Newsletter from 25/11/2011
Multi-Platform Production and Distribution
MOBILE PRODUCTION
Woods TV | Movico Mobile Studio Facility
Woods TV and Movico have brought a unique solution for remote studio production to the international broadcast market. For years broadcasters have been relying on separate solutions for commentary positions, on-site studio space and technical facilities in order to put their talent well and truly “on location”. With Woods TV/Movico’s new mobile studio facility the commentary position, the studio space and the technical facilities are combined in a single mobile unit. The mobile studio is designed around an internal hydraulic platform that rises almost 3.5 meters above the ground. The unit then expands to create a 26 square meter studio on the top floor that is fully enclosed by glass windows and with ample room for cameras, lights, teleprompter and other accessories, as well as set elements. The lower level houses the MCR and all technical facilities necessary to support live or taped production, including switcher, monitor wall, audio, communications, VTR, editing and graphics. Additional space is available for coordination, wardrobe, make-up, kitchen and wc. The facility is designed to function autonomously and requires only a separate transmission solution to deliver ready-to-air studio content anywhere in the world.
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Red TX Unit 2
Broadcast sound specialist Red TX generated plenty of interest when it officially unveiled its new RED II mobile recording unit at Pinewood Studios before an audience of invited guests from various music and broadcast industry trade associations. The new truck, which is designed to cater for 3D and 7.1 surround sound productions, enables Red TX to tackle more high quality broadcast productions without the need to outsource. Its innovative design also makes it much easier to mix surround sound audio in a live environment – and it’s a lot more comfortable for the people working on-board. Red TX provides a comprehensive concert recording and broadcast service to the music and television industries. The company has state-of-the-art mobile recording facilities and can handle projects of any size or complexity. As well as recording audio for broadcast, the company also records live music events for subsequent release on CD or DVD. It is headed by Ian Dyckhoff and Tim Summerhayes, both of whom have extensive experience in delivering high-quality audio for broadcast.
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Visual Unity Helps Czech TV Move In To Full HD Outside Broadcast Production
Designed to capture mainly sporting and cultural events, the new vehicle is based on a 26 ton MAN chassis with a single expanding side. At 12 meters long and nearly four meters high, it is the second completely HD equipped vehicle in Czech TV’s fleet and provides the entire technical infrastructure needed to deliver Outside Broadcast content in full HD. Visual Unity was commissioned to handle this prestigious project on the basis of its extensive experience of designing, delivering and integrating turnkey TV systems, broadcast-IT convergent and multiscreen solutions. Borne out of respected international SI Visual Connection (latterly KIT digital Czech), Visual Unity offers an in depth understanding of the complexities of the broadcast chain coupled with extensive in-house software expertise. Czech TV took delivery of its new OB truck in October and has already put it through its paces. Its first successful live production was the Euro Floorball Tour 2011, which took place in Bmo, Czech Republic, at the beginning of November.
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FlyDrive Concept Car and Support Vehicle for International Sports Broadcasting S.L.
Broadcast Solutions delivered a "FlyDrive-Concept"-vehicle based on an Opel Movano to International Sports Broadcasting SL from Spain. Peculiarity of this vehicle is the modular design and integration of flight cases into a 3.5 t production vehicle for a complete 6-camera TV-production. The entire audio-visual equipment is installed in two flight cases, which are docked into the vehicle, monitors and mixers are also flexibly installed. International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) is a full-service broadcasting organization that has a long elong experience. Headquartered in Madrid, Spain and with offices in the United States, ISB was formed more than 10 years ago. Founded by Manolo Romero, a pioneer in sports television, ISB primarily serves major events as the host broadcaster, responsible for providing the television and radio signals as a service to the event's right holding broadcasters. Created in 1996 after successfully winning a competitive bid to become the host broadcaster for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, ISB has been actively involved in every Olympic Games since 1998 while members of its staff have worked in each Games since 1968.
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SPORTS
Clay Paky Sharpy Moving Heads Turn in Winning Performance at “NFL Kick Off 2011”
The tradition of the NFL Kick Off started in Times Square in 2001 as a pre-game public event tying entertainment and sports together,” says Spike Lloyd, the show’s lighting designer. “This year the concert in Green Bay featured Kid Rock, Maroon 5 and Lady Antebellum. It started at 3 pm and went until 6:30.” A large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads welcomed the start of the pro football season at the “NFL Kick Off 2011 Presented by EA Sports,” the high-energy, pre-game concert which aired live on NBC from the parking lot at Lambeau Field, home of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. “NFL Kick Off 2011 Presented By EA Sports” was produced by Touchstone Entertainment. Atomic Lighting acquired the Sharpys from A.C.T Lighting, distributor of Clay Paky in North America.
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EVS Enters Argentinian Studios with its Tapeless Workflow Solutions
EVS’ technology will provide Studio and truck workflow equipment to Artear and Carburando with two 6-channel XT2 servers (in-studio) allowing to record, control and easily play media in a fast-paced live or near-live environment. Based on its open architecture platform, the server offers a complete tapeless workflow solution integrating with Avid for studio editing. Files are then transferred and saved on the XFile removable storage unit. One XTAccess has been acquired to move media from a video server to central storage and post-production environment. This tool transfers high-resolution streams and can also manage on the fly transcodes to a proxy with a matched tape ID. In the field, Carburando will be using one XTAccess unit in the OB truck as well as one 8-channel SD/HD XT3 server enabling live operations in the most demanding live and near-live production requirements. The server includes more audio tracks and increased storage in the remote facility. A 6-channel XTnano will also be installed in the OB facility for live slow motion and super slow motion replays as well as clipping and playlist creations.
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Editec's I-Movix: Outstanding Ultra SloMo for Prestige UK Equestrian Events
This year's Horse of the Year show (HOYS) completed a trio of prestige show jumping events broadcast live this year on Sky sports, the other two being top Hickstead events. This is the second year that the I-Movix Vvs ultra slo mo system has been used on these UK events to provide stunning ultra slo mo playback, enhancing production values and the viewing experience. During the Hickstead events, the system was used with a variety of frame rates, sometimes as high as 2000fps. The NEC HOYS event was indoors, so thelighting levels restricted use of the higher frame rates – still, the camera and system performance allowed shooting at around a remarkable 750 fps. Steve Cotterill, MD of Editec Ltd said “We are very pleased to have the repeat business from our major client Sky Sports. The I-Movix system comes into its own on these events, with superb high speed and low light performance. Other systems would struggle to produce clean pictures even at at 250 fps. Director Phil Murphy, a long standing Editec customer commented “I-Movix allows you to witness sporting moments the human eye cannot detect.”
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SHOWS
Céline Dion and Audio Crew Handpick Neumann and Sennheiser for Las Vegas Performances
Céline is appreciated by her audio staff for her amazing ear and sense of sound, as well as her strong capability in participating in technical decisions. Before launching the show, she spent a full day reviewing gear and testing microphones with Denis Savage, her sound designer and FOH engineer; François “Frankie” Desjardins, her system designer; Charles Ethier, her monitor engineer; and Marc Thériault, her RF engineer. “We were using the A-B-C-D testing methodology,” explained Desjardins, who has been working with Céline for 18 years, “and it always came back to the Neumann head. At the end of the day, Céline was convinced she had the best microphone in her hand – a Sennheiser SMK 5200 II transmitter outfitted with the Neumann KK 104 capsule.” In addition to featuring over 31 musicians on stage, Céline’s show also includes a spectacular light and video display as a backdrop. As she performs, moving stage pieces, video and lighting enhance the theme of each song. Still, there is an intimacy to the show that highlights Céline’s stunning unique voice. The KK 104 S accurately captures every nuance and detail throughout each performance.
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Red TX Brings Stunning Broadcast Audio Quality To Coldplay’s Madrid Album Launch
17,000 fans in the stadium were joined by 44 million other fans around the world to watch the spectacular show on You Tube. Coldplay’s set included hits such as Yellow, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, Fix You, Clocks and Viva La Vida as well as the singles Paradise and Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall from their new album Mylo Xyloto. The concert was mixed on board Red TX’s new truck, Red II, by renowned live sound engineer and Red TX director Tim Summerhayes. He provided a live stereo audio feed to the Visions mobile, which was capturing the video in High Definition and providing onward broadcast to You Tube. Summerhayes also recorded the concert in 5.1 surround sound for subsequent DVD release.
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Secure Communications at the Papal Visit in Germany with Riedel Communications
The papal visit to Germany was an event of gigantic proportions. Both the strict security requirements as well as the technical demands were extremely high for the five main events associated with the visit. It was crucial to build a reliable communications infrastructure in each location that was also secure from eavesdropping. In addition, the locations needed to be ready to distribute audio and video signals to both broadcast networks and to the on-site video walls. The two largest events were held in Freiburg, including a vigil and the farewell celebration at the local airport. Two interconnected TETRA cells with four base radios were used to guarantee reliable radio network coverage across the entire Freiburg region. The cells were connected via a Riedel Headliner RF link. Headliner RF links allow 25 mile long bi-directional connections with a bandwidth of up to 300 MBits/s.
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PRODUCTS
EVS Releases Multicam11 to Control XT3 and XS Series Servers
EVS announces the release of Multicam11 allowing the use of new configurations of XT3/XS series servers. This new software integrates significant setup improvement and extends system operation flexibility, including the 8-channel HD control. This new exploitation system benefits from new Dual Power configurations onboard the XT3 and the latest generation of the XS systems which multiply the number of available channels on servers. Among others, it includes the use of XT3 6RU with 8-channel configurations or XT3 4RU with 7-channel configurations. The Multicam11 is able to mix effects on a single playback channel while offering a 3D 6-channel and 1080p 6-channel support.
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Grass Valley EDIUS Adds More Functionality for Editing in a Multiformat World
The new software version also features improved compatibility with XDCAM MXF files stored on SxS solid-state memory cards. Also included is support for Sony’s XDCAM STATION with the latest XDS firmware (1.14) upgrade. For the first time, EDIUS users can take advantage of third-party hardware, with support for the Black Magic Design Intensity Pro capture card. EDIUS 6.06 also supports the latest version of QuickTime (7.7). “The software is now more open and its performance is better than ever, as we continue to add new features, based on user feedback,” said Jeff Rosica, Executive Vice President of Grass Valley. “As today’s multiformat editors are challenged with more formats and new video sources that they have to incorporate into their projects, EDIUS has kept pace and progressed with them.”
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Harris Corporation Improves Efficiency at Russian Business News Channel RBC-TV
The first Russian 24/7 business news channel RBC TV is the premier source for the business and political elite in Russia. Installed in all branches of Russian government and legislature, RBC TV broadcasts a wide array of business and political news, commentary, interviews, Russian and foreign experts` analysis, as well as economy reviews, in-depth reviews, live reports and the latest business updates from such news agencies as CNN, APTN, Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC.RBC TV broadcasts its programming to more than 53 million viewers located in over 600 cities across Russia, the CIS and the Baltic states is from the HOT BIRDTM 6 satellite/ on internet. The new Harris infrastructure and workflow solution brings greater operational efficiency to RBC TV by facilitating a tapeless, file-based workflow throughout the facility. The upgraded system stretches across the workflow from ingest to playout, driving the broadcaster’s news, production and master control areas. Harris Platinum™ large-scale and Panacea™ small-scale routing systems support facility-wide signal distribution at the infrastructure, while compact Harris HView™ multiviewer solutions simplify signal monitoring and management.
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Blackmagic Design adds Avid DNxHD Recording and Playback to HyperDeck Studio
DNxHD is a broadcast industry standard for media files and adding native support for this compressed video format into HyperDeck Studio will allow dramatically longer recording times, lower media storage costs, and full file format compatibility with Avid Media Composer® systems. All media is recorded in MXF format, so it’s immediately available in Media Composer without any time consuming file copying or import processing. HyperDeck Software Update 2.0 will be available at the end of November 2011 free of charge for all HyperDeck Studio customers.
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3D ARISING
Castells in 3D – Like you have never seen them before
Men and women, children and older folk, of all origins and social classes, work together to raise the castells. From the pinya to the enxaneta, they all play a decisive role. Enxaneta shows this effort and does not shy from the hardness of the fall, the shared disappointment or the anger. It shows how all of this leads to a great spirit of self-improvement, to a renewed strength for a new attempt, to the impulse of rising again. Above the colours of the shirts and the rivalries, this film talks of castells as a school of life. And it does so through the spectacularity of the 3D images in 5.1 surrounding sound, in a new bid for innovation and excellence by Televisió de Catalunya. Enxaneta, which was premiered in Paris in September, seeks to promote castells as had never been done before. From Catalonia to all men and women world-wide.
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Broadcast RF Tests New Sony 3D CamCorder with Wireless Transmission System
At the Four Nations Rugby League matches at Wembley Stadium the Sony PMW-TD300 3D was used for the first time as a wireless camera in a live sports production. Based on Sony’s popular PMW-320 camcorder, the PMW-TD300 uses dual 1/2” 3x CMOS sensors to offer superb 3D picture quality, even in dark environments. The PMW-TD300 can record over six hours on SxS cards by using 4x 64GB SxS cards. Supporting both 2D and 3D capabilities the CamCorder is the perfect option for production companies and freelancers making sports, music, documentaries or short films. With a short inter-axial distance of only 45mm, the PMW-TD300 allows 3D shooting at close up distances of 1.2m. UK-based production company and technology supplier Broadcast RF set the PMW-TD300 3D CamCorder as a radio camera for this live broadcast. Since its introduction at NAB 2011 the PMW-TD300 CamCorder has been awaited eagerly because it has the look and feel (and weight) of a typical 2D camera, making it easy to handle for handheld applications. It can be used as a shoulder camera or on a Steadicam. While the interaxial distance between the two "eyes" is fixed, the convergence can be controlled either from the camera or remotely. For each eye the PMW-TD300 CamCorder has an individual HD-SDI output, so both left and right eye are available in full HD resolution rather than merged into a single side-by-side output.
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Top Match of the Week with TopVision's Dedicated 3D OBVan
The 3D production setup in detail: Camera pairs #1 and #2 were Sony HDC-1500’s mounted on side-by-side rigs from 3ality Technica and positioned high next to the traditional HD camera platforms. Camera pairs #3 and #4 consisted also of two HDC-1500’s mounted on an 3ality Technica “Quasar” mirror rigs. Camera pair #5 was the BIRDY 5:0 with the LMP side-by-side rig and two LMP HD:1200 chip cameras. Camera pair #6 (again two HDC-1500’s) was setup in the same way as camera pairs #3 and #4 on a 3ality Technica “Quasar” mirror rig. The “behind the goal” pairs #7 and #8 were made up of HD:1200 mini cameras fixed on side-by-side rigs from LMP. The left and the right eye camera signals from all the 3ality Technica rigs were fed into Sony’s fiber optic video transceiver HDFA-200 and send together with the camera, lens and rig control data via one optical fiber cable to eight Sony MPE-200 production processors located in TopVision’s 3D OBVan. All theHDC-1500 cameras were equipped with Canon clutch-less zoom lenses and the rigs were mounted on Sachtler tripods.
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