The masters of high frame rate, slow-motion, and internet breaking viral videos, the Slow Mo Guys, today announced that they have partnered with camera robot experts MRMC [A Nikon Company] to take their slow-motion skills to the next level by introducing the Bolt™ High-Speed Camera Robot to their arsenal of content capture technology at their studios in the U.S.

Utah Scientific, a world leader in providing mission-critical equipment to content creators, distributors, and broadcasters, today announced a new reseller partnership with EVS, the leader in live video technology for broadcast and new media productions. EVS will package Utah Scientific video routers together with its all-new MediaInfra Strada routing solution to empower live broadcast productions operating in a native SDI routing infrastructure.

Prism Sound audio conversion equipment is playing a key role in a marathon restoration project that will see 233 analogue master tapes converted into useable digital WAV. files.

The tapes belong to Good Time Records (GTR), an international catalogue owner and label with offices in the UK and US (Nashville). Content included in these tapes comes from the Crash, Satril and Catawba labels, all three of which were formerly administered by the Henry Hadaway Organisation (HHO), a company established in 1969 by Henry Hadaway MBE.

HHO became an innovator in the independent record label sector and it achieved great success during the 1970s and 1980s with artists such as The Sandpipers, The Rockin’ Berries, Kenny Lynch, Frankie Vaughan, Lyn Paul (ex-New Seekers), The Tweets, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Picket, Brook Benton and Jackie Moore. GTR, which regularly buys vintage catalogues, acquired the Crash, Satril and Catawba labels in 2020 as part of a multi-label catalogue deal.

The masters currently being restored comprise the recording archive of the former Satril Studios in North London. Among them is The Birdie Song by The Tweets, which sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK alone.

The digitization of GTR’s archive is being undertaken by sound engineer Graham Joiner, who runs a specialist audio restoration company in Brentwood, Essex. His studio is equipped with three Prism Sound Titan audio interfaces, which were specifically acquired to tackle the GTR project.

The forced cancellation of live sports and other events in 2020 has led to a new reality for broadcasters as they attempt to deliver the best programming for viewers and remain competitive in a rapidly changing market. Production engineers now find themselves under additional pressure to adapt their workflows and processes and rethink the way they deliver live events. To better understand these new evolutions, EVS has surveyed customers across North America and Europe and has identified several key trends and challenges that are emerging for 2021.

Densitron, the global leader in innovative Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and display technology, has announced a new long-term partnership with measurement and monitoring specialist Bridge Technologies. Together the two companies will offer broadcast customers advanced solutions for the display and analysis of standard-based IP video streams that combine the functionality of Densitron’s IDS (Intelligent Display System) platform with Bridge Technologies’ software and hardware systems for broadcast measurement and monitoring.

MCR Broadcast Hire and Video Europe Ltd today announce they have entered into a strategic partnership, formalising the existing and longstanding relationship between Mike Ransome and Steve Green and aligning the two companies’ business operations.

Steve Green and Matt Marner, directors at Video Europe, have entered into a shareholding agreement in MCR Broadcast Hire alongside MCR’s Managing Director, Mike Ransome. Video Europe has invested significant funds into the live broadcast sector over the past few years and considers the alignment of MCR’s business a natural fit.

disguise, the solution specialist for creative and technical professionals to imagine, create and deliver the world’s most spectacular live experiences— released r17.1, an update to its award-winning software, coinciding with the launch of a six-month free licence for its Designer software.

Built with disguise’s community of artists and technicians at its heart, r17.1 dramatically enhances the augmented reality (AR) workflow so that its community can produce incredible experiences with ease. With the release, disguise also hopes to help creative studios and production houses access the market opportunity presented by AR with the solution for delivering spectacular and immersive visuals.

The significant workflow improvements introduced in r17.1 enhance the ease of use for specialists delivering AR experiences with disguise, making it a more compelling option for use in projects for broadcast, esports and live contexts such as corporate, education, virtual environments and concert touring. As viewing figures surge, it becomes increasingly important to have the right tools available to create AR easily and efficiently and elevate ‘at-home’ viewing with thrilling visuals. 

The Future Group, provider of live photo-realistic virtual production system, Pixotope™, has revealed its key involvement in the stunning production and delivery of the NFL’s ground-breaking Super Bowl LIV, mixed reality pre-game presentation. The complex, seven-minute production combined live action from multiple moving cameras with augmented virtual stages and graphics. The 2020 Super Bowl was watched by an estimated domestic audience of 100 million people, plus international viewers.

The Future Group provided six installations of its virtual production platform, Pixotope, along with essential technical expertise to liaise with all other aspects of the multi-faceted production.

As an opener to the Super Bowl LIV, NFL planned to reveal its “100 All Time Team”. They approached fan experience company– coincidently named, The Famous Group – to design and choreograph the pre-show content. The brief was to celebrate the history of the sport and the contribution of those 100 players and 10 coaches, using graphics, historical film and live shots of attendees. The Famous Group looked to achieve this through extensive use of mixed reality virtual elements, and selected Pixotope, with expertise from The Future Group, as their technological solution.

The complexities of such a project cannot be overstated. Multiple virtual assets such as stages and screens needed to be designed to exactly match the stadium environment to which they would be augmented. Cameras needed to be tracked in real time and have their lenses aligned so that the virtual elements would be generated at precisely the right angle to accurately match real-world positions. Lighting needed to be measured so that it could be simulated in the virtual world to ensure correct shadows and highlights.

In-stadium screens, which would show the augmented content to the crowd, had to be accurately marked out in the virtual scene so that they could be blocked out to avoid visual “feedback”. All this had to take place under precise time control to synchronise with the voice-over and contributing performers in the stadium.

Pixotope product specialist, David Stroud, was part of a team of experienced mixed reality technicians, helping to specify and install the required technology, and bring together all the constituent departments. The Future Group team were involved from the outset, initially collaborating using a shared virtual project to provide technical assistance for The Famous Group creatives. Then later, the team positioned themselves at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami FL, where the main event would take place 11 days later.

David Stroud recalled, “Although the virtual scene had been set up “offline” from scans and measurements from the stadium, there are inevitably adjustments that can only be done on site. We used our Pixotope virtual production platform to receive images and tracking data from each of the cameras, one of which was a Skycam “wire-camera”, and augment onto those the virtual elements designed by The Famous Group. This allowed everyone to see the results in real time, making adjustments and improvements as we rehearsed the show in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.”

Stroud continued, “We helped the camera operators visualise how the preshow would come together, as understandably, they were more used to following the unscripted action of a football game than reacting to very specific time cues. Pixotope has the capability to continuously output the final result, even while editing the graphics – a great tool for directors following rapid changes and updates because it’s always live.

“We also worked closely with camera tracking specialists SMT, and in fact, we were able to improve our data exchanges to further perfect the virtual camera motion. And we worked with both the broadcaster (Fox) and the companies providing in-stadium displays to ensure the very highest visual quality possible.”

Andrew Isaacson, Executive VP Business Development for creative agency The Famous Group affirms, “Needless to say, the best creative ideas rely on solid technological platforms and expertise to deliver them. This could not be truer for a live event on the scale of The Super Bowl. We needed to know, without any shadow of a doubt, that what we planned would be delivered faultlessly, accurately and to the highest quality. This is why we chose Pixotope as our platform for delivering cutting edge mixed reality for the Super Bowl.

“Having used Pixotope on previous productions, we know that the system, and expertise from The Future Group, allow our creative ideas to be unleashed to the great benefit of our clients like the NFL. We look forward to working on many more productions with Pixotope.”

All hardware was provided by Quince Imaging and camera tracking was completed by SMT. The final mixed reality sequence can be viewed online, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqXBKweKQ9U

Following the announcement that Chase Jarvis will headline the 2020 event, The Photography Show and The Video Show has revealed five more inspiring speakers who will take to the Super Stage when it returns to Birmingham’s NEC from 14-17 March. Once again commanding some of the industry’s most influential photographers and filmmakers, the UK’s largest photography and moving image co-located event is also set to welcome Susan Meiselas, Gavin Free, Ross Halfin, Juno Calypso and Brooke Shaden.

Following Chase’s talk on Saturday 14 March is renowned documentary photographer, Susan Meiselas. As a member of the prestigious Magnum Photos since 1976, Susan is best known for her coverage of the insurrection in Nicaragua and her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America. Looking back over four decades as an award-winning documentary photographer, she will share fascinating insights into her most recent projects, her approach and life through photography.

On Sunday 15 March, award-winning cinematographer and the co-creator of The Slow Mo Guys, Gavin Free, will present two sessions at the Super Stage. The popular duo have amassed over 13 million subscribers on YouTube, achieving fame with everything from viral videos of bursting balloons to in-depth explanations of how a high-end slow-motion camera works. In a rare European appearance, Gavin Free will let visitors into his life as an incredibly successful YouTuber, the career steps that he took to get there, and his passion for his subject matter. He will discuss what goes into making and distributing this kind of content, the tech involved, how he keeps the ideas coming, and what it's like to have online video as your career.