is
the buffer, which can record up to 10 seconds before
the record button is even pressed. How useful when
you have just missed a cabinet minister walking out
of No10” – Darren Bramley, ITV Breakfast
Sticking with tape: Christiansen, Oasis Productions, on location in Turkey
Director David Hill of
Acrobat Television shoots broadcast programmes, commercials,
corporate and sell-thru DVDs and
Blu-ray discs using XDCAM HD.
“When the PDW-700 was new we
had one failure with the laser
which was apparently a problem
with a particular batch and since
then it has been faultless. The
workflow is very efficient: we
transfer rushes to 6TB drive
arrays of which up to four can be
connected to each edit suite at any
time. These are cheap and fast
enough to edit from directly, even
at full HD. We keep the SX discs
as our backup in the same way we
did tape and we use Shotstore as
our library system, which allows
us to find clips instantly and load
the proxy clips onto our server
from remote locations.”
Acrobat also has EX3 SxS
cameras for some corporate jobs
and extreme conditions, such as
skiing or on boats. “We transfer
the rushes in the same way to
the hard drives and back up to
Blu-ray discs. Not as elegant a
solution but it works,” he says.
“Tapeless has definitely speeded up our footage management
and has also helped footage sales
because it’s so easy to identify
shots and find them.”
Sydney-based freelance cameraman Peter Heap owns a
Digital Betacam and a Sony
PDW-700. He has been using
XDCAM for a few years, mainly
working on Discovery Channel’s
Mythbusters. The show is based
in San Francisco but the
production company (Beyond
Productions) is based in Sydney.
With tape, nothing could be done
until the material was shipped
back, but with disc it is a lot
quicker. “Because the camera
records files it’s easy to copy
them to a computer and then
FTP them to Sydney. On a few
occasions I’ve sent the 1920x1080
files back, but usually the proxy
files are all that are required for
the offline,” says Heap.
Another Sydney-based cameraman, Mal Hamilton, runs the
XDCAM Pro User Group website
(www.XDCAM.com.au). He has
been using XDCAM for more
than six years. “In that time I had
to resort to shooting on tape once,
it felt sluggish, unresponsive —
never again. I shoot documentaries
and also do stints in the studio —
mainly as single camera. Most of
my work involves a great deal of
travel overseas, and to this end I’ve
used different types of camera. The
Sony EX3 is ideal for light travel,
and where budget permits I prefer
the PMW 350 [which is currently
his main camera]. One of the greatest assets of using SxS cards, etc, is
the fact you no longer have to cart
around boxes of tapes.”
ITV’s breakfast programmes
GMTV and Daybreak have been
using XDCAM for more than
four years, and has Sony PDW-510
and PDW-530 cameras. “The discs
have never failed, and the only time
that a camera failed on a shoot
(because the battery connector
board failed mid-record), we still
managed to keep the contents of
the disc by putting it in a player
and running a special disc salvage
application,” says Darren Bramley,
head of cameras, ITV Breakfast.
“Our workflow generally is
to ingest material back at The
London Studios via an XD
deck straight into our Avid server
in realtime,” he explains. “On
the road we have used the XD
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7/3/11
15:55
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8/3/11
12:20
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Format choice:
tapeless debate
Continued from page 8
cameras and either an edit deck
or a clamshell player with a built
in LCD screen to play into Avid
and FCP using the Sony Proxy
Software, which makes for a
much faster transfer, as we dump
the material back as files. Much
easier than a realtime playback
off tape.” They have also used
three of the cameras on live OBs
using Sony Anycast with a player
plugged in on a FireWire connection to playback clips, which can
be set up as a playlist.
“One of the greatest features
of these cameras is the buffer,
which can record up to 10 seconds before the record button is
even pressed. How useful when
you have just missed a cabinet
minister walking out of No10,
only to press record and then to
have recorded him simply because
the camera was always writing to
the onboard buffer.”
Disc image: Hamilton in Turkey for a biblical documentary shot in HD
Card sharps
Half of Paul Osborne’s work is
as a freelance cameraman, the
rest is for his own corporate production company (Green Field
TV), shooting on tape, SxS and
CF cards. When he started using
SxS the cost of media meant
there weren’t enough cards for a
whole shoot, so they stopped
regularly and transferred data to
two hard drives. “But with media
coming down in price (and low
cost SxS alternatives available)
we can afford to shoot without
transfer, but producers/camera-
Seoul man: Connelly on location for
BBC Click in South Korea
Hit or Myth: Heap riding a Segway
while filming Mythbusters
men generally still insist on a
back up on location.”
If people have lost data off
their cards he wonders: “is it
because they deleted the media
inadvertently whilst freeing space?
Or was it a corrupt file, in which
case, how does backing it up make
it un-corrupt?” With the EX1,
there are sometimes media errors,
which are often caused by formatting outside of the camera, “which
would be avoided if we didn’t back
up, or we get corrupt files due to
powering down the camera early,”
which could not be remedied by a
backup. He believes that “the
highest risk to media during a
shoot is maybe the copying, ejecting, re-using, etc.”
For freelance documentary
lighting
cameraman
Mike
Connelly, the manufacturer is
more important than the format
when he chooses a new camera.
He wants “a well proven sturdy
camera body; superior electronics
build quality and a back-up service that will give me same-day
maintenance with the facility of a
possible loan camera whilst mine
is out of action. Only one camera
manufacturer has ever given me
that service… Ikegami.”
When he considered going
tapeless, he dismissed using discs,
because it still had “the weakness
of employing laser technology
and hence still reliant on moving
parts as in a tape deck.” However,
he was impressed by his first
encounter with solid-state, a
Panasonic P2 camera, which
“looked and felt like an Ikegami,
which I was very much at home
with. The viewfinder … was pin
sharp and I had no trouble practicing pull focus shots.” At the
time, Ikegami’s GF CAM had
only just been released and there
were no adaptors for its GF
PACK to facilitate cheap solidstate media such as Compact
Flash or SDHC cards.
His first HD project, an
infomercial, “involved some very
cold, muddy, wet days shooting.
An ideal test ground for my
broadcast work,” and he hired a
Panasonic HPX500 from VMI.
“It was brilliant. Not a single
problem with any of the rushes
shot over three one-week periods.
So for me, P2 was the way to go.”
He has tried several methods
of transferring rushes, and now
uses a G-Safe mirrored Raid drive,
“so I only have to transfer the P2
rushes roll once, cutting down on
download times.” He has a Sonnet
QIO multi-card reader to handle
2xP2. 2xSxS, 2xCF and 2xSDHC
cards, which he bought because of
its fast eSATA connection, but he
hasn’t managed to get the eSATA
to work so uses FireWire 800
between his MacBook and the GSafe. “Although I have not experienced any problems, I’m told card
readers can get very hot and stop
reading. So as a backup I’ve also
purchased Panasonic’s new single
card reader.”
“The future for me is low-cost
solid-state media and I am happy
to go Compact Flash or SD
card,” says Paul Osborne. “Cost is
a driver. I need many for the longterm productions I am shooting
— often four or five at any one
time, and likewise clients need to
take them away.
“I don’t need to jump through
the hoops set by the broadcasters’
requirements for 50Mbps, and
SxS and P2 are still not a disposable cost so don’t really suit me or
my clients.” This is why he has
now bought a Panasonic AF101,
which works with his set of stills
lenses, shooting to SD cards at
24Mbps with the option to go
higher to 100Mbps with external
recorders if required. He is keeping his existing cameras as they
still have a role.
Disc v card
“I’m not a fan of data wrangling
at the end of each day so that I
can re-use a P2 or SxS card the
next day,” says Peter Heap. “At
the end of a 10- or 12- or 14-hour
day, the last thing I feel like doing
is spending a couple of hours
transferring files. And even worse,
I’m more prone to making mistakes when I’m tired. And if I do
make a mistake, those rushes
probably aren’t covered by insurance and even if they are we can’t
just order them on the internet;
we have to go out and re-shoot
the whole lot.
“Mind you, I’m not against
cards. When they can compete on
price with tape or optical discs I’ll
happily record onto a card. In
fact I’ll record onto any medium
as long as I can keep it and not
have to re-use it the next day
because of cost.”
10
7/3/11
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8/3/11
12:21
Page 12
NEWS
IN BRIEF
Foundry storms ahead
Visual effects software
company The Foundry has
launched its Red Digital Cinema
workflow product, Storm. It
brings a focused and easy to
adopt tool to digital camera
workflows in order to review,
organise, prepare, edit, conform
and deliver Raw Red media, on
a laptop or workstation on and
near-set. “Clients love to see
shots previewed on set, Storm
helps me show them what is
possible, confirm what we have
and what we need to deliver the
director’s vision, and deliver
just the right content to
editorial. It is a real time saver,”
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Space Digital. Available now,
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or later. It is optimised for Red
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AJA debuts new Io
and Ki Pro Mini
AJA has announced its support
for Io Express in the Avid Media
Composer 5.5 and NewsCutter
9.5. AJA Io Express delivers a
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offering HD/SD capture,
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5.5. Features of Media
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Express include HDMI v1.3a
input/output with Deep Colour
support at 30 bits per pixel;
10-bit HD to SD hardware
down-convert; RS422 support,
2-channel RCA audio output;
and ExpressCard-34 and PCIe
interfaces for laptop or desktop
use. AJA is also now shipping Ki
Pro Mini, the smaller version of
its portable tapeless recorder
that captures to the Apple
ProRes 422 codec directly from
camera. It is designed to bridge
production and post, effectively
eliminating log and capture.
www.aja.com
Format choice:
tapeless debate
Heap recently shot a commercial using XDCAM plus a DSLR
in an underwater housing. The
producer was to transfer the
DSLR data, but had forgotten a
crucial cable. However, Heap also
forgot a cable and couldn’t transfer the disc footage either. The
commercial was to air within days,
so Heap transferred the proxy files
on to a USB stick, allowing editing to begin while he sent the HD
files via courier or FTP.
Osborne didn’t consider using
discs due to the cost of ingest
decks for all of his clients. SD, CF,
and SxS cards require little capital
outlay to ingest, and corporate
clients rarely have extensive edit
facilities. With cards, his edit suite
is on his lap, not in a booth.
DoP Lee Christiansen of
Oasis Productions agrees. “What
we really needed was a much
cheaper way of playing the
XDCAM discs into our edit
suites. I’m finding that many production companies like SxS or
CF because there is no additional
outlay to ingest the media. £2,000
for what is essentially a posh
DVD player seems a bit steep.”
“That said, I love the idea of
removable discs. Shoot on ’em,
keep ’em... Never liked this brave
new world where we delete the
files from cards (although curiously it is what I’ve been doing
for years on my stills cameras
without concern).”
If he buys a camera he wants
to be sure that potential clients
won’t have issues with the cost of
ingest, “and no argument from
me would persuade them to
spend £2,000 on an XDCAM
deck.” If they were more reasonably priced he’d be happy to buy
two or three and supply them
on loan. “Much as I prefer
XDCAM as a potential format I
fear that production only looks
at the bottom line in many cases
Bit rate: Osborne with a PMW-500 shooting to SxS cards at 50Mbps
“I’m not against cards. In fact I’ll record onto
any medium as long as I can keep it and not
have to re-use it the next day because of cost”
— Peter Heap
and in that respect, solid state
looks good to them.”
Cost considerations
“I think the rules need to change
a bit with solid state. The main
issue is the cost of cards, then the
cost of the interfaces although
they are far cheaper than VTRs
ever were,” says Thomas.
Production companies used to
have a tape budget. “If they wanted to view tapes, they owned or
hired a deck. Same goes for
discs,” he adds.
A 32GB SxS costs about the
same as a 32GB P2 card,
although data rates, and therefore
recording time, differ. “Cards are
pricey enough to be classified as
an asset and can be purchased,
leased or hired. My view is that
production companies should
still be supplying the media.”
If their tape budget was £300 a
month, they could lease about 27
32GB SxS or P2 cards, or a mix of
both (equivalent to 20 HDCAM
tapes, 30 Digi Beta tapes or 40
DVCAM tapes). The cards could
be used like tape and returned to
production who digitise it themselves. The budget they used to view
tapes could go against interfaces.
For about £850 a month on a
Contract Hire you could have 20
cards, a full archive system, a card
interface and a field digitiser
without the tie in of a long term
lease. Current archive systems
give secure online access to proxy
and full resolution footage.
Tape measure
Dead Sea scrolls: Hill with presenter Howard Stableford in Jordan
Lee Christiansen has found tape to
be exceptionally reliable, and has
not had a single tape failure in
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more than 20 years — and only one
mechanism has failed. “On the other hand I’ve had three hard drives
die on me with my computers.”
Nearly all his work is corporate, which he mainly edits on
Final Cut Pro and usually shoots
on DigiBeta, as delivery is nearly
always SD or for internet use.
“I’m finding an interest slowly
growing in HD, as computer
screens offer higher resolutions
and this will probably be the driving factor for a format change.”
The 50Mbps Sony PMW-500
camera looks particularly interesting to him, but he wants to
see the cost of media and card
readers reduced. “If my CF reader
costs £20, why does an SxS reader
cost £350?”
He has shot on Canon’s 5D
Mark II HD DSLR, where
“despite our continuing efforts to
ingest as the day progresses, it
seems we’ve yet to achieve this.
Ingesting always goes on the back
burner as the next shot gets priority. I’m unwilling to allow an inexperienced operator to ingest as it
carries quite some responsibility.
This means overtime whilst we
wait at the end of the day to
import lots of cards. The portable
card reader/hard drives seem
great, but of course you still need
to export to a drive for the client.”
On the P2 shoots he does the client
has always supplied the cards,
which is the easiest way to work.
The move to tapeless has
meant he hires more. “I can’t buy
until things settle down. I wish we
could get manufacturers to adopt
Compact Flash now the data
rates are 90MBps.”
Osborne has always valued
tape for acquisition “I have only
lost one tape to technical failure
in 13 years of shooting DVCAM
and HDV (and that was a head
issue). The long term archiving is
important for the corporate work
I do and also with the long production cycles tape is much cheaper when a lot of rushes are stored
prior to the edit. I was reluctant
to go to tapeless as speed of
ingestion at the edit is not a big
priority. I invariably need to view
and shot pick the rushes as I
12
7/3/11
15:57
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Page 14
UTV to archive
with intelligence
subclips and metadata from its
Avid ISIS storage to the
MatrixStore system with a ‘oneclick’ process. It also means that
footage, along with all metadata
including media and edit decisions, can be retrieved and
dropped directly into the Avid
system. This storage array
currently provides UTV with
32TB of nearline storage — but
with a capability of considerable
future archive capacity.
6HH
we aspired to move to a filebased storage solution. Having
said that, we did not want simply
to archive the stories as flat files,
but rather required a system that
would enable us to recall a consolidated sequence complete with
timeline and clips. To be honest,
we weren’t sure if anyone produced such a system, but in the
end it was a challenge we presented to Tyrell.”
Not only did Ferrin want the
files to be stored with the relevant
information, but the system
needed to work across UTV’s
media network. “Tyrell introduced us to Marquis who supplied the software solution and
Object Matrix who offered its
storage solution. The reason we
chose Object Matrix is that it is a
cluster server that provides the
absolute redundancy required for
a long-term archive. Also, the
cluster can be expanded with no
system management required.”
Stuart Lawn, technical director at Tyrell, takes up the story.
“This was a fascinating challenge
as it involved two manufacturers
who had not previously collaborated. But we knew there was a
benefit to UTV of a scalable storage solution that didn’t have the
term ‘SAN’ in the concept.
“Once we had settled on
Marquis and Object Matrix we
got the two companies talking
fairly quickly and I believe we
were the first reseller to pair
them up in a solution. Since
then, the companies have
exchanged engineering visits
and developed a unified marketing approach.”
Easy search
Sean Ferrin: UTV maintains a
mirrored low resolution
proxy of ingested material available
on the house network
He adds, “We did look at
some other suppliers, but it was
obvious that most couldn’t produce a cost effective system, or,
perhaps more significantly, the
specification that would be of use
to UTV in the short term.”
Lawn states that the solution
offered by Marquis Broadcast provided a simple end user interface
that did exactly what UTV
required without huge amounts of
setup time. At the same time,
Object Matrix presented cost
effective storage that could be
scaled easily. In addition, the capability of the system’s P2 workflow
with DropSpot was attractive as
an added bonus. DropSpot is a
secure and flexible archive and
workgroup desktop application
that interfaces with MatrixStore
API. Using this application, it is
possible to archive, write, read,
search and delete to MatrixStore
— the central repository for the
archived packages.
In short, the solution offered
by the two suppliers enables
the broadcaster to move entire
sequences, including edit decisions,
Ferrin states that UTV maintains a mirrored low resolution
proxy of ingested material that is
available on the house network.
“Each day, the library enters
details of the previous 24 hours’
ingest. This allows the journalists to perform a search in iNews
or using Strix archive search
engine. They can then easily view
the material at their desktop and,
having identified their requirements, request the library staff to
retrieve the high resolution version and place it into the current
Avid work space. As far as news
stories are concerned, we never
delete any material.”
As with any system a certain
amount of adjustment was
required to tailor the set-up to
the existing workflow. However,
the end result is an archive
process that is simple. It involves
the library staff dragging the
required sequence and dropping
it over the archive icon. UTV also
trained the library staff to edit —
allowing them to clip up live
interviews and material identified
by the newsroom.
Alongside the archive solution, UTV took the opportunity
to expand its Avid system to meet
new requirements. This involved
an expansion of the ISIS storage
system with additional blades
and chassis that quadrupled the
Format choice:
tapeless debate
Long term storage
ZZZULHGHOQHW
14
Archive is the big question for
Thomas. “People backing up commercial data tend to use tape. This
Stuart Lawn: “We knew there was a
benefit to UTV of a scalable
storage solution that didn’t have
the term ‘SAN’ in the concept”
Control. We also have three new
HD Omneon servers — one for
prep and two for commercial and
programme playout.”
He concludes, “Our archive
solution has been a success. In
fact, I have ordered another
Object Matrix server to use for
near online storage.”
is probably the best bet at the
moment. Soon to go to 100GB I
believe. It still has the benefits of
being file-based, small in size and
a good shelf life.”
“I think tape has a lot going
for it in that it’s a time tested,
cheap, reliable storage system,”
says Heap. “But I think
XDCAM discs will prove to
have the same qualities. The
main difference for me is that I
can transfer from my XD camera via a FireWire cable whereas
getting footage off a Digital
Betacam tape and onto a hard
drive involves much more cost. I
have to pay to have the footage
digitised elsewhere as I can’t justify owning a Digi tape machine
or, at this stage in my Digital
Betacam’s life, the cost of
installing an SDI card.”
ingest, so realtime ingestion is no
real disadvantage.”
His Sony Z7 hybrid is a very
useful camera. “For many corporate agency and production company clients I have encouraged
them to go tapeless, I synchronously shoot on CF card and
HDV tape. At the end of the
shoot the card is sent in the post
to their edit, and I keep the tape
as a safety backup. CF cards are
relatively cheap now so I have
enough for [clients] to keep them
for a few weeks — or we might
even encourage [clients] to buy
them outright. However that hasn’t been the case with SxS cards,”
says Osborne.
broadcaster’s storage requirements. In addition, two HD
Airspeed units were acquired to
handle input into the Avid ISIS
media network and provide extra
capacity that allows UTV to
increase its playback and recording of HD material within its
transmission suite.
“We have recently launched
our HD service and are currently
configuring a new automation
and full HD playout system,”
says Ferrin. “In January we took
delivery of a 3ME fully-loaded
Kahuna HD studio vision mixer
with a satellite 1ME panel and
our intention is to order a
replacement HD router and two
new multi-screen systems for
the studio and Transmission
Weapon of choice: Thomas with Panasonic, Canon and Sony P2, CF card
and disc-based cameras. Archive is the biggest question
just seems wrong for video, but
maybe LTO tape is a real contender.
Hard disk drives need maintenance
and spinning up at regular intervals.
“Holographic storage has
been on the drawing board for a
long time but IT sources seem to
think it won’t happen, so Blu-ray
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www.greenfieldtv.com
www.LeeChristiansen.co.uk/
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7/3/11
15:58
Page 1
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8/3/11
12:21
Page 16
New Ardendo/Vizrt MAM system is rolled out across the enterprise
“One of the most important steps we took was to
decide that this was not to be designed and built
by engineers and then forced upon the operations
and content creation teams” — John Lennon
“We realised we had to start with
the people and then with the
workflows. After that, technology becomes an enabler.”
Not focusing on the technology also helped when it came to
evangelising the change. Lennon
explains: “I traditionally hail
from an operational and production background. So I’m not
fronting up as an engineer saying
here are loads of widgets. My job
is to ensure that we go back to
what these people do, what they
aspire to do and then ensure that
we’re giving them the right tools
to do it.”
Historically within the TV
market, the path to a file-based
operation has been beset with
potholes. However, with Sky’s
road proving fairly smooth so far,
Lennon has advice for others
making the same journey.
“The most important thing is
to engage your user community
as early as possible,” he remarks.
“There was some belief that, like
any type of change, some people
would be resistant. I think quite
the contrary. I think people have
shown that they’re hungry for it
and they’re excited by it and, in
many respects, they can’t wait to
get their hands on it.”
Managing the project internally — but using external consultants — has also helped the
achieve and what the workflows
are that we need to support. Then
we introduced a little bit at a time
and shaped out how the next part
of that journey was going to go.”
To do this, initially Lennon and
his team partnered up with the
internal production team working
on rugby union. He says: “They’re
a relatively small department, they
were enthusiastic and the type of
work they do touches most of our
production gamuts: live, outside
broadcast, studio and magazine
shows. To make a magazine programme, you obviously need access
to content. You need to be able to
view your content, to mark up and
edit your content, to push it to a
studio and so on. It was a good fit.”
It was during this early work,
while mapping out and delivering
functionality, that the team had a
eureka moment. “Early on we
thought we would do rugby and then
simply roll on to the next department
and do a similar process with them,”
he says. “However, it was very clear
that this was the wrong approach
and essentially what we needed to do
was to take the rugby guys and bring
them on the journey with us for
longer so we could actually build a
Sky-wide platform.
“By doing this,” continues
Lennon, “when we roll on to the
other teams, we’re doing more
configuration changes rather
than underlying development. It
also creates advocates of the system, people who in turn will talk
about what they’re now doing
differently to make great content.
And if they’re happy they’ll help
create a wave of enthusiasm that
others will also want to join.”
rollout, according to Lennon. “I
don’t think anybody knows our
business as well as we do. There is
a tremendous amount of internal
talent, but more importantly, this
current project is about ensuring
that we’re delivering to the people
who make the great content. I
think an internal team can make
that connection so much better
than an external team.”
Sky’s shift from tape to digital
is a fairly seismic one that involves
just about everyone at the broadcaster. But it is one that Lennon is
positive will be worth it.
“At the moment, the production teams think that the way
they produce content is pretty
good,” he concludes. “And there
is no reason why they wouldn’t
believe that, because they do
deliver great content. What we’re
doing now is empowering them
to do it better, faster and in a
much more collaborative way.”
Sky files through
As of early 2011, file-based
workflows have been rolled out
across teams working on tennis,
American football, speedway,
pool and darts as well as rugby
union and they are currently in
the process of moving on to the
entertainment channels including
Sky Movies and Sky1.
It’s a journey that will continue
over the next few months. At the
same time, the recently added
capabilities will be built into the
new building so that, during the
summer, there can be a migration
phase of moving the pre-Harlequin
1 system into the building.
MAM evolution
PH
ZZZULHGHOQHW
16
New TVBEurope contributor
Will Strauss talks to Sky’s Director
of Operations John Lennon on the
broadcaster’s move to a file-based
workflow and how important it was
to focus on the people involved
before looking at the technological
leaps required
John Lennon, the director of
broadcast operations at BSkyB, is
pretty excited about his latest task,
despite its enormity. He is the programme director for an ongoing
workflow migration that will see
the pay-TV broadcaster move
from a predominantly tape-based
operation to a file-based one.
To understand the scale of the
challenge, and the prize that
awaits a successful implementation, you only have to glance at
the complexity of the broadcaster’s current internal workings.
“At the moment we have, on
average, 4,000 physical tape
movements every single day,”
explains Lennon. “That’s a
tremendous amount of people
asking ‘Where the hell is my
tape?’ That happens not just in
every corridor in this place, but
right across the broadcast industry. The benefits of changing
from this to a file-based workflow are self-explanatory. It puts
the power back into the hands of
the content creators and enables
us to deliver more content more
efficiently to multiple platforms.”
The transition, which is still
roughly 12 months from completion, includes the installation of a
major media asset management
system and coincides with the relocation to a purpose-built production and broadcasting operation,
Harlequin 1, at Sky’s campus in
Osterley, west of London. Lennon
is not hanging about though.
“Our approach has always
been to not wait until we get into
the new building and go in with a
big bang where everybody moves
in and is handed a brand new set
of work tools,” he says. “All of
the processes and workflows are
being introduced on a team-byteam basis before people actually
move in.”
This step-by-step process is
not just being done with the new
building in mind, however. There
are other compelling reasons for
doing it that way, argues Lennon.
“Once we had chosen a vendor (Ardendo/Vizrt), we decided
against a traditional waterfall
project management approach
where you do a user requirements
gathering and then you deliver
against that. Instead we took an
agile approach, pinpointing the
types of things we were trying to
So far, so good
John Lennon: “My job is to ensure
that we go back to what these
people do and then ensure we’re
giving them the right tools to do it”
Lennon believes that the stepby-step, agile approach to the
roll-out will be of most benefit
when they get to the latter stages
File-based workflows have been rolled out across teams working on tennis,
American football, speedway, pool and darts as well as rugby union
of the project when they’ll have
to migrate the biggest production teams. “The most complicated part of this for us is that
we’re only half a dozen or so
domains in,” he says. “During
the course of the next nine to 12
months that goes pretty much
up to 100% so the numbers
become quite significant. By that
stage, from a functionality and
technical point of view, bringing
on somebody like the football
team becomes much more
straightforward.”
This continued focus on people and their workflows — and
not the technology behind it —
will make Sky’s tapeless migration a success, argues Lennon.
“One of the most important
steps we took was to decide that
this was not to be designed and
built by engineers and then
forced upon the operations and
content creation teams,” he says.
7/3/11
16:00
Page 1
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IPDirector is a field-proven software suite from EVS that guarantees workflow efficiency
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8/3/11
12:22
Page 18
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18
NEWS
IN BRIEF
A digital way of working
AKA decks out
BBC W1 facility
Digital Perspectives
dB Broadcast has awarded AKA
Design the contract to supply
nearly 100 technical desks for
the BBC’s new Broadcasting
House in London, W1. The AKA
technical furniture will be used in
four state-of-the-art studio
galleries, which will house the
BBC’s TV news channels being
relocated to Broadcasting
House, 25 edit and reporters
desks and 31 graphics
workstations. AKA has been
working closely with systems
integrators dB Broadcast to
ensure the final product meets
the exacting technical and layout
requirements for the facility.
“Everyone who has been
involved in this project at AKA
has worked tirelessly on what
was a technically challenging
requirement and we are
immensely proud to have won
such a prestigious project. I am
confident this will demonstrate
AKA as a clear contender for
future broadcast projects and
look forward to seeing the first
desks installed on site early in
2011,” said AKA’s Operations
Director, Alistair Davies.
www.akadesign.co.uk
ADA certification
Atempo Digital Archive (ADA)
has been certified for metaSAN,
a high-speed file sharing SAN
management application from
Tiger Technology, a provider
of SAN and workgroup
management software solutions.
This certification allows joint
customers with rich media files to
integrate metaSAN into their
existing workflow environments.
Atempo Digital Archive enables
end-users to archive data either
manually, automatically, or
through policies and applications
such as Final Cut Pro, from
metaSAN storage to tape
libraries or other storage devices.
Media assets can then be
retrieved, through metadata
indexing from and to metaSAN
managed storage resources.
“Broadcasters, film producers
and post production facilities
produce huge amounts of digital
data that must be ingested,
edited, distributed, archived and
managed daily,” said Alex
Lefterov, CEO, Tiger Technology.
“The seamless interoperability
between metaSAN and Atempo
Digital Archive offers our mutual
customers a high-performance,
cross-platform, file-level
SAN with simplified storage
management and file
archiving capabilities.” Atempo
Digital Archive is the first
archiving solution to integrate
with metaSAN.
www.atempo.com
Melanie Dayasena-Lowe talks to
Niall Duffy, managing director of
media technology firm Mediasmiths,
about how the move from tape to
file-based workflows has changed
the way people work
Working with large companies such
as Sky, BBC, TV4, Peel Media
(Salford) and Via Sat , Mediasmiths
has seen the move from tape to filebased workflows happen firsthand.
Not only has the company seen the
way organisations have had to
adapt to the change but it has also
witnessed a number of challenges.
To take full advantage of the
benefit digital can bring, Duffy
argues that broadcasters must find
a way to operate more efficiently,
reduce operational expenditure
and still deliver on quality content.
Yet the nature of the business —
and in particular some of the more
traditional workflow processes —
means it can be difficult to know
the specific costs associated with
particular activities, making it
tricky to deal with overspend.
So what are the key benefits to
organisations moving to file-based
workflows? “One of the key advantages is that it helps to bring greater
fiscal clarity. The knock-on benefit
of this means organisations can renegotiate the costs that are required
to run the business on a daily basis.
For example, businesses could renegotiate costs with suppliers if they
know exactly how their services were
being used and potentially save money in the long run,” Duffy remarks.
As file-based workflows take
off, Duffy sees three key drivers:
visionaries, upscaling equipment
and relocations. “Visionaries such
as the BBC see where the world is
going and need to be there first,” he
explains. Secondly, as kit becomes
unavailable, out of supply or cannot be replaced companies are
forced to purchase new technology.
Duffy believes another strong driver is the relocation of offices or
refitting of greenfield/brownfield
sites where “architecture needs to
be completely future-proofed”.
But implementing a file-based
workflow is not without its challenges. Duffy explains, “Every person in an organisation, from video
engineers to production managers
and c-level executives need to
embrace a whole new way of working. Successful transition to a
digital-based workflow requires a
new set of thinking and an organisational shift that puts digital at the
heart of all operations. After all there
is no point implementing a new
process if the people using it at every
level aren’t buying into the technology.”
However, the transition is often
much more challenging because of
the way organisations are structured
in the first place. “The very nature of
traditional workflows, for instance,
Niall Duffy, Mediasmiths, sees
three key drivers for file-based
workflows: visionaries, upscaling
equipment and relocations
mean even greater and unnecessary
costs are often incurred on an almost
daily basis because the organisation
is not structured in a way that facilitates and aids the transition to digital. It relies on tapes and the use of
couriers to deliver content from studio to studio — a method which is
not efficient and makes it very hard
for broadcasters to understand
where they are spending money.”
In another scenario when moving a central store to a studio, operators normally have a set of rules
they like to follow if something goes
wrong. Duffy points out the possible challenges facing a studio-based
workflow: “How do you know if it
is the final version of a file? If the
servers crash the staff might not
know what to do.” This highlights
the importance of education and
training during the implementation.
“You need to factor in testing using
role play. What is likely to go
wrong? What actually happens?”
Raising awareness
While some broadcasters might find
comfort in asking how a file-based
system can meet their checklist of
requirements, Duffy suggests asking
more specific questions. “What do
you want to achieve from a system?
What would success look like?
What’s important to you?”For some
companies, the most important
requirement might be to get the best
support and the best technology and
not necessarily cost savings foremost. “Others could be all about the
price. No one has the same view.”
Mediasmiths has observed dramatic changes in how people work
as a result of file-based workflows.
Duffy gave the example of VT dubbing operators who would manage
the logistical movement of tapes.
Their role was in far less demand
and there were fears of redundancy.
However, as they have a good
handle of content workflow and
relevant skills, many have been retrained for media management
operation roles. “They knew the
old system and could quickly
switch to the new system.”
In post production an associate
producer sits with an editor and
when the tapes arrive would write
timelines while cutting material.
Now with file-based systems they
no longer need to sit with the editor. The associate producer can
now search the material coming in,
select, bundle and hand it over to
the editor. “It gives more ownership to the production staff and
they feel more empowered.”
As a result of more automation,
staff headcount will ultimately be
affected. “There are physically less
tapes so less need for runners to
move the tapes around,” says Duffy.
“More money for equipment
means less money for staff.”
HD and 3D
As more broadcasters enter the HD
and 3D markets, workflow and
architecture needs to be modified or
adapted. Duffy explains how “3D is
a new film language” and what this
means for workflows: “One important element that has been largely
overlooked in the discussion around
3D is the human element in the production workflow. This is an area
that is likely to be profoundly
impacted by the emergence of 3D,
primarily because the level of technical knowledge required for 3D post
production increases dramatically.
“With 3D the biggest changes are
at the recording and editing stages,
with the need for new and expensive
equipment to record, view and edit
content. However, once the 3D video
is recorded as a file, the changes to
standard workflows for managing
the content is not that different to
HD content, with the need for
expansion of its capacity to handle
the increased bit rates and files sizes.”
Transmedia
dynamic
For broadcasters, the emergence of
transmedia demonstrates a shift in
the way that TV content is pushed
out to consumers. This new
requirement to have content
available in multiple formats and
through a variety of channels creates
a number of challenges, including the
need for technical workflows to be
more efficient and measurable.
Niall Duffy thinks tablets such as
Apple’s iPad should be seen as
complementary to TV eg, during live
events additional information can be
accessed through the tablet. “It also
provides the opportunity to cut
content in a different way and make
the most of it.” The big challenge is
to be smarter about what works.
“There is a rush to push out services
without thinking through the full user
experience.” He thinks we will
continue to see more interest in
transmedia and service &
applications on tablets this year.
7/3/11
16:01
Page 1
8/3/11
17:56
Page 20
HTC product demo: The arrival of improved smartphones knocked
broadcast TV off its perch by making streamed 3G TV services possible
Mobile TV
is alive!
mobile broadcast TV service in
the world.
Dr Windsor Holden, principal
analyst at Juniper Research, said
the FLO venture fell victim to a
number of factors, such as the
lack of national coverage in the
early years of the service; the
reliance on operators to market a
product of which they had little
experience; and the requirement
for consumers to buy a new
phone, from a very limited range.
In addition, the arrival
of improved smartphones and
HSPA knocked broadcast TV off
its perch somewhat, by making
streamed 3G TV services possible
— while new technologies such as
ATSC M/H allowed the use of
existing digital TV networks and
avoided the need to build expensive new infrastructure.
Holden added: “The demise of
FLO TV was emblematic of the
waning popularity of dedicated
mobile broadcast TV networks
worldwide. The economics of
deployment simply don’t stand up,
particularly given the fact that in
many markets streaming TV apps
typically offload the bulk of traffic
to WiFi. Indeed, streaming TV apps
enjoyed a surge in popularity last
year, witness the success of MobiTV
in the US, which had more than
14 million subscribers by late 2010.”
He added that despite
MobiTV’s success, it is fair to say
that the mobile handset is not an
optimal device on which to watch
TV for any length of time. “Tablets
are another matter entirely. Video
traffic across tablets is likely to
grow at an exponential rate over
the next few years.”
Holden stated: “However, mobile handsets, particularly smartphones, are ideal for ‘snacking TV’,
be that in the form of videoclips or
short streamed video, and it’s in this
area that we’re likely to see the greatest scaling up of traffic volume, be it
videos watched on social networks,
Youtube, news clips, sports clips or
even advertisements.”
Jan Olin, managing director for
Europe at MobiTV, agreed that
tablets will feature strongly in the
future growth of mobile TV:
“Various mobile TV services have
been launched by mobile operators
in Europe, and none have been
really successful. Mobile content as
a standard vertical is not an easy
sell in Europe; I see it being driven
from the TV in the home, to the
tablet and mobile, with personalised services.”
Cedric Fernandes, VP of technology at MobiTV, added: “We
believe that to be successful
with mobile TV, you need to take
the best of both worlds,” he
remarked, referring to scheduled
and personalised TV services. “I
think other services haven’t done
so well because they have worked
on the model of doing purely
broadcast to the mobile phone.
Mobiles are personalised devices,
so you must bring personalisation
to it,” he said.
MobiTV announced in January
that it has partnered with Mobile
Content Venture, a joint venture
between various broadcasters in the
US to create a mobile TV service on
broadcast technology, mobile DTV
(the US equivalent of Europe’s old
favourite, DVB-H).
Yet the final service, due in the
second half of 2011, will not be
purely broadcast; MobiTV is combining its background of unicast
(unicast-based media servers open
and provide a stream for each
unique user) personalised mobile
TV, including video-on-demand,
with broadcast, scheduled TV.
Fernandes commented: “We think
a broadcast-only solution doesn’t
work, as proven in Europe and by
FloTV in the US. You need the
whole offering, with unicast to provide personalised services as well.”
IMB hotspots
Another wireless technology
being spoken about at the show as
an alternative to unicast was
IMB, which enables the broadcast
of content such as live TV channels, at the cellular transmitter
level, using the 3G or 4G licensed
radio spectrum, and received on
IMB capable 3G or 4G mobile
terminals. IMB was accepted as
part of the Release 8 3GPP standards in December 2008. It was
endorsed as the preferred broadcast standard by the GSMA in
September 2009.
On 22 June 2010, O2, Orange
and Vodafone announced a multioperator IMB pilot in the UK,
which was set to run from October
last year for around three months.
takes just three seconds to get on
screen. Video interruption time for
IMB to 3G handover is typically
under two seconds; moving from
one network to another is very
important for this service. We have
a brief interruption, but it’s very
good. And if there is congestion,
we can target the hotspots.”
Graves continued on the benefits
of IMB for mobile operators: “IMB
allows us to provide limited content
to an unlimited number of users,
whereas unicast, which uses HSPA
and LTE, provides unlimited content
to a limited number of users. IMB
is a single frequency network with
synchronous transmission, which
improves the overall spectral efficiency. It bypasses the mobile network,
unlike unicast, which goes over it.
“We have to think of IMB as not just live TV, in
the way we thought of mobile TV before, but as
a way to offload content from the mobile
networks” — Benoit Graves, Orange
The trial is looking at how mobile
broadcast services can be deployed
using shared network infrastructure, on a part of the 3G spectrum
that is rarely used, called Time
Division Duplex (TDD).
This spectrum already forms
part of the 3G licences held by many
European mobile operators, but has
remained largely unused because of
a lack of appropriate technology.
Currently, 3G TDD spectrum is
available to over 150 operators
across 60 countries covering more
than half a billion subscribers.
At the show, Benoit Graves,
senior technical expert at Orange,
gave an update on the progress of
the UK IMB trial. He commented:
“The results are impressive. The
quality of service on video is really
good on a smartphone screen, and
set up time including buffering
“We have to think of IMB as
not just live TV, in the way we
thought of mobile TV before, but
as a way to offload content from
the mobile networks. We would use
it to push some really popular content, such as subscribed magazines
and newspapers, to end users. We
can use it to offload 10% to 20% of
user data from the networks. By
offloading up to 20% of mobile
data onto IMB, we would achieve
cost savings on our 3G and 4G networks, and get better quality of
service for end users,” he said.
The trial, which is using
combined spectrum in the 190510MHz (Orange UK) range and
1910-15MHz (O2 UK) is still ongoing. The operators have achieved
the simultaneous broadcast of 20 live
TV channels and 10 radio channels
over IMB.
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Project3
28/2/11
15:53
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Embrace new technology and take your TV network beyond the box.
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1/3/11
12:31
Page 1
Make a clever change to HD.
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8/3/11
17:54
Page 23
TVBEUROPE N A B 20 1 1 S N E A K P R EV I EW
Harris first with Selenio
By Fergal Ringrose
Harris will be presenting a range
of its routers, multiviewers and
signal processing units including
the industry’s first integrated
media convergence platform,
Harris Selenio.
This is a modular solution that
combines traditional baseband
video and audio processing, compression and IP networking features within a single, 3RU platform.
It hosts up to 28 channels of highdensity baseband video processing,
and supports both MPEG-2 and
H.264 compression standards for
SD, HD, mobile and 3Gbps and
advanced audio capabilities including 5.1 and loudness control. A
built-in web-based GUI provides
functional block diagrams for configuration, monitoring and management of multiple functionalities.
Also on display will be the
Harris Magellan family of router
Simultaneous
with PAG four
control panels. Available as a series
of 10 programmable hardware
panel types in both 1 and 2RU
versions, the Magellan templatedriven panels provide intuitive,
web-based configuration for quick
and straightforward setup in both
local and remote operations.
To help streamline workflows
in today’s multiformat environments, Harris is introducing ingest
and playout support for two new
codecs in its NEXIO platform: for
playout, the H.264 video compression standard; and for production,
the Avid DNxHD “mastering”
format for post-editing.
Harris will demo the LLM1770 loudness logger and monitor compact audio monitoring
tool. The company also adds
3DTV signal monitoring for
its VTM-4150PKG monitor
and TVM-9150PKG signal
analyser packages.
For transmission needs, Harris
is offering new plug-in modules
for its Apex M2X exciter and will
introduce its next-generation control platform, the Harris MultiSystem Controller (MSC), for
redundant television and radio
transmission systems.
N2502
TSL adds to PAM family
By David Fox
PAG will demonstrate new batteries,
chargers and power converters for
broadcasters, cinematographers and
videographers. The PAG RMC4X is
a rack-mountable version of PAG’s
4-channel, simultaneous battery
charger. It is designed to be mounted in a 19-inch rack system and suitable for use in OB vehicles or workshop environments. The high-powered charger uses current efficiently
for fast, simultaneous charging of
PAGlok or V-Mount batteries manufactured by PAG, Sony or IDX.
The PAG L95eR Li-Ion battery is
designed for use with the Red One
camera. The 95Wh V-Mount battery
provides a capacity reading, expressed as a percentage, in the Red One
viewfinder. The capacities of two
L95eR batteries can be combined, to
provide extended run-time and a current-draw of 10A for the Red One, by
using a new version of the PAG
Power Plate dual battery mount. It
includes the contacts that allow the
capacity information to be communicated to the Red One viewfinder.
C9921
Making its world
debut, the PAM1-3G16 audio monitoring
unit features a full 16 bar graph display and Aux Input Mixer
By David Davies
TSL will announce the global
launch of a brand new concept in
audio signal monitoring and management. A member of the PAM
(Precision Audio Monitor) family,
PAM2i-C uses the features of TSL’s
PAM2-3G16 and adds external
screen monitoring capability, IT
network integration and advanced
signal management functionality
such as Loudness Logging, Audio
Alarm reporting and third-party
system control. PAM2i-C forms
part of an integrated facility wide
audio monitoring and management
system collecting and collating
signal data from Ingest, Master
Control, QC and any other critical
element of the broadcast workflow.
Also making its world debut is
the PAM1-3G16. It combines the
size and convenience of the original 1RU multichannel audio monitoring unit with a full 16 bar graph
display and many of the advanced
features of the PAM2-3G16, such
as Loudness Measurement, Preset
Standard Switching and advance
monitoring mode selection.
TSL’s Intelligent Power Distribution units are deployed in broadcast facilities worldwide providing
alarm monitoring and system control
functions. The units can be used with
any established monitoring software;
however TSL has launched PsiMon,
an SQL server-based system with a
unique dashboard display. Following
customer requests TSL has added a
new Blast function that implements
pre-configured power maps with a
single button press.
N1119
NAB 2011 SNEAK PREVIEW
If you've booked your Las Vegas flights then you'll find the
following selection of new products on the aisles of the NAB
2011 show floor. If not, then we'll do our best to let you know
through the next few issues what's hot and what's new at
the NAB extravaganza. Part Two of our Product Preview will
follow next month. — Fergal Ringrose
Chyron in the cloud: At NAB Chyron will present its graphics technologies such
as the AXIS Graphics platform. Claimed as the world’s only cloud-computing
graphics creator designed specifically for the broadcaster, AXIS simplifies,
streamlines, and facilitates the graphics creation workload across many users in a
broadcast operation. AXIS services are set to launch in Europe and the Middle
East during 2011. Chyron’s Lyric PRO 8 graphics creation software comes with
new scriptless conditional intelligent transitions and delivery of superior-quality
realtime 3D animations. Channel Box2 will also be highlighted at the NAB show.
Built on Chyron’s Lyric technology, Channel Box2 is the next-generation channel
branding system that features 2D/3D design with a complete data acquisition
toolset for all branding applications. Other products on demo include the Quintette
newsroom graphics production and playback platform. — Fergal Ringrose
SL1520
Linear Acoustic airs AERO
Linear Acoustic will be showcasing innovative new products, new
features, enhanced designs and
exclusive upgrades. A key product
will be the new 2RU version of the
company’s signature TV audio
processor, the AERO.air. Key features that were once optional
upgrades will be made standard on
many 2011 versions of the Linear
Acoustic product line.
The AERO.air transmission
audio/loudness manager features
HD/SD- SDI I/O, which allows for
de-embedding and re-embedding
up to 16 channels of audio plus
SMPTE 2020 (VANC) metadata.
UPMAX-II provides a more spacious and stable 5.1 upmix from a
stereo source while CrowdControl
ensures dialogue is preserved even
in rich stereo mixes.
AERO.one is a simple, costeffective solution designed to
Linear Acoustic showcases new 2RU
version of its TV audio processor
manage loudness, upmixing, metadata, signal routing and audio coding.
This 1RU product allows the audio
quality of the main path to be
matched in a cost-effective manner.
The LQ-1000 employs the
ITU-R BS.1770 method for measuring loudness and displays the
results in a logical, easy-to-understand format. New EBU mode
adds relative gating feature and
loudness range metering to the
unit at no extra cost. The new
LQ-1000 adds as standard features a simple ‘gain apply’ scaling
function and HD/SD-SDI I/O.
SU3326
23
8/3/11
13:41
Page 24
TVBEU R O PE N A B 2 0 1 1 S N E A K P R E V I E W
Xedio Flash new for newsrooms; ENGSoft for Avid editing environment
in the LSM remote controller
and will be presented in 3D mode
— as well as with third-party
graphic integration
IPEdit, EVS’ live editing tool,
will be shown with its new 3D
feature that allows it to work
instantly on live 3D feeds recorded
on EVS XT series server for rough
cut or highlights editing. EVS will
also present its latest integrations
with third-party HyperMotion systems and will unveil 3D SuperMotion
replay on the XT-LSM platform.
EVS-OpenCube is set to
announce the latest versions of its
tape ingest and DCP servers based
on advanced MXF file and native
multi-codec support (XDCAM
HD, JPEG2000, Avid DNxHD),
which offer producers and operators an efficient approach to
streamlining production, post and
D-cinema digitisation processes. In
addition, EVS’ MXF special division will introduce ENGSoft, its
new solution for ENG XDCAM & P2
file and associated metadata import to
the Avid editing environment.
C9508
Telestream will be demonstrating
its Vantage video workflow design
and automation software that features a bridge to Agility. New
transcoding and enterprise-class
workflow management capabilities
will also be demonstrated at NAB.
A new Vantage Workflow Portal
enables fast, easy creation and
deployment of operator user interfaces for browsing video, entering
metadata and forwarding media. A
new SDK simplifies Vantage integration into existing software
systems using a web services interface. Plus, new GraphicsFactory
integration allows template-based
layered graphics and audio to be
applied during a transcode. Also
new is aspect ratio identification for
MXF, GXF and LXF files.
Wirecast Pro makes its NAB
debut. Telestream’s Wirecast live webcasting software allows anyone to
easily create live or on-demand video
broadcasts for streaming to the web.
Wirecast Pro builds on Wirecast’s
advanced video production capabilities, adding more graphic content,
including 3D virtual sets, live scoreboards and enhanced audio controls.
SL3309
EVS pushes 3D, news
and sports boundaries
By Fergal Ringrose
At NAB EVS will introduce solutions that are designed to perform
advanced production and content
management tools for fast-turnaround productions; new live sports
production tools that allow graphic
inserts and live 3D editing; and
EVS-OpenCube MXF for tape
ingest and workflow digitisation.
For IPDirector, new API and
MOS protocol support ensure full
interoperability with all types of
third party systems such as asset
management, automation, and
NRCS including Avid I-News,
ENPS or Annova systems.
EVS will introduce Xedio
Flash, an integrated hardware and
software system offering all-in-
one newsroom capabilities. Xedio
Flash is designed for small and
regional newsrooms. It’s a turnkey
newsroom production system that
fits into a single 16RU rack,
including ingest, production, editing, storage and playout modules.
Epsio and its new live graphics
tools offer a range of live autogenerated overlay graphics integrated
Live editing tool IPEdit will be
shown with new 3D feature
Telestream presents a Vantage
By David Davies
content syndication, including
standards conversion, video
streaming, subtitling and watermarking. Agility 2G, which
automates and manages enterprise-class video production
workflows, is optimised for scalability and reliability.
Telestream will feature new products at NAB, following its acquisition of Anystream last year. The
acquisition extends Telestream’s
deep video transcoding, broad
workflow design and automation
expertise to enable companies to
address broader and deeper
production workflows. Agility
2G and Avalon products address
demands for multi-platform
Vantage Workflow Portal enables fast,
easy creation and deployment of
operator user interfaces
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NAB Booth C6025
8/3/11
13:42
Page 25
Digital Rapids tools transform media distribution
Digital Rapids will be presenting
its complete range of tools and
solutions for transforming and
distributing media. The company will unveil new products
for the first time at the
show. There will be a new version of Digital Rapids Transcode Manager featuring new
dynamic workflow capabilities
and further extending Transcode
Manager’s scalability within
facilities and beyond.
New product StreamZ Live
IP offers flexible, top-quality
encoding and streaming capabilities of the StreamZ Live
family in a dedicated configuration for transcoding live IP-based
sources. It supports single or
multi-programme
Transport
Stream inputs with H.264 or
MPEG-2 compressed video.
The AT-LINE-PRO4’s HDMI output
is capable of both digital and
analogue switching plus full 3D
support for HDMI pass-through
New switch
to Atlona
By David Fox
New products from Atlona
Technologies include a 10input video scaler/processor/
switcher with HDMI output and
3G-SDI/HD-SDI/SD-SDI to
HDMI with stereo audio converter. The AT-LINE-PRO4 has
10 inputs for all A/V devices,
including four HDMI/DVI,
three VGA, one component, one
S-Video, and one composite
video input. The unit is designed
to upscale the signal from any
A/V device to the native resolution of the connected display
up to 1080p or 1920x1200,
ensuring the highest picture
quality possible.
The AT-3GSDI-HD2 is
used for monitoring and production where camera or computer
SDI outputs need to be converted to work with HDMI or
DVI displays.
Other products on show
include the AT-DRC444 multiinput presentation switcher,
the Atlona AT-DIS7-PROHD
7-inch testing monitor and KITPROHD3 digital connectivity
testing kit.
In addition, Atlona will showcase a wide range of fibre-optic
extension solutions from its
Signature Line.
SL7706
Also on display will be
StreamZHD Live ABR, which
encodes and streams live HD
and SD content in multiple simultaneous bit rates and resolutions
for delivery through the latest generation of adaptive streaming
StreamZHD Live ABR encodes and streams live HD and SD
content in multiple simultaneous bit rates and resolutions
technologies from Adobe, Apple
and Microsoft. There will also
be new versions of TouchStream
portable live streaming appliances,
StreamZHD software and The
MediaMesh content delivery system.
SL6010
Discover the Kahuna 360
A Revolution In Live Production
Kahuna 360 is the brand new
addition to the Kahunaverse. It
brings major new functionality
and flexibility to meet the
most demanding production
requirements. Kahuna 360 breaks
the tradition of fixed M/Es, fixed
resources and fixed formats, and
supports many simultaneous
productions that would require
multiple switchers from any other
provsider.
Efficient Operations
Creative Freedom
Reduced Costs
Creativity
Unmatched freedom in
combining mixers, keyers and
3D DVE effects to create any
on-air style.
New intelligence in the switcher
allows Kahuna 360 to handle
the mundane, freeing you to
create great productions.
Flexibility
Uniquely powerful, Kahuna 360
can run up to 16 productions
simultaneously from a single
mainframe.
FormatFusion3 raises the bar
for multi-format operations,
supporting any combination
of SD, HD, and 3G.
Productivity
Dramatically reduce the
overhead of show set-up times.
Advanced file workflow tools
enable you to turn around
content in seconds.
Reliability
Designed for mission critical
operations with a hot-swappable
architecture.
Innovative Live Assist features
provide even greater on-air
confidence.
Routing
Modular Infrastructure
Conversion & Restoration
Live Production
Automation & Media Management
Control & Monitoring
25
8/3/11
13:42
Page 26
Hi Tech unveils Avita hybrid
NEWS
IN BRIEF
By Fergal Ringrose
MADI international
launch from Wohler
Making its international debut
is the new MADI-8 audio
monitor, which enables
broadcasters to implement the
Multiple Audio Digital Interface
(MADI or AES10) in their
production workflows. The 1RU
monitor features a 16-character
by two-line LCD display as well
as both coax and optical MADI
inputs and outputs, mixed
2-channel or mono analogue
outputs, channel presence
indicators, and eight
user-nameable presets.
Other Wohler products on
display will include the new,
compact Pandora system for
clear, configurable loudness
monitoring; the Presto
multiview source selector;
three new versions of Wohler’s
award-winning HDCC-200A
range of captioning cards; and
enhancements to its AMP2-16V
audio/video processing monitor.
N2524
WorldTV by GlobeCast
GlobeCast and Netia, who are coexhibiting, will feature live demos
and animations of their global
distribution, media asset
management and international
content playout capabilities.
GlobeCast will feature a showreel
of some of the 170 channels in 35
languages being distributed by
WorldTV, a source for
international content in the US.
For broadcasters who want to
ingest content locally, manage
their media, and play out content
in several regions of the world,
Netia’s CMS allows customers to
globally streamline all of their
production processes through
simple workflows and task
automation. The new suite also
allows users to connect all of
their partners and vendors within
a single production ecosystem,
simplifying the sharing and
managing of media assets. Also
on display will be Netia’s RadioAssist 8 range of digital audio
automation software.
SU911
New at NAB will be Hi Tech
Systems’ Avita production control
system. The company has developed a unique hybrid control system using the latest touch screen
technology and modular hardware panels to allow multiple
users to access multiple server
ports over a network.
Tom Favell, managing director,
said: “Avita takes Hi Tech’s control
expertise right to the heart of production workflow, providing financial and operational benefits to our
customers.” Avita is a live produc-
Hybrid can capture, edit and
play out from multiple sources
Vislink lites portable terminal
Runs in the Cache: Cache-A
Corporation is collaborating with
HP to develop an easy-to-use
implementation of LTFS (Linear
Tape File System) for the
professional media and
entertainment industry. LTFS is
based on open source software
and enables users to interchange
content across different operating
systems, software applications
and physical locations. This
collaboration combines the
benefits of LTFS, which makes
tape look like disk, with Cache-A’s
appliance approach, which makes
tape behave like disk, to provide a
complete archive solution. Once
LTFS is completely integrated
into the Cache-A archive
appliance, customers will have the
choice of using the mature tar
format or the new LTFS format.
Also, all existing Cache-A LTO-5
customers using tar will be able
to flip a switch and start using
LTFS going forward without
additional cost or needing to
transfer their existing tapes.
Like Cache-A’s tar based
appliance, LTFS provides a
self-describing file system on an
LTO cartridge. — David Davies
SL8209
Vislink News and Entertainment will display its wireless
camera transmitter, SatCom
terminal and mobile & studio
gateways at NAB. The LINK
XP1310 is a high performance
H.264 compliant HD wireless
camera transmitter for the news
and entertainment market.
When combined with the new
Lynx Diversity Receiver it offers
a cost effective, web browser
controlled wireless camera system for both traditional and new
media broadcasters.
The new transmitter is field
upgradeable with HD-SDI, ASI,
IP and composite video inputs as
well as dual input SD encoding,
By David Fox
Anton/Bauer, a brand of The
Vitec Group, will demonstrate its
advanced Gold Mount System for
both camera and non-camera
applications at NAB.
“The key to our success and
foundation of all of our technology
begins with the Gold Mount
System,” said Shin Minowa, VP of
marketing and business development. “While introducing new battery technologies to the market, it is
an important part of our business
to stay focused on developing inter-
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26
and is transmit capable with up to
200mW output.
Advent NewsLite is a portable, IP-enabled SatCom terminal
designed for use with current and
new lightweight antenna systems.
It combines the performance of
high bandwidth broadcast contribution feeds with the flexibility
of BGAN type newsgathering
and creates new remote connectivity applications.
NewsLite’s ergonomic design
is IATA weight compliant for airport baggage handling and its
modular electronics support a
broad range of satellite antennas.
The system on display at NAB
will introduce a cost effective ‘two
box’ sub 23kg solution when
The Advent NewsLite IP-enabled
SatCom terminal can be used with
lightweight antenna systems and is
IATA weight compliant
combined with the 1m Advent
Mantis antenna.
C6019
Gold Mount is key to success
WHEN YOUR BUSINESS IS MEDIA
3
tion system that is designed to capture, edit and play out media from
multiple sources easily and quickly.
The core of the system is the
Avita engine that provides sophisticated video clip management
tools with shared databases, multiple playlists and enhanced
search facilities. Avita can be supplied as a software only system
and can be fully driven by a touch
screen and features gesture control of the various system applications. Alternatively, Avita is supplied as a system of hardware consoles and mix-and-match control
modules so that a panel can be
constructed to suit the operational requirements of a particular workflow application.
The hardware panel has a large
clear touch screen with gesture
control that is used to manage play
lists, server set ups, clip creation
and management, database creation and searching and is used to
configure the hardware modules
with an extensive range of functionality and appearance choices.
Avita also has a unique feature
to aid operator comfort when
using the touch screen over
extended periods of time – a cantilevered hinge that brings the
screen to rest inclined in front of
the hardware modules.
N6259
See us at NAB 2011
Booth N5812
Gold Mount provides an
interchangeable battery system
changeable Gold Mount solutions
for the continuous stream of camera and non-camera technology
constantly being introduced.
During this year’s NAB, we will
showcase our many new and existing Gold Mount solutions, the
most secure mounting system available for professionals.”
The Gold Mount provides an
interchangeable battery system
using a forward compatible
approach originally developed by
Anton/Bauer. This system allows
for new cell chemistries as they are
developed, allowing a battery introduced today to perform seamlessly
on a charger purchased 10 years
ago, with only a simple software
upgrade. Three solid mechanical
connections ‘lock’ into place, providing secure contact for a steady
stream of uninterrupted power, an
inherent problem with other
mounts causing users to experience
intermittent power failure.
Anton/Bauer is now offering
new Gold Mount power solutions
for the Canon EOS 5D Mark
II, EOS 7D and EOS 60D
Digital SLR cameras, the
QR-DSLR, which addresses the
needs of broadcasters and filmmakers incorporating Digital
SLR camera video capture into
their productions.
C7032
8/3/11
13:43
Page 27
A new video server direction by Autocue
By Fergal Ringrose
NAB marks the official US
launch of Autocue’s first four
standalone, Linux-based video
servers. The servers feature up
to four bi-directional HD/SD
channels for simultaneous record
Marvin will be used in a film about
Freddy Heineken, capturing every
frame from two Red MX cameras
Marvin scopes
3D support
By David Fox
Marvin Technologies will introduce its new Marvin 2.0 on-set
camera data management system.
Along with support for all common digital cinema cameras,
including Red, Arri Alexa,
Silicon Imaging SI 2K and others,
visitors will get to see Marvin’s
new stereoscopic 3D support.
Marvin automates the creation
of backups, LTO tape masters,
QuickTime proxies for offline
editing and DVD dailies as well as
shot logging. Now, with Marvin
2.0, filmmakers have a choice of
three models, ensuring data safety
and efficient transcoding for any
size of project.
The new stereo 3D support
in Marvin 2.0 allows the system
to ingest left and right eye
images simultaneously, archiving to two LTO tapes — one for
each eye. It will render stereoscopic content to side-by-side,
interleaved or checkerboard
QuickTimes for Final Cut Pro or
MXF files for fast import into
Avid systems.
Marvin 2.0 is available in three
models based on daily shooting
requirements. Marvin 400 can
process 400GB of camera data
per day, the Marvin 800 can handle 800GB per day, and the
Marvin 3D can ingest up to
1.5TB of regular or stereo 3D
footage per day.
“We’ll be using the new
Marvin on our next feature,” said
director Maarten Treurniet,
inventor of the Marvin. “The film
is a dramatic re-telling of the 1983
kidnapping of Freddy Heineken,
owner of the Heineken brewing
empire. We’ll be shooting for 45
days and Marvin will be capturing every frame from two Red
MX cameras and generating all of
our on-set deliverables right on
the spot. You can’t get more efficient than that.”
SL1716
and playout, and a range of storage capabilities.
They can also replace tape
machines and be used for secondary
applications within broadcasters. A
beta version of the next generation
server will also be on show, which
incorporates vision and audio mixer
handling, virtual playback channels,
internal character generation,
channel branding and virtual record
Autocue’s first Linux-based video
servers can replace tape machines
channels. This new system would
allow customers to use a single system
to produce live programmes without
the need for additional hardware.
Also being launched at the show
is the new Master Series 12-inch
teleprompter. Using LED backlit
technology, Autocue’s design team
has created the first ever slimline,
high-bright teleprompter monitors.
C8525
WORKFLOW
OVER IP
QTube shrinks the world.
With QTube global media workflow you can:
Edit content located anywhere.
From anywhere.
Over the internet.
Find out how QTube can revolutionize your world
quantel.com/qtube or see it at NAB booth #SL2014
Workflow over IP
27
8/3/11
13:43
Page 28
Newsroom on
iPhone: Octopus
will introduce its
new product
extension Octopus
Mobile for the
iPhone, an
Octopus6
application.
Octopus Mobile
aims to integrate
mobile devices into
newsgathering
workflow enabling journalists to work on their stories in the field with just
a phone in their hands. Octopus6 is available on the iPhone and Android.
With Octopus Mobile one journalist in the field can prepare the whole story
to be added to the rundown as breaking news quickly. Octopus Mobile is an
offline/online client that can be used in places with no internet connection
or when preparing a story on the go. Journalists can browse wires,
rundowns and stories in folders; write a script, add video, etc. When
finished, the story is sent to the Octopus6 list of stories where it is ready
to be added to rundown — Melanie Dayasena-Lowe
SU820
Lynx expands yellobrik family
By Fergal Ringrose
Lynx Technik, provider of modular interface solutions, will debut
its new yellobrik distribution
amplifier and fibre products at
NAB. The new fibre solutions
significantly expand the line of
compact yellobrik ‘brick-style’
modules. Products on show
include the yellobrik OTT 1812
dual-channel 3G/HD/SD-SDI to
Fibre Transmitter. This unit provides two independent 3G/HD/
SD-SDI to fibre transmission
channels and supports distances
up to 10km over single mode fibre.
Lynx Technik will also present
its other yellobrik units such as
yellobrik OTT 1842 dual-channel
Three from Shotoku
By David Fox
Shotoku Broadcast Systems,
international manufacturer of
camera support equipment, is
enhancing its manual range with
three new products as well as
introducing enhancements to its
control systems. A pneumatic
pedestal, perfect counter-balance
pan-and-tilt head, and positional
calibration system will all be
shown for the first time.
Shotoku’s newly developed
TP200 two-stage pneumatic pedestal
has a maximum payload of 177lbs.
and supports a wide-range of camera configurations. Its innovatively
designed column and base offers
maximum stability and operational
flexibility. One-step foot brake and
single-action cable enables precise
movements and control at all times
and fast and easy positioning.
The SX300 perfect counterbalance pan-and-tilt head, designed
to support portable cameras with
viewfinders and prompters, has a
maximum payload of 83.8lbs. Its
robust structure and wide-range
of precise balance mechanisms
yellobrik amplifier has been
designed for wide bandwidth
3G/HD/SDI to fibre transmitter
with CWDM and yellobrik OCM
1891 — 9-channel CWDM fibre
optic multiplexer.
The new fibre units come with
a power supply and transport
case and can be used as a standalone device or racked mounted
using the yellobrik 1RU 19-inch
chassis. Up to 14 modules (mixand match yellobriks) plus central and redundant power supplies can be accommodated in the
yellobrik rack. Up to two of the
9-channel multiplexers/demultiplexers can be housed in the
yellobrik 1/2-inch RU chassis.
The company is also expanding
its yellobrik line with a new distribution amplifier. The yellobrik
DVA 1704 is a compact ‘brickstyle’ one input, 4 output (1>4)
analogue video or sync distribution
amplifier. It distributes analogue
SD and HD video signals or SD bilevel and HD tri-level sync pulses.
N820
supports a versatile variety of
camera configurations. The
SX300’s mount can be either flat
base or 150mm ball.
SPI-Touch was developed to
offer a totally new way of positional calibration for Virtual
Studios. It eliminates the need to
mark the studio floor and move
the pedestal making calibration
easy and fast.
C8528
New two-stage pneumatic pedestal
and counter-balance pan-and-tilt head
WHATS’On allows us to launch
new channels and on-demand services
without a proportional
increase in staff.
The
CEO
www.mediagenix.tv
28
MediaGeniX
8/3/11
13:44
Page 29
NAB world debut for Safe Switch 3G and two new versions of Up-Down 3G
Clean switch for Crystal Vision
By Fergal Ringrose
Crystal Vision will be showing its
latest range of interface products
with extra features. Products include
remain constant in format (as
either 3G/HD or SD), even if the
input changes. Up-Down-AT 3G
and Up-Down-ATX 3G provide
extra data handling features for
playout applications, with conversion of timecode between SD
DVITC and HD ATC and audio
routing by stereo channel. UpDown-ATX 3G can additionally
carry teletext and subtitle information across different definitions.
Other products on display include
the latest versions of its Q-Down
range of down converters such as QDown-AG 3G and audio products
like TANDEM 3G and SYNNER-E
3G. Crystal Vision has also released
ARC-20MC, a new product for SD
users who need to change the aspect
ratio of their signals.
Making its Las Vegas debut will
be a modular colour corrector and
legaliser for 25 different video standards. CoCo 3G supports the 50Hz
and 59.94Hz standards for 3Gbps,
HD and SD and the 23.98, 24 and
25fps progressive video standards
for film to HD video transfers.
N1520
Safe Switch 3G provides clean and
intelligent 2 x 2 switching between
two 3Gbps, HD or SD sources
a 2x2 switch which combines clean
with intelligent switching, two new
versions of its dual-output up/down/
cross converter, an upgraded down
converter with enhanced GPI functionality, a colour corrector for 25
different video standards and an
aspect ratio converter for live use —
along with Crystal Vision’s four
group embedder/de-embedder and
multi-functional synchroniser which
are now shipping.
Making its world debut at
NAB will be Safe Switch 3G,
which provides clean and intelligent 2 x 2 switching between two
3Gbps, HD or SD sources.
Crystal Vision will be introducing two new versions of UpDown 3G, now available in five
versions. Up-Down 3G allows flexible up, down and cross conversions
between 3Gbps, HD and SD
sources and can perform two conversions simultaneously — putting
out co-timed dual outputs that
TMD flexes
its features
TMD will launch Version 4 of its
Mediaflex suite of media business
applications. Mediaflex V4 allows
users to better create, manage and
monetise their media content. TMD
will also be releasing the latest
enhancements to its i-mediaflex
Digital Asset Management platform.
Mediaflex V4 includes new
user-configurable screen layouts
along with significant data model
enhancements enabling clients to
design their own metadata
schema. Workflow developments
include new integrations with
broadcast technologies including
Amberfin iCR, Rhozet Carbon
Coder and Harris Nexio servers.
Building
on
the
core
Mediaflex MetaServer, i-mediaflex provides a web-based applications environment for users to
search, browse and create media
workflow processes from the
wider enterprise and beyond.
N3716
29
9/3/11
12:10
Page 30
EditShare continues to expand
By Fergal Ringrose
Enhancements to EditShare Ark include a new partial file
restoration capability that supports virtually any codec
EditShare will unveil its new HD
production platform at NAB.
By integrating its five product
lines, the company can provide
an end-to-end production workflow for managing multi-camera
productions such as reality shows,
sitcoms and soap operas. Geevs
(ingest/playout), Flow (asset management), Ark (archiving) manage
creation and movement of media
across the production workflow
with EditShare XStream (shared
storage system) at the core managing content access and storage.
Geevs captures multiple channels of HD video, in any codec —
PRORES, DNXHD, or XDCAM
— and records files direct to the
EditShare shared storage systems.
Flow automatically generates
proxy files for quick and easy
viewing over the network. Users
can also feed a signal into a switcher to get a switched version of
what they are shooting.
EditShare will showcase
major advancements in archiving solutions — EditShare Ark
— at NAB. EditShare Ark offers
media protection for broadcast
and post, providing hard disk
and tape-based options for
backup and archiving. Major
enhancements include a new
partial file restoration capability
that supports virtually any
codec. Also new for NAB is the
Ark Wizard based tool that
helps facilities convert their
videotape archives into a filebased archive.
SL4728
Media for the
Enterprise
By David Davies
Pilat Media will be presenting its
centralised modular platforms at
NAB. The company’s IBMS
broadcast management software
has been enhanced by the addition
of an advanced Performance
Dashboard system. It is an operational tool that ties together workflow processes and business information to monitor and display the
status of a large number of business processes. At-a-glance visuals
and graphic displays quickly and
efficiently highlight exceptions
and alert key business executives
to items needing attention.
Pilat Media also offers the
IBMS
Enterprise
Traffic
Management Console — a single point of control to drive
business and traffic operations
from schedule creation to reconciliation. It also introduces the
concept of streams, a matrix of
channels or networks across
regions, to define the span of
actions and visualise the status
of processes.
IBMS:Adapt is an advanced
business customisation layer,
which can now act as an enterprise-scale workflow orchestration and integration hub. The
enhanced module includes a
comprehensive toolkit for assembling complex integrations using
file and web services, customisable control logic, direct access
to the full repository of metadata, and integration with
IBMS’ dashboards, reporting,
and analysis functions.
N4429
30
8/3/11
18:02
Page 31
NEW:
DYNAMIC
PORT
TECHNOLOGY
The
DVICenter:
The KVM matrix that delivers
crystal clear images
Granite 2000 features a new wide 1 M/E control panel with key priority controls
Broadcast Pix adds Granite
Broadcast Pix’s latest addition to the
Granite family of live production systems
will make its show debut at NAB. Granite
2000 features a new wide 1 M/E control
panel and the company has also announced
an enhanced control panel for its 2 M/E
Granite 5000 system. The Granite 2000 is
available now, and the new panel for the
Granite 5000 began shipping in January.
Both control panels provide faster access to
all of Granite’s video and file-based content.
Combined with Granite’s Fluent file-based
workflow software, the new panels enable a
single operator or small team to create highly
compelling live video for broadcasts, webcasts,
events, and other productions.
“Granite provides so much power to combine live video and file-based content that we
just had to bring out some larger panels to
access it all,” said Ken Swanton, president of
Broadcast Pix. “No other switcher control
panels enable a single operator to create such
amazing live video,” he claimed.
The Granite 2000 control panel provides
a much larger work area than the Granite
1000. It expands the number of input buttons from nine to 16 (and reaches 32 with
shift), doubles the number of keyer buttons
from three to six, and increases auxiliary
output buttons from two to 10. It also adds
key priority controls, as well as mnemonics
to display auxiliary output assignments.
The enhanced Granite 5000 control panel adds the new features that debuted on the
Granite 2000, including dedicated Fluent
Macros buttons, control of all aux outputs,
and key priority controls for each M/E. In
addition it includes extra capabilities for the
new bank of Fluent Macros controls.
Both new panels also feature patented
PixButtons for every input, key and content library.
N4506
The new DVICenter from Guntermann &
Drunck is a DVI Matrix switch that optimises
studio workflow. Offering centralised
configuration through a web interface or OSD,
it provides multiple users with access to a
series of computers using different platforms
simultaneously.
This unique KVM broadcast solution provides
a high resolution of 1920x1200 @ 60Hz over
distances of up to 280m by CAT cabling and up
to 10km by fiber optics. Which means computers
can now be based in a dedicated plant room,
gaining more space in the studio with less heat
and noise. Yet despite the distance between
computers and consoles, users enjoy brilliant
video quality with absolutely no loss of quality.
The VB330 monitoring and analysis probe can deliver a 60GB monitoring capability
Bridge raised to new heights
By David Davies
Bridge Technologies will launch a monitoring
and analysis probe, VideoBRIDGE VB330,
at NAB. It is the first product to be based on
Bridge Technologies’ entirely new 10GB
architecture. With three blades fitting in a
single 1RU chassis and each VB330 probe
having two 10GB interfaces, the system can
deliver a 60GB monitoring capability.
“The launch of the VB330 at the 2011
NAB show is a notable milestone for
Bridgetech,” said Simen Frostad, chairman.
“The VB330 is a big advancement on the existing solutions available to the industry, and raises the bar for heavy-duty performance in the
highest traffic situations. There is already a lot
of demand for a probe like the VB330 and as
more 10GB infrastructure comes into operation the demand will increase rapidly.”
Other products on display at the show
include the new VB12-RF monitoring/measurement appliance, the VB262 DUAL
QAM/VSB input option card, microVB with
analytics and VideoBRIDGE 4.7 software.
The company will also introduce a new
EC (Enhanced Chassis) for VideoBRIDGE
probes. It features redundant power supplies, front-to-back airflow, six CPUcontrolled high-speed fans, and high-grade
cast alloy metalwork. The new chassis has
been designed for NEBS-compliance and
has also been engineered to accept future
generations of high-power cards.
SU7302
Leading
the way in
digital KVM
www.gdsys.de
The DVICenter allows engineers and IT
administrators to service and configure the
system, without disturbing studio or post
production personnel and so allowing
continuous use, 24/7. It supports both PS/2
and USB keyboards, offers Dynamic Port
technology – 32 ports in total – and any number
of computer and workstation connections can be
freely chosen. This ensures flexibility for all your
future tasks.
31
8/3/11
18:04
Page 32
I-Movix shows latest SprintCam
By David Fox
I-Movix will debut the latest version of SprintCam Vvs HD
(Phantom-Powered), the ultraslow-motion system for live HD
broadcast production. SprintCam
Vvs HD now operates at frame
rates up to 2,700fps in 1080i50
or up to 5,800fps in 720p60
(more than 200 times slower than
live action) and provides instant
replay at native HD resolution
and image quality.
New features include a dual
output that allows a camera operator to shoot and record at the
same time, segmented memory,
ramping of speed within a replay,
dual output of live action and
replay sequences, and integration
of both live- and replay-view
on the viewfinder. Operational
enhancements include compatibility with EVS server ultramotion mode, a digital lens
interface for better iris and lens
switch control and improved
replay controls.
Specially designed for live
broadcast use, SprintCam Vvs
HD can be specified in a standard camera version or optimised for shoulder-mounted
portable shooting, providing an
New Telecast fibre links
By Fergal Ringrose
Making its NAB debut, Telecast’s
new family of fibre-optic links for
robotic cameras delivers the established functionality of the company’s original ‘HD/POV’
solutions,plus the option
of Ethernet control, enclosed
in small ruggedised housings.
T h e
CopperHead
3000 Series
is the newest
addition
to
Telecast Fiber
Systems’ patented CopperHead
family of camera-mountable fibre
optic transceivers, providing a single
fibre optic link between any professional
camera or
camcorder
and
the
broadcaster’s
truck, control room,
or ‘video
village’ position. It can
handle all
vital camera
signals and can
be configured
The new CopperHead 3400 multiplexes four HD/SDI signals
SprintCam Vvs HD is an ultra-slow-motion system for live HD broadcasts
for specific applications such as
ENG or multi-camera use.
Telecast will show the
CopperHead 3050, specifically
designed to meet the unique requirements of ENG and satellite news
gathering (SNG), and the CopperHead 3200,which offers an affordable
yet powerful multi-camera solution
for a range of HD broadcasting
applications. Both systems deliver
uncompressed HD video and simultaneously transport bidirectional
digital (SDI or HD/SDI) and analogue (NTSC or PAL) video, as well
as all two-way camera control, audio,
video, data, sync, tally/call, prompter,
and intercom signals between the
camera and the base station. The new
CopperHead 3400 multiplexes four
HD/SDI signals, as well as camera
control, return video, intercom, and
all of the other signals required for 3D
rigs and/or Phantom-style high-speed
camera systems.
C8925
outstanding level of convenience
and creativity in ultra-slowmotion action.
The SprintCam Vvs HD system comprises the latest generation Vision Research high-speed
HD camera; an operational control panel that provides a broadcast-quality colour matrix and
control of frame-rate choice; a
slow-motion remote that allows
the user to select a video sequence
and instantly replay it with an
HD-SDI output for live broadcast
or storage on any HD-SDI
recorder for a later use; and the
camera control unit, which provides control of the slow-motion
instant replay, camera control,
and data interface between a camera, EVS server, or SDI recorder.
C4644
Sound Devices adds WIFI
By David Davies
Sound Devices will introduce
the latest hardware accessory for
its 788T digital recorders, the
new CL-WIFI. The CL-WIFI
allows users to control the 788T
from anywhere on set. It works
together with its companion iOS
software app to allow iPads,
iPhones and iPod Touches to
control a connected 788T.
The CL-WIFI turns an iOS
device into a simple, portable
control surface that allows a
sound mixer to move around on
set, away from the sound cart,
yet still have extensive control
and monitoring of their 788T
recording system.
“Sound Devices constantly
strives to provide intuitive accessories and firmware updates to
CL-WIFI is a Wi-Fi access point that
allows users to control the 788T
digital recorders anywhere on set`
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32
help meet the growing needs of
our new and existing 7-series
recorder customers,” said Jon
Tatooles, managing director for
Sound Devices.
“The CL-WIFI was created
to help sound professionals
manage their 788T regardless of
their location on set for production applications that require
non-tethered audio recording
control, such as critical soundfor-picture and music productions that require the sound
mixer to record while not directly
connected to the dedicated
sound cart.”
The hardware CL-WIFI is a
Wi-Fi access point, when the iOS
device connects to it over Wi-Fi.
The CL-WIFI app then uses the
Wi-Fi connection to communicate with the 788T.
The iOS app controls metering of 788T input and track
levels, time code, file length,
frame rate display and record
start/stop control input-to-track
routing enabling take list and
take name editing.
C2946
8/3/11
13:46
Page 33
Dalet targets sports production market
highlights and replay components
cover all the moves — logging, playby-play highlights and playback,
and instant replay with multiple
camera angles and slow motion
In the newsroom, Dalet News
Factory applies the principle of
story-centric production, in which
all departments of the newsroom
collaborate in a multimedia oriented
production — from the news desk,
planning coverage and production,
to the control room. It fully integrates desktop scripting with video
ment needs of multi-platform content providers. Cospen stated, “The
explosion of new media platforms
with multiple formats and delivery
standards has generated an exponential growth in content, with a
corresponding need for improved
content management and more efficient production processes. Dalet
Media life answers this call.”
SL6014
and multimedia tools, providing a
smooth and intuitive workflow,
from ingest through automated
playout and multi-platform delivery.
Dalet Media Life is an enterprise
solution designed to meet the complex production and asset manage-
Debuting at NAB is Dalet Sports Factory,
a new MAM-based solution developed
specifically for sports production
Dalet will debut its new line up of
next-generation Media Asset
Management (MAM) systems at
NAB. Dalet Sports Factory, Dalet
News Suite and Dalet Media Life
are designed to address the specific
production and media management needs of sports, news and programme workgroups. “This year at
NAB, we will unveil Dalet Sports
Factory, a powerful new MAMbased solution developed specifically
for sports production. The acquisition of Gruppo TNT last year
brought a unique and recognised
‘savoir faire’ in sports production,
which we have further developed
and integrated with our MAM platform,” said Raoul Cospen, director
of marketing, Dalet.
Dalet Sports Factory offers new,
fast sports production tools, fully
integrated within an enterprise
MAM platform. Sports Factory’s
Volicon observes
three additions
Input
3G-SDI
3G-SDI
Frame Synchronizer
Output
Time Base Corrector
HD-SDI
HD-SDI
Up Converter
Down Converter
HD Analogue Component*
HD Analogue Component*
Cross Converter
Aspect Ratio Converter
SD-SDI
SD-SDI
A/ D Converter
D /A Converter
SD Analogue Component*
Y/C*
Analogue Composite
Optical*
Embedded Audio (16 Channels)
AES/EBU (8 Channels)
Analogue Audio (4 Channels)
Dolby E*
Dolby Digital*
SD Analogue Component*
Proc Amp
Video Delay
Y/C*
Colour Corrector
Auto Video Optimizer
Analogue Composite
Logo Generator
Frame Rate Converter
Optical*
Audio MUX
Embedded Audio (16 Channels)
Audio DEMUX
Audio Delay
AES/EBU (8 Channels)
Sampling Rate Converter
A/ D Converter
Analogue Audio (4 Channels)
D /A Converter
Down Mix
Dolby E*
Channel Re-mapping
Channel Mute
*
Dolby E Encoder
options
Dolby E Decoder
By Fergal Ringrose
Volicon will unveil three major additions to its Observer product line:
ASI/transport stream logging,
Loudness Monitoring, and AC3/Dolby Digital decoding. Volicon
Observer captures, stores, and indexes broadcast content from multiple
channels, offering users simultaneous
web access to recorded video content
from their desktop computers.
The new Observer ASI/
Transport Stream Monitoring and
Logging system gives broadcasters,
networks, and cable operators the
ability to handle MPEG-2 and
MPEG-4 transport streams and
retains the content and extensive
metadata carried within them.
Using intuitive overlay controls
within its web-based interface,
Observer provides continuous measurements identifying programme
loudness and true-peak signal
levels. Observer’s fully compliant,
integrated loudness monitoring
simplifies the overall monitoring
workflow and adds value by eliminating the hassle and cost of working with external systems.
The Volicon Observer AC-3
(Dolby Digital) decoding option
makes it easy for operators to
capture and log HD/SD-SDI
content without the need for an
expensive external AC-3/Dolby
Digital decode.
SU5902
New FA-9500
Multipurpose Signal Processor
Back to the future for frame synchronization
T Compact, lightweight, powerful and cost effective
T 3G/HD/SD-SDI and Analogue formats
T Full up/down/cross conversion
T Separate cross/down conversion output
T Up to 16 channel embedded audio, 8 digital
and 4 analogue
T ARC Aspect Management
T AVO automatic video optimisation
T Colour Corrector
T Web monitoring and control
T Frame Rate Conversion option
T More options
FA-9500
A complete line of frame synchronizers from our affordable analogue
model up to our new multi purpose signal processor.
www.for-a.com
L Head Office (Japan)
L UK (London)
L Italy (Milan)
Tel: +81 (0)3-3446-3936
Tel: +44 (0)20-8391-7979
Tel: +39 039-881-086/103
33
8/3/11
13:46
Page 34
NEWS
IN BRIEF
New Front Porch
answers for DIVA
In response to customer
feedback, Front Porch Digital
has enhanced its DIVApublish
video publication platform so
that it can handle even more
highly complex broadcast
workflows. It has also
developed a new product,
DIVAframe, to incorporate the
metadata-creation tools that
were formerly a part of
DIVApublish. To reflect the
cloud-based publishing
platform’s new capabilities, the
company has added the suffix
‘mpx’ to the DIVApublish name.
The integration of DIVAframe
with DIVApublish mpx enables
management of content
distribution to key platforms,
and the automated creation of
deeply searchable frame-level
metadata for video content.
DIVApublish mpx enable users
to extend their existing digital
file-based workflow from
DIVArchive straight through to
publication of content to online
communities and VoD
systems. With DIVAframe,
users can scrutinise their
content down to the framelevel, then annotate it
automatically and precisely
using advanced tools such as
facial recognition, scene
detection, speech recognition,
natural language processing,
ad-break detection, and
closed-caption time alignment.
N5806
Photon Beard
goes wireless
By David Fox
light source that is far more efficient than either HMI or LED.
The PhotonSpot Nova’s power
consumption is just 270W and
can be mains or battery powered.
Because of its cool-running
nature, no fans are required.
The unit is focusable from 12
to 15˚ and is daylight colour
balanced within a near continuous spectrum.
Photon Beard will also introduce a new ‘break-out
box’ for its Wi Light
range — a low-cost concept for remote studio
lighting system control —
to provide wireless control of non-Photon Beard
devices. Wi Light is
designed as a low-cost,
easy to install add-on
to the DMX-controlled
series of Photon Beard
Highlight fluorescents,
but can also be used to
control a mixture of fluorescent and incandescent
lighting systems.
Each Wi Light unit
contains a unique identity
that is added to all transmissions. To close the
network and eliminate
interference, each receiver
Photon Beard’s Managing Director Peter Daffarn can be set to respond to
with Wi Light, a new easy to install wireless
only one transmitter.
control unit for remote lighting systems control
C3346
Lighting equipment manufacturer
Photon Beard is launching a new
concept in low heat, energy efficient location lighting with its
PhotonSpot Nova 270 light fixture.
The pre-production prototype,
seen by the company as the future
of location and broadcast lighting,
is being shown for the first time at
NAB and is said to be the world’s
first to use a new, highly efficient
DK focuses on audio loudness
By David Davies
In light of the recent CALM legislation on audio loudness in the US,
DK-Technologies is highlighting the
audio and video metering products
within its range that are compliant
with ATSC recommendations, as well
as the European EBU R128 and ITU
BS1770/1771 recommendations.
The company is also promoting
a free software update offer to all
customers with a MSD or PT0 600
series audio meter, which will
enable them to use the new recommendations. All new MSD and
PT0 600 series meters will automatically have these specifications
included, allowing customers access
to use both ATSC and EBU R128
recommendations.
DK-Technologies will also be
showing a number of new innovations. These include the PT0700R
Client Panel — a remote unit for the
By Fergal Ringrose
ViewCast will present two new
HD products, the Niagara 4100
and the Osprey 710e HD. The
Niagara 4100 is designed to
quickly and easily stream HD
content to broadband and mobile
networks including live adaptive
streaming to Apple iPhones and
iPads. With the ability to ingest
HD video, the Niagara 4100 is
suitable for live sports and newsgathering operations, webcasting,
or any streaming application.
With ViewCast’s SimulStream
technology, the Niagara 4100 can
simultaneously stream multiple
resolutions at multiple data rates
Robust, slim-line and affordably priced, the Miranda NVISION Compact
Router Series is ideally suited to all utility routing applications.
Extremely small form factor for space-conscious
production environments
Q
Ultra light weight ideal for mobile applications
Q
Wide range of matrix sizes – 8x8, 16x4, 16x16, 32x4, 32x32
Q
Comprehensive array of formats including 3Gbps/ HD/SD,
Analogue Video and Audio, AES and Port/Data routing
Q
Powerful configuration tools providing easy set up of salvos and partitioning
in addition to control panel configuration and network settings
Q
Multiple control capabilities using Ethernet, serial control, local and remote control
panels, in addition to control by other Miranda NVISION or third party routing systems
Visit
at N Argosy
AB
Boot 2011,
hn
N431 o.
6
SERVING THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY
CABLES CONNECTORS PATCH PANELS MDUs RACK SYSTEMS FIBRE/HYBRID CABLES ROUTERS VIDEO ACCESSORIES
Argosy products are available from stocks at locations in the UK, UAE, India and Malaysia
34
PT0760M HD/SD Multi-channel
Video Waveform Monitor. It gives
users access to a set of soft keys that
replicate those on the main unit.
Also on show will be the
PT0740M, an audio-only version of
the PT0760M waveform monitor.
This unit, which is aimed at engineers
who don’t need a video measurement
tool, offers de-embedding from a single HD/SD SDi input and full
StarFish surround sound metering.
C7840
ViewCast High-Def systems
MIRANDA NVISION COMPACT ROUTERS
NOW STOCKED BY ARGOSY
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ARGOSY
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in multiple streaming formats,
including MPEG-4, Adobe
Flash H.264, Windows Media
(Silverlight compatible), and
Apple iPhone.
The Osprey 710e HD and SD
combination video capture card
comes with advanced features,
including AES digital audio,
high-powered PCI Express (PCIe)
technology for maximum performance, acceptance of both SD and
HD inputs, automatic adaptation
between SD and HD signals, onthe-fly HD to SD downscaling and
low-profile architecture for formfactor constrained environments.
SL5010
ToolsOnAir hosts
workflow partners
Together with partners Archiware,
Chesapeake Systems, Laurdan and
mxf4mac, ToolsOnAir will be
demonstrating its just: Broadcast
Suite, a complete Apple-based
workflow for the broadcast industry.
“There has been much discussion and concern among systems
integrators about the announcement by Apple that they will be discontinuing their Xserve hardware,
and how that will affect the viability
of other server products,” remarked
Gilbert Leb, ToolsOnAir’s VP of
sales and marketing. “At NAB this
year we will be showing a number of
innovative alternatives which are
already available now.”
ToolsOnAir’s just: Broadcast
Suite, dubbed TV Station in a
Mac, boasts more than 100 installations worldwide. This year the
company has teamed with select
partners to demonstrate the viability and versatility of the Macbased end-to-end workflow from
ingest to playout.
SL1414
8/3/11
13:47
Page 35
SGL back to the future
By David Davies
At NAB SGL will unveil what it
terms the next-generation of archiving, including FlashNet and nonFlashNet systems. SGL will show
key new features to FlashNet 6.4
highlighting its Open System architecture and the benefits of providing
reliable, scalable solutions with
substantial cost and workflow
improvements for broadcasters,
post production facilities, news/
sport organisations and film preservation archives. The company will
also highlight its support for the
FlashNet 6.4 can store index information on the Cartridge Memory chip
latest version of Apple’s Final Cut
Server (FCS) and Avid Interplay 2.3.
SGL will introduce an innovative
system for writing data to the LTO
Program (HP, IBM & Quantum)
Linear Tape File System (LTFS).
This real world working demonstration will illustrate how FlashNet
is breaking new ground in archive
technology. Specific to the LTO-5
tape format and all future LTO tape
formats, LTFS enables true interoperability between what were disparate
systems. As well as for the broadcast
sector this approach also has wide
implications for post production and
acquisition workflows where content
can be acquired to disk on location,
dragged and dropped to data tape
and transported back to a facility.
N2821
Haivision Furnace 6.0 debut
Debuting at NAB is the latest
version of Haivision’s Furnace
IP video distribution system,
Furnace 6.0, with enhanced workflow and a new InStream player.
Furnace 6.0 with MultiStream
enables users to record a classroom environment, with both
the speaker and any computer content streamed and captured simultaneously at full frame rate, in HD/
high resolution, and in realtime.
Realtime metadata (HotMarks)
can be applied and multistream
content automatically published to
authorised users. The system also
includes a revamped InStream,
Haivision’s patented client/server
player technology.
Also on show is Haivision’s
CoolSign digital signage solution
featuring n-tier architecture, native
multicasting support, realtime connectivity, full edge device monitoring and control, flexible media
scheduling, closed data architecture and bandwidth usage controls.
New products on display include
the Makito family of HD H.264
encoders and decoders. The new
Makito encoder offers efficient and
affordable distribution, capture, and
rebroadcast of HD video. Recently
upgraded to revision 1.5, the
Makito now supports constant bit
rate (CBR) encoding and, optionally,
realtime metadata capabilities.
Haivision’s Makito H.264
decoder offers extreme low-latency
decoding available with less than
70ms of latency at video resolutions
Furnace 6.0 has an enhanced
workflow and InStream player
of up to 1080p60. When paired
with the Makito HD H.264
encoder, this system provides efficient delivery of HD video via
HD-SDI or HDMI output.
SL9112
NAB debut
for Norwia
By Fergal Ringrose
Norwegian NAB newcomer Norwia
will introduce the miniHUB optical
video distribution platform and the
OC-4B-SDI optical video distribution card. The miniHUB platform
1RU chassis features a ‘Click & Go’
card locking system, free controller
card and a quality engineered next
generation frame.
The OC-4B-SDI is a 3G-SDI
optical video distributions card that
can be populated with Norwia
SFP’s from one to four channels as
the user needs expand. The 1 card
can be used for transmit, receive or
both. This flexibility is driven by
Norwia’s new Auto SFP technology
and tightly integrated with
Norwia’s Flexi I/O technology to
give greater flexibility with the BNC
signal direction.
All of these features give the
customer a building block tool
that provides Optical video links,
Optical distribution, Optical transponder and add/drop/pass networks
all on the one card and all at the
user’s discretion. The company’s
optical distribution solution can
morph and replaces five or more
different cards that exist on the market today, according to Norwia.
N829
Create Compelling Live Video
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Granite 1000 System
Granite 2000 System
Granite 5000 System
www.broadcastpix.com
Frankfurt, Germany
+49 (6163) 82 90 71
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Create Compelling Live Video
35
8/3/11
13:47
Page 36
Eyeheight tweets plug-ins
Sharing similar features,
KARMAudioAS is a new plug-in
for Avid Media Composer and
Pro Tools.
Eyeheight’s KA-2 Loudness
processor with KARMAudioRT
is a hardware solution based on
a geNETics processor that
allows realtime, unattended
adaptive loudness and true-peak
correction of stereo, 5.1 surround, dual stereo or dual 5.1
surround audio.
TVtweetCaster is an out-ofthe-box solution for integrating
social media into broadcasts and
provides for instant audience
interaction. It includes a complete software and SD-SDI/HDSDI hardware package for
accessing, filtering and inserting
Twitter content into a live broadcast. simpleText enables live text
data to be inserted into a broadcast crawler.
N3719
TallyHo! with Brick House
“It stands alone in its ability to
furnish wireless feedback to cameras; essential information that
every operator in the field needs,
but couldn’t access economically
prior to TallyHo!” said Julian
Hiorns, managing director of
BHV Broadcast.
New product Video Ghost provides a switchable 5V or 12V auxiliary power for camera accessories
using the existing video cable.
“Video Ghost is the video equivalent of phantom power for audio
systems,” adds Hiorns. “We developed it to provide a set of affordable
phantom power modules for use
with digital video feeds. We’re
delighted to bring this long over-due
product to market.”
N6531
Eyeheight will feature major additions to its range of broadcastquality production and post production tools. KARMAudioAU is
a new plug-in for the Apple Mac
Final Cut & Soundtrack Pro that
performs offline scaling of an
entire programme file to match
audio loudness to a target LKFS
level. It also performs an 8x oversampling true-peak analysis and
corrects for true-peak overshoots.
By David Fox
BHV Broadcast is introducing three
new products all designed to simplify operations, cut costs, and promote reliability for live productions.
The manufacturer is debuting
TallyHo! — a wireless on-air indicator for vision switchers, and Video
Ghost — phantom power modules
for use with digital video feeds.
TallyHo! offers camera operators reliable remote on-air indication in the field. It is comprised of
a base station with direct interface
to the local vision mixer and a set
of camera hot-shoe mounted
receiver modules.
Video Ghost is video equivalent of
phantom power for audio systems
TVtweetCaster can insert Twitter content into a live broadcast
The Consolidator takes on NAB
By Fergal Ringrose
Pixelmetrix will launch its new generation network management system, the Consolidator, offering an
end-to-end solution to DTV broadcasters to centrally monitor and
control their broadcast operations
performance realtime.
It provides centralised access to
all data and the visibility to key fault
and performance information for up
to a thousand Pixelmetrix probes in
a distributed content delivery network. It tracks all probes realtime,
with a combination of push notifications and information pull mechanisms, enabling faster response
time for fault resolution.
A new application for the
Electronic Couch Potato (ECP),
to be featured at NAB, is the
Video Quality Analysis (VQA)
application. This quality measurement tool provides realtime
evaluation of video quality that
the end users experience.
Impairments that impact the
end users’ experience are quickly
identified to allow corrective
action. As the end user is continuously changing channels, the
VQA on the ECP assigns each clip
a Video Quality Index from one
to 100, which represents the picture quality.
SU7813
Introducing VideoIPath
Is Video Transport Dead… or Being Transformed?
Nevion’s, VideoIPath may just
revolutionize video network
management. From a simple,
web-based graphical interface,
monitor
W e ’re k e e p ing t h is und e r you
w rapcan
s unti
l NAB.and manage
all of your video traffic/
connections.
Don’t mis s it ! Come t o boot h SU7 2 17,
or s ig n up for t h e e mail announce men t a t:
ne vion. com/is _vid e o_t rans p ort _dea d
36
8/3/11
13:49
Page 37
San Solutions
debuts new
ArtiSAN products
Automation platforms: New for NAB this year is NVerzion’s NCompass software platform designed to
help stations manage the processing and playout of file-based content being received through Pitch
Blue, Pathfire and other content delivery systems. NCompass allows stations to manage each platform
with a single, common user interface that provides access to programme metadata and helps them take
the content directly from the provider to the on-air video server. The company is expanding the capacity
of its TeraStore line of disk-based storage solutions. NVerzion can now support up to 144TB of networkattached storage with the addition of a 3TB/48-bay configuration. The TeraStore line features unlimited
expandability and easily integrates with popular server platforms, including Omneon, Grass Valley, Ross,
360, and others. Its embedded Xpansion file management software provides seamless, automated file
migration based on user-defined rules and on-air scheduling requirements. — David Davies
SL2505
By Fergal Ringrose
San Solutions will showcase new
products within the company’s
ArtiSAN Storage and ArtiSAN
application platforms. The
ArtiSAN Storage Platform
consists of two product lines:
the ArtiSAN 9400 series
designed for high-performance
film and video applications
and the ArtiSAN 5400 series
suitable for high capacity nearline media storage.
Thrilling
moments –
fascinating
perspectives.
Rack featuring multiple ArtiSAN units
The ArtiSAN 9400 series supports multiple streams of 2K/4K
media as well as all HD video
streams including 3G and 3D
applications.
The
platform
includes San Solutions’ dual
active RAID controllers.
Designed for high-capacity
requirements, the ArtiSAN 5400
storage platform holds 192TB of
2K/4K content as well as all types
of video media including HD and
3D material. Point in time volume
images, remote volume mirroring,
and replication services are optional
features in this product series,
enabling an effective disaster recovery storage implementation.
New for NAB will be two versions of the ArtiSAN DDR, one
designed specifically for broadcast workflows and the other for
post-production. The ArtiSAN
DDR for broadcast is an
ingest/playback server that supports a broad range of formats in
SD and HD. It offers high resolution, direct capture, and playback
for high-end post production
facilities supporting formats in
SD, HD, and 2K.
Also making its debut is the
ArtiSAN Content Archive. It
allows facilities to free up valuable production storage by providing a high-capacity, affordable
storage tier that is easy to manage
and maintain. The Content
Archive features an ingest cache
and is capable of archiving to
both disk and/or tape tiers to
meet the stringent requirements
of broadcast compliance.
SU3725
DR6000 MK2
Wireless HD video solutions
Diversity Receiver
Experience more options and speed for live video
transmissions by using digital COFDM links without
compromises in reliability.
6-way high performance diversity
Ultra low delay (40 ms end-to-end)
H.264 ready (MPEG4)
TCP/ IP Video out & remote control
BMS products are used on a daily basis by hundreds of
customers involved in all kinds of live TV productions worldwide.
25 Years Experience in Wireless Video Transmission
Phone: +49 6124 723900 | [email protected] | www.bms-inc.com
37
8/3/11
13:50
Page 38
Mistika fame for SGO
By Adrian Pennington
SGO will showcase its flagship DI
and stereoscopic 3D post production system, Mistika, and live onset application, Mistika Live.
Mistika’s open architecture and
open storage approach enables thirdparty systems to have direct access to
files, providing flexible workflows.
Internally, Mistika also uses open
formats at the highest bit-depth quality, with true 16 bit floating point per
channel processes, HDR support,
8K+ resolution support, with optical
quality-based processing.
Unveiling Mistika’s Version 6,
the system can now play 48fps and
New stereo 3D tools for Mistika
include a Matching Colour feature
and Depth Map tool
includes new data developments for
both the left and right eye in stereo
3D. The new upgrade will also
make it possible to re-conform in
the timeline, while still retaining
Signiant puts IT at ease
By Fergal Ringrose
Software creator Signiant will be promoting a range of new products and
services: Signiant Media Exchange,
Content Distribution Management
(CDM) Software Version 9.0 and
Signiant Community.
Media Exchange (MX) is a
secure browser-based application
that enables IT and non-IT managers and staff to send content that
is too large to send by e-mail faster
and more easily. Users working from
their offices or production sites, or
even from home, can exchange
content with other employees, customers, systems, and applications
regardless of location and size of
digital assets. MX has been
enhanced so that media and project
files can be moved across WAN,
DSL, or cable, and has added new
notification features allowing users
to track workflow benchmarks,
previous effects, with the option to
move them to new positions and
durations. New stereo 3D tools
include a ‘Matching Colour’ feature, which provides an overall
accurate pixel-by-pixel colour
adjustment between both eyes.
Another stereo 3D highlight is the
‘Depth Map’ tool which solves
practical issues, such as colour differences that occur between both
eyes, which are derived from mirror
rigs or wrong depth when the frame
exceeds the parallax (positive or
negative), by adjusting this depth to
tolerable levels.
SL12116
confirmations, and alerts for other
departments. Additionally, a greater
range of custom workflow options is
now available through enhanced
integration with its full system via the
Media Gateway application.
At NAB, Signiant will also be
demonstrating Version 9.0 of CDM,
which now includes two new software
modules that allow media and IToriented enterprises to better manage
their content. The new Media Gateway module streamlines the transfer
and sharing of large files between
individuals and organisations.
SL5229
JVC camera innovation
By David Fox
JVC Professional Products
Company
will
demo its new
KA-AS790G
ASI module
at NAB. It
provides a
compressed
MPEG-2 output
for microwave transmission and
long cable runs for OB vans with no
additional encoding required. The
module attaches to the back of the
GY-HM790U or new GY-HM750U
ProHD camera without external
wiring or adapters.
Both HD video and audio are
compressed using the camera’s
built-in encoder (running at either
19.7 or 35Mbps), which creates an
MPEG-2 signal and then provides
lossless transcoding to DVB-ASI.
The module outputs the live signal
from the camera, even while recording, via a standard BNC connector.
When the camera automatically
detects the presence of the
KA-AS790G module, it switches to
low-latency mode.
“The KA-AS790G is another
example of how our elegant modular approach brings added versatility to our ProHD camcorders.
It’s a great tool for broadcasters
The GY-HM750U ProHD camcorder
delivers 1920x1080 images
that need a reliable way to uplink
video from the field,” said Craig
Yanagi, national marketing and
brand manager, JVC Professional
Products Company. “It also eliminates the need for an external
encoder on location, which simplifies the transmission process and
helps reduce clutter.”
JVC will also be presenting the
GY-HM750U ProHD compact
shoulder-mount camcorder. It delivers 1920x1080 images in a small,
lightweight form factor and records
at selectable data rates up to 35Mbps.
The camcorder can also record HD
footage in 720p, 1080p, and 1080i, as
well as SD footage (480i).
C4314
Does your scan converter do this?
Upconvert YouTube and Skype to full screen HD.
BrightEye Mitto™ Scan Converter is the new way to takeYouTube™,
Skype™ video, weather radar, maps and viewer emails to your SD,
HD or 3 Gb/s master control or routing switcher. Even a small part
of the computer screen is upconverted to full screen HD video.
• High Performance Scan Converter
• Genlock reference input, timeable output
• Easy-to-use Mac and PC interfaces, too
• New iPhone™ and iPad™ support
Purveyors of Fine Video Gear Loved By Engineers Worldwide
See you at NAB N1323
38
www.ensembledesigns.com
+1 530.478.1830
8/3/11
18:07
Page 39
Sensio tackles 3D concerns
Sensio Technologies, developer
of Sensio Hi-Fi 3D, will be
presenting a newly expanded
offering that specifically addresses the broadcast industry’s
concerns about image quality
and compatibility in 3D, right
down the line.
Sensio offers a suite of
stereoscopic signal processing
technologies for 3D broadcast
production needs, from 3D format encoding and decoding to
image enhancement and more. It
caters for the widest range of
frame-compatible formats: sideby-side, top-and-bottom and
Sensio Hi-Fi 3D, the format that
provides the highest fidelity to
the originally captured images.
The company’s compression
noise reduction and format conversion technologies, applied to
3D images before spatial and
video compression, optimise the
quality of the video signal to be
processed, and produce a superior
result with the best possible use
of resources.
The company will be demonstrating its end-to-end solution in
partners’ equipment, and will
be present at the Miranda
Technologies booth.
“Our recent acquisition of
Algolith’s format-conversion and
noise-reduction
technologies
enables us to offer targeted
responses to both the technical
and business needs of our
clients,” said Nicholas Routhier,
Sensio president and CEO.
N2515
Sensio offers stereoscopic signal processing technologies for 3D broadcast
production needs — from 3D format encoding to image enhancement
Lawo AG | Rastatt / Germany
45 m rope
8 carabiners
6 energy bars
1 goal
Sync with
never.no
By David Davies
never.no will highlight its
Synchronised Companion App,
the latest addition to its Interactivity Suite (IS). This new
emerging technology enables the
viewer to sync iPads, PCs, or
smartphones to action on the TV.
Powered by IS, the Synchronised Companion App works
by monitoring frame-by-frame
changes in broadcast programming or live production. It then
uses the changes to trigger delivery of relevant content to the
second screen.
The IS is a toolkit for creating
the technical backbone of interactive broadcasts and digital marketing campaigns. It supports
true participation TV by enabling
viewers to influence a broadcast
in real time, and interact with one
another and the rest of the world.
Visitors can get a full 360˚ view
of an interactive broadcast and
companion app for an iPad workflow. There will also be the opportunity for live demos of everything
from interactive sports applications to user-driven music channels
and the chance to sit in the
producer’s seat to control the interactive workflow in real time. The
app will also be on display in the
Vizrt booth (SL5408) in conjunction with Vizrt graphics engines
and touch screens.
N3737
Focus on functionality — the new mc²66.
Inspired by your needs — the mc²66 MKII. Not only does this much
developed mc² 66 MKII stand out with proven efficiency and outstanding functionality, but also with its new features, which once
again make high tech equipment from Rastatt a worldwide standard
for mixing consoles. Now you can benefit from the latest touch
screen displays, a revised layout and totally reliable control computer
redundancy. One of the best consoles available suddenly became even
better. Only one thing has not changed: The mc²66’s outstanding
usability, which will continue to inspire audio engineers in OB trucks,
studios and theatres. For more information visit www.lawo.de
Visit Lawo at Prolight + Sound 2011
Frankfurt, April 6 – 9, Hall 8.0, Booth M91
39
7/3/11
16:23
Page 1
RAI Amsterdam
Conference 8-13 September : Exhibition 9-13 September
IBC2011
Discover more
IBC is at the cutting-edge of new technology in the
rapidly evolving electronic media industry. It couples
a comprehensive exhibition covering all facets of
today’s industry with a highly-respected peer-reviewed
conference that helps shape the way the industry will
develop in the future.
IBC2010 welcomed 48,000+ attendees from over 140 countries.
They had access to 1,300+ key international technology suppliers
and 300+ high-profile conference speakers. In addition, visitors took
advantage of a variety of free extra special features including:
• New Technology Campus –
showcasing the latest developments
in broadcast technology
• Production Village – presenting
the latest camera technology in a
purpose built environment
• Connected World – for IPTV
and Mobile
• range of production training
opportunities to further your career
• Big Screen – providing the
perfect platform for manufacturer
demonstrations and movie screenings
• Awards Ceremony – recognises
those who have made a real
contribution to the industry and
whose careers have had a positive
impact on its future direction
IBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK
T +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E [email protected]
www.ibc.org
8/3/11
18:09
Page 41
New Snell processing
platform plan for NAB
Galaxy Event List
gives operators
more time to
concentrate on
the creative side
of productions
new range of fibre-optic interfacing modules that combine electrical-to-optical conversion with
critical processing functions such
as video synchronising.
The company is launching a
major upgrade to its IT-based
playout system, ICE. The new
release incorporates a host of new
capabilities and is now available in
a range of turnkey packages, providing complete playout solutions
that are simple to install, with
extremely low deployment costs.
Snell’s Alchemist Ph.C — HD,
with Emmy award-winning Ph.C
motion measurement technology,
will also be on display. Featuring
1080p capability, it allows users to
deliver content to any broadcast
standard without compromising
picture quality or clarity. The
new Version 5.1 software release
adds an enhanced Dolby E
Authoring option to the system’s
existing Dolby E transcoding and
decoding capabilities, supporting
encoding (PCM>Dolby E) with
more comprehensive audio routing control. The new timeline
controller adds scene-by-scene
restoration control to Archangel
Ph.C — HD.
Also new is the Galaxy Event
List, which works with Kahuna’s
third-party
device
control
protocols to enable automation
of mundane tasks, in turn giving
operators more time to concentrate on the creative side of
the production.
Other Snell products on
display include routing switchers
— Sirius 830, MV-Series multiviewers — and the NAB debut
of the Centra control and
monitoring platform. Snell’s
RollMechanic V.2, also being
launched at the 2011 NAB show,
is now available within the
Centra environment.
N1820
— a mc2 series console offering
integrated loudness metering.
Additionally, visitors will be able
to familiarise themselves with Lawo’s
V4.12 software release, which will be
demonstrated on the mc266 MKII
and the mc290 consoles.
Lawo will also introduce the
Lawo Remote App for the iPhone,
iPad and iPod Touch and presents
Lawo’s Plug-in Collection. For the
first time at a US trade show, it
will introduce the newest member
of its on-air radio and TV broadcast console family — the
sapphire. Other products on
display include the
new Nova29 compact 16-port MADI
router, Nova73 HD router
and Lawo’s crystal console,
designed for on-air radio and edit
suite applications.
Lawo will be presenting itself
as a Ravenna partner.
C2628
Lawo introduces sapphire, the
newest member of its on-air radio
and TV broadcast console family
By Fergal Ringrose
constrained
applications,
can serve as an
advanced
audio processing solution.
Snell will also
introduce
a
Snell will showcase new and
enhanced products that enable
greater automation and more
flexible media handling in live
production, playout, infrastructure, media restoration, and transformation environments.
At NAB, Snell will further
expand its IQ Modular 3G product line by launching a new video
and audio processing platform.
The compact, highly integrated
processing engine enables flexible
signal handling and, in space-
Firsts for Lawo
By David Davies
Loudness metering, the latest feature of Lawo mc2 consoles, will be
demonstrated at this year’s NAB
show. Following EBU R128 and
ATSC A/85 specifications, and
based on ITU1770, the mc2 series
will feature loudness metering for
every channel. The metering is
shown in the Channel Display and
the GUI Main Display; a permanent display of the integrated measurements is provided within the
GUI. This is a first within the Lawo
product range and claimed to be a
world first for production consoles
Visit us at
BOOTH: SL4105
HS-2000
5-Channel Mobile Video Studio
- HD 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p
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Floridadreef 106, 3565 AM Utrecht - The Netherlands - Telephone: +31 (0)30 261 9656 - www.datavideo.info - [email protected]
41
TVBE_March_P42-47 Bus/News
8/3/11
17:07
Page 42
TVBEU R O PE T H E B U S I N E S S C A S E
“I am not saying that to try to
shame people,” he continues. “I am
saying it to make them sit up and
pay attention, because there really
is something wrong if they have
actually managed — intentionally
or by neglect — to allow that whole
framework of developing engineering talent to gradually dismember.
And the industry needs to do something to bring it back.”
His view is that the problem
starts at school and the study of
mathematics. Educational systems
vary, but in the UK and North
America the compulsory study of
maths ends at 16, which means
decisions taken at the age of 15 can
remove you from the potential talent pool. So creating awareness of
the excitement and challenges of
working in broadcast engineering
has to start young.
“There are a number of universities and colleges, across Europe,
which run what we can call ‘digital
media engineering oriented’ undergraduate studies,” Crumpton
explains. “What is really intriguing
is that almost all of them have full
employment as an outcome — the
graduates nearly all get jobs.
But while they might have full
employment, in many cases they
only have perhaps 30% of the places
taken up,” he adds. “They have an
input problem. One reason is that
the pool of qualified applicants is
not there is because the educational
system is not producing them.
“The second reason is that
universities tend not to recruit:
people tend to apply. There is very
little merchandising of the courses
and what they mean for a career
afterwards. Specialisations like
digital media engineering tend to
get lost behind the more conventional choices of IT systems or
software engineering.”
In a conversation that was
otherwise largely concerned
with “challenges” and “issues”,
Crumpton did have some cheer
on this issue. “The good news is
that we are talking here about
hundreds of specialist graduates,
not thousands. If the industry is
short it is by a few hundred graduates — the solution is realisable.
“If an individual broadcaster or
supplier adopted one school, ran
some programmes and encouraged
10 students to think about the
industry, and that happens with
lots of companies and lots of
broadcasters, then suddenly the
one of the few broadcast companies that made the effort to
work with universities and try to
develop skills. “[Mersey Television
founder] Phil Redmond asked
John Moores University to start a
broadcast engineering course,” he
said. “It ended up as an IT course
with something on shooting video.
“The result was that when I
interviewed graduates, none of
them had taken the engineering
option and could not even explain
the basics of how television works.”
Fairweather put the issue into
contemporary relevance, noting
that his crews sent to Cairo to cover the recent revolution immediately had their broadcast cameras confiscated. They had to buy consumer
camcorders off the shelf — and
then had to work with engineers
back at base to make it all work.
The conversation took up the
theme, and concluded that everyone, at every level, has to contribute if there is to be a chance of
solving the problem.
There is an increasing trend
for broadcasters to be secretive
about their technology: it can
be hard for magazines like
TVBEurope to get access to
report on new developments.
Without such reports, though,
there is no opportunity to demonstrate to potential entrants to
the industry how complex and
fascinating the engineering challenges are.
At the same time, the idea that
digital technology has made
broadcast engineering simpler
has taken hold within the business. Production people, it was
agreed, have no idea how a programme gets on air so have no
appreciation of how much effort
it takes. There is simply a downward pressure on costs, which in
turn makes it hard for engineering
departments to take the time to
encourage potential new entrants
through work placements and
visits, when openness, all agreed,
is vital for the future.
Solving the skills crisis
The days of training schemes in
broadcast engineering have
disappeared. Dick Hobbs talks to
the IABM’s Roger Crumpton to find
out how the industry vendor body
aims to get technology training
back onto the digital media
industry agenda
Not so long ago, most of the big
broadcasters had internal training
schemes that created the large numbers of engineers the industry
required. Some made a career within the broadcaster, some left to work
with manufacturers to create new
products. But one of the significant
downsides of the recent transformation of the industry is that these
training schemes have all but disappeared — and unsurprisingly we
now find ourselves with a critical
shortage of engineering talent.
While everyone recognises
this as a problem, the IABM (the
body which represents the interests of manufacturers and suppliers) has taken action. Former
director-general Roger Crumpton
has been appointed its new
Roger Crumpton: “This is a global
problem: the situation has
been deteriorating for many years,
and this is a long-term fix”
director of education, employment and training.
He makes the point that his
three-faceted job title reflects the
challenges which the industry faces.
“There is a continuum from 15 to
65,” he says of the training and
development problem. “It goes
back as far as school: there are
issues with entrance to colleges and
universities, with the link between
universities and employers, with
induction and how people get oriented to the industry. And there is
an absence of continuing professional development.”
Crumpton embarked on a
programme of research in 2010,
talking to manufacturers, broadcasters and universities around
the world. His report to the
IABM board resulted in them setting up a three year programme of
investment and development.
While he acknowledges the
delicacy of the matter, he emphasises the key shift in training
provision. “Most of the technical
people who lead the industry
today benefited from an education and training regime when
they came into the industry that
was arguably very well structured
and probably world class. Most of
them have either been involved in
the disbanding of it or have
watched it disband.
Widespread recognition of the problem
The IABM initiative has focused
attention on the issue on a
broader scale. In the Middle
East, the new broadcast facilities
company twofour54, part of the
Abu Dhabi Media Zone
Authority, includes a training
operation (Tadweeb) alongside
its studio and facilities business
(Intaj). Head of Intaj Hassan
Sayeed explained how they are
actively encouraging people in
the local community to see
media as a career opportunity.
“We have a programme in
place which takes graduates and
gives them three months intensive
training through twofour54
Tadweeb and the BBC Academy,”
he explains, “then a nine month
internship at Intaj.” That extended internship gives the new
entrant a chance to try different
roles and find the best niche.
“At the moment we have more
women than men in the programme, by around three to one,”
he says. “That goes against the traditional conservative nature of the
region against women developing
craft skills, which is encouraging.”
Abdulhadi al Shaikh, CEO of
Live, the outside broadcast facilities division of Abu Dhabi Media
Company, concurred with the
need for local entrants into the
industry. “Skills development is
very important to us,” he says.
“The team on an outside broadcast becomes a family, so we are
very picky about the resource we
have onboard.
“These guys are our front end,
and it is very important that we
develop them.”
At the recent BVE exhibition
in London, Barry Spencer of
Trilogy Broadcast hosted a
lunchtime conversation about
the need for a fresh approach to
training. Around the table were
David Fairweather of CBS News,
consultant Graham Deaves
(famous for his long association
with Mersey Television, now
Lime Pictures), Roger Crumpton
of the IABM and Kevin Hilton,
broadcast journalist with a special interest in audio.
Trilogy Broadcast CEO
Spencer echoed the point about
broadcasting being a good place to
work. Citing his own experience,
he said: “We have travelled around
the world, and we have loved the
broadcast business for many years.
Why would that not attract young
people? They want to be part of
the media but do not see the technical side as being sexy.”
Deaves reminded us that, when
he was at Mersey Television he was
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8/3/11
17:09
Page 43
pool of availability would sort itself
out. This is not a problem of
unmanageable proportions.”
Raising enthusiasm at school
and directing people to the right
degree courses leads to the next challenge: graduation. Here Crumpton
points the finger at recruitment.
“The broadcast and media sector
does not go looking for the best
talent,” he says. “The most talented
engineers end up at Cisco or
Microsoft or Apple, because those
companies build relationships with
universities, and the senior lecturer
rings them up and says ‘in my cadre
this year I have two or three students
who are really hot’.
“What the media technology
sector has not done — with a few
exceptions — is let the best talent
know about this very secretive
industry where there are lots of
really ritzy roles. If you are going
to put the infrastructure into
Formula 1, or a presidential election, or the multi-platform delivery of the Olympics, or X Factor
or whatever it is, there are some
really glamorous roles in there.
“People in universities do not see
that. They find the opportunities at
IT companies sound more exciting!”
There is clearly a need for
more
engagement
between
employers and academia. That
includes work experience and
placements, final year projects,
company tours, open days, and
more. To drive that engagement
the IABM is appointing an educational liaison officer, charged
with building relationships.
It is also establishing a brokerage
operation for placement opportunities and work experience. “A
company can come to us and say ‘we
are thinking of maybe taking on a
couple of student placements for
graduates: can you put us in touch
with people who might have some
interesting candidates.’ And also get
the universities to come to us and say
‘we have got these five really talented
people and we think someone ought
to take a look at them’.”
The third element of this bold
programme is a look at continuing
professional development. Very little exists today in our industry, so
in consultation with broadcasters
and vendors the IABM is developing its own set of courses. They are
pitched at three levels: entrant,
engineer and expert.
“At entrant level we are talking
about both technologists and nontechnologists — people whose job
function touches technology without having to develop it or use it,”
Crumpton explains. “People in
procurement in broadcast, maybe
people who are in marketing communication roles at suppliers. They
have to know what a router is: even
if they do not need to know how it
works or how to use it.”
The offer is a measured, stepby-step entry, with two new programmes to be introduced every six
months over the next three years.
The first will appear in the second
quarter of 2011. In most cases there
will be two versions of the course: a
classroom, instructor-led version
and an online, self-paced version.
“The programmes we are looking at will typically be short duration, high intensity — maybe two
days and 10 teaching hours, with the
goal to make people aware of the
technology and give them the opportunity to understand it,”he says. “We
are seeking to stay within a sensible
budget for the employer that says ‘I
have a graduate electronics engineer
here who will be working on a
product who has to understand the
fundamentals of audio and video for
it to be fit for purpose’.”
These courses will be delivered
by instructors on behalf of the
IABM itself, but will also be
made available for delivery partners around the world. Some of
these may be commercial trainers,
some will be industry associations.
They will provide local language
versions but they will fundamentally be the same courses.
“We want everyone to understand what a ‘qualified broadcast
engineer’ is, not in terms of where he
or she comes from but what are the
competencies that they need to have,”
Crumpton says. “One facet of this —
that is a long way off at the moment
— is some form of testing and certification capability. Infocomm has
done a good job of that in the AV
industry. They started in the early
1990s and they have made a difference. That is a good role model.”
The development of a new team
to develop and oversee industryspecific education and training,
and the creation of 10 or 12 (in the
first instance) practical courses
looks like a significant investment
for the IABM.
“The IABM has made money
available from the reserves to
make that long-term commitment,” he continues, adding that it
was not a bottomless pit. “We have
to do it on some form of commercial basis. We are a not-for-profit
organisation but we do have to try
to recover the money we are
investing so we can invest more in
new programmes. It has to make
economic sense, but the pump
priming fund is something that the
IABM has decided to make available on an exceptional basis.
“What we as the IABM are
trying to do is take our part and
help others do their bit, working
with the industry as a whole to
make a difference.”
DVS Spycer handles data
for Animals United in 3D
reliable, while the extensive Spycer
feature set enables continuous editing of the material.
While in Munich large parts of
the final film editing took place,
among other tasks for picture and
sound, in Hanover Spycer was
used. At Ambient Entertainment,
the DVS software acted as a central
linking point for the hardware and
software components involved,
took over the clip-related writing of
data to the hard disks as well as
their defragmentation. “Besides
the enormous hardware involvement, for us Spycer was absolutely
necessary, in order to organise the
finish rendered scenes in 3D,”
explained Ambient CEO Holger
Tappe. “Our system was only able
to manage a data throughput of
almost 600MB per second thanks
to Spycer.”
DVS
CEO
Hans-Ulrich
Weidenbruch is pleased about the
successful collaboration and a 3D
result to be proud of: “As regards
the graphical realisation, Animals
United, and with it 3D art from
Hanover, is in no way inferior
to the stereoscopic works of
Hollywood. With Spycer we were
able to make our contribution
towards it.”
Animals United, the first German 3D animation film, consists of
about 130,000 individual images for both the left and right eye
By David Stewart
The makers of the 3D animation
film Animals United used the content control system, Spycer, from
DVS Digital Video Systems within its 3D workflow. Animals
United, the first German 3D animation film, consists of about
130,000 individual images for
both the left and the right eye,
which require about 100TB of
storage space. In order to keep
track of the enormous quantity
of digital film data and ensure
constant access to the data for all
involved, Hanover-based production company Ambient Entertainment decided to work with
DVS Digital Video Systems.
As an open system, Spycer can
be integrated into existing IT infrastructures for file-based workflows.
The software accelerates the data
flow and allows users to search the
entire network for image data and
metadata. As a result, the entire
organisation of film data becomes
significantly more transparent and
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The Video Processing Specialists
TV One Ltd, Continental Approach,
Westwood Ind. Est., Margate,, Kent CT9 4JG, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)1843 873311
Fax: +44 (0)1843 873312
Email: [email protected]
www.tvone.eu
C2-6104A - Systems
Product of the Year 2010
Stand C5647
April 11 - 14, 2011
E&OE. All Copyrights and Trademarks are acknowledged
43
8/3/11
18:12
Page 44
The globalisation of post
Following the acquisition of
London’s VTR by Indian company
Prime Focus, Dick Hobbs finds
out what the acquisition meant
for the Indian firm and what the
future holds as the company
continues to grow by expanding
into North America
When I first started writing about
this industry one of my specialisations was post production. In
those days the industry was
marked out by boutique facilities,
often owned at least in part by
star operators, who certainly
dominated. They were often
flamboyantly decorated, competed to see who could serve the best
coffee, and were always equipped
with the latest in technology.
That cosy certainty was challenged five years ago when one
of the largest post groups in
London, VTR, was acquired by
the Indian company Prime Focus.
Anshul Doshi, global COO of
Prime Focus, had founded the
company with his colleague
Namit Malhotra, who came from
a long line of Indian film people.
His grandfather was the DoP who
shot the first colour film in India,
and his father was a producer.
Malhotra and Doshi were working in the film industry when the
Indian government introduced
sweeping changes in television in
1995, allowing private investment
in the sector and the breaking of
the monopoly of the state broadcaster Doordarshan.
Rapidly, new television groups
like Star and Zee appeared. As is
always the case, these new broadcasters desperately needed programming. Malhotra’s father
had wisely invested in television
acquisition equipment, and suggested that the younger men
might want to set up an edit suite.
“That first edit suite was running 24/7,” says Doshi. “One suite
became seven, and they were all
running 24/7. And as we were
doing the programmes, so advertisers wanted us to make their
commercials too. We started
recruiting computer graphics
specialists — still the number one
creative talents in India.
“At that time we could edit
commercials but producers had
to go to Singapore or Thailand to
do the colour grading,” he recalls.
“So we set up a grading facility
and trained our own colourists.
“Then the big movie studios in
India wanted trailers for television,”
he continues. “They wanted effects
like Hollywood, so we set that up too.
All of this organic expansion made
us big enough to tap into the capital
markets. It allowed us to raise the
money to buy facilities in London —
yes, we wanted to put ourselves
through the extreme pain again!”
Changing perceptions
At the time of the acquisition, the
VTR Group was going through
some difficult times. For various
reasons key staff had left and there
was a lack of clear leadership. But
for all that it had an excellent reputation and some good clients so
represented a good deal for Prime
Focus. How did they set about
turning it around?
“We had to change the corporate culture,” says Doshi. “Board
rooms and big management
Anshul Doshi: “We have always sold
creativity; it was a mistake to think
we sold technology”
not an easy task. “The technology
was changing, and someone had to
recognise that. We knew that client
contact had to be maintained, but
because of our structure we were
able to back office some of the work
to Vancouver and India.
“We also structured ourselves
to be able to work on television,
commercials and high end features, which balances the risk,”
explains Doshi. “The fundamental technologies are the same, but
the pipeline is different.”
In summary, he said that on
one side the business model of his
clients is changing and on the
other the technology is becoming
commoditised, so the post industry could not stay the way it was.
And having delivered on their
promise in London they expanded into North America through
acquisitions in New York and
Los Angeles.
“Through this we acquired a
cool research and development
team,” he says. “They have a technique for converting 2D to 3D
stereoscopic. In January 2010
Warner Bros. came to us with
Clash of the Titans. They wanted
“All of this organic expansion made us big enough
to tap into the capital markets. It allowed us to
raise the money to buy facilities in London — yes,
we wanted to put ourselves through the extreme
pain again!”— Anshul Doshi
Prime Focus facilities contributed visual effects sequences to
James Cameron’s breakthrough stereoscopic 3D movie Avatar
offices went straight away. We
created more operational rooms,
upgrading the technology and
bringing back the creativity.”
Challenging the established
Soho business model, which was
widely matched in most places with
world-class post production, was
to release in April so we had 10
weeks to convert it to 3D.
“We grew the team from 10 to
1,000 people to do that, with 800
people rotoscoping in India and finishers in London and Los Angeles.”
Doshi is clearly proud of the
contribution they made to this
highly profitable movie, but he is
more pleased by the way it changed
the perception of the company, in
Hollywood and generally.
“We demonstrated we could
deliver value, not just be a service
provider,” he said. “The way we
operate in London is as a value
added partner. We have always
sold creativity; it was a mistake to
think we sold technology.
“So we have our own business
called Prime Focus Technology
which solves problems like data
storage and file transfer,” he continues. “But that is not a post production issue. You have to give
good creativity from start to finish.
“The fundamental process of
offline-grade-online will not
change, and it will not change if it
is a viral or a movie,” he explains.
“But the cost does. You can do it
all in After Effects and get a good
result. You have to deliver that
process at a cost that is acceptable
to your client. We are selling
creativity, and we will deliver a
creative product at any budget.”
Which brings us back to the
transformation of the post production industry and the changes that
have to be wrought. “We are not
from investment banking,” he says.
44
8/3/11
19:12
Page 45
Growth of London shows
On display: Sony’s Daniel Dubreuil with the new OLED master monitor
BVE Wrap Up
Broadcast Video Expo was packed with
more visitors than ever, and many new
products — several of which hadn’t
been seen elsewhere. David Fox
reports from the London show
While most new releases had at
least been talked about before,
Sony unveiled two previously
unheralded master-quality OLED
displays offering a noticeable
improvement on the Trimaster
LCD range, and a huge reduction
in bulk.
The reference-grade BVM-E
Series were shown in 17- and
25-inch sizes, and are claimed to
“incorporate groundbreaking
processing and imaging capabilities designed to give digital
production professionals a true
replacement for CRT in critical
evaluation applications.”
“These new monitors are the
next step up in professional displays providing end users with the
highest picture quality ever seen,
well above any other existing
display device,” said Daniel
Dubreuil, senior product specialist, Sony Professional Solutions
Europe. “This is breakthrough
technology for applications where
visual performance and accuracy
are paramount, offering an
unbeatable combination of image
reproduction, colour accuracy,
reliability and stability.”
The new displays boast several
new features designed for professional master monitoring.
Claimed to be the first monitors to
deliver full HD resolution OLED
panels with 10-bit drivers, they
use a newly developed Sony
Professional Display Engine to produce deep blacks (better even than a
CRT), high dynamic range, blur-free
motion, and accurate picture reproduction. They also boast a much
wider colour gamut, even in low light
portions of the picture, where LCDs
and CRTs narrow significantly, and
improved standard definition scaling, thanks to a new algorithm not
available to the BVM-L series.
They also use new Super
Top Emission technology that
improves the colour quality, and
offers a higher contrast ratio than
conventional OLED displays.
The monitors have a new
chassis design, with a lighter,
much slimmer chassis, for a
smaller footprint, and reduced
power consumption.
Standard inputs include
3G/HD/SD-SDI, HDMI and
DisplayPort. Four slots are available for use with a choice of five
BKM input boards.
The 25-inch BVM-E250,
which is aimed at colour grading
and high-end monitoring, will be
available in May. The 17-inch
BVM-E170, which is aimed at
camera control or OB use, will be
available in July.
Video trumps DSLR
Whereas BVE 2010 was notable
for having more DSLR cameras
on display than conventional
cameras, this year saw video cameras dominant once more.
Canon did have a new DSLR,
in the shape of the EOS 600D,
which has a swing-out LCD and
the ability to zoom in by 3-10x
without affecting the HD resolution (by using less of its 18MP
sensor as it zooms). However, its
DSLRs were pushed into the
background by its new XF range.
It showed a pair of its new
XF105 cameras (which have just
started shipping) in the new lightweight Genus Hurricane 3D rig
(www.genustech.tv) designed by
cameraman Alister Chapman to
demonstrate the camera’s innovative 3D-friendly features.
The XF105 uses the same
50Mbps codec as the larger XF305
and offers most of its controls, but
Canon has added a few features
that make it suitable for 3D.
It has screen inversion in any
direction, to make it easier to
use in a mirror rig (like the
Hurricane); the zoom lens has a
focal length guide, which allows
users to set a reference point (the
cameras aren’t fully synchronised
although they have genlock/timecode synch), and as a numerical
scale allows a lot more precision
when setting the two zooms manually so that both cameras are at
the same focal length; there is also
an Axis Shift Function.
“This uses the lens shift from
the Optical Image Stabiliser to keep
the centre point of the image to a
point you have chosen. It takes the
cameras out of OIS mode, and uses
the lens shift to keep that centre
point throughout the zoom,”
explained Peter Yabsley, Canon’s
business development manager,
Professional Video, EMEA (pictured with two XF105s).
“You can also use it to fine
tune the convergence of the cameras when you are shooting 3D.
You can move the centre point
more easily than actually moving
the cameras,” which is useful in a
manual rig like the Hurricane.
Although the adjustments the
XF105 allows are all manual, “it
is intended to make the process
easier” thanks to novel uses for
technology already in the camera.
No other camera of this size,
or indeed in this price range, has
these features. “It is probably the
smallest general purpose camcorder with genlock, and SDI,
and a high quality codec,” he said.
20-second pre record
JVC Professional launched its latest GY-HM750E ProHD compact
shoulder-mount camcorder, which
should appeal for news use. Its Pre
Rec feature, which continuously
records and stores footage in cache
memory to prevent missed shots,
now stores 20 seconds.
The camera can record in readyto-edit file formats for Apple Final
Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere (.mov),
or as Sony XDCAM EX files
(.MP4). For standard definition
work, it can also record DV files
(.avi or .mov).
It records to a dual card slot for
SDHC cards and/or an optional SxS
recorder. It now allows simultaneous
recording to both SDHC cards, for
instant backup or client copy. It has
three CCD sensors and records HD
in 720p, 1080p, and 1080i, plus SD
(576i), at up to 35 Mbps.
It has a 68-pin chassis connector
for a clean, direct interface to various
additional modules, including the
new KA-AS790 ASI output module,
which provides a direct feed from the
camera to a satellite uplink or
Canon’s Peter Yabsley with two
XF105s: “It’s probably the smallest
general purpose camcorder with
genlock, SDI and a high quality codec”
microwave transmitter via BNC, ideal for broadcasting live HD from the
field. The GY-HM750E automatically switches to low-latency mode
(less than 300ms delay) when the
module is in use. The GY-HM750E
includes a Canon 14:1 zoom lens,
but accommodates any lens with a
1/3-inch bayonet lens mount.
Recording technology:
Ninja unleashed at BVE
The Atomos Ninja HDMI ProRes
recorder started deliveries just after
BVE, and should be followed at
NAB by a new HD-SDI version.
It has a clear touchscreen user
interface, and records 10-bit Apple
ProRes files (in LT, 422 or HQ
formats), which can be used directly
in Final Cut Pro or most other
non-linear editors running on the
Mac, or on Windows if Apple’s
ProRes QuickTime Application is
installed. It costs €795/£695, and
records to 2.5-inch laptop drives
(bought separately).
The package comes with a carry
case, two 2,400 amp hour batteries,
dual charger, two disk caddies, and
a computer docking station with
FireWire 800 and USB 3.0 ports.
The initial firmware doesn’t support recording in 25p or 30p, but
Atomos’CEO, Jeromy Young, promised that would arrive with the first
firmware upgrade, scheduled for 1
March. The frame rates aren’t part of
the HDMI spec, so needed more
work (they are output as double
frames at 60 or 50fps, and the Ninja
will then record just one of each pair),
Atomos promises a model with
HD-SDI input, which should be
on show at NAB and will be called
the Samurai. Unlike HDMI it will
transmit timecode and use the
more secure BNC connection.
Sonnet Technologies’ Qio
media reader/writer was on show
in the UK for the first time at
BVE. It allows users to transfer
files to edit stations or RAID
storage many times faster than
with USB 2.0 or FireWire.
It connects via PCI Express
for high-speed transfers with
Bel sounds product debut at Video Expo
By Fergal Ringrose
A new 16 channel flagship
model was launched by Bel
Digital Audio at Broadcast
Video Expo in London. The latest offering provides 16 channel
audio and video monitoring of
3G HD, SDI and SD video signals with loopthrough and
Dolby E and Digital decoding
with Integral Loudness metering compliant to ITU-R
BS1770 in a 1U package.
The new BM-AV1-E16SHD
provides a range of inputs and
outputs. There are two SDI
inputs alongside eight AES
audio pairs and eight analogue
inputs. The device provides
auto-selection of 3G, HD and
SD SDI bitstreams and decodes
as appropriate. Switching
between inputs is accomplished
by use of the simple, front
mounted rotary controls.
Visible audio monitoring is
via eight, three colour LED bar
graph meters on the front
panel that are switchable
between all available channels
and inputs. The meters have
adjustable colour transition
points and peak-hold facility.
The ballistics are user assignable and seven standard scales
are available to choose Nordic,
BBC PPM, DIN PPM, VU,
VU Ext., AES/EBU plus
Loudness metering, catered for
to ITU-R BS1770.
To enable video monitoring
there is an high quality OLED
video display on the front
panel providing clarity and
image definition. Comprehensive metadata reporting is
also provided via the OLED
screen, which has an autodimming function when not in
use that increases the lifespan of
the screen significantly.
www.beldigital.com
45
7/3/11
16:24
Page 1
Exploring the latest
developments in 3D
TV to inform technical
strategy and content
development
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Network with experienced practitioners,
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Sponsored by:
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Presented by:
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8/3/11
19:13
Page 47
Growth of
London shows
aggregate bandwidth of up to
210MB per second and supports
Sony SxS, Panasonic P2,
Compact Flash, SD(HC) and
SDXC cards. It has two slots for
each format (SD shares with SxS)
and can transfer data from two
cards simultaneously.
It will improve transfer speeds
for camera users who need to
back up on location, as one single
device can import files from up to
six cards at a time.
“Sometimes it takes a practical device such as Qio to make the
most out of breakthrough technologies. There’s no doubt that
tapeless recording and file-based
editing are revolutionary, but
there’s an irritating bottleneck —
getting data from the cameras to
the editor quickly and safely. Qio
is a really elegant solution,”
claimed Allan Leonardsen, director of Holdan, its UK distributor.
The new three-in-one Teranex
Mini compact up/down/cross
converter and SD standards converter “is an outstandingly high
quality and versatile format and
standards converter,” claimed
James Thomas, director of Engineering at Preco, its UK distributor.
It can be used for realtime
SD/HD ingest to file-based editing
and playout systems. It provides
full proc-amp controls, handles
eight channels of embedded digital
audio and can be operated and
updated via browser-compatible
software. Features include: smart
4:3/16:9 aspect-ratio conversion;
PixelMotion de-interlaced format
conversion; multi-directional diagonal filtering; temporal recursive
noise reduction; and per-pixel
video/film detection to ensure
correct output cadence.
Rear-panel connections include: a BNC 10-bit SD/HD-SDI
1.485Gbps input with embedded
audio; a BNC SD/HD-SDI activeloop output; and two BNC
SD/HD-SDI 10-bit 1.485Gbps
outputs with embedded audio.
iPad, iPhone and
Android prompters
Datavideo’s new TP-200 prompter
for Apple’s iPad is a rail-mounted
system that can fit a range of cameras. It includes camera and tripod
support rails, hood and beam
splitter glass, but can also be fitted
under the lens for use with retroreflective light rings.
It comes with software and a
wired controller for £330, and can be
fitted in both landscape and portrait
modes with mirrored or standard
text alignments. The iPrompt Pro
software can also drive external displays using standard VGA or
Composite video cables available for
the iPad. The rig can also accommodate Datavideo’s £375 DN-60
solid-state CF card recorder, which
can capture AVI, .mov or MXF
files, or M2T files for HDV
Light on the pocket: Morphy with
the new Tech Pro Filloni LED panel
camcorders. It currently connects by
FireWire, but there will probably be
an HD-SDI version by IBC.
The new TP-100 Smartphone
Prompter is similar to its old
iPrompter, but can be used with a
wider range of on-lens mounts,
and includes the wired remote. It
currently works with the iPhone,
but an Android app will be
launched at NAB. It costs £275.
Dedolight plays panel game
Tech Pro, the value brand of
Dedolight, launched a new 1x1
LED panel for budget production
at BVE. The 30x30cm Filloni
should sell for less than £450. It is
claimed to be twice as bright as
comparable panels, and will work
with NP or V-lock batteries. The
Colour Rendition Index is said to
be “in the 80s”, which is reasonable
for this type of light, although
Dedolight is working to improve
this in further versions. It will be
offered in daylight initially, with bicolour and tungsten models later.
The 24-Watt panel will operate
between 5.8 and 16.8v, so it can use
common DV batteries, and includes
a dimmer that can be used remotely.
There will also be a DMX model.
“We’re getting about one-and-ahalf hours on an F960 [NP] battery,” said UK distributor David
Morphy, director of Cirro Lite.
“For a battery light, it’s better
colour than what’s out there. It’s not
going to create beautiful, film-quality images. It’s for talking heads.”
Also new is the 1kW Dedolight
DLH1000T, which has double
aspheric optics “which makes it
more efficient than a comparable
1,000W light,” he claimed.
It will be available in three
versions: a 1.2kW HMI (the
DLH1200D); the DLH100T; and
an 80v 1,200W tungsten version
(the DLH1280T), which has a
much smaller low-voltage filament,
is more efficient optically, and is “a
nicer bulb to work with — it’s for
the purist.” These should be available by early summer.
The new Paso from Visio is a
portable 100W LED light that
boasts output equivalent to
1,000W tungsten. Like the recently
introduced Minima, the Paso is
notable for its user-defined colour
temperature control. It has six temperatures instantly selectable, with
each preset fully RGB adjustable,
which will save the need for filters.
“The Paso is the latest in a really
exciting series of LED lights. The
unit is very flexible — it will be at
home both in the studio and on location. For any professional needing
bright, cool, reliable lighting, the
Paso is a Godsend. We think it’s
going to be very popular for lighting
interviews or any production that
needs fast but highly controlled illumination,” said Nick Allen-Miles,
MD of Ianiro UK, its distributor.
The Paso has good colour
fidelity, with a CRI in excess of
90%, and costs £999. It includes
built-in DMX control, and its
power consumption is a modest
0.6 amps, which will apparently
allow it to run off a typical professional battery pack for days.
www.atomos.com
www.canon-europe.com
www.datavideo.info
www.dedoweigertfilm.de
www.ianirouk.com
www.jvcpro.eu
www.preco.co.uk
www.pro.sony.eu
www.sonnettech.com
www.teranex.com
The globalisation
of post
“This is the only business we know
and the only business we understand.
“What we are doing is value
engineering the post business. We
have to find a business model that
works. As long as you have a
brand and can attract the market
share you have a good business.
“But you might not need
10,000 square feet any more,” he
cautions. “Your creatives might
Electric dolly for fume-free filming
Off track: The new Flyka Electric Dolly in use in Manchester
By David Fox
The new Flyka Electric Dolly is
the first product from a new
company, and was developed
by photographer/cameraman
Tony Holker, who broke his leg
in 2008 and used a disabled
buggy for filming.
“The smooth ride from a disabled buggy was a great platform to film from. I researched
and researched to see what else
was out there, but there seemed
to be nothing, so I set about
developing a prototype. Five
prototypes later, I now have
number four and five developed
into working, conceptual vehicles for filming and the reaction
from the industry has been
superb,” explained Holker.
The Flyka should save
many hours by making it simpler to set up shots, while no
time will be wasted laying
need to adapt the way they work.
The old days of creative stars have
gone: you have to realign business
logic, while still giving them the
tools they need.”
Surely one area where business
logic fails is the location of post
houses in expensive real estate in
the centres of cities. In London
and the other European centres of
post production this is compounded by the historical buildings into which modern facilities
have to be fitted.
“We can talk about this as
much as we want, but there is a
certain method in the madness,”
he responds. “Soho is where
track. Users will also be able
to record sound during filming,
despite using a motorised
Dolly. Hire costs are £500 per
day (£200 for the first day new
clients) or £1,800 per week, and
future models are being developed, including lighter vehicles, jib cranes, all terrain capabilities, and remote control.
Other benefits include:
being able to do forward or
backwards tracking shots without track coming into shot;
doing long shots without having grips getting tired pushing
a dolly back and forth; no
down time needed while a
Steadicam operator recovers;
the ability to create very slow
moving Steadicam shots without footstep jerks; plus variable
speed and constant speed from
0 to 8mph.
www.flyka.tv
people want to work: this is the
established place. I really do not
see that changing soon.”
He reinforces the point by
talking about a new film effects
house they are constructing — in
central London. It is the companion to a new visual effects house
in New York, on Hudson Street in
the heart of Manhattan. While
Prime Focus has had a dramatic
impact on the post industry —
and is continuing to look towards
expanding the geographies it
serves — clearly taking the clientfacing suites out of the traditional
locations would be seen as a step
too far.
47
TVBE_March_P48-49 Channel
8/3/11
17:22
Page 48
TVBEU R O PE C H A N N E L I N A B OX
Channel in a Box: Emperor’s
New Clothes to Arms Race?
Following last month’s ‘Channel in a
Box TV’ debate in these pages,
industry consultant Russell Grute
explores the future of Channel in a
Box and asks whether there has
been too much emphasis on the
‘box’ rather than ‘channel’ part of
the discussion
In last month’s issue of
TVBEurope, the original and
controversial ‘channel in a box’
proposition was debated again for
2011. While now a mainstream
discussion among those trying to
perfect next-generation broadcast
playout, for many, clear answers
remain elusive. What is the
best approach to evaluating this
potential technological breakthrough? Has there been too
much emphasis on what is technologically possible ‘in the box’
and not enough clarity with the
‘channel’ part of the proposition?
There was certainly a lot of
squabbling over the terminology
in last month’s feature. So what’s
in the box?
Russell Grute: “The biggest
challenge by far for thematic
channels is in channel branding and
onscreen graphics”
Firstly, and briefly — as this
was covered thoroughly by contributors — the channel in a box
(CiB) proposition is actually very
ambitious. In ‘the box’ a single
subsystem; comprising hardware
or software, more likely the
correct blend of both, assembles
multi-format content in realtime
by replacing several best-of-breed
subsystems. These include: inputs
to handle live feeds, tape ingest,
multiple codecs and file wrappers,
and file management for video,
audio and subtitle components
that make up final programmes.
Add signal processing for
DVEs, aspect ratio conversion,
up/down conversion and increasingly channel branding. Each of
these elements has separate metadata and is produced somewhere
upstream by various departments
often using disparate processes.
To complete the CiB proposition,
all of this has to be weighed up
against the potential capabilities
of an integral automation system
and crucially, streamlined integration with the media management
and channel management/traffic
system. All of this to be provided
at a lower price per channel … no
wonder so many were sceptical!
In short, few broadcasters or
service providers get the opportunity
to start with a clean sheet. And
so when also considering the
number of incumbent technology
combinations and integration
possibilities, any CiB manufacturer is certainly entering a complex content assembly ‘arms
race’. Failure to keep up in any
one area could mean that you are
out or wasting time.
vision is increasingly challenged by
mobile, on demand and over the top
services. Everything is changing.
What type of channel
do you actually watch?
So what about the ‘channel’ part?
This is where the most confusion
actually lies. Suppliers and customers have often both struggled to
articulate their point of view. Whilst
technology vendors have attempted
to ambitiously blend broadcast
and IT technology to develop their
own unique value proposition,
broadcasters have been searching
for a solution to streamline content
assembly for their increasingly
unpredictable audiences.
There is in fact, a wide range
of channel types onscreen(s).
“Whilst technology vendors have attempted to
ambitiously blend broadcast and IT technology
to develop their own unique value proposition,
broadcasters have been searching for a solution
to streamline content assembly for their
increasingly unpredictable audiences”
Not surprising then that early
pioneers entering the market a few
years ago have yet to achieve the success they expected. Meanwhile
broadcasters have had to launch HD
services cost effectively and increase
channel branding and onscreen
graphics. Simultaneously linear tele-
Taking a solutions rather than
products perspective, we are all
learning that understanding the
requirement is becoming more
important than just solving technology problems. Particularly
from an end-to-end business
planning point of view; perhaps
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48
TVBE_March_P48-49 Channel
8/3/11
17:22
Page 49
TVBEU R O PE C H A N N E L I N A B OX
nowhere is this more pertinent
than when selecting the optimal
CiB approach.
An initial view seems to
polarise between two main types
of channel. Firstly those reactive
and manually controlled channels, the original MCR, where
channels are almost assembled by
hand. Examples include national
broadcasters with complex junctions and live events, networks
with inserts and overruns, live
sports and news — all of which
usually require realtime functionality. Improving the presentation
of these channels has always been
challenging.
With a single ‘super server’ or
‘content engine’ and pre-integrated automation, things should be
easier. Perhaps they will be in
2011, with updated versions of
many CiB solutions. Indeed those
that can package their solutions
using the latest lower cost yet
increased multi-core processing
horsepower will help address the
realtime I/O, signal path processing and automation hiccups that
have troubled most first generation CiB solutions.
At the other end of the scale,
apparently more straightforward
thematic services such as children’s,
music and movies are often seen
as easier channels to manage.
Many suspect that with improved
upstream workflow and direct integration with channel planning/
traffic systems, thematic channels
would benefit most from CiB and
could now be driven using a more
supply chain type approach.
Coupled with the rapid increase of
global file delivery for high payload
HD, stereoscopic 3D and beyond,
this is now true for the long form
programmes and commercials.
Yet thematic channels have
interesting added complications.
When a single core service is
distributed to multiple regions
for example, the number of
audio channels and subtitles can
increase dramatically in a typical
multichannel thematic workflow.
But, the biggest challenge by far
for thematic channels is in channel
branding and onscreen graphics.
Broadcasters now compete to keep
viewers watching, using much
more than great content, a good
schedule and a simple station ID.
Complex patterns of onscreen promotion during both programmes
and commercial breaks are now
mainstream; often accompanied
by a voiceover in local language.
Graphics on the main service
promoting ‘coming up next’ and
‘later on’ are now cleverly combined with multichannel and
multimedia cross promotions.
These inform the viewer what is
over on another channel, on the
radio and online services. While
channel branding is challenging
to reproduce onscreen often using
live data, it’s actually the back end
design and scheduling workflow
that is the biggest difficulty for
many broadcasters.
By adding a graphics or channel
branding capability to their offer,
each manufacturer has further
increased the stakes in the CiB arms
race because they now have to compete with best-of-breed in standalone broadcast graphics. In turn
graphics technology vendors have
now entered the fun from the reverse
angle (sic); although most don’t yet
call theirs a CiB. This is actually a
very compelling proposition, as
graphics vendors already have many
of the key interfaces for graphics
management and crucially better
understand the end-to-end graphics
design and scheduling workflows.
Somewhere in the middle,
another type of channel is the selfcontained regional TV station, in
the US a ‘call letter’ station. Here
the business has to cover everything 24/7 for a single channel with
very few staff. These customers
typically have the smallest budget
and actually represent one of the
most exacting tests for CiB which
begins to look more like a Station
in a box. The solution has to do
absolutely everything and be
extremely resilient; for this type of
channel the critical path is very
tight indeed.
What’s next for CiB
in 2011 and beyond?
Talking with customers in 2010
it’s clear that initial scepticism has
given way and most are trying to
find ways to make it work.
Choosing the right approach to
CiB depends on more clearly
deciding which compromises to
accept in order to streamline
operations and potentially reduce
costs. This could be looked at
sequentially starting with optimal
back end scheduling and content
management workflow, the correct level of manual control and
finally onscreen performance.
Perhaps selecting CiB from
those vendors already experienced
in automation and workflow is less
risky. Following recent mergers
and acquisitions the new choices
are interesting. Furthermore CiB
vendors should have an established
relationship with channel management systems and offer robust and
properly documented API’s.
Most of all though, vendors
need the integration services
capacity to support higher levels
of ongoing integration which this
type of technology requires; which
in turn should be paid for by customers. Although it sounds like a
traditional ‘product’ (Channel in
a ‘box’), it’s actually a realtime
solution, which requires continuous
refinement, testing and support;
often while on air.
Vendors and SIs could challenge prospective customers to
be clearer about the scope of
channel type and branding
onscreen and which workflows
they seek to streamline. Working
together could improve the
scope and reduce the risks to
allow CiB the success it undoubtedly deserves; reducing
risk and lowering the stakes in
the CiB arms race.
Channel management systems
will increasingly play a direct role
in playout solutions; perhaps soon
bypassing automation for some
channels. Perhaps channel management systems could directly
mount multiple CiB devices rather
like a SOA. CiB could offer a high
performance building block, or
‘service’, receiving programme and
channel branding schedules directly and assembling video, audio and
graphics from multiple upstream
workflows. For some channels
with low levels of intervention,
operations can now be monitoredby-exception only requiring assistance when there is an error —
even remotely.
Improved content validation is
also now more important to facilitate higher content throughput.
It’s crucial, while unnecessary
intermediate transactions or
manual checks are reduced, that
every piece of content will actually
play out. This can be detailed
visual QC but equally automatic
file checking is now becoming
mainstream too.
By 2012 streaming type
technologies using Flash, H.264
or HTML 5, could be incorporated to enable even higher levels
of regionalisation and even
the personalisation of services
and promotions.
Martin up for Awards: The 32nd Bavarian Film
Awards ceremony, recently held in Munich,
featured lighting and visuals from Martin
Professional, including Martin EC-20 and LC Plus
LED displays. Media Resource Group of Crailsheim
implemented the lighting concept designed by
Markus Müller (BR). As in previous years, the
Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, which carried
out the live production, used multi-purpose
spotlights, special effect lighting and LED
technology manufactured by Martin Professional.
The EC-20 is an LED panel with a 20mm pixel
pitch that complies with the IP65 safety rating for
outdoor use. A major advantage of the plug-in
system is the lack of external cabling between panels, greatly reducing the likelihood of errors. Werner Butscher,
production manager at Media Resource Group, said, “The LED panels did not pose any problems whatsoever
throughout the entire production. In fact, it was actually a lot of fun using them.” — Melanie Dayasena-Lowe
www.martin.com
49
TVBE_March_P50-54 News
8/3/11
18:18
Page 50
NEWS
IN BRIEF
BHV incorporated
Brick House Video, manufacturer
of production and post
production equipment, has
announced the incorporation of
BHV Broadcast, a sister company
established initially to manage
the sales and marketing of the
company’s product range on an
international basis. BHV
Broadcast will sell Brick House
Video’s product line featuring
rack-mount and portable digital
vision switchers, up/cross/
down-converters, standards/rate
converters, and equipment
designed to simplify operations,
cut costs, and promote reliability
for live productions. In addition,
BHV Broadcast will be promoting
its own range of camera-based
products such as Video Ghost, a
phantom power system and
TallyHo!, the multi-camera
wireless tally system.
Manufacturing, warranty and
technical support will remain the
responsibility of Brick House
Video, which has also recently
contracted to provide OEM
services to third-party companies
and is actively seeking further
projects in this market.
www.brickhousevideo.com
www.bhvbroadcast.com
Calrec mixing desks
for new BBC studios
Calrec has sold four Artemis
Beam mixing desks to the BBC
(one 48-fader model and three
with 40 faders). The consoles are
for use in the TV news studios
being built at Broadcasting House
in London. One TV news studio is
already operational, and features
a Calrec Zeta audio console. In
late 2010, Calrec Audio won the
tender process for the audio
consoles in the next four TV news
studios to be built on the site.
Three of these will receive identical
40-fader Calrec Artemis Beam
consoles, and will be dedicated to
24-hour news channels. The
fourth, a larger flexible rig studio,
will receive a 48-fader console.
The Artemis Beam consoles are not
expected to go on air until 2012-3.
www.calrec.com
Why demand for the Alexa digital cinema camera is outstripping supply
Alexa getting serious
Camera Update
Arri’s Alexa digital cinema camera has been used in a wide range
of productions since its release
last June, such as the BBC’s
big Christmas drama, Upstairs
Downstairs, and several highprofile 3D movies, including
Martin Scorsese’s first 3D production, Hugo Cabret, The Three
Musketeers, Spy Kids 4, and
Vicky and Treasure of the Gods.
“Due to the ergonomics and
performance of Alexa, people in
serious filmmaking love it,”
claims Milan Krsljanin, director
of business development, Arri.
Although not giving any figures,
demand for the Alexa is outstripping supply “by far.”
The Alexa is being used for 3D
because “it has that image quality that is outstanding and it is
very easy to fit in most commonly used 3D rigs,” he adds.
“It is relatively light. It is compact. People might prefer if it had
been smaller, but in comparison
with most high-quality cameras it
is small.”
The camera’s sensitivity is also
important. A beam-splitter 3D
rig reduces the amount of light
available to the camera, “so you
need the extra headroom to allow
for these losses, which it does, at
Highly sensitive: Milan Krsljanin with the 800ISO Alexa camera
800ISO.” It has also been independently tested to verify that it
has 14 stops of exposure latitude.
“If you produce movies in 3D,
it has to work in 2D. So all the
aesthetics you’d have normally in
2D have to be present in your
shot. You can get reliable 3D with
small sensor cameras, but for it to
work in 2D and do justice to production requirements, you need a
larger sensor.”
The digital dailies tool developed with Colorfront is, he says,
particularly useful for 3D because
it streamlines the production
process and helps to eliminate
certain parallax issues. An
upgrade to Alexa that was
released at IBC added several features suitable for 3D, including
Performance capture: The speed of the SxS card allows users to archive faster
better synchronisation and full
master/slave control (so you only
have to set up one camera).
The new €8,000 Alexa Plus
upgrade, which adds a new side
panel and other options to the
Alexa, includes integrated lens
control. Most existing Alexa
owners have ordered the upgrade.
in a sub-zero chamber, wearing
gloves, to get the distance
between them right so it can be
used in extreme conditions.
Tapeless workflow
“In philosophical terms, we are
very far from being totally tapeless,” says Krsljanin. “Some producers have to keep all their rushes for legal reasons, so if you are
shooting tapeless you have to put
everything on LTO [digital tapes].
Hard drives fail — the question is
just when — so you have to have
a good archive strategy.”
The reason Arri chose fast
memory cards (SxS) and the PCI
interface was to make it easier to
transfer to archive. “There is
nothing faster at the moment
than these cards and our segment
of the market is not as price-sensitive as EX1 or EX3 users. In
film terms, the cards are cheaper
than the equivalent length of
film, but are re-usable.
“At the moment, the price is
too high to keep 10 days of shooting on cards. But, one day it will
be, and only at the end of the
shoot will we re-use them.”
Even if he feels that tapeless
is currently as achievable as the
“If you are shooting tapeless you have to put
everything on LTO [digital tapes]. Hard drives
fail — the question is just when — so you have to
have a good archive strategy” — Milan Krsljanin
“One thing that will be a big
issue is metadata, and the lens
data system with the big sensor
cameras is in its infancy — but
with file-based cameras people
expect much more metadata.”
This is why the Plus gives a full
lens data download, including
focus, iris, etc. “At the moment it
is the domain of special effects,
but others will find it useful too.”
The metadata requirements of
the film industry are different to
broadcast, but for 3D metadata is
particularly important.
The Alexa is a relatively
straightforward camera to use.
“The single page menu structure
is simpler than a [Sony] EX1. The
camera was designed by people
who spent all their lives designing
film cameras, so the ergonomics
are very good,” he claims.
They even tested how easy
it was to change BNC cables
paperless office (some productions
still use SR tape for legacy reasons),
its key benefit is file-based editing,
“because you can immediately go
to the timeline and start editing.”
Alexa users have two main
recording options (both of which
can be used at once): record to
Apple’s ProRes codec, with the
compression done in a 16-bit signal processor (which offers optimal performance as it is next to
the sensor); or record Raw,
uncompressed images, with very
large file sizes, to an external
recorder from the likes of Codex
Digital or S.Two.
“We have raw output, and that
can be recorded easily.” But few
productions are using raw, because
not all the tools are in place, especially for easy manipulation in
post. The raw implementation used
in the Alexa is based on the D21,
but the latest Version 3.0 software
update includes an Alexa raw
implementation, as well as incamera playback of recordings
from the SxS cards and a new colour
management system — which will
allow easy creation of look up tables
using online software.
Shooting ProRes means there is
no distinction needed between
online and offline edits, except
moving to a grading suite at the
end, as it can record ProRes 4:4:4,
although normal ProRes HQ 4:2:2
is good enough for TV, as it is,
Ksljanin claims, “better than
HDCAM or AVC-Intra.” It is also
optimised for post production.
www.arri.de
50
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17:33
Page 51
Blackmagic HD touch for Corrie
Post Workflow
The first HD version of Coronation
Street, including the first new set
of titles since the 1990s, was
delivered on time to ITV thanks to
Space Digital & Blackmagic
make this a flawless and perfectly
executed process.”
Space uses four Intensity Pro
cards for playback and broadcast
monitoring, and from Nuke
compositing systems. Two HD
Extreme cards are used for capture and playback to view daily
reviews of VFX from both Adobe
and Final Cut Pro systems, with
Media Express software providing the ability to capture video
from an HDMI source and then
use the HDMI output to monitor
video capturing. “I can afford to
put Intensity cards in every one of
my workstations, for what I
would normally spend on a single
card from a competing vendor,”
said Blackledge.
K^hîi]Ze]VWg^m
hiVcYCdgi]]Vaa
C('*
IZhibZVhjgZbZcigZYZÒcZY
By David Stewart
As part of its 50th anniversary
celebration, Coronation Street
(Corrie) switched to HD. With
that switch, the show’s owners,
ITV Networks, required the first
set of new titles in almost a
decade. ITV chose Space Digital
to meet those requirements.
Space Digital built a complete HD workflow for many of
the graphics, editing and testing
needs for Coronation Street.
Much of its workflow is tied
together
with
Blackmagic
Design’s DeckLink HD Extreme
and Intensity Pro capture and
playback cards. Media Express
software and the UltraScope
waveform monitoring technology, both from Blackmagic
Design, are also essential to the
post practice.
For the titling sequence, Space
Digital shot on Red cameras,
using the Coronation Street
set and locations around
Manchester. Several shots were
altered to modify geography. To
do this, co-founder Simon
Blackledge worked directly on the
Red’s native R3D files to create
multilayered composites, replacing background buildings, and
adding one of Manchester’s
updated Metrolink trams. Additional enhancements were then
added using Adobe After Effects
and the finished sequence was
graded in Apple Color. Offline
editing was done on Final Cut
Pro, with in-house custom tools
translating the project into
NukeX for conform and VFX.
Throughout this project,
Space
Digital
used
the
Blackmagic cards, software and
testing products to capture and
view dailies and pass through
final quality control, and integrated them with Adobe’s
Production Premium package
and Final Cut Pro for editing.
Autodesk/Maya animation and
3D software and The Foundry’s
NukeX compositing software
were also used.
“Corrie is an institution, and
that opening scene, music and
titles are almost sacred to people.
It was a huge responsibility to
get this done correctly, and
Blackmagic Design really helped
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51
8/3/11
17:35
Page 52
NEWS
IN BRIEF
First for production
The College of Production
website, part of the BBC
Academy, went live on 21
February. The first of its kind
for the production community
in the UK, the website provides
practical advice on all aspects
of TV, radio and online
production and will be available
to the production community
and general public for free.
It is hoped that the website will
become a valuable asset not
only for training BBC staff, but
an authoritative and useful
resource for the wider
broadcasting industry, for
people seeking to enter the
industry and for other
interested audiences. A host
of the top names in broadcast
have contributed to the site
including Gary Lineker,
talking about the Match of
the Day production team.
Experts representing a broad
spectrum of jobs and skills
in radio, TV and online
production will be invited
to share their knowledge
and expertise.
www.bbc.co.uk/collegeof
production
Nevion scoops
Oscar project
Nevion, formerly Network/VPG,
provided video transport
solutions for the 83rd Academy
Awards at the Kodak Theater in
Hollywood on 27 February. In its
sixth consecutive year working
for the Oscars, Nevion’s Ventura
systems transported video
signals from outside broadcast
(OB) trucks at the Kodak
Theater across the local
network and throughout the
country. “Our Ventura solutions
have once again been chosen
to transport video for the
most prominent award
ceremony in the world, thanks
to their unparalleled visual
quality and carrier-grade
reliability,” said Eugene Keane,
president of Nevion’s media
networks division.
www.nevion.com
HPA forecast: An infinite
number of digital workflows
‘Snowflake’ workflows fell at the sunny Hollywood Post Alliance’s
Tech Retreat. Carolyn Giardina reports from the Palm Springs confab
Jonathan Smiles, digital production supervisor, predicted that eventually there might be two or three
standard workflows per camera system. “Beyond that, it becomes tweaking,” he added. “With DAM, you
need automation,” Cooney warned.
“And very few systems are out of the
box. That is one of the challenges.”
3D update
‘So how black are those blacks?’ Sony unveiled its new OLED reference
monitor (centre), with a comparison between LCD and CRT monitors
As no two are exactly the same,
snowflakes were used as a metaphor
to describe the seemingly infinite
number of digital workflows that can
be implemented in today’s productions, during the Hollywood Post
Alliance Tech Retreat, mid-February
in Palm Springs, California.
An estimated 400 attendees
from both sides of the pond were
on site to examine workflow
approaches — a theme that ran
throughout the HPA’s four-day
annual event, which combines a conference, technology demonstrations
and networking opportunities.
In exploring workflows, participants discussed the growing number of digital cameras including
DSLR options, portable recording
options, post production systems,
asset management systems — and
of course proprietary technologies.
“There are a lot of toolsets that
have been developed over the past
two years, and a lot of facilities and
companies have made great
strides,” said Sean Cooney, VP,
advanced production technology at
Warner Bros. “It looks like the next
phase is going to be integration. I
In a yearly roundup, it was reported that there are now 43 3D channels worldwide (source: Quantel).
According to Screen Digest, 3.3
million 3DTVs have now been
shipped globally.
3D was also addressed during a
panel featuring an update from US
broadcasters including ABC, CBS,
“The terrestrial channel is here to stay. Multicasting
is increasing. Mobile DTV has great promise. File
downloads are appealing” — Art Allison, NAB
think the integration is going to
give us some efficiencies.”
Kicking off a full day session,
appropriately titled ‘Snowflake
Workflows,’ Cooney and several
other participants announced that
Warner Bros had completed its
Next Generation Production
Workflows Report, which involved
the testing of 20 different workflows
using technologies from an estimated 30 vendors. Among the technologies were a variety of cameras
including the Alexa, F35, Red and
DSLR; recording devices such as
Codex, S.two and Clipster; and even
tools such as CineSlate, a new type
of slate developed by Sony.
Each workflow had a data
repository, transcoding, DAM,
and colour management. And
each workflow was tested for its
ability to deliver editorial media,
digital dailies, DVD dailies and
archived backups.
NAB’s Art Allison asserted that
broadcasting has a bright future.
“The terrestrial channel is here to
stay. Multicasting is increasing.
Mobile DTV has great promise.
File downloads are appealing.”
US public broadcaster PBS
reported that it has three public
Mobile DTV stations on air, with
20 more expected by midyear.
Broadcasters including ABC and
PBS outlined their plans to move
toward electronic file delivery.
IIF, ACES, IMF, FIMS
Director of photography Curtis
Clark, ASC, with colourist Pankaj
Baipai from Encore (which with the
rest of Ascent Media Creative
Services, was recently acquired
by Deluxe), showed before and
after images to demonstrate the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences’ Image Interchange
Framework (IIF) and the Academy
Colour Encoding Specification
(ACES) — all aimed at next generation workflows that maintain the
cinematographer’s intent. “This is
meant to be colour corrector and
camera agnostic,” Clark explained,
adding that Filmlight’s Baselight,
Autodesk’s Lustre and Digital
Vision’s Nucoda Film Master are
currently compliant.
Also on new and emerging
developments, HPA attendees
were urged to participate in the
Image Interchange Framework,
which essentially aims to do for
Fox’s Jim DeFilippis emphasised need for “efficient manner” to produce 3D
NBC and Fox—all of whom demonstrated caution in 3D. Jim DeFilippis
of Fox suggested that when there is a
“backward compatible system and
an approach within ATSC standards, and we can produce content in
an efficient manner, then you will
hear about 3D from us.”
In this time that media competition continues to increase,
video masters what DCI did for
digital cinema in creating a standard format. SMPTE has formed
a working group — chaired by
Annie Chang, VP post production technology at Walt Disney
Studios — with a goal of standardising the format.
Chang related that the group
aims to have a basic IMF standard
— which would include HD and 3D
— by year’s end. A second version
of the spec would be released at a
later date, to reflect future needs.
The original IMF spec — which
was presented last year at IBC —
was created by Hollywood studio
representatives and other stakeholders under the Entertainment
Technology Centre@USC umbrella, and version 1.0 was slated to be
published at press time. HPA also
featured an overview of FIMS
(Framework for Interoperable
Media Services), an EBU/AMWA
effort. Via a recorded message,
EBU’s Hans Hoffmann suggested
52
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17:36
Page 53
Sony maximises its memory
to go beyond high definition
NAB Preview
By David Fox
The centrepiece of Sony’s offering
at NAB will be its new
SRMemory, an expansion of its
SR format and a move beyond
HD. The HDCAM-SR format
has been Sony’s high-end tape
system, but it will soon be moving
mainstream, for broadcast multicamera recording and as an
option on its mid-priced PMWF3 Super35mm camcorder. It will
also be going tapeless, using solid-state cards with capacities of
up to 1TB.
This is part of Sony’s push to
cater for not just HD, but higher
resolution capture, including 4K
and above. Of course, “resolution
alone does not make better pictures. There are other imaging
parameters that we need to consider, such as higher dynamic
range, wider colour space, multiple view points (such as 3D), and
higher frame rates,” said
Yasuhiko Mikami, its senior
manager for Product Planning.
“By improving the technology
and our products in these five
directions, we can start addressing new applications that exist
outside of the traditional broadcast business, such as 4K cinema
and ODS (other digital stuff),
UDTV, 3D, and HDR.”
The new SRMemory will
allow realtime recording and
playback, file-based post production, and offer scalable compression levels for different types of
application (one of the first of
which he believes will be for the
Olympics in 2012). It uses the
MPEG-4 Simple Studio Profile,
which covers everything from
standard definition to 4K x 2K
4:4:4 at 10- or 12-bit 50/60p.
“Memory is a very good
choice for high-capacity, highspeed recording, but there is still
the problem of archiving, so we
have to come up with a good way
HPA forecast
that FIMS could result in flexible
workflows with cost efficiencies
and production efficiencies.
The cloud was the big topic of
another session, during which
speakers suggested that these are
best achieved when they enable collaboration and when the user still
plans for failure. “I don’t know
about you, but I don’t like upgrading software,” said Avid’s Al
of integrating memory and tape
for archive,” he added.
To enable SR file-based operation, Sony is providing the native
SR compressed file and wrapping
it in MXF. “SR is based on
MPEG-4 SStP. A completely
open codec,” he explained. For
high-end post work, this can be
encapsulated in DPX files.
However, this would be unnecessary for most broadcast work, so
it is also adding a new level: SR
Lite, which will record at
220Mbps. The other levels are
440Mbps SQ, for acquisition and
post, and 880Mbps for 1080
50/60p and visual effects.
Super Super35mm: Sony’s Yasuhiko Mikami shows
off the new PMW-F3 with an SRMemory recorder
On file
SR Lite means “you can shrink
the file size to half with minimum
sacrifice in image quality. We
firmly believe it is important to
keep your camera original material at the highest possible quality.
However when you’re finished
with grading, compositing, editing, you can shrink the file to
make it pass through the broadcast food chain more easily. We
also plan to create SR Lite files
from regular HDCAM tapes, so
that images acquired on your tenyear-old F900 will still fit into the
modern post production environment,” said Mikami.
Sony has been working with
the EBU to offer a production
codec for HD production, and
tests have shown that “SR Lite
seems very promising, even after
multiple generations.”
The simplest way to go filebased is to upgrade its existing
SRW-5800 HDCAM/HDCAMSR tape deck. The new 5800/2
will offer MXF file transfer, 4:2:2
and 4:4:4 double-speed recording
and playback, 3D recording and
playback, 2K in realtime
(2048x1556 / 2048x1080), and 12
channels of 96k/24bit audio.
Avid’s Media Composer,
Apple Final Cut Pro and
FilmLight will all be supporting
SR, and Mikami, who was speaking to a dealer meeting in
Prototype SRMemory Deck can record four channels
and up to 100 hours of HD in 12TB of solid-state memory
Kovalick during the session, suggesting that notion of software is
on its way out. “But if I can access
from a user experience (in the
cloud), I’m happy with that,” he
added, noting that the value prop is
both that it is accessible and a ‘pay
for what you use’ model.
Technology demos
The Tech Retreat also featured its
annual demo room of new and
emerging technologies, and many
of the participants underscored the
theme of workflows. Sony, for
instance, is bringing file-based
capabilities to its SR format. At
HPA, it previewed its new SR
memory platform, which enables a
direct to edit native workflow of
the SR codec, explained Sony
Marketing Manager Peter Crithary
(see story above). The introduction
included an SR memory card,
which can accommodate up to 1TB
of storage, an SR memory camcorder, a camera adapter, a transfer
unit and a deck.
Sony also grabbed attention by
introducing its OLED reference
monitors. A 17-inch model and a
25-inch model will begin shipping
London, showed plans for an SR
Data Transfer Unit that will allow
fast ingest of cards or tapes to
servers or NLEs. It will support
NFS and CIFS disk formats to
mount a shared directory or folder on NLEs or servers, and can
ingest using GbE or, optionally,
10GbE. It will also clone
SRMemory to tape at two times
normal speed and will be controllable via a web browser.
On deck
There will also be a new
SRMemory Deck, which can be
used as a multi-channel recorder
for studio or outside broadcast. It
is smaller than a normal VTR
(4RU), but can handle four channels of I/O, including 3D or 4K,
recording at 220Mbps, 440Mbps,
or 880Mbps, or uncompressed
DPX, with 16 channels of 24-bit
PCM audio. Each HD video
channel is 3G SDI dual-link capable — 1080/60P 3D or Key + Fill.
It can also have up to 8TB of
internal fixed memory, giving it a
maximum capacity of 12TB (100
hours of SR Lite). It can also copy
material to SR tape for backup.
“The Memory Deck is very
flexible in terms of I/O. It can
combine four cameras onto a single card and use another card as
in the spring. Sony’s new line goes
after the CRT replacement market
— which Dolby also has its sights
set on with its 42-inch Professional
Reference Monitor, which was on
display at the HPA Retreat and is
now shipping. “Several customers
have already received orders for
the first monitors and others are
evaluating the monitor for purchase,” according to a Dolby
spokesperson. “We are receiving
incredibly positive feedback from
major studios and content creators about their experiences using
the monitor. Many have already
backup, or one 2D or 3D camera
onto four cards, if required,” he
explained. Theoretically it could
have 12 inputs and record 12
channels onto a single card.
SR memory has a guaranteed
transfer rate of 5Gbps, more than
fast enough to enable multichannel HD and high framerate
recording, and cards will be
offered in various capacities, from
256GB to 1TB.
Sony chose 5Gbps as its design
goal because if you record 4K
60p, full RGB, 10-bit material,
the uncompressed data rate is
about 20Gbps. “Then apply 4:1
good quality compression, like
SR, and that gives 5Gbps.”
An SxS card has a maximum
transfer rate of 800Mbps, but
this can fall to 200Mbps due
to fragmenting and poor memory management. However, in
SRMemory “a very clever memory chip controller mechanism
is built in, so you will never skip
a frame during recording or
playback.” It ensures that no
single memory sector gets
over used (making it more
likely to fail), and has “incredible
error correction.”
On camera
For acquisition there will be a
portable SRMemory recorder
capable of 3G and HD-SDI dual
link recording, including uncompressed DPX files. When used
with an optionally-upgraded
PMW-F3 Super 35mm camcorder, it can record 10-bit S-Log
RGB files, with look-up tables
(which are baked in to the
MPEG-2 4:2:0 copies recorded to
the SxS card, for offline use). “It’s
a very self-contained, integrated
solution,” said Mikami. However,
it does need a dedicated power
supply. The unit could be used
with any camera with dual-link
SDI, but it will only handle variable speed recording on the F3,
thanks to a dedicated connection
— the F3 won’t do variable frame
rates with third-party recorders.
The high-end SRW-9000PL
camcorder started shipping as a
tape-based unit, but there will be
a card-based version by the end of
the year, and all existing models
will be upgradeable (with the card
recorder replacing the tape drive).
Users could also just add an
external SRMemory unit in addition to recording to tape.
www.pro.sony.eu
used it on projects such as colour
grading for HD mastering of feature films.”
Avid previewed features in its
new versions of its editing line:
Media Composer v5.5, NewsCutter
v9.5 and Symphony v 5.5. Avid
believes that its newly added support for AJA Video System’s Io
Express input and output interface
will make it more cost effective to
work on a laptop.
Referencing snowflake workflows, HPA president Leon
Silverman concluded that it will
be ‘snowing’ for quite some time.
53
8/3/11
19:39
Page 54
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54
Global broadcast with iTX
Philip Stevens finds out how one
large playout centre went about
acquiring new equipment to meet
increasing demands
With the massive increase in channels that have appeared over the
last decade or so, one significant
growth area has involved playout
centres. Not only have their numbers grown, but the demands
made by clients have also diversified to meet viewer needs.
Central
London
based
GlobeCast currently manages 36
channels providing mainly full
playout services, but also re-purposing for different markets using
content substitution and time
shifting. “The channels are not all
for the UK market, nor are all the
broadcasters based in the UK,”
states Peter Elvidge, head of
media solutions. “For example
GlobeCast operates services for
B4U where the majority of content originates in India and services are delivered globally.” He
adds, “The combination of playout, a global fibre network and
access to a wide portfolio of satellite platforms is quite compelling
for our customers.”
The channels operated by
GlobeCast are intended for conventional television delivery; however, the company has been
involved in delivering output to
the internet. Elvidge reveals that
in the future he expects to deliver
an increasing amount of content
for video on demand applications.
“In this area we have seen significant growth in the past year
and more of a shift to
High Definition.”
In order to cope with the
increasing and changing demands
from its clients, Globecast made
the decision at the end of 2009 to
purchase more playout capacity.
Early in 2010 it issued a Request
For Proposals (RFP) to the key
playout technology vendors. The
responses from the suppliers were
utilised to formulate a more
detailed specification in order to
seek out a suitable system.
“Among the key requirements
were reliability, resilience and sur-
Control desk: iTX has helped Globecast meet increasing demands
Laura Kirkland: “iTX fully
supports operation as disaster
recovery/business continuity”
vivability. We needed systems
where channel output can be
maintained if ‘core’ components
of the system failed,” explains
Elvidge. “Beyond that, we were
looking for flexibility. As a service
provider we must be able to
appeal to a wide range of customers each with its own specific
requirements and plans.”
“The RFP was given to most
playout technology providers,”
reports Elvidge. “However, the
responses demonstrated that suppliers who had more of an integrated software approach, such
that video servers could do more
in the box, were a better match for
our needs.”
Alongside the RFP process,
GlobeCast ran hardware and integration trials using actual customer scenarios. Following these
various procedures, it was decided
to purchase the OmniBus Systems
iTX master control and automation platform. In fact,
GlobeCast’s installation is the
first iTX installation at a UK
playout centre.
Elvidge explains that the
OmniBus system is designed to
grow the centre’s capabilities,
rather than replace existing systems. Those existing configurations include an Omneon- and
Pharos-based system and some
Thomson equipment.
He reveals that the biggest
shortfall of other systems that
were considered was lack of flexibility. “We really felt that the
approach OmniBus had taken,
where functionality is added by
licence enabling software modules
on standard IT hardware, was a
good one.”
According to Laura Kirkland,
strategic account manager at
OmniBus, “the thing that makes
iTX unique is that all video/ audio
and graphics processing is performed in software rather than
using a dedicated graphics card.
This means it matches and
exceeds the capabilities of the previous generation of technology in
a much more efficient way. It will
support many different video and
file formats and provides unique
capabilities in multi-platform content delivery.”
She adds, “One of the benefits
of the architecture is that the system is scalable. Currently, the
largest single deployment has over
200+200 HD channels on air.
GlobeCast needed above all to
install a platform that could adapt
readily to a wide variety of scenarios, and be quickly scaled to
meet new requirements.”
Initially, the GlobeCast system
has been configured with seven
fully redundant channels, and one
more to be added shortly. The system includes iTX’s built-in graphics capabilities for logos and character generation, voiceovers,
scheduling, dynamic format conversion (including down- and upconversion for SD/HD re-versioning), and integration with the inhouse media asset management
system using iTX’s API.
“iTX fully supports operation
as a disaster recovery/business
continuity
system,”
states
Kirkland. “The GlobeCast set-up
is fully redundant for both the
Database and Framework servers
as well as having each channel
configured for full mirroring and
auto-failover.”
GlobeCast operates a Content
Management System (CMS) that
can be scaled up as customers’
needs grow. This is currently
based on media management software provided by subsidiary Netia
and high-availability off-the-shelf
IT hardware.
The system is integrated with the
playout platform via its API, such
that when material is scheduled that
is not available on iTX the CMS will
execute a workflow to provide the
content in the right format and suitably wrapped with any additional
audios and other materials.
Further,
the
GlobeCast
Content Management System and
the company’s international fibre
network allows close integration
with its other playout operations in
Singapore and Miami – meaning
that scalability is not limited to the
London facility.
7/3/11
16:25
Page 1
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7/3/11
16:26
Page 1

Mobile TV is alive!

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