Newsletter from 30/04/2013
4 Goals in 4K - The UEFA CL by Sky Germany
MOBILE PRODUCTION
Pororoca - A Natural Wonder
The Pororoca wave is a surfer’s dream. Twice a year, the longest wave on earth rolls down the longest river on earth: the Amazon. This phenomenon is a result of tides in the Atlantic Ocean that converge at the mouth of the Amazon River and create a tidal bore that pushes waves as high as 12 feet down the river. On April 10, 11 and 12 CCTV and TV Globo reported live from the Pororoca with the technical help of XD Motion. A mixed Chinese, Brazilian and European Team of 100 people had set up the recording and transmission facilities about 17 boat hours away from the city of Macapa. Macapa is the third largest city in the Amazon Basin. It is where the Amazon River joins the Atlantic. XD Motion provided one helicopter with a gyro stabilized Cineflex and RF, one RF relay helicopter, two RF boats and two RF reception points. XD Motion was also responsible for the satellite communication lines between Beijing and the Amazonas.
Read more ...
TNDV Turns Ignition on New Mobile Audio Production Truck
“Most production companies with a mobile audio truck are strictly in the business of doing mobile audio,” said Nic Dugger, president and owner of TNDV. “It is unusual for a mobile production firm to build an audio truck to work alongside video trucks. Our goal was to build a truck that could work hand-in-hand with our fleet of HD production trucks and also perform on its own. And we now have a 53-foot, 256-input, 7.1 surround sound mobile audio truck with multi-track recording prepared to go anywhere in the country.” TNDV outfitted the truck, dubbed Vibration, with a Studer Vista 9 digital mixer and a redundant ProTools multi-track recording system. Dugger notes that the Studer integrates most required routing, monitoring and processing applications, limiting the need for outboard equipment.
Read more ...
SIS Live Provides Coverage of Margaret Thatcher's Funeral
SIS LIVE’s OB and satellite uplink trucks were stationed at key points in central London and along the route from Westminster to St Paul’s. SIS LIVE provided production facilities via OB 7, its state-of-the-art OB truck, located 50 miles away at its Milton Keynes headquarters. The offices in Milton Keynes are home to one of SIS LIVE’s satellite teleports and 24 hour MCR, where 14 HD feeds were brought in either via satellite or fibre for production in OB 7. The programme output from OB 7 was then transmitted to two different satellites and distributed to BT Tower to be watched by audiences across the globe. The ability to utilise SIS LIVE’s extensive teleport and fibre infrastructure was key, as it allowed all international production facilities to be based away from London, where space was at a premium and security a major concern.
Read more ...
STUDIO PRODUCTION
Not Your Parents' Cable Access Channel
On any given day, the studios of Brookline Access Television are abuzz with people and productions, creating and delivering a busy schedule of local programming and services. But BATV is more than just a neighborhood cable access channel - the station serves as a nexus for multimedia technology in the community, serving the Metro Boston area with high school and adult classes and seminars in video editing, graphic design, animation, and more. "Public access TV is very strong in the US, and as the public has become increasingly sophisticated, people expect a higher level of content," explains Peter Zawadzki, BATV's Executive Director. "Today's YouTube generation is practically born with a camera attached, and we're not teaching them how to do video so much as how to improve the video they're already doing."
Read more ...
Al-Nahar TV Chooses Virtual Studio and Robotic Camera Solutions from hybrid
Each studio will employ the same configuration of Hybrid products: two Silver II PTZF robotic camera heads, a Cobalt control panel with Mercury control software, and one camera in the ceiling for beauty shots using Hybrid’s Neon trackless virtual set system. enlarge image copyrighted by liveProduction.tv “We’ve been extremely thorough in our review of the available virtual studio systems,” said Amr El-Kahky, the Head of Al-Nahar TV Network. “We feel confident that the Hybrid virtual studio solutions and robotic camera support will meet our needs. We’re looking forward to all of the design and operational benefits they’ll provide our network.” Al-Nahar TV Network, which has won a dozen awards since launching in June 2011, has been among the top three TV networks in Egypt’s post-revolution era. Network management is leveraging technology to create a competitive advantage.
Read more ...
Convincing: X Factor Arabia Relies on MA VPU
X Factor is one of the most successful casting shows worldwide, and the same is true for X Factor Arabia. The show started broadcasting in March 2006. The current run of 20 shows is again based on the original British concept “The X Factor” that is produced by Simon Cowell and his company SYCOtv. The "X Factor" of the title refers to that undefinable "something" that makes real star quality. Video for X Factor Arabia, recently produced in Beirut, Lebanon, relied on an MA control system consisting of 2 x grandMA2 light and 6 x MA VPU plus (Video Processing Units). Stephan Flören of LichtUnit GmbH, who worked as Video Supervisor and specified the MA VPU, the grandMA2 consoles and the video system, explained why he chose MA, and especially the MA VPU: “It was the reliability of the MA VPU and the grandMA2 system as it would have been very difficult to source any spare parts in Beirut.”
Read more ...
SPORTS
UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich 4-0 FC Barcelona
For any television innovation, the main driver is always sport. If it allows you to create better, clearer, more engaging sports coverage then the innovation has a good chance of succeeding in the consumer marketplace. Sport on television has developed dramatically over the last decade, with a clearly established language. It depends on large numbers of cameras, and importantly on multiple replays from those cameras. Sports fans expect to see key action points from different angles and at different speeds, to understand what happened and to appreciate the skills involved. So outside broadcast trucks today routinely include large numbers of server channels to provide these replays, including slow motion playback. Audiences are going to expect the same production elements and will reject 4k if it means they have to loose these insights. Server recording and replay of multiple camera channels will stay as vital requirement also on the road to 4K. In Munich two different 4K/UltraHD slow motion playback systems were tested, both with the possibility to zoom into the picture: a system from EVS/AJA and one from PsiTech.
Read more ...
A World First: Live Ultra Slow Motion Camera at Amstel Gold Race
Using a NAC Hi-Motion II™ supplied by Netherlands-based full-service rental house Broadcast Rental, for the first time the ultra slow motion shots were transmitted live through a RF connection to the OB truck. In regular OB productions, the NAC Hi-Motion II is connected via cable and the replay-operator controls the ultra slow motion footage from the camera. During the Amstel Gold Race, however, the slow motion footage was actually being triggered by the camera operator and the replays sent as a live feed to the director for broadcast. NOS director Pim Marks specifically used the NAC Hi-Motion II™ for this live broadcast: “Last summer we were really happy with this camera during the London Olympic Games, unfortunately we couldn’t use it on a motorcycle due to safety measures. Now I had the opportunity of using it on the back of a motorcycle and it truly met my needs. I had the best ultra slow motion shots just when I needed them, for live and fall back situations. And the viewers could enjoy amazing never before seen close-ups of the cyclers and their bikes.”
Read more ...
TV 2 Norway and Norwia Go the Distance
The site survey from TV 2 included 3 different locations with distances of 15km and 45km between broadcast transmission sites. The options were to use localized production trucks at each location, and provide sufficient staff to run each site with transmission back to a local point via satellite services. The other option was to provide fiber connectivity between the sites and use remote production from two of the sites back to the master site. he result was that TV 2 chose the miniHUB optical distribution due to cost of operation. miniHUB could give these results with its configuration flexibility and extremely good optical budget. Using the miniHUB system meant that no remote truck facility had to be used with only minimal associated camera equipment and minimal personnel needed for the event. This was a huge saving to TV 2 and paved the way for more remote productions in the future.
Read more ...
SHOWS
Canberra 100 Birthday Celebrations
The Centenary of Canberra is an opportunity for all Australians to celebrate this momentous occasion in our country’s history and to explore the many facets–local, regional, national and international–of our nation’s capital. This city tells the story of our country's freedom, spirit, achievements and aspirations. The year-long program will include new and exciting projects, but equally it will showcase the very best of what’s already happening in Canberra each year–the people, the places, the events that contribute to Canberra’s role in our national story. The ambition behind this program is to create lasting legacies that will benefit generations of Australians to come and lead Canberra confidently into the journey of the next hundred years. The Centenary offers a great opportunity to explore Canberra through its natural seasonal calendar–revealing a lively and active 21st century city ideally fulfilling its important role as the nation’s capital.
Read more ...
Robe in Clash of The Choirs, Soweto
The Endemol SA produced talent show presented by Bonang Matheba was broadcast on DStv channel Mzansi Magic and had massive impact in a country with a fantastically rich musical culture of choir music and performance. Seven amateur choirs from different provinces were mentored by celebrity musicians and are competing for a prize of 500,000 ZAR, 250,000 of which goes to the winning choir and 250,000 to a charity of their choice. The first series’ rounds were recorded at the new Soweto Theatre, Nr Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, and the final will be battled out by the top three choirs in April. Lighting for the series was designed by Peter Reick from Blond Productions. The rig included over 100 Robe moving lights which were a combination of Blond's own hire stock and the Soweto Theatre’s in house rig.
Read more ...
Clay Paky “QWO” 800s Provides Intense Sparkle for Gary Barlow Tour
Multi award-winning lighting designer, Tim Routledge, chose to specify Clay Paky 800W Alpha Spot QWO 800 luminaires to deliver an intense sparkle to British singer Gary Barlow’s glittering UK tour. Routledge, known for his work with Madonna, Katherine Jenkins and Sterophonics, specified 26 powerful Alpha Spot QWO 800s, supplied by Neg Earth, praising them as ‘superb optic spots, perfect for cutting through LED’. “I specifically picked the QWO800s having used them on the Queen’s Jubilee Concert,” says Routledge. “For the Gary Barlow tour we were playing theatres and smaller concert venues and I really wanted as bright a spot as I could find in the smallest body – I really dislike seeing big ugly fixtures spoiling the architecture of a show or a venue. The QWOs really fitted that bill – they are small, compact and extremely bright and moreover the optics on the focus of gobos is superb.”
Read more ...
PRODUCTS
New in our Rental Directory: AED group
Rent, FlexLease, Lease and Sales of State-of-the-art and standardized AV equipment. AED group with headquarters in Belgium and divisions in The Netherlands,Germany, France and the United Kingdom, is the only Total Solution Provider within the AV industry. With 5 solutions and 7 business concepts it offers Total Solutions for AV professionals. When used correctly and in balance, those 5 solutions will help AV companies (Rental companies, retailers, integrators, installers,...) to achieve their goals.
Go to the Directory
New in our System Integration Directory: Media Group International
Media Group International is a proven media broadcast and communications technologies systems integrator, serving the media, telecommunications, security, education, hospitality and advertising industries in the Gulf region for more than 35 years. With offices in Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and London, MGI is perfectly positioned to provide today’s broadcasters with efficient, well managed future-proof solutions that always deliver high-end results.
Go to the Directory
Live-Production.TV Mobile
Our mobile application is online and will deliver news about sports, shows, cultural and political events as well as product info to your mobile where ever you are. Try it out - go to www.live-production.tv with the browser on your mobile - you also can search our complete catalogue of 7,090 news (as of today) and have all the info related to the TV Live Production Community with you.
3D/4K ARISING
4K @ FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 and WorldCup 2014
During the Confederations Cup, Sony and FIFA will produce three matches in 4K using a 4K OBVan supplied by UK-based production company Telegenic and currently still in built at Sony Professional Systems in Basingstoke. The trial will take place at the Estadio Mineiro in Belo Horizonte, one of six stadiums being used for this year’s tournament, and will test the process involved in shooting and delivering live 4K programming on 17, 22 and 26 June 2013. The content itself will not be screened for the public, as the test is aimed at examining the technical and creative aspects of using the technology, with an eye toward bringing 4K broadcasts to future sporting events. For any television innovation the main driver is always sport. If 4K allows creating better, cleaner, more engaging sports coverage then the innovation has a good chance of succeeding in the consumer market place.
Read more ...
UltraHD with HEVC first for SES
Commenting on the demonstration, Thomas Wrede, VP Reception Systems, SES, said: “We are very proud to present the first Ultra HD demo in the HEVC standard on satellite. SES has once again taken a leadership role in the industry by broadcasting the first real Ultra HD picture in a commercially realistic bandwidth. We are convinced that the HEVC standard will become the option of choice for TV operators broadcasting Ultra HD content and expect the industry to develop prototype Ultra HD receivers in the coming months. With this initiative SES will be significantly driving the Ultra HD ecosystem forward and provide a 24/7 test channel to its industry partners.” The signal was broadcast in DVB-S2 using a data rate of 20 Mbps. The live demonstration for the first time broadcast a full 3840×2160 pixel Ultra HD picture in HEVC, while previous demonstrations were either broadcast in H.264 or using four HD pictures in parallel. SES first live-broadcast a full 3840×2160 pixel Ultra HD picture using the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) standard at IBC 2012.
Read more ...
It’s 4K All The Way, Drawing Line in The Sand, Storing Stuff
We’ve known Blackmagic Design for years. They have a great group of Melbourne-based Aussies who made terrific production/post production boards and they’ve slowly expanded their footprint in the market; but boy, this year they came with a whole lot of thunder! Last year, it was their Cinema Camera which the industry liked but Red always seemed to have the wow factor. This year, they made us take notice with two new cameras: the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 4K and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K, is a high-resolution 4K digital film camera with a large Super 35-size sensor with a professional global shutter and all kinds of neat stuff that videographers really love. And with cameras normally in the $25K range, it caught a lot of attention with its $4K price.
Read more ...