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Delivering on the 4k Promise
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It’s happened. Consumers are demanding 4K UHD content. They have the TVs, smartphones, tablets and other devices they need, and with much of Netflix and Amazon original content in 4K, as well as sports coverage from BT and Sky, consumers have tasted the future of content quality and are hungry for more. But broadcasters need not worry if their customers have enough bandwidth to receive 4K content - the solutions are ready to make 4K distribution a reality. New viewers are waiting if you’re ready to get to them first. |
| Tags: iss131
| garland
| 4k
| uhd
| hevc
| hc11000
| media excel
| Lorna Garrett
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What is Next for Broadcast
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The Broadcast industry is always chasing new technology. Some of that technology is further than it appears to be, and some of it is closer to adoption than it seems. In part, early adopted technology is accelerated because of customer or business demands, and in the case of IP based environments, the driving factors are speed, cost reduction, and flexibility of workflow. To counterbalance these efficiency-based factors is a desire by content creators and customers to see more 4K HDR content on their new big screens. In some ways the push to deliver 4K workflows also makes the need to manage cost/performance even more urgent. |
| Tags: iss131
| 4k
| primestream
| hdr
| hls
| mpeg dash
| rtsp
| rtmp
| streaming
| David Schleifer
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What is Serial Communication
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Don’t get me wrong - the advent of IP technology has done wonders for the broadcasting universe, especially here in Special Cams land where changing a setting could have involved a rather long walk and climb to a remote camera location! Nevertheless, this said, I still feel that serial communication is a huge contender - not only just in the realm of odd robotics systems, but also across broadcast in general.
In this article, I will walk through the very basics - introducing a few different types of serial and how they work.
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| Tags: iss131
| rs422
| rs232
| parity
| rs485
| Mike Colyer
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Out of the box: Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone
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The use of 360 video, especially on platforms like Facebook and YouTube is really starting to take off. Gone are the days when you needed to buy multiple GoPros and rigs in order to get something decent looking. Now players like Insta360 and even GoPro with their fusion 360 camera are providing single camera, high quality solutions, enabling the masses to put out reasonable quality, certainly watchable, 360 video. |
| Tags: iss130
| vr
| virtual reality
| audio
| ambiosonic
| Jon Pratchett
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VR and the importance of tracking
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I would like to begin this article by clarifying what we at Shotoku mean when we talk about VR in live production. It’s not the production of immersive, 360 content where you need to wear a headset; we are talking about virtual studio (VS) and augmented reality (AR) work, such as placing graphics into a green screen environment or physical set. The technology used for this work is entirely different, though equally specialist – therefore it is important to understand the challenges of this kind of production in order to make informed kit choices. |
| Tags: iss130
| shotoku
| vr
| live production
| KitPlus
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TV Futures, Tales on Location
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If I think back to last May, I was just finishing my second year at the University of Portsmouth, studying Television and Broadcasting, and winding down for the summer. Then out of the blue I got a message from my course leader, saying I might be getting a call from someone who was a location manager working for Raider productions, you know, the production company behind the upcoming Tomb Raider film, I mean, what!? |
| Tags: iss130
| portsmouth university
| tomb raider
| cci tv
| ccitv
| Georgia Thirtle
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Reliable back-up at the Music City Bowl
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WLEX – LEX18 – is the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky, and part of the Cordillera Communications Group. As a very popular local station with a broadcast area that covers 40 counties across central Kentucky we have a big commitment to news, broadcasting more than seven hours of live programming on a typical day. |
| Tags: iss130
| wlex-tv
| dejero
| engo
| gobox
| cellsat
| Sam Gordon
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Tried and tested: DPA d:vice
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KitPlus recently took delivery of an interesting piece of equipment for review. We like our iPhone gadgets here. For us, useful iPhone gadgets started when the Olloclip lens gave us a wide angle adaptor. This was a good start, finally evolving into a proper tool when Ziess produced the Exolens system for the 5,6 & 7 series iPhones. Around the same time as the Olloclip came out we were testing the Fostex AR4i which was a very exciting development at the time. You have a portable device, that you carry everywhere with you, connected to the world but with very limited audio capabilities. A stereo interface with decent microphones was a real boon! |
| Tags: iss130
| dpa
| dvice
| iphone
| journalist mic
| filmic
| ios
| microdot
| KitPlus
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Grand slam IPTV and digital signage platform
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Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, is home to major league baseball’s Kansas City Royals. Built in 1973, “The K” has a proud baseball legacy, and goes down in history for winning two World Series championship titles; one in 1985 and another in 2015 — exactly 20 years apart. The most recent win brought a resurgence of baseball fever to the stadium, hosting more than 2.7 million fans during its 2015 winning season. |
| Tags: iss130
| iptv
| vitec
| eztv
| Joe Walsh
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State of the Nation
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On the most recent occasion I was trimmed, my hairdresser had just returned from a holiday in Hawaii.
Where she thought she was going to die. She thought this because the state’s emergency alert system was triggered, sending messages across all available platforms, for 38 minutes, that a ballistic missile was about to strike. That, I suspect, is the sort of thing that casts a pall across your holiday.
Why did it happen? Essentially it happened because an operator selected the wrong menu item. “I feel very badly from what’s happened,” he is quoted as saying, in a somewhat mangled version of English which may at least in part explain his difficulties with menu items.
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| Tags: iss130
| alertsense
| Dick Hobbs - new
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IP for everyone and 4k everywhere - that will be 2018
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My first prediction for the coming year is that the use of IP to move broadcast content will increase dramatically. Ultimately, it will become the commonplace, just as the use of IP has become part of our everyday, consumer lives. Live sports are closely linked to this growth, as conversion of broadcast signals for transportation across established telecos networks enables content to be viewed in real-time, regardless if it’s in the next room or across the globe. |
| Tags: iss129
| medialinks
| 4k
| ip
| vr
| ai
| John Smith -new
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A new AEON in Wireless 4k
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Whatever production companies are doing right here, right now, today, with wireless HD production tools, they want to do right here, right now, today with 4K UHD.
That’s great, but common wisdom would share a host of challenges around 4k UHD, not least, the fact that 4K UHD requires 8x the processing power to transmit, then demands additional horsepower (and bandwidth) to accommodate the data and controls, wireless or otherwise, and of course, when you ramp up processing power, you ramp up heat generation, which needs to be efficiently evacuated. |
| Tags: iss129
| 4k
| uhd
| wireless
| domo
| JP Delport
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A Pandoras Box to empower the filmmaker
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The setting was Celebro Studios London, home to their fully 4k television studios, where journalists and industry commentators gathered late last November to witness the launch of the revolutionary Rotolight Anova PRO 2. This was no ordinary unveiling though, the launch was streamed live on Facebook and YouTube and hosted by award winning news anchor man Martin Stanford with Wesley Dodd, CEO of Celebro Media Group and Rotolight MD Rod Gammons in the studio. |
| Tags: iss129
| rotolight
| celebro
| anova pro 2
| led
| lighting
| wesley dodd
| rod gammons
| KitPlus
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Canon C200: Tried and Tested
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There are many reviews about this camera online and a heap of incredibly detailed comparison and behind the scenes footage that will really give you a full insight into what it can do. So first a disclaimer - this review is less detailed and based on my personal reading of what this camera means for Canon and all other camera manufacturers and us – the users of these technologies. So, what’s all the fuss about? |
| Tags: iss129
| spellbinder
| canon
| c200
| c100mkii
| c300
| red
| alexa
| asx-r7
| Ben Sherriff
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Studio Invate - Case Studio
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Studio INVATE is a video company based in Bangkok, with an inventive reputation. Its public persona is everyday commercial work, such as producing highly creative videos, live broadcasts and commercials, for companies ranging from large industrial brands and retail businesses to educational institutions. But in between the studio and on-location work for clients, the company’s crew of 14 employees and a few dozen freelancers enjoy live-streaming video game tournaments. |
| Tags: iss129
| invate
| newtek
| tricaster 8000
| 3play
| 4800 replay
| blonde robot
| KitPlus
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Steadicam M-1 Volt: Tried and Tested
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Early in November some of us lucky Steadicam Operators from around the UK were invited to try out the new Tiffen M1 Volt, which is essentially an electronic motorized horizon assist unit attached to the gimbal of the latest Steadicam M1. Is it a good idea? As experienced Steadicam Operators, directors or producers, why would we be interested? Let’s investigate KitPlus fans! |
| Tags: iss129
| steadicam
| volt
| tiffen
| m1
| John E Fry
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A Bluffers Guide to Batteries
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The Christmas decorations are down; the family have all headed home – and the New Year’s festivities have drawn to a close. I put my hand up to it – I’m a little drained. As such, I figured I’d start the new year with a Bluffer’s Guide to Batteries. With the cold weather setting in, it can be a nightmare to pick the right disposable batteries for small kit – and maintain rechargeable batteries in larger items. This article will take an overview of which batteries will last longer under certain usage conditions – and how to achieve the cell’s maximum potential. |
| Tags: iss129
| batteries
| alkaline
| ni-mh
| li-ion
| lithium
| Mike Colyer
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Somewhere down the latency river
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Some people have been, understandably, getting fairly excited over the prospect of being able to deploy wireless cameras to capture and transmit 4K UHD. Manufacturers and developers are closing in on the ability to deliver systems that will offer up almost endless creative options at the highest – to date – possible picture quality. |
| Tags: iss129
| latency
| 4k
| wireless
| rf
| presteigne
| Ben Hawker
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Epictech makes headway: A case study
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Founded in January 2014, EpicTech Media have been providing high end video production to companies and musicians across the U.K. for over three and a half years. When approached earlier this year by the band Bodkin Lane, we relished the challenge of producing a video of their charity concert, in aid of Headway (www.headway.org.uk), despite the challenging size of the venue. |
| Tags: iss129
| polecam
| epictech media
| ptz
| povcam
| Daniel Harker Barnes
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TVFutures: Learning is the key
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If you asked me the question ‘where do you see yourself after you graduate’ three years ago I would have probably answered ‘in a lot of debt, but if you don't think about it, it doesn't exist because three years is a long time right ?’. WRONG! These three years studying Television and Broadcasting at the University of Portsmouth have been the quickest three years of my life. Back when I started I didn't really have any idea what I wanted to specialise in and the dreaded four letter word AVID used to be my biggest enemy. However I persevered through the 3792871 hours of lectures learning how to use the software, how it functions, neither did I think I'd be a one woman match of the day by graduation'. |
| Tags: iss129
| ccitv
| portsmouth
| university
| avid
| Abbie Neill
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2018: A Changing of the Guard
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The guys at KitPlus asked me if I could write about what I think is going to happen in 2018 – a feel, or mood, piece of what we might see this year. I’m not sure why they asked me but perhaps it’s because I’ve been around the industry a long time. Anyway, to look forward I think sometimes it’s best to look back as history has a habit of repeating itself. |
| Tags: iss129
| azule
| finance
| Peter Savage 2
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Speed in a Changing Media Landscape
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We are living in the video era - the staggering statistics on video growth make that abundantly clear. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology 2016–2021, video will make up 82 percent of all consumer internet traffic by 2021, an increase from 73 percent in 2016. To put this in perspective, “it would take an individual more than five million years to watch the amount of video that will be crossing global IP networks each month in 2021.”
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| Tags: iss129
| hulu
| amazon
| netflix
| signiant
| svod
| Mike Nash
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AoIP in the intercom world
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Everyones talking about using AoIP (Audio over IP) in the broadcast world, but what does it mean to the operators actually making the production - the intercom users? And after years of interoperability taking the lowest common format of analogue tie-lines (also known as 4-wires), has intercom today already moved into the digital world by sharing digital audio resources with other types of hardware? |
| Tags: iss128
| clearcom
| clear-com
| dante
| aes67
| beltpack
| isdn
| John Sparrow
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Growing a news agency from the inside out
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Growing a new media outlet in todays highly competitive market requires taking a strong look at the new ways media is being consumed. Many of the most successful recent startups are community focused, often finding a niche market that wants to be engaged in a way they perceive themselves. Al-Araby TV is a London-based news and current affairs satellite channel that has set out to do just that for Arab citizens.
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| Tags: iss128
| gpl
| garland
| al-araby
| teracue
| x-player
| amino
| aminet
| icue
| Lorna Garrett
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IP Prompting
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The potential nirvana of interoperable IT, Telecommunications and Broadcast convergent technology definitely felt a lot closer at this years IBC with the launch of many, many broadcast IP ready devices, workflow and solutions. While the big ticket camera and live production infrastructures dominated the headlines there were a number of smaller but equally important IP workflows that were launched which are fundamental to successful, professional TV production and this includes the often forgotten world of TV Prompting
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| Tags: iss128
| portaprompt
| ip
| prompting
| ippg
| windigi
| Jon Hilton#
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Video Tape recorders cannnot die.
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This article concentrates on what is often described as the weakest link, namely 1) above i.e. the Playback Decks and what could be another weak link, namely 2) i.e. Tape Cleaning Facilities. I have read several articles recently written in the belief that the playback of magnetic video tape will be all but dead in about 20 years due mainly due to lack of working VTRs this inspires me to do something about it.
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| Tags: iss128
| rogcon
| vtr
| achiving
| betacam
| ravensoburne
| dct
| ampex
| dct700
| umatic
| KitPlus
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The dangers of live streaming without a license
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The entertainment industry is visual and sound driven. Without these two elements there would be no such a thing as entertainment. Its obvious that there are people who create sound/s and visuals. Copyright laws were created to protect the industry and these artists. Many organisations have been created to look after musician, writers, poets and filmmakers. For example there are a number of bodies especially the MCPS [Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society], which is responsible for collecting royalties and licensing of music on behalf of musicians and music producers.
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| Tags: iss128
| ail
| youtube
| streaming
| license
| Joseph Adamson
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How the Cloud can be enabled as traditional broadcast workflows evolve
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The Cloud itself is fairly simple, but for broadcasters it can be difficult to leverage. It isnt technically complex but broadcast still overlaps requirements that need real time, high resolution and quick turnaround solutions. Plus, this is coupled with the need to connect with dispersed geographic locations, reduce costs and access multi-format assets. As a result, broadcasters have moved away from asking the basic question what can I do in the cloud? to trialling projects and implementations are now underway or under evaluation.
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| Tags: iss128
| ott
| primestream
| David Schleifer
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Reunion on Kingsman ensures efficient workflow for sequel
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Both on and off camera, there are some collaborations that are built to last. Armed with the success of their work on the first film adaptation of the Kingsman comic book (Kingsman: The Secret Service), director Matthew Vaughan reunited with cinematographer George Richmond, DIT Joshua Callis-Smith and colorist Rob Pizzey, to deliver Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the upcoming second installment in the spy comedy series.
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| Tags: iss128
| kingsman
| blackmagic
| goldcrest
| davinci
| arri
| dit
| KitPlus
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