KitPlus | Articles

Honey, I shrank the data. How DNA storage could reduce th...

By A3 Communications Capacity, cost, and performance. Three of your top data storage priorities? No wonder, and it’s the same for most organisations across the media and entertainment sector. The volume of data M&E organisations produce is in overdrive, with its global storage market size predicted to reach almost $18bn by 2027. That is likely...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 17 March 2023

Control, as easy as pressing a button

A fundamental issue with control surfaces in modern broadcast operations is that they are, for the most part, old fashioned. The ease, responsiveness, and functionality of touchscreens, especially in Smartphones are now commonplace. Attributes that are largely absent from touchscreens are typically buttons, sliders, and dials found on many control...

Submitted by Bazile Peter

Published 26 March 2020

Increasing Diversity in the UK Indie Market

London director Sam Addo tells us more about how he aims to change the status quo when it comes to onscreen diversity with his new feature, Cards on the Table. “Over the past thirty years, filmmakers have made movies telling a wide range of stories, however, in my humble opinion, those with disabilities, from the LGBTQ+ community and or those from...

Submitted by Sam Addo

Published 10 September 2019

Keeping the Show on the Road

There is long-established saying in the media business that, if something goes wrong, at least nobody dies. It is almost true unless you happen to be a TV producer suffering a cardiac arrest because your primary video feed has gone blank during a high-budget programme. First-line maintenance is usually in the hands of the user. If a device malfunct...

Submitted by Andy McKenzie

Published 10 September 2019

Rotolight Anova Pro 2 User Review

The Anova PRO 2 is the fourth generation of Rotolight’s studio/location light, offering 70% more power output than its predecessor. It is claimed be one of the brightest LED lights ever launched in its class, delivering 10,700 lux at 3 feet yet consuming only 72 watts. Figure 1 shows the front with accessory mounting spigots (1), optional barn door...

Submitted by Andy McKenzie

Published 21 March 2019

Future proofing post production storage

Advancements in NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express), the storage protocol designed for flash, are revolutionising data storage. According to G2M Research, the NVMe market will grow to $60 billion by 2021, with 70 percent of all-flash arrays being based on the protocol by 2020. NVMe, acting like steroids for flash-based storage infrastructures, dynam...

Submitted by Josh Goldenhar

Published 25 January 2019

The impact of drone incidents on the industry

Cast your minds back to December, when commercial drone operators were on the verge of breathing a sigh of relief having made it through another 12 months without a major drone incident. Then, came ‘The nightmare before Christmas’ when those reported drone sightings in the vicinity of Gatwick Airport grounded planes for 36 hours and caused more tha...

Submitted by Phil Vinter

Published 24 January 2019

Sony PWS-4500 Live Production Server Reviewed

Available since 2016, the Sony PWS-4500 is a solid-state UHD/HD live production server designed for use in applications such as sports, studio or stage events. The target applications are master recording and advanced replay operations for live production companies for whom the server's ability to record the output from high frame rate cameras and...

Submitted by Andy McKenzie

Published 24 January 2019

The Pace of Change

The youngest human to stand on the moon (so far) was Charles Moss, the lunar module pilot of Apollo 16. Charlie had a wonderful claim: his father witnessed the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk, and lived to see his son on the moon. Does anything capture the speed of technological advance better than that? The whole of the history of powe...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 08 September 2018

The shining star of Dancing On Ice

Lighting is an incredibly important part of any TV production, and it can make a huge difference to what is seen on-screen. If the right lights are used in the right way, it can create a mood, set a tone and convey a certain atmosphere. Nowhere is this more evident than on the set of dramatic TV shows such as Dancing on Ice, a hugely popular UK sho...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 26 March 2018

State of the Nation - Telling Imaginary Stories

In mid-October, Nokia issued a press release from its headquarters in Finland, announcing a refocusing of its business, with a growing emphasis on digital health. Read on a few paragraphs, though, and you find this statement: In digital media, the slower-than-expected development of the VR market means that Nokia Technologies plans to reduce invest...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 02 November 2017

5 reasons to use a soft box with LED lighting

LEDs are a highly efficient light source, and putting aside any color spectrum issues, (that have generally been improving) they still have limitations for lighting people. The naked illumination coming off a single emitter, or an array making up a larger fixture, such as a panel, is just not the soft, beautiful glow that we seek for human subjects...

Submitted by James Mathers

Published 19 October 2017

Advances in LED lighting innovation with Rotolight AEOS

i There\'s no doubt that lighting plays a critical role in videography, filmmaking and photography. It\'s the area of content capture that brings added creativity to shoots, whether that\'s filming a wedding, producing a commercial or making a movie. Much like cameras have evolved over the past few years, lighting has also evolved; from the traditi...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 07 September 2017

Lighting - the stuff you do not see

i Lighting is the stuff you don\'t see that makes a difference in what you do see. How the audience feels about a character and whether the scene is scary, tense or upbeat are communicated by the quality and placement of light. Lighting can take the drama to a whole new level - think about film noir with all those shadows on the wall. So called "na...

Submitted by Tama Berkeljon

Published 07 September 2017

360 degree video storage requirements

i Swim with bears, run with the bulls, get a pads-eye view of a rocket launch: 360 degree video production, also known as cinematic VR, makes these and many other bucket list-worthy events more accessible than ever. The format has evolved into a powerful storytelling tool, and one that changes not only the way in which visual experiences are shaped...

Submitted by Dave Frederick

Published 07 September 2017