Newsletter from 08/11/2012
Events and Elections Explained with Images and Graphics
MOBILE PRODUCTION
NEP Denali Summit
Denali is dedicated to providing the finest remote production solutions to the largest entertainment productions on television. Our renowned team of experts have 25 years experience creating seamless solutions tailored to each production we support. We are committed to providing exceptional service, engineering and facilities to every client on every show. Denali Summit HD OBVan is using a Calrec Alpha with Bluefin console to support production of large-scale entertainment and sports events. The 96-fader Alpha audio console is installed in Denali Summit, a state-of-the-art HD mobile unit comprising two 53ft expansion trailers wired together to provide robust production capabilities in a quiet, comfortable and spacious environment. The truck is capable of supporting 24 VTRs and more than 90 server channels.
Get the specs of Denali Summit here
NEP Sweetwater Cobalt
Sweetwater is a full service provider of video production trucks, custom control rooms, display technology, camera systems, and flypacks to entertainment and corporate events. Our clients are the producers of television shows, commercials, live special events, corporate shows, meetings, conventions, and motion pictures. Unlike an equipment “piece rental” house, Sweetwater specializes in providing complete video, audio and display systems which include on-site expert engineering support and service. Now, as part of NEP, we are able to offer our clients a full range of solutions. From the largest major live events, to the smallest webcasts, Sweetwater has a truck for every situation. Sweetwater’s variety of production truck sizes and combinations is the most adaptable in the industry to accommodate the widest variation of show types and budgets. Whether you need 3D, 5.1 Dolby surround sound or have a 24p sitcom, our trucks can do it all.
Get the specs of Sweetwater Cobalt here
RTS – OB Van HD 2 Produces with the Latest KSC Control System
RTS produces an extensive range of productions throughout Switzerland using its two OB Vans, HD1 and HD2, based at its offices in Geneva. The new OB Van HD2 is designed to be versatile and meet the most demanding technological requirements, ranging from the Tour de Romandie to the Montreux Comedy Festival through Super League Football and Classical Music. The requirements for these versatile productions are reflected by the technical equipment in the HD2: With a total of 10 cameras, a Sony MVS-7000X 4 M/E production switcher, integrated DVE and three EVS systems as well as a Riedel Mediornet Compact network, the HD2 is ready to meet any video challenge imaginable. A 5.1 surround sound audio control room equipped with Stagetec Nexus and Aurus components, rounds off the uncompromisingly flexible equipment.
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Luxor Takes Mobile Production Truck Digital
Providing on-the-go production and post services for live television series such as Iceland Idol and Master Chef Iceland, is no easy feat, but one-stop creative shop Luxor is always up for the challenge. A part of Saga Film, Iceland’s largest production house, Luxor’s talented team captures and edits more than 2,500 hours of content per year for everything from TV programs and films to live concerts and events. When the studio recently decided to take its mobile production truck digital, Luxor Manager Bragi Reynisson turned to the AJA Ki Pro Rack. “Budgets are tighter than ever, and we’re being asked to do more in less time, so any technology that can accelerate our workflow is a huge boon,” Reynisson said. “Ki Pro Rack has been a great addition because it’s allowed us to increase the quality of our production while also freeing up time to focus on other creative tasks.”
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STUDIO PRODUCTION
dock10
Since November 2010 SIS has been working with Peel Media, the owners of MediaCityUK in a joint venture to manage and operate the shared studio services offered at the complex. Earlier this month The Studios, as they were formerly known, were re-branded as dock10. dock10 is one of the most technologically advanced facilities in Europe, employing almost 100 people, and is already partner of choice for the BBC, ITV, C4 and Sky. dock10 has created over 700 hours of production since launching in April 2011, including programmes such as Dragon's Den, The Sarah Millican Show, John Bishop's Only Joking, Baggage, Match of the Day and Sports Personality of the Year.
Get the specs of dock10 here
Rushmans Secures New Lease on Life for Big Blue Olympic Studios
Big Blue was home to rights-holding broadcasters from five continents during the London Olympic Games. In 2012 configuration it consisted of ten 50m2 by 5m tall broadcast studios 11m above the ground. In addition it provided six covered stand-up positions and 500m2 of concession space on the ground floor during Games Time. Now Rushmans Broadcast Structures, which provided and managed facilities for ESPN, NBC and others during London 2012, is to ensure a positive broadcast legacy for Big Blue Studios. It has secured rights to provide the facilities in their entirety or groups of individual modules across UK and all international markets.
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Broadcasters Become Eco-Smart with LED Lighting
Studio lighting has recently been placed under the environmental spotlight as the industry becomes increasingly conscious of its carbon footprint. Many broadcasters still working with legacy studio lighting find that, not only does it cost them more financially, but it also poses a bigger risk to the environment due to the substantially higher levels of energy consumption required. Environmental calculations show that tungsten-based lighting in a single newscast studio can dump a staggering 200,000+ lbs. of CO2 into the atmosphere annually. Also, as many broadcasters have discovered, LED lights generate virtually no heat so the requirement for air conditioning in a studio environment is dramatically reduced, helping to provide further energy and cost savings. The lack of heat makes the lights incredibly easy to position and handle, allowing camera crews to work more quickly and efficiently, again saving time and money.
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HD Studio Directory 2012
In our HD Studio Special 2012 gives detailed presentations of 41 HD Studios from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Similar to our successful HD OBVan Directories we present each HD Studio on three pages including a technical synopsis with an overview on the installed hardware in the sections lighting, public address, cameras, lenses and pedestals, video gallery, audio gallery, intercom and the listing of the relevant system integrators. In addition to these straight forward presentations we have a dedicated focus on studio lighting, videowalls in studios and fast turnaround productions. Finally we focus on the production of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku.
Order your copy here
SPORTS
RTS Secures Communications for the Broadcasting of Eredivisie Soccer from the Netherlands
Of the nine Eredivisie matches played each week, the Dutch service provider United has for the last 15 years been charged with broadcasting seven. To guarantee flawless transmission quality, United devotes a lavish outlay in human and technical resources to its coverage of these matches, with up to 15 employees and ten cameras involved each time. Nonetheless, according to Bolke Burnaby Lautier, Manager Operations Sports and Events with United, each new production proves as demanding and nerve-racking as the first. Tight schedules pose a constant challenge: “When we arrive at the stadium on match day, we have to set up our equipment immediately. A 15-minute test follows, during which every item of equipment must be functioning flawlessly as by then the start of the broadcast is imminent and little time remains to put things right – especially since, as well as our own staff, other studios along with their respective presenters all have to be integrated into the network.”
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2018 Host Cities Announced
The 2018 LOC released the host city posters for the FIFA WC 2018 - the first time this has ever been done simultaneously with the announcement. The ceremony to announce the Host Cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ was watched live right across the country on the evening of Saturday 29 September. People from every one of the 11 Russia 2018 Host Cities were able to take part in the ceremony via live video links. On hand to lend their backing to the cities were governors, mayors, sports stars, leading figures from the arts scene and football fans. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter noted: “During the ceremony, I discovered something that was completely new to me. The way people in the cities reacted to the news that they would be hosting the World Cup was just glorious. That’s what football’s about: bringing people together around a common idea and infecting them with enthusiasm.”
Read more and see all the posters ...
Fuels High-Octane – HD Production for SPEED
The SPEED project is one of the first end-to-end, fully HD production system for the group. The project faced infrastructure and workflow hurdles and an extremely aggressive 6-month timeline. The NE&O and SPEED project teams evaluated several options and agreed that a combination of open systems offered the most flexible and future-proof solution. “We are looking at HD end-to-end, from acquisition thru edit and broadcast with ‘best of breed at every step.’ We did not want to be locked into one protocol,” says Richard (Rick) Miner, Senior VP for Production and Network Operations at SPEED. “We wanted the ability to be flexible. Relying on open standards was absolutely key to us.” The transition to a file-based environment required human as well as technical considerations. “It was a huge challenge - a totally different mindset for the staff. The whole workflow was foreign to them and we had a short training time,” Rick Miner explains. “We worked closely with Dalet and we were changing things along the way. We’re still learning ways to improve efficiencies.” The benefits of sharing content with centralized ingest and storage were immediate.
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SHOWS
Clay Paky and Ambersphere Support Stone Roses Resurrection
In one of the biggest comebacks of recent times, the Stone Roses chose to work with renowned Lighting Designer Paul Normandale to design what can only be described as a awe-inspiring light and video show to complement their highly anticipated reunion tour this summer. Amongst other fixtures sharing the stage with the iconic Mancunian band were Clay Paky Sharpys, with the entire show being controlled by the grandMA2 full-size. ‘The Stone Roses are a band that focuses on the impact of the music, rather than big production going on around them, and so our challenge was to create a light show that doesn’t overwhelm the music but allows the audience, and the band to ‘feel’ the lighting design connecting to the music,’ noted grandMA2 programmer Glen Johnson of Lite Alternative.
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AKG C544L Works Miracles on Jesus Christ Superstar Tour
Andrew Lloyd Webber was just 21 years old when he and Tim Rice collaborated to pen Jesus Christ Superstar. Now, more than 40 years later, Laurence Connor's contemporary take on the production, which features former Spice Girl Mel C and Australian comedian Tim Minchin, is in the midst of an arena tour of the United Kingdom. Sixty of HARMAN’s AKG C544L headset mics are deployed for all vocals during the show, and according to both FOH and monitor engineers, the mic was ideally suited to this particular application. Both engineers talked to Redditch-based SSE Audio Group's director, Yan Stile, whose company provided the audio for the tour, and requested an organized “shootout” to find out which microphone would be best suited to the job in hand.
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MAC Rig for Def Leppard “Rock of Ages“ U.S. Tour
Thirty years on and Def Leppard is still one of the most important bands in rock music. Over 100 million albums sold, a catalog of rock anthems and a reputation for spectacular live shows attest to that. The band has always had a loyal following in the U.S. and has just wrapped up a “Rock of Ages” summer tour there with lighting design by Kenji Ohashi. Kenji's design was phenomenal using the Union Jack as its main theme and lit by a mostly Martin Professional lighting system supplied by Upstaging. “It has been another great year of touring with Def Leppard,” says Paul Costa of Upstaging, who have been supplying Def Leppard tours for years. “It was a pleasure to work with Kenji and the whole Def Leppard production.”
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PRODUCTS
World’s Broadcasters Cover Elections with Vizrt Live Video and Graphics Tools
On November 6th when results from the United States Presidential election race came pouring in, nearly 90 percent of the world was watching live video and graphic tabulations produced with Vizrt equipment as Vizrt continues to be the company the world is truly watching. Thousands of Viz Engines were working overtime for this event, performing real-time video and graphic composites and rendering 2D and 3D animations in SD and HD. In the United States alone, six national networks and more than 150 local channels covered this election with Vizrt tools. Approximately 1,000 Viz Engine renderers werel driveing election results for U.S. broadcasters.
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Big Brother Australia Uses ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher For Live Broadcasts
Developed by Southern Star Entertainment for Nine Network Australia and based on the international Big Brother series produced by Netherlands based television production and distribution company Endemol, Big Brother Australia follows the lives of 14 strangers living in a house sealed off from the outside world for up to 100 days. Each Monday, during the live nomination show, the housemates cast votes nominating each other for eviction. The housemates with the most nominations are then up for eviction, which is decided by viewers during the following Sunday’s live eviction show. In order to recap the drama and help housemates and viewers with their decisions, Big Brother Australia relies on Rod Morris, managing director of Interactive Originals, and the ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher.
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BVE North 2012: A Q&A with Anita Pal, Event Director, i2i Events Group
What's new at BVE North this year? The Skills Zone is a place where we will offer informal discussion sessions to give BVE visitors the chance to get valuable advice from expert practitioners in the industry. The topics for discussion will be essential, everyday business concerns, career and training issues, such as running your own business, how to fight for your right to freelance, and commissioners pitching sessions. In addition the event will offer extended networking opportunities via fringe events with Creative England, The Comedy Film Festival, Northern Soho and a host of other broadcast networking groups in the North West. And we are delighted to welcome 33 new exhibitors and sponsors to the show this year.
Read the whole interview here
BMS Broadcast Solutions
BMS is a leader in compact video transmission systems and produces a full line of analog and digital portable and fixed transmitters, receivers, and accessories operating up to 15GHz and adhering to the DVB-T standard. Microwave systems include wireless RF camera links, air-to ground video and data links, point-to-point video and data links, auto-tracking ground antenna systems, relay systems, and portable microwave links. Maintaining picture quality of wireless cameras is no longer a problem with wireless camera controls from BMS. The BMS wireless camera control solution utilizes OEM remote control panels, offering a seamless experience in transferring from a wired camera. By adding a UHF return link and incorporating the existing COFDM data link, a bi-directional link is built that allows full duplex communication between the wireless camera and remote control panel.
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DVS Develops the RF Version of the Superloupe
The RF version of the Superloupe, developed by the engineering teams at DVS, benefits from several innovations: one being its new lightweight carbon chassis enabling the cameraman to move around more quickly so as to be at the heart of the action and to multiply the number of shot angles. Compatible with all existing RF transmission systems, the new Superloupe can be used to its full potential when used in conjunction with the RF systems developed by Livetools Technology. LiveTools Technology SA is a Swiss company founded in 1997 (previously named Broadcast Services) which has a wide background in wireless TV production services worldwide. In 2006, LiveTools was aquired by SFP (Société Française de Production) and is now a member of EuroMedia Group. EuroMedia Group is Europe’s leading provider of TV & Film facilities and services. Finally, Livetools mission is very simple: to help you saving money and time on your TV productions.
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slomo.tv : Simple R Passes the First International Test
slomo.tv's newest product, Simple R, made its first mark in international sports broadcasting when Bulgaria's TV1 used the instant replay system in the World Cup qualifying match between Bulgaria and Denmark on 12.10.2012. The small, light machine (1U @ 4.5 kg) produced instant slow motion replays from 3 cameras during the game as well as half-time and end-game highlights, all in HD broadcast quality. "The system is stable and strong. We are all very satisfied," said Rumen Kowachew, CEO of TV 1. The debut of Simple R points a clear way out from under the shadows of bigger and expensive systems. No other system currently on the market can offer comparable capabilities in such a small package and for such a low price.
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3D/4K ARISING
Sony Extends its ‘Beyond HD’ Vision
Throughout its history, cinema has used film as its recording medium. More recently, digital technology has also played a major role. In 1999 Sony released its first HD digital camera system for motion picture capture, a milestone in the shift toward digital production. In 2006, Sony launched the world’s first 4K digital cinema projector, leading to widespread adoption of digital projection in theatres. In January this year, following the introduction of Sony’s 8K-sensor F65 CineAlta camera, an entire 4K workflow, from image capture and post production, to viewing was achieved with a line-up of 4K products and an open SRMASTER alliance partnership with leading industry manufacturers. At the heart of this announcement is the introduction of Sony’s new XAVC open format. XAVC uses the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 compression codec and is the key to the development of a family of production tools for a range of high quality applications. It supports High-Frame-Rate HD as well as 4K imaging, and fourteen leading companies in the industry to date have indicated an intention to license the technology.
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“Making the Complicated Simple, Awesomely Simple, that’s Creativity”
Award-winning cinematographer Alexander Palm made his way to Bremen to film the city for a 10-part TV series called "Germany, Your Cities 3D". With the OConnor 2575, he brings the architecture and the memories of merchants to life. Why the OConnor 2575? "Because I appreciate the precision of the OConnor fluid heads. In addition, the 2575 is very robust. An OConnor head has never let me down," answers Palm. Even during erratic weather conditions, the 2575 fluid head proved its durability: "We filmed a lot outside. From gray skies and rain to sunshine, we had every kind of weather," says Palm describing the filming conditions. With assistance from director Stefan Pannen, 3D supervising producer Markus Aha, first camera assistant Alexander Klein, Palm was able to realize his project according to his personal motto, a quote by jazz bassist Charles Mingus: "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity."
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4K Today & Tomorrow
Today there are several 4K cameras available with models from Sony, JVC, RED and Arriflex - all shoot in the digital cinema aspect ratio. None actually output 4K video on a single connector, instead breaking up the 4K signal into four quadrants output on four BNCs. Remember, as a digital cinema camera, their design goal was to record files for post production. Frame rate can also be an issue as not all 4K cameras can shoot higher than motion picture's twenty-four frames per second standard. Think of 4K today as about the same place in time as HD was in the early 1990s. In HD'd case, serious live multi-camera sports ad entertainment HD production across multiple networks until 2003.
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