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VOLUME 3 > ISSUE 5Also see C+T in PDF at www.content-technology.com CONTENTS

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04 NEWSVideocraft Powers Oprah Down Under, Rising Sun Installs Nucoda, ARRI ALEXA in First Aussie Feature, Digistor Puts Shine onto ISIS, New staff for classification board, Iloura Team, Lambourne COO, Omnilab cinema team, and more on the latest appointments.

12 TAKING STOCKGrass Valley Sale, HME Pro Audio Merges with Clear-com, Carrington Harmonic sales VP, Sensio acquires algolith IP, Vislink restructures to buy gigawave, other news.

18 TECHNICAL STANDARDSH.264 Beefs Up Mobile Phone Photographs, Entertainment identifier registry, Linear acoustic answers and more.

20 3D – THE THIRD DIMENSIONStereoscopic production and exhibition: 3ality’s Steve Schklair Talks to 3D to C+T, plus Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 reviewed.

28 3D-DAYDetails on C+T’s Conference & Exhibition.

30 ACQUISITIONJVC Joins 100+ Club, Sony’s PMW-F3 35mm Digital Camera, ARRI’s Digital Camera in Film Disguise and more.

36 SPORTSCASTINGContained Coverage from Gearhouse, Riedel Communicates at Asian Games, StarComm Surfing Coverage and more.

38 NEWS OPERATIONSFOR-A for Finance News Network, Globecast connects during Australian Flood Crisis, SBS News adopts Panasonic P2 HD.

44 POST-PRODUCTIONPosting 3D with Lightstorm and WETA, SSL DV introduces Gravity live-edit, Dolby PRM-4200 Pro Reference Monitor.

46 STORAGE & ASSET MANAGEMENTTVNZ transforms operations, Globecast’s “Digital Ecosystem”, Harris Makes Additions to Nexio Portfolio and other DAM.

52 CLOUD COMPUTINGAkamai – First Cloud on the Horizon

54 DIGITAL SIGNAGEFocus Media D-Signage Reaches 500 Commercial Buildings, PumpTV Launches Operations in China and more.

56 RADIOACMA Finds Breach of Radio Directorships, ABC Live Digital Station for Queensland Floods, Live radio in North-West Tasmania.

60 AUDIOMalaysia’s RTM upgrades TV Audio with Stagetec, SAE Education business sold, Ovation adopts Evertz System.

68 TRANSMISSION, SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION, T&MPlayroom Adds Nat Geo Channels, Corning to Supply NBN, Broadcast ONE Wins Vietnam TX project.

74 CONFERENCES, EXHIBITIONS

76 OFF-AIR On Tour

80 BABBLING BROOKS The last word from Gerry Brooks.

Design & Layout: Crunch Design Tel: +61-2-9310 5393Email: greenroom@ crunchdesign.com.au

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DisclaimerBroadcastpapers Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for omissions or mistakes made within, claims made or information provided by advertisers.

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Television -Still the One?

By Phil Sandberg

WE’VE ALL HEARD about the decline in traditional media what with cheaper delivery options and time-poor, attention deficient consumers, but is this just a case of interested parties saying the same thing enough times in the hope that it will come true?

Apparently, television will expand on its position as the world’s most dominant media despite challenges from new technologies, according to the Media Predictions 2011 Report from professional services firm Deloitte.

TELEVISION’S “SUPER MEDIA” STATUS STRENGTHENSIn 2011, according to the report, television will continue to lead all media in total revenues, which include advertising sales, subscriptions, pay-per-view, and license fees. Television’s share of audience attention will expand with the global television audience likely to increase by 40 million to 3.7 billion viewers. Even then, half of the world’s population will remain untapped, leaving significant room for continued growth. Viewing per person is forecast to rise modestly to three hours and 12 minutes per day, compared to 33 minutes per day spent on the Internet per U.S. citizen.

Deloitte also claims that by the end of 2011, more than 50 percent of television owners in the U.S. and U.K. will likely own a digital video recorder (DVR), giving these viewers the technological ability to skip ads. However, the impact of DVR sales on television advertising is expected to be minimal since most DVR owners will likely continue watching the vast majority of their television live, dominated by “appointment to watch” programs, such as sports, talent shows, soap operas, reality shows, or news.

The report says this type of programming usually crowds out time available to watch pre-recorded content, and even when viewers fast-forward programs, the ads are not wasted; studies show that ads viewed at 12x speed are still retained by viewers – though, presumably, it doesn’t speed up your purchasing behaviour.

The professional services firm also makes the claim that, despite the sale of millions of television sets that offer built-in search capability for television programming, the vast majority of viewing in 2011 will be delivered on a traditional “push” basis, in other words, based on the schedules determined by channel planners.

Viewers “pulling” television content, beyond selecting a television channel, is likely to remain an

exceptional behaviour. For most people, television continues to be a passive experience. While viewers value the option to choose, they often do not exercise the option even when it’s available. Technological progress is unlikely to shift these ingrained habits any time soon.

However, Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) leader in Australia, Damien Tampling, says television will face rising challenges from social networks and digital video recorders that could affect advertising and consumer behaviour.

“In particular, social networks are expected to surpass one billion unique members globally this year. Despite such challenges, we expect television’s global audience and revenues will continue to grow in 2011 and beyond.”

Deloitte says Social networks are likely to surpass the milestone of one billion unique members in 2011 and may deliver over two trillion advertisements. Yet the advertising revenues directly attributable to social networks will likely remain modest at roughly US$4 per member, totalling less than US$5 billion, which is less than one percent of the worldwide advertising spend total.

Meanwhile, the long-ailing music industry will be kept afloat by the live music sector, expanding its role to include nurturing new talent, which was previously the domain of the recorded music industry’s Artist and Repertoire (A&R) divisions. Deloitte predicts 2011 will see revenues for digitally distributed music will exceed physical music sales in the U.S., driven by a sharp decline in CD sales, rather than a significant increase in digital music subscriptions or downloads. CD retail will shift to becoming a seasonal or event-driven purchase. By the fourth quarter of 2011, there could be 1000 temporary “pop-up” music outlets created to meet occasional surges in demand, creating a small, but growing, niche segment.

For more, go to www.deloitte.com.au or you can download the report, as we did, for free from the Apple iTunes store. Just make sure the PVR is on while you’re giving it a read. Thanks for Reading

Phil SandbergEditor/Publisher

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4 News

DIGITAL TV IN REGIONAL SA, BROKEN HILL

VIDEOCRAFT SIMPLY THE BEST FOR OPRAHWhen Harpo, Oprah Winfrey’s production company, first decided they were going to stage the Opera House Spectaculars, according to Videocraft Project Manager Dan Miall, they had one specific requirement, “To recreate the editing, post-production and IT facilities they use in Chicago in Sydney.”Harpo initially approached Avid USA who in turn put them in touch with Avid Australia and Videocraft.Miall continued, “We met with Radi Akel, Harpo’s General Manager, during the Commonwealth Games and showed him the OB edit system we had installed at Foxtel, which took care of all the games’ highlights for Fox Sports. Radi was impressed and so we sat down to plan exactly what would be required for Oprah’s Sydney shows.”In all, Videocraft provided 11 high-end edit suites with 64Tb of storage and Interplay digital asset management.Miall explained, “The kit list included multiple Avid Media Composer Nitris DXs, Sony LMD-2450W 20-inch LCD professional video production monitors, Dynaudio Acoustics BM5A two-way Active Nearfield Monitors, Interplay Assist stations, Tektronix WFM5000 Multi-Format Waveform Monitors and Yamaha A/V.”In addition to the editing and post production facilities Videocraft also provided Harpo with all of their IT requirements which included 60 laptops, 18Tb of storage, printers, active directory sharepoint and integration.Dan Miall added, “We knew we had to provide all of Harpo’s editing, post and IT requirements for two live shows and two tape-based shows at the Sydney Opera House, but then came the really tricky part – everything had to be installed on the 12th floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in just two days.”To celebrate 25 years of the Oprah Winfrey show, 302 fans from the USA came to Australia with the talk show Queen armed with mini DV cameras.Miall explained, “The audience members’ footage was recorded and ingested as low res .wmv files. The files were then logged in Chicago where the producers chose the shots they wanted and then these files were ingested for a second time into the Avid suites we built at the Intercontinental Hotel. The Sydney suites were then used to cut packages ready for broadcast.”Commenting on the production of the Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure shows Harpo General Manager Radi Akel said, “Everyone at Harpo was amazed and delighted with what Videocraft did for us. The central equipment room they built was awesome and the level of equipment they provided along with their service was second to none. They were the best company in Australia who could put this kind of system together.”Visit www.videocraft.com.au

NUCODA HOWLING SUCCESS FOR RISING SUN AND RED DOGAustralian digital production facility Rising Sun Pictures has used Nucoda Film Master to grade and finish two major feature films – Red Dog and The Dragon Pearl – due for release this year. The facility also used Digital Vision’s new entry-level system Nucoda Compose for VFX Dailies to review high-resolution shots in a colour-accurate environment for iterative feedback. Rising Sun Pictures’ DI Colourist Alex Meddick used Nucoda Film Master’s standard toolset to grade the majority of Red Dog. The comprehensive grading tools were used to achieve the appropriate look set up by Director (Kriv Stenders) and Cinematographer (Geoffrey Hall).Michael Taylor, Rising Sun Pictures’ CEO, explains, “When we installed our Nucoda Film Master DI grading suite including Nucoda Compose we invested a significant amount of R&D to set up the technical aspects of the pipeline including identifying all new formats of delivery and acquisition as well digital cinema deliverables.”Meddick has also recently used Nucoda Film Master to grade The Dragon Pearl, a film shot in China under the new Australia-Chinese co-production treaty. It is a Mario Andreacchio film produced by AMPCO Films and Hengdian World Studios. Taylor concludes, “Prior to installing the Nucoda Film Master we didn’t have a real-time grading solution in a full 4k-capable cinema. This allows an entire film to be acquired, finished and viewed in a cinematic environment with 7.1 surround sound. The system has a full feature set with an extensive physical control service to allow efficient and dynamic workflows to be built with filmmakers. We’ve also tested Nucoda Film Master’s Open EXR functionality for use within our VFX pipeline. The benefits are a higher dynamic range in the image and the ability to avoid the need to reprocess images by using our native internal linear to light colour space.” Visit www.digitalvision.tv

Another milestone in Australia’s transition to digital-only free to air television was achieved on 15 December 2010 when analogue TV signals in regional South Australia and Broken Hill were switched off for good.Analogue television transmission equipment was turned off at 21 transmitter sites across the Spencer Gulf, Riverland, Mount Gambier and South-East South Australia and Broken Hill TV licence areas.The region was the second in Australia to switch to digital-only

television. The switchover program included the introduction of new digital TV services at Morgan in the Riverland, and Clare, Orroroo, Quorn and Burra in the Spencer Gulf.The communities of Melrose and Wilmington in the Spencer Gulf area were the first in Australia to completely switch to digital TV by satellite to replace their community operated self-help transmitters.Regional Victoria will be the next to make the change, when analogue TV broadcasting finishes on 5 May 2011.

>> >> Installed in a suite at Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel, Oprah Winfrey’s Videocraft-built, post-production facility.

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6 News

SKY NZ UPGRADES BUSINESS WITH PILAT

DIGISTOR PUTS SHINE ON ISISDigistor recently helped production company Shine Australia with its post workflow by supplying an Avid ISIS 5000 collaborative storage solution for the Australian version of Iron Chef, screened on the Seven Network.The ISIS 5000 is targeted at small-to-medium Post Production Facilities, Education and other similar applications. It is currently available in 32TB and 64TB with future releases expected to go beyond the 64TB point. Like other ISIS products, the ISIS 5000 is an Ethernet-only solution and editing clients connect via Ethernet. There are various bundles available with either copper or optical switches and different support options in both 32TB and 64TB models. Installation is very straight forward as the ISIS 5000 is more of a storage appliance and the bundles include the required switches and interconnect cables.According to Scott Rowan, Shine’s Director of Post Production, the ISIS 5000 used on Iron Chef had a modest client count of 8, well short of the 20+ clients Shine typically has for the Biggest Loser and Masterchef setups.“We needed a reliable shared media solution for our demanding Avid workflows and looked at all options currently available in the marketplace,” said Rowan. “With shows like The Biggest Loser and Junior Masterchef, which have extremely tight turnaround times, we can’t afford to have any technical issues or downtime. The ISIS 5000 appealed to us as it’s a turnkey Avid solution and we have been very impressed with previous generations of Avid’s Unity and ISIS products. The ISIS 5000 supports both Mac and Windows clients and offers comprehensive support for Final Cut Pro. Avid has also done away with client licences and all configurations. Other features include RAID5 data protection, dual power supplies, dual system drives, and 10Gb Ethernet support.Visit www.digistor.com.au

AUSTRALIAN FIRST FOR ARRI ALEXA AND CUTTING EDGEIn an Australian first, Video Australasia has supplied top DOP Jules O’Loughlin ACS with ARRI ALEXA digital cinema cameras, Master Prime lenses and Alura Zoom lenses for the feature production Say Nothing.Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith, Say Nothing is a mystery/thriller produced by Aquarius Films in association with Blue Tongue Films and shot on location in Sydney and Cambodia.O’Loughlin said, “We did extensive testing with Video Australasia and ARRI to see just how good the ALEXA is, and quite honestly I was astonished. I’ve always essentially been a film DOP and always a believer in the longevity of film, the quality of film and that it is technically superior to HD in dynamic range. Now, having fully tested the ALEXA I can honestly say the images it produces are comparable to 35mm – something I never thought I would ever say. The ALEXA is without doubt the finest digital camera on the market. ARRI have been successfully making cameras for over 100 years and with the ALEXA they have absolutely nailed it from a cinematographer and operator’s point of view. I must also say that [Video Australasia’s MD] Warren Day is a real champion who has bent over backwards to help get this film made.”Warren Day added, “We are delighted to be the ARRI equipment suppliers for Say Nothing. This would not have been possible without the amazing help from Stefan Sedlmeier, General Manager of ARRI Australia and the incredible effort he and his team put in to testing the kit both internally at ARRI and on location. Stefan also provided a significant amount of technical consultancy and advice to both Video Australasia and Jules O’Loughlin ACS which, again, played a major part in securing this project.”Meanwhile Cutting Edge Sydney has been posting the debut feature film, making it the first Australian post production facility to work with the new camera in a feature film context. Cutting Edge worked closely with DOP Jules O’Loughlin to determine the best acquisition method and establish the best workflow for the ALEXA performing a number of tests all the way to 35mm comparing the various data acquisition methods available.Adrian Hauser, Cutting Edge Digital Intermediate and Rushes Colourist, says of the camera: “Aside from the ALEXA’s older sibling, the D21, no other digital cinema camera I have graded has come as close to capturing the subtle characteristics of colour and light compared to 35mm film.“The extended latitude of the camera outside the photographed intent is truly amazing and the colour rendition and tonal quality of the captured scene is quite breathtaking.“The camera’s ability to render the extremely subtle differences often seen in skin tones makes for truly captivating content and delivers drama to the screen – with no tricks.”Visit www.arri.com.au, www.vahire.com and www.cuttingedge.com.au

Pilat Media Global has announced that SKY New Zealand has completed migration to version 6 of the company’s Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS). Through seamless links to automation, media asset management (MAM), and online media systems, the IBMS upgrade will provide a platform for SKY to deploy numerous projects supporting enhanced service offerings and future expansion.“As longtime customers of Pilat Media, we rely heavily on IBMS to automate and coordinate all of our content acquisition, planning, scheduling, and playout processes — and the system has grown with us over the years as we have taken on increasingly complex workflows,” says Brian Sims, Technology Delivery Manager, Media and Customer at SKY.

With the migration to IBMS version 6, SKY is leveraging advanced key features to implement significant new functionality at the broadcaster’s digital network operations centre in Auckland. For instance, IBMS version 6’s on-demand planning functionality will drive scheduling for SKY’s online media player, iSKY, which will power SKY’s Web TV offerings. The on-demand planner will integrate with content acquisitions under control of IBMS to manage scheduling of non-linear playout according to rights agreements for each asset. In addition, SKY will rely on the .NET-based capabilities of IBMS version 6 to provide seamless content exchange with its upcoming media asset management (MAM) system.Visit www.pilatmedia.com

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8 News

Grass Valley has supplied a complete newsroom system, production and master control switchers, and infrastructure equipment for the first high-definition television service in Bangladesh. The Grass Valley equipment was installed by Maasranga Television and its system integrator. The channel was due to launch at the end of 2010.Visit www.grassvalley.com

Hong Kong-based broadcast facilities outsource company Hongkongmovie.com has launched ITV Granada using iTX, the broadcast automation and production platform from OmniBus Systems. ITV Granada is a new entertainment channel for Asia and the Middle East.Broadcast from Hongkongmovie.com’s facility via ABS-1 (Asia Broadcast Satellite, 75 degrees East), ITV Granada is available across the Asia-Pacific region on Astro in Malaysia, StarHub and Mio in Singapore, MOD in Taiwan and NowTV in Hong Kong. Visit www.hongkongmovie.com and www.omnibus.tv

Hong Kong-based Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) has upgraded its J2 channel SD encoders to Thomson Video Networks ViBE EM2000s for enhanced picture quality. Broadcasting 24/7 to youth audiences in Hong Kong, the TVB J2 channel is transmitted with H.264/MPEG-4 AVC encoding using the Thomson ViBE EM2000s for the main channel, together with a backup and lab rig.Visit www.thomson-networks.com

MediaCorp, Singapore’s national broadcaster, will be relocating from its present Caldecott Hill premises to Mediapolis@one-north. MediaCorp will occupy 1.5 hectares of land area with an estimated gross floor area of 79,500 square metres.

ASIA-PACIFIC NEWSIts new complex will be high-rise with television studios and theatres located on the lower floors.When fully completed by 2020, the 19-hectare Mediapolis@one-north will be Singapore’s first digital media hub. Visit www.smf.sg

China Central Television (CCTV) unveiled its Asia-Pacific station in Hong Kong. The station, an expansion of CCTV’s Hong Kong correspondent office, is aimed at enhancing the news organisation’s coverage capabilities and promoting communication and cooperation among media outlets in the Asia-Pacific region.By the end of this year, CCTV will have seven regional stations in the world, supported by about 50 overseas correspondent offices. Visit http://english.cntv.cn/01/index.shtml

Verimatrix has announced that Hong Kong-based Anyplex is securing its over-the-top (OTT) video on demand service with the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for Internet TV. Anyplex is an on-demand streaming service in Hong Kong that delivers premium content to any Anyplex-enabled devices, such as set-top boxes (STBs), connected TVs, iPhones, iPod Touch and iPads.Visit www.verimatrix.com/HLS

Irdeto has become the first international technology company to receive the latest Class A certification n from China’s State Administration for Radio Film and Television (SARFT). The certification mandates increased levels of specification for providers of conditional access (CA) systems in the areas of reliability, security and scalability.Visit www.irdeto.com

The Associated Press has been chosen by the Chinese state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), to syndicate its news

material to broadcasters worldwide via AP’s video news service.With four transmissions daily, the new service called ‘CCTV News Content’ has been available from 1 January 2011 via APTN’s satellite network, the Global Video Wire (GVW).

Japan’s Multimedia Broadcasting, which has adopted the ISDB-Tmm standard for multimedia broadcasting, has been commissioned as the sole carriage operator providing nationwide multimedia broadcasting services for mobile devices scheduled to start following the termination of the analogue broadcasting service in Japan. Commercial broadcasting services are scheduled to start in the (northern) spring of 2012.Visit www.isdb-t.jp/en/

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, will revamp its satellite broadcasting next April, consolidating its current three channels into two.Currently, NHK has one high definition (HD) and two standard definition satellite channel. From April 2011, these will be restructured and consolidated into two HD channels - ‘BS1’, carrying world affairs and sports, and ‘BS Premium’ showing entertainment and culture programs. The digital switchover in Japan is scheduled to be completed by 24 July 2011. Visit www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

SkyLife, the Korean Satellite & Hybrid services operator and the Kudelski Group, have agreed to form a joint venture to develop Advanced Advertising solutions that will enable TV advertising to become more relevant and interesting, as ads will be both interactive and specifically addressed to households.Visit www.skylife.co.kr and www.nagra.com

Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Korea’s national public broadcaster,

has purchased two Quantel Pablo Neo 2K color correction and finishing systems.One Pablo will be used by the KBS Computer Graphics Division for colour correction, S3D manipulation and mastering of non-fiction programming such as documentaries. The second system is destined for the TV Drama Special Effects team at KBS Mediatech, where it will be handling colour correction on high profile dramas. Visit www.quantel.com

South Korea’s English-language cable and satellite channel Arirang has invested in Lawo’s mc²66 Mk II digital audio console technology as part of the HD transition of one of its key news and entertainment production studios.Meanwhile, Korea’s largest online retailer has completed the second phase of HD conversion of its TV production facilities, specifying Lawo mc²66 digital consoles. On completion in 2011, the GS Home Shopping channel intends to use its three Lawo systems in a networked configuration.Visit www.lawo.de

Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) has placed an order with Grass Valley for a large number of high-definition cameras, production switchers, and routers for a new all-digital HD studio complex in Kuala Lumpur. To support several studios and control rooms within the multi-level facility, RTM has purchased 24 Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite multi-format HD cameras, five Kayak HD production switchers (four 3 M/E models and one 3.5 M/E model), and four Concerto Series 64×64 routers to distribute all types of audio and video signals throughout the facility. The equipment will be used to support five RTM locations: Auditorium, IBC (Kuala Lumpur), Studio 3 (Seremban), Kuching (East Malaysia), and a flyaway kit.Visit www.grassvalley.com

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10 News

HILDEBRANDT POWERS UP WITH FUEL VFXAnna Hildebrandt has joined Fuel VFX as Marketing Manager. Previously with Animal Logic, Hildebrandt says, “I’m very excited to be here. I’m looking forward to a busy year working on strategy, marketing and publicity, the website and everything that comes along with those!“The feature films we’re working on include THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA, both slated for US releases this year, and the team in the commercials department are very busy too.” Visit www.fuelvfx.com

NEW STAFF FOR CLASSIFICATION BOARD The Australian Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Brendan O’Connor has announced the appointment of a new Deputy Director, Senior Classifier and five new members of the Classification Board. From early 2011, the Classification Board will undergo a period of renewal. “Ms Lesley O’Brien will take up the position of Deputy Director and Greg Scott will be the Senior Classifier,” he said.The new Board members are: Ms Tennille Burdon (Tasmania)Ms Marit Andersen (New South Wales)Mr Joe Guthrie (Queensland)

WHITFIELD JOINS S&T Strategy & Technology (S&T) has responded to the demand for Hybrid systems by establishing a dedicated business unit headed up by Matt Whitfield. Whitfield joins S&T from Freeview Australia, where he was most recently the Technical Director responsible for phase 2 (MHEG-5 Platform EPG) of the Freeview platform.Visit www.s-and-t.com

LAMBOURNE COO FOR BROADCAST AUSTRALIABroadcast Australia has announced the appointment of Peter Lambourne into the role of Chief Operating Officer. Peter will oversee the day-to-day handling of Broadcast Australia’s Service Delivery Unit including engineering and commercial operations.Visit http://broadcastaustralia.com.au

ILOURA TEAM HAS 3 NEW FACES The Melbourne design team Iloura has three new faces to its Commercials and Design teams. Nikhil Bora and Garry Jull have joined the Design department. Patrick Da Cunha joined the Iloura Commercials team full-time as a Senior 3D Artist. Iloura also appointed Sigi Eimutis as Head of Commercials. Sigi has been with Iloura for 15 years.Visit www.iloura.com.au/

OMNILAB BOOSTS CINEMA TEAM Omnilab Media has added the following staff to its Cinema Services team: Andrew Taylor commenced as Operations and Client Services Manager in October. Andrew is one of Australia’s most experienced cinema exhibitors and digital cinema specialists. Anthony Madigan has commenced as Business Development Manager and brings a decade of experience as “an independent” cinema exhibitor and former member of the ICAA Board. Peter Williams has been engaged as Projector System Specialist. Peter worked at NEC as their Technical Services Manager.Visit http://omnilab.com.au/

SPENCER-DUNN HEADS DUBSAT NZGlobal cross-media asset management and content distribution company Dubsat has announced Simon Spencer-Dunn as the new General Manager of Dubsat NZ.Having worked with Dubsat NZ’s sister company AAV from 1985 to 2008, Spencer-Dunn has a wealth

of experience in digital media management and distribution.Visit www.dubsat.co.nz

OMNILAB APPOINTS TOM KENNEDY EXECUTIVE DIRECTORIn a move seen as the biggest signal yet of Omnilab Media making a major play in the IPTV space in Australia, the company has promoted Tom Kennedy into the newly created role of Executive Director, Group Digital Services.Kennedy, who was also recently promoted to GM of The Playroom, now takes on a broader leadership role across the entire Omnilab Media group of 17 companies.

DERRY GM FOR VIDEOPRO BIZ The Videopro Group’s Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Jason Derry to the position of General Manager – Business Solutions, at the Videopro Business Centre.Based at the Videopro Business Centre in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Jason Derry will take responsibility for the Business Solutions Channel and ensure the implementation of Videopro’s values. Visit www.videopro.com.au

WEBSTER CROSSES TASMAN FOR QUINTO Quinto Communications has announced the appointment of Chris Webster to the position of Sales Executive in its Sydney office. Prior to joining Quinto, Chris was the New Zealand Wellington and South Island Branch Manager for Amber Technology. Visit www.quinto.com.au/

Mr Lance Butler (Victoria)Ms Serena Jakob (South Australia).Visit www.classification.gov.au

ADAMS DIRECTS QUANTEL SALES Quantel has appointed Robin Adams to the position of Director of Sales, Asia Pacific. Adams looked after systems sales and marketing in EMEA for Autodesk for a number of years, and joins Quantel after a spell at The Foundry. In his new role, Adams will oversee Quantel’s expansion of its post and broadcast sales into some of the world’s most dynamically growing markets. Visit www.quantel.com

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12 Taking Stock

Taking Stock

taking STOCK – MOVES IN THE BUSINESS OF CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY

BitTorrent Works with Taiwan Institute on CE Devices

>> >> Grass Valley’s Jeff Rosica. Pic – Phil Sandberg

Grass Valley Sale CompletedGRASS VALLEY has announced that Francisco Partners, a leading technology-focused investment company, has completed the closing process with Technicolor and finalised the acquisition of the Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business.

As of January 1, 2011, Grass Valley began operating as an independent company, under the trade name “Grass Valley”.

Terms of the sale include 100 per cent ownership of the current Grass Valley Broadcast and Professional business. This includes the camera, content repurposing, editing, master control, modular, news production, production automation, production switchers, routing, and video servers product lines including their product portfolios, the R&D centres and factories around the world, the worldwide sales & systems activities and customer support worldwide, as well as the management and administrative support functions dedicated to

the business. Following its acquisition by Francisco Partners, Grass Valley has announced a new executive team based in San Francisco, California. Leading the team as President and CEO will be Alain Andreoli.

As part of the senior executive team, supporting Alain will be Jeff Rosica in the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer. An industry and company veteran who previously served as a senior vice president and the division head for the organisation, Jeff will take global responsibility for all customer-facing activities and drive the organisation’s marketing functions.

In the role of Executive Vice President and CFO, the newly appointed Ian Halifax will take responsibility for all G&A functions including Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Legal and IT. More appointments are to be announced soon.

To help customers and technology partners to

understand the specifics of the acquisition, Grass Valley has established a special website (www.grassvalley.com/greenergrass) with the latest, most accurate and complete information.

HME Pro Audio Merges with Clear-ComClear-Com, specialist in voice communication systems, has merged with HME Pro Audio Division, a direct result of HME’s recent acquisition of Clear-Com. Effective January 1, 2011, HME’s existing Pro Audio Division, which includes the professional wireless intercom products, sales and technical staff, distribution network and marketing activities, becomes part of Clear-Com. The merger of HME’s existing channel partners into Clear-Com’s global distribution network is said to make it the largest distributor of professional intercom, as well as the

provider with the most extensive wired and wireless intercoms on the market.

These changes, coming at a time of unprecedented global growth for Clear-Com, translate to benefits for customers seeking a broad array of intercom solutions and knowledgeable, hands-on sales and support. The HME wireless products joining the Clear-Com fold include the flagship 2.4GHz DX-Series digital systems and UHF PRO850 system. These products strengthen Clear-Com’s existing portfolio of basic, advanced and expert wireless systems.

HME’s Pro Audio staff in sales, product management and support are now part of the Clear-Com team. These transfers include John Kowalski as Director of U.S. Broadcast & Network Sales, Jennifer Cassidy as Sales Manager-Military Aerospace, Government, and Rick Molina as Applications Engineer. Mike Hughes has also joined Clear-Com as the Vice President of New Business Development, seeking new business opportunities while continuing his efforts with HME house accounts, OEM and football sales. Visit www.clearcom.com and www.hme.com

BitTorrent, the specialist in advanced technologies to move large files across the internet, and the Information and Communications Research Laboratories at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), one of the world’s leading high-tech research and development institutes, have announced a development partnership to define and deploy new standards for consumer electronics device manufacturers.

Chips, designs and devices complying with these standards will be designated as “BitTorrent Certified” and will promise a seamless consumer experience for playing BitTorrent content on Blu-ray and DVD players, digital TVs, tablets, mobile

devices and more.“Today’s generation of consumer electronics

devices are more powerful than ever before, but they still lack cohesiveness and ease of use for content playback,” said Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist and executive vice president at BitTorrent. “Consumers shouldn’t need to differentiate between codecs, file formats, bit rates, and other technology jargon. Content playback should just work – regardless of content type or source.”

Continued Ghanem, “BitTorrent’s new development partnership with ITRI’s Information and Communications Research Laboratories will help us create a new generation of devices that

offer consumers a simple promise: your files will play.”

The BitTorrent Certified technology ecosystem will include a series of technology standards that ensure compatibility among all software, devices and content within the ecosystem. Manufacturers who adopt the new standards will be able to designate devices as BitTorrent Certified and display a special logo. The certification will assure that consumers have a consistent, high-quality experience and offer manufacturers opportunities to differentiate their products in a highly competitive market.Visit www.bittorrent.com

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Taking Stock

Taking Stock 15 14 Taking Stock

Media Staff & Strategy by Karl Jansson*

Read the Blog Online at www.broadcastjobz.info

From Applicant to Candidate

IN THE LAST C+T EDITION, we discussed various interviewing techniques to assist the employer. This time, we thought best to balance it up so applicants have an equal chance across the interview table.

So, you’re thinking of applying for a position you’ve either heard about or seen listed somewhere or possibly, at the another end of the scale, you’re simply dropping an enquiry of interest into a company.

The last approach is one where you pro-actively market yourself by emailing or dropping in a resume for any future jobs that may arise within that company.

Although I can’t categorically say this method is a waste of time, I can say from experience that your details may be filed if they are set up to do so, but there is no guarantee your details will be referenced again.

This is because your target company is normally not in the business of managing a candidate pool for future jobs, they are more focussed on bottom line results as well managing HR and day to day staff issues, so your energies are best placed with companies that have existing staff needs.

Whilst we are speaking about terms such as a Candidate pool we should clarify some terminologies that are used by recruitment professionals. Here are two basic terms that you may come across.

• Applicant–Whenyouapplytoajobyouare initially one of many who have applied, so you are known as an ‘Applicant’.

• Candidate – When you are considered to have met most of the selection criteria for the job, your status changes to being recognised as a “’Candidate”.

Generally speaking, when you apply for a job, you might think that preparing a resume and attending an interview is all that’s required. Well, if everyone did just that it would be an equal playing field for all applicants.

However, some applicants take additional steps to ensure they have the edge, so hopefully by the end of this article you’ll have somewhat more of an edge to become a ‘Candidate’.

Ok, if you are serious about applying for any

job, make every application you draft hit the mark! It might mean fewer targeted applications and less generalised ones, but I assure you, the quality of an application wins over quantity every time.

So, to project a quality application, go online and research the company, and from the advertisement take notes on the division or department where this position is based.

On a fresh blank sheet of paper, review their products and/or services, history, advances, people, etc., and on the other side of the same page, your relevance to those items and descriptions.

You are now building a case for you to sell to them, but more importantly to sell to yourself! You must be passionate about the opportunity, see the relevance and potential career path. Your passion will be highly visible in the interview.

In addition, you may also wish to note press releases, background of some executives, mergers and acquisitions and even to quote some statistics. Now mentioning some of these things could potentially blow the interviewer away, but drilling down in too much detail may just freak them out so balance this approach carefully.

Ok, now you have some background to the company and your relevance to what they sell or the services they provide, so we need now to go back to the advertisement and recognise those skills or experiences they desire. If it was written by a HR professional it will contain some main selection criteria from their Job or Position Description (JD or PD). This is most important to pick up, so use a highlighter to highlight those skills and experiences in the advertisement.

With the research and advertisement highlights, plus your notes of relevance to the job now sorted, you can reference this information to your resume.

This is the point where your application either fails to attract attention or really grabs the reader who receives your resume! I cannot stress more the importance of ensuring that your resume reflects the highlighted items of the advertisement as well as your relevant experience in relation to those items.

As far as your company notes are concerned you should use some of that information within your accompanying cover letter, which I recommend will be part of your resume’s cover page. (Here’s a valuable tip! Incorporate your cover sheet into your resume. Why? Some recipients may just open the ‘Resume’ first to see the relevance and never open the second document in order to save time.)

The remainder of those research notes should be filed with your application at home along with a hard copy of the advertisement, particularly if it was an online advertisement.

This is important because most online job sites remove visible adverts once they pass their expiry date, which might be around the time of an interview if you are called upon.

You need a copy to reference with your notes prior to your interview in order to refresh the job.

Also, if you have applied for several positions, it is recommended that you carry with you in either hard or soft copy a short brief on each job, plus any contact or short company info. This will appear to show to the caller of the advertisement that you are genuinely interested in their position due if you can reference it quickly.

In the next article, we will continue the “From Applicant to Candidate” series as we review how to prepare for an interview, along with some very handy tried and true methods that have been proven to certainly attract the attention of the interviewer and the potential employer.

This inside information in the next article is a result of over 16 years of my own recruitment experience, plus it reflects the experience and comments of many of my colleagues and clients over that period, so don’t miss the next issue of C+T!

Karl Jansson is a seasoned recruitment professional consulting to “BroadcastJobz.tv”. He is contactable by email at corporate@BroadcastJobz.tv

Web: www.broadcastjobz.tv

SENSIO ACQUIRES ALGOLITH IP SENSIO Technologies Inc. (SENSIO) (TSX-V: SIO) has announced the execution of an asset purchase agreement whereby SENSIO acquires Algolith’s video-processing IP portfolio, consisting mainly of four patents and nine patents pending, as well as Algolith’s image-processing technologies, source code, and know-how. The addition of Algolith’s 100 per cent compatible and complementary technologies enables SENSIO to boost development of current and future projects, and to extend its range of solutions for 3D delivery. The total cost of the transaction, including the assets and expenses, comes to under seven figures. “With the advent of connected TVs, noisy low-bit-rate video will be widespread, and we foresee a high demand for this capability from our current customers in the consumer electronics market,” said Étienne Fortin, Chief Technology Officer at SENSIO. Visit www.sensio.tv

VISLINK RESTRUCTURES TO BUY GIGAWAVEFollowing a recent company review, the Board of Vislink plc (LSE:VLK) has decided to sell the Group’s Marine and Energy business. The Group has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to sell the entire issued share capital of Hernis Scan Systems A/S and its subsidiary holdings (‘Hernis’) to a subsidiary of Cooper Industries plc., for a total consideration of £32.5 million payable in cash, subject to certain agreed working capital adjustments (the ‘M&E Disposal’). The M&E Disposal is being made on a cash free, debt free basis, and consequently the Group will also retain approximately £6.0 million of cash (before expenses) currently held in Hernis. Hernis designs, manufactures and sells closed circuit television systems and wireless power products for both the onshore and offshore oil and gas industry and the marine, cruise, naval and related engineering markets. Visit www.vislink.com.

CARRINGTON IS VP FOR HARMONIC SALES Harmonic Inc. has announced that Mark Carrington, previously Vice President of Sales for the Harmonic-branded product sales, has been promoted to Vice President of Worldwide Sales. In this expanded role, Mr. Carrington will be responsible for the entire sales organisation and the complete product line. Carrington will drive all aspects of the company’s sales initiatives, including continuing to build a global sales organisation and driving the company’s sales and channel strategies forward.

“Our integration work with the Omneon acquisition is proceeding on track and combining the entire worldwide sales teams under Mark is a natural step for the company,” said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic.

The company also announced that Suresh Vasudevan, president of Omneon at Harmonic, has decided to leave the company.

“Suresh has been a valuable contributor to the successful integration of Omneon,” added Harshman. “We wish him well with his future endeavours.” Visit www.harmonicinc.com

RUSSIAN FACTORY FOR HARRIS TRANSMITTERSHarris Corporation has contracted with Svyaz Engineering to begin local manufacturing of Harris digital television transmitters to support the Russian Federation’s transition to digital over-the-air television.

This regional manufacturing presence will enable Harris to offer localised support for broadcasters migrating to the DVB-T/T2 digital format as Russia continues its move towards an analogue switch-off date in 2015.

“We look forward to working with Svyaz to support the Russian Federation in its digital transition,” said Richard Scott, senior vice president, global sales and service, Harris Broadcast Communications. “Svyaz is a solid engineering and manufacturing company boasting unrivalled technical capabilities and world-class manufacturing services.”

Svyaz specialises in power supply manufacturing, as well as distributing manufactured products to local and export markets. Located in Moscow, the Svayz plant will produce Harris Maxiva UHF multimedia TV transmitters.Visit www.sipower.ru and www.harris.com

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16 Taking Stock

Taking Stock

IDC Q3 RESULTS International Datacasting Corporation, (TSX:IDC), a global leader in IP-based datacasting solutions for the distribution of broadband multimedia content, has announced its financial results for the three and nine-month FY2011 periods ended October 31, 2010. CAN Consolidated FY2011 third quarter revenues were $ 8.9 million or 53% higher than in the same quarter in FY2010 and 4% higher than in the second quarter of FY2011. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales increased by 67% over FY2010. These improvements in revenues were driven by increased sales in the Radio market, the roll out of Digital Cinema in European and North American markets, and greater demand for IPTV product lines. Visit www.sedar.com or the Investor Information section of IDC’s website at www.datacast.com

ROHDE & SCHWARZ ACQUIRES DVS DIGITAL VIDEOTransmitter and Test & Measurement manufacturer Rohde & Schwarz has acquired DVS Digital Video Systems. Effective December 14, 2010, Hanover-based DVS Digital Video Systems AG has been integrated into the Rohde & Schwarz group of companies. DVS is a leading international manufacturer of hardware and software for professional film and video postproduction.

Visit www.rohde-schwarz.com and www.dvs.de

ERICSSON BUYS CHINESE R&D COMPANY Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) is to acquire certain assets of the Guangdong Nortel Telecommunication Equipment Company Ltd (GDNT). The purchase is structured as an asset sale at a cash purchase price of US$50 million on a cash and debt free basis, subject to final balance sheet adjustments. GDNT is a leading R&D company based in China and supplier to Ericsson following the acquisitions of the CDMA and GSM businesses of Nortel. The transaction also includes R&D facilities, manufacturing facilities as well as support and customer service in China.

Visit www.ericsson.com

ZORAN BUYS MICROTUNE Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ: ZRAN) has completed its acquisition of television set-top box (STB) maker Microtune, Inc. in an all cash merger for $2.92 per share, which equates to a transaction value of approximately $166 million. The acquisition was approved by Microtune stockholders representing approximately 75% of the outstanding shares of Microtune common stock and has received all required regulatory approvals.

Visit www.zoran.com

AP SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH CELEBRITYFOOTAGEThe Associated Press has announced an agreement to market Los Angeles-based agency CelebrityFootage’s video archive. The deal is part of AP’s strategy to build the world’s leading entertainment stock footage offering. Under the terms of the agreement, AP Archive, the AP’s footage sales division, will distribute CelebrityFootage’s video to the AP’s global customer base. The videos will be sold alongside videos by the AP and its content partners. The CelebrityFootage archive dates back two decades and is refreshed with new footage every day. Visit www.aparchive.com

IABM SEES STEADY RECOVERY A worldwide broadcasting industry that is in steady recovery, although somewhat lagging in North America, is the overall picture painted by the latest Industry Trends Survey released by the IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers). Although tempered by continued uncertainty in some regions, confidence in the industry continues to grow — as evidenced by increasing investment in research and development as well as headcount. However, companies continue to be challenged by manufacturing capacity and supply chain problems that frustrate order fulfilment, and customer deferral of orders remains the largest constraint to order growth.

Visit www.theiabm.org

WIDEVINE TO BE ACQUIRED BY GOOGLEDigital Rights Management provider Widevine is to be acquired by Google. According to a statement issued by Widevine CEO, Brian Baker, “We’ve provided consumers with the highest quality internet video experience while giving them freedom to watch on a variety of devices.”

According to Mario Queiroz, VP of Product Management with Google, “Streaming is becoming the standard way for you to find the content you want to watch now. We’ve seen this on YouTube — where we get over 2 billion views every day — but it’s much bigger than that, as proven by the increasing popularity of movie subscription services and tablets. Content creators and distributors are making huge strides in bringing us content in this way, but to do so, many require high-quality video and audio, secure delivery, and other content protection and video optimisation technologies. With these tools in place they can easily and effectively give you access to the content you want.”

Visit www.widevine.com

VIZRT ACQUIRES LIBEROVISIONVizrt, the provider of content production tools for the digital media industry, has entered into a terms sheet with Swiss company LiberoVision AG, a leader in the field of virtual sports enhancements. According to the proposed terms sheet, Vizrt Ltd. shall purchase all of the issued and outstanding share capital of LiberoVision in three installments: 60% upon signing of the definitive agreement, 20% upon approval of the financial statements of LiberoVision for the year 2011 and 20% upon approval of the financial statements of LiberoVision for the year 2012. The consideration for the first 60% of the issued share capital of LiberoVision shall be CHF 6 million (approx. US$ 6.12 million) and may be increased by an additional 1 CHF million (approx. US$ 1.02 million) should the EBIT for the year 2010 of LiberoVision exceed CHF 1 million.

Visit www.liberovision.com and www.vizrt.com

Danmon Systems Group (DSG) has reported sustained improvement in confidence throughout the telecommunications and multimedia industry during 2010. Broadcasters and playout service-providers are upgrading and expanding their facilities to increase operational efficiency and to meet growing public demand for digitally-delivered information and entertainment.

2010 began with completion of a TV production and playout system for a major Asian broadcaster, followed by factory acceptance tests, on-site installation, and training. Four new framework agreements were signed with one of Europe’s largest public-service broadcasters.

An IP-based remote-controlled camera system was designed by DSG and installed at six regional sites. Special attention was placed on

achieving the highest possible sound quality by using very high-grade microphones, plus audio-delay processors to maintain lip sync.

Summer 2010 saw the completion and delivery of a flyaway master control room system for broadcast coverage of the World Cup football series in South Africa.

A containerised radio station was designed and produced for a security organisation.

In Scandinavia, DSG completed the first phase of a project which will see the migration of a sports-themed broadcast television channel to HD.

DSG is also currently involved in the design of a new media building for a private broadcaster in Russia. The new building is expected to be ready for operation in 2015.

Visit www.danmonsystems.com

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18 Standards

Polling in Palestine

technicalSTANDARDS

A new international coalition, led by MovieLabs, CableLabs, Comcast and Rovi Corporation, has announced the launch of the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR), a non-profit global independent registry that provides a uniform approach to cataloguing movies, television shows, and other commercial audio/video assets with unique identifiers (IDs). It is being developed as an open, standards-based effort built on the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system. In addition, it uses the open-source registry software from the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). Movielabs, representing the EIDR, is an IDF member and DOI Registration Agency. The DOI System is a system for interoperably identifying and exchanging intellectual property in the digital environment. A DOI name assigned to content enhances a content producer’s ability to trade electronically. It provides a framework for managing content in any form at any level of granularity, for linking customers with content suppliers, for facilitating electronic commerce, and enabling automated copyright management for all types of media. The International DOI Foundation, a non-profit organisation, manages development, policy and licensing of the DOI System to registration agencies and technology providers

and advises on usage and development of related services and technologies.

In a statement released on the occasion, the International DOI Foundation welcomed the movie and television registry joining its existing family of registries and some 10,000 organisations worldwide using the DOI System with almost 50 million DOI names assigned to date.

“EIDR will bring considerable benefits to the digital entertainment industry and significantly increase content coverage to the DOI System,” the statement said.

The DOI System has also been approved as an International Standard through ISO. The Final Draft International Standard (ISO/FDIS 26324, Information and documentation - Digital Object Identifier System) was approved by all of those voting in a ballot that closed on November 15, 2010. The approved Standard is now moving through the ISO publication process; the IDF will be modifying the DOI Handbook (http://www.doi.org/hb.html) to reflect this standard and update parts of the Handbook that have been on hold during the ISO process (which began in 2006). Visit http://www.doi.org/

LAUNCH OF ENTERTAINMENT IDENTIFIER REGISTRY

Linear Acoustic, provider of television audio control from production to transmission, has posted on its website detailed answers to questions US TV broadcasters have concerning the passage of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act), a bill passed by US Congress that will affect audio production, processing, transmission, and metering for all U.S. TV broadcasters. The bill currently awaits the President’s signature for final passage.

“We can simplify the facts for broadcasters,” said Linear Acoustic President Tim Carroll. “Since the CALM Act is based on a standards document I helped to produce, I feel it’s our duty to provide some practical advice for the industry.”

The CALM Act directly refers to ATSC Recommended Practice A/85: “Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television” — a standards document produced by ATSC members and broadcast professionals throughout the United States. After two-and-a-half years of committee meetings wrestling with the problem of loudness in digital television, the document was published in November 2009.

To download a free copy of the CALM FAQ document, or for further details on maintaining loudness compliance under new legislation, go to http://www.linearacoustic.com

LINEAR ACOUSTIC ANSWERS CALM ACT QUESTIONS

ACCESS, a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, and Human Monitoring Ltd., a developer of hipix, a Rich Picture Format technology, have entered a strategic partnership to extend hipix technology in the mobile and beyond-PC markets. ACCESS will enhance its market leading NetFront Browser with hipix to enable the presentation of media-rich still images that include audio and voice annotation. In addition ACCESS will develop mobile and beyond-PC hipix applications for the Japanese and global markets and will also distribute Human Monitoring’s other innovative image processing technologies in Japan. Human Monitoring’s patent pending hipix technology utilises the existing H.264 video codec to achieve still image compression that is two to 10 times more effective than JPEG images on mobile handsets. The latest hipix release for Android further enriches the user experience

H.264 BEEFS UP MOBILE PHONE PHOTOGRAPHS

by supporting the addition of user-friendly voice annotations to photographs prior to distribution or uploading. These personalised “talking pictures” can be viewed using any standard H.264 video player like QuickTime, RealPlayer or KMPlayer. “With the advent of HTML5, users are anticipating even greater access to rich multimedia content that fully utilises audio and video. hipix represents an ideal tool that will help us make the most of the features found in HTML5. The ability to quickly and easily personalise photos on mobile devices by adding audio/voice annotations will create a whole new culture for sharing photos. Human Monitoring’s hipix technology also has a huge advantage since it utilises the existing H.264 CoDec infrastructure, thus avoiding the need for any hardware modifications,” said Dr. Tomihisa Kamada, President and CEO of ACCESS.Meir Kollmann, President and CEO of Human Monitoring said, “ACCESS’ NetFront Browser is recognised as a global web browser standard

for the mobile and beyond-PC markets. By combining this powerful browser with our Rich Picture Format, I am confident that we can provide compelling new mobile browsing experiences to users throughout the world. Japan is a strategic market for us, and ACCESS is also an ideal partner for introducing our technology to the Japanese market, and is an important part of our plan to team with leading partners in additional global markets.“The particularity of Japanese users regarding the quality and user experience of images is way ahead of the rest of the world. The current audio annotated pictures are just the first step, and soon enough we’ll present additional exciting features of our hipix Rich Pictures Format,” added Ira Dvir, VP of R&D at Human Monitoring.

Visit http://www.access-company.com and http://www.hipixpro.com

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Magna Box Advert - Jan11.indd 1 17/01/11 12:38 PM

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20 The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension The Third DimensionThe Third Dimension

– Stereoscopic Production & Exhibition

C+T: What pitfalls should people avoid when producing 3D?

SS: “There are a lot of common errors that you should watch out for – misalignment of images, miscolouring of images, mismatched focus, huge depth jumps on edits, the graphics over pictures that aren’t aligned, edge violations. These are the critical key things if you want your audience’s eyes to not fall out of their heads before your show’s over.”

C+T: So, what are the dos?

SS: “Well, you know, the opposite of what I just said – aligned images, perfect geometry, colour matching, consistent space across the edits.”

C+T: The 3D terrestrial trial broadcasts of football in Australia: were there any issues that came out of those?

SS: “No, not really, other than the fact that we’re not as used to rugby, so you know our understanding of the coverage of the game was incomplete. We’re better at it now but it really wasn’t up to us. It was up to the director of the show who was used to shooting a lot of rugby, so that was fine, but we learned a lot, mostly about how to shoot rugby. I wasn’t there most of those shoots, but I know our guys came back saying each one got better and better.

“The director had never directed a 3D show and so he learned a lot and then applied it to the next show and he got better and better. It’s still about developing a language and a creative approach.”

C+T: So, is it really “low and slow” for shooting sporting events in 3D?

SS: “That’s fair to say. When a camera’s up high it’s showing whole field, there’s no 3D from up high because you’re basically looking down on something that’s very flat, so there’s not a lot of 3D. It’s not a wow shot. When you’re down low you’re looking at all these pieces of stuff and space, so yeah it’s much more of a wide shot.

“Slow is just because it’s better to cut 3D slower because there’s more information in every shot, so you want to hold them longer. With that said, you can’t compromise telling the story of the game to have every shot be a ‘wow shot’. The story is more important than

Turning 3D into RealityPhil Sandberg Speaks to Stereoscopic Pioneer and 3Ality CEO, Steve Schklair.

the wow shots, so the coverage generally is both with higher cameras, a little flatter. The replays are generally from the lower slow mo cameras and then you get a nice of combination ‘oh, wow, isn’t that a cool shot?’ to ‘I saw the play and I understand where the ball has been moving, I can see the progression of the game’. So, you get a little bit of both.”

C+T: The trials used a variety of rigs – beam-splitters, side by sides and a Presteigne Charter integrated dual-lens camera. Do the different rigs suit different applications?

SS: “We’ve just come out with a new handheld rig that’s going to replace that last one ‘cause it’s a little more accurate. With those other two, the side by side is really for the more distant shots where you’re on longer lenses and work slow on longer lenses, but as you can go to a wider distance on the cameras that triangulate and get some more depth into the shot even though it’s basically a flat subject when you’re that far away. Telephoto lenses squash everything in those single planes so in 3D that’s still the same, there’s not a lot of depth in telephoto lens shots, but you need them to tell the story.

“The beam-splitters are generally used when things come close to the camera so you can get optical separation less than the distance of the two [side by side] lenses. When they bump into each other, that’s as close as you can get them but we can virtually get the ‘lenses’ to occupy the same space through a beam-splitter so we use that for anything that’s close.

“The third type of rig was handheld. Optically chip-wise, it was very different from the [Sony] 1500s that were being used. We now have a handheld portable rig with 1500s. They’ll have the same control as big rigs, so it matches perfectly, it ties perfectly, it’s run the same as the bigger rigs so it’s a better match.”

C+T: Will the differences in rigs, cameras, etc., become less of an issue?

SS: “No, no, actually it’s becoming more of an issue. This is going to sound like company promotion and it’s actually not, but it’s why we built this gear the way we built it.

“If you have a camera system that’s not remotely automated, then you’re out there aligning with wrenches and rocks and you’re getting in the way of doing the shooting because you’re out there aligning.

>> >> 3Ality CEO Steve Schklair.

Continued page 22

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22 The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension

“If you have a rig that doesn’t have automatic alignment then your zooms are going to be very limited because it’s very hard making zoom lenses match without auto-alignment functions ‘cause they don’t normally match. So what you all do is you’ll hand a rig to a director and say ‘okay, we’ve aligned it and it’s good from about 30mm or 60mm as the sweet spot’.

“Everything’s in alignment, but that means they’re not getting the wide angle shots they really want and they’re not getting the telephoto lenses they really want, in which case the stories and pictures and the coverage is much less compelling because people are tired of watching, they don’t want to watch a whole game in wideshot.

“So, it is about the technology and the rigs and the image processors. It’s the better technology that lets the director tell a better story, which makes the content more compelling, which is a better reason to watch it than the 2D show. Otherwise, you watch it for the novelty for a while and then you go back to the 2D show ‘cause you’re a sports fan and you want to see the game. So you know technology does help to make the more compelling stories.”

C+T: The integrated, dual-lens cameras, how do you see those fitting in?

SS: “Not well. They’re half-inch or third-inch chips. We’re out there shooting with two-thirds inch chips, we’re out there shooting with cameras that have remote CCUs, we’ve got shaders on the truck, we’re painting all the cameras to match.

“You don’t have those kind of remote capabilities with those cameras so you take them as they are. They only record, for the most part, on board. You can cable them in, but you don’t have the remote control over them that you do over the professional equipment, so making a whole show match and changing lighting conditions can be very difficult. The fixed interaction with those cameras makes it impossible to do close-ups with big backgrounds.

“With that said, we used some when we shot the IPL finals in India. We ran all around Mumbai shooting B-roll material for the interstitials and that was the right piece of equipment for that. It was the right way to hand-hold and 90 per cent of the reason was it was unobtrusive. If we tried to run around Mumbai with a big rig, we’d have had crowds following us and you’re no longer getting candid shots, you’re getting shots where everybody’s standing at the camera waving and every shot would be like that.

“We could sneak a lot of shots this way without people noticing, so they were good for that. They’re good for a lot of other shots if you know how to use them. For sports coverage, though, you’re still going to be wanting to use the Sony 1500s or whatever camera it is that you’re using for your broadcasts.”

C+T: Do you feel the people with the integrated cameras may not be the best people to be producing 3D content?

SS: “Probably, but in their group there’s also going to be somebody who is the best person to be producing 3D content, so there will be great stuff coming out of these cameras. You just have to work with their limitations, stay further away from your objects. The cameras need a lot of work in terms of ergonomics and control, but they’re all still in development. Everybody knows that, but ultimately it’s a prosumer piece of equipment, not professional equipment.”

C+T: 3ality is in demand globally. Is there an expansion plan?

SS: “There’s absolutely a plan to open up outside the US, but generally with partnerships as opposed to let’s just open up an office and hang our sign out which is kind of expensive. If I have an extra $20, I’m going to spend it on R&D to keep making the technology better

“Right now, it’s a race to the best technologies, which we’re so far leading, and I want to stay in that position, so we’re going to keep investing in the technology development and open up in other countries, not so we can be all over the world, but because it’s actually less expensive for the local productions if they don’t have to ship gear and crew in from the US. So, those will all be done in partnerships because they already have the existing infrastructures, the crews, the production capabilities.”

C+T: Is there anyone in Australia you have been talking to?

SS:“Yes, there is. I think the Australian market is really depending on a few things. Nobody wants to jump and make the investments unless they know it’s going to be working. It comes down to the spectrum. Is the Seven Network and the Nine Network going to commit to OB company X, a number of shoots per year? which is what the OB company spends on overhead money. And the answer is they’re probably going to wait until they are guaranteed to get spectrum first, so it’s almost chicken and egg.

“If the government would put up the spectrum, the networks would commit to a certain number of events, the OB company would then feel comfortable enough laying out the capital expenditures that they’re going to need to have. So, one follows the other.”

C+T: You mentioned technology development, what are you looking at?

SS: “Automating a lot of functions, automating the depth adjustments on a multi-camera shoot so you don’t need all those guys sitting in the truck. Automating graphics placement because where you place the graphics in a stereo picture is a huge issue. If it’s on the screen and somebody comes in front of the screen but you’re still being blocked by the graphic it’s just really kind of painful to look at. If they’re way behind the screen it’s even worse, if they’re floating out in front of the screen constantly so you can make sure that they’re not occluded by anybody onscreen. That gets tiring, so there’s ideas

of floating it in and out automatically, which I’m not a huge fan of, although, I admit I haven’t seen enough of it.”

C+T: When will you have all these things automated?

SS: “We need to test it thoroughly and we actually need to test it in real situations, so we need to test it at a real rugby game run by Nine or Seven that has real operators on it and real players on the field.

“So, it takes time to test it because obviously those aren’t events that you stage, because it’d be a little expensive. So, you insert little pieces of it as tests into the other broadcasts knowing you’ve got everything else in position the way you’ve been doing it successfully and so testing and implementation takes time.”

C+T: So, what’s the global 3D picture like for 3ality?

SS: “Well, the UK is certainly happening in 3D with not only Sky but other groups in the UK wanting to get started. Japan and Korea are very active, for example, because companies there were working with a 3ality kit for a while and they were doing a lot of shoots. We’ve been in India shooting and I know there’s been a lot activity in India, certainly on the Bollywood side and on the broadcast side.”

C+T: So, film production as well?

SS: “We’ve been working with Peter Jackson on projects because he’s committed to shooting all his movies in 3D using 3ality technology and so we’ve been in New Zealand training crews and there’s some great people there. Also, we’ll use some of them in Australia until there’s enough Australian crew trained.”

C+T: Who is further along the learning curve? Is it live events or movie people?

SS: “The movie guys, because they’ve been making 3D movies now for years. However, with movie guys, you know it depends on who you’re talking to. If it’s a director who’s never made a 3D movie, he’s way back on the learning curve, if it’s a broadcast director who’s already done three events that puts him in a rarefied atmosphere.

“The distribution of movies is well known. While still experimental to the monitors at home, that business is a little further along because it’s existed for a while and it still works with the existing and well-known models as opposed to television that slightly has to change.”

C+T: Lastly, what do you say to those contemplating a 3D production?

SS: “Please keep the quality up, people, because you know this whole business, growth depends on quality imagery coming across – compelling shows. The only reason to watch a 3D show as opposed to a 2D show is that it’s more compelling. And if it’s not more compelling there’s no reason to watch it.”

Continued from page 20Turning 3D into Reality ...without glasses3D TV3D TV3D TV

7 reasons for choosing iVu 3D TV

IT JUST WORKS “Fits seamlessly into standard display systems.”

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24 The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension

ELEMENT TECHNICA PULSAR 3D RIG

SONY 3D SHOULDER CAMCORDERThe newest addition to Sony’s 3D workflow portfolio is its first 3D shoulder camcorder prototype. The prototype is based on half-inch CMOS sensors recording to SxS media, but Sony says that discussions about the design revolve around how much will be mechanical or electronic, and lens adjustment.

Sony is looking to build a portable solid-state recorder capable of capturing 3D images for high-end feature film and high end documentaries.

The platform to base this on will be the SR memory pack, which has the capability to record two 4k streams uncompressed at the same time.

Sony showcased different 3D workflow setups at last year’s IBC to demonstrate that each and

every 3D project needs to have a tailored solution to ensure premium quality 3D acquisition and production. Sony also demonstrated the optical fibre adapter HFDA-200, new software options for the revolutionary MPE-200 hardware that will enable 2D to 3D conversion, a picture stitching application and a 3D capable video effects unit for the MVS-8000 switcher family.

IBC also saw the launch of Vegas 10, the latest version of the popular editing software that facilitates native 3D ingest and editing. Visitors to the stand also got to see Sony professional 3D monitors in both 24” and 42” dimensions.

Visit www.sony.com.au/production

TRANSVIDEO WIRELESS 3D MONITORSTransvideo has announced the world’s first HD SDI monitor with synchroniser for 3D D-Cinema field use. The CineMonitorHD 3DView “S”, which has been used by Wim Wenders and Alain Derobe on the forthcoming feature film Pina, completes the 3DView family. It fulfils the requirements of the growing digital community that wants to shoot 3D films with two DSLR cameras or other non-genlockable cameras. The CineMonitorHD 3D View includes several modes to help the operator correlate cameras and preview the image in anaglyph mode. It also

features multi-format inputs (HD/SD-SDI, HDMI and composite video) and a useful genlock analyser that precisely analyses the synchronisation status of the cameras in a graphical way. The 3DView “S” comes with 10” and 12” screens.

Transvideo also unveiled new additions to its HDSLR range, including HDMI inputs to the HD6 and HD8 CineMonitors, which offer special strain reliefs to protect the plugs when someone pulls on the cable. Visit http://transvideointl.com/

3ality Digital added to its range of beam-splitter mirror rigs with the launch of the new TS-5. This brings the 3ality Digital precision and control to a much lighter and smaller form factor, allowing fast set-ups through the use of lightweight tripods as well as shoulder mounts and Steadicam 3D shooting.

3ality Digital beam-splitter rigs feature high precision, motor-driven adjustment of inter-axial distance and convergence under the command of its unique 3Flex production system. This gives great control over the stereoscopic image. In the past the rigs themselves have been substantial constructions.

The new TS-5 rig features the same capabilities, but weighs just 10kg.

3ality Digital also demonstrated 3Flex, its unifying system that automatically provides consistent, controllable and stable S3D images from acquisition to delivery. The software algorithms of 3Flex are implemented in its shooting rigs, its stereoscopic image processors (SIPs) and in post-production tools.

With 3Flex and its underlying mathematics, it is possible to provide the level of precision required to establish and maintain the desired effect. An error of as little as five pixels, which would be typical of alignment by eye, can cause eyestrain for the viewer, and potentially more significant discomfort and health issues. It is practical to achieve sub-pixel accuracy with 3Flex.

Visit www.3alitydigital.com

1 BEYOND LAUNCHES WRANGLER MINI3D

3ALITY DIGITAL LAUNCHES TS-5, 3FLEX

The new 1 Beyond Wrangler Mini3D Direct-to-Disk Recorder (DDR) and Viewer was launched at the IBC. The Wrangler Mini3D is a new on-camera solution for shooting in 2D and 3D. It offers:

•Flexibilityinasinglecompactpackagetoconfigurefor recording direct-to-disk either uncompressed or compressed and live viewing of real-time stereo Raw (SI-2K, Arri and others) or HD-SDI

•It is compatiblewith theentire lineof1Beyondproducts across the 3D workflow for live broadcast quality output, automated duplication, instant stereo review, real-time colour grading and logging on-set, in addition to post production. Provides compatibility with PCs and Macs, plus many configuration options for different environments

•Itfeaturestheindustry’slargestscreen–10.4”withunique touch screen software making consolidation of equipment practical for functions like camera set-up, focus and 3D adjustments

•It incorporates the latest technologies with aground-up, modular, changeable design of the chassis, electronics and software, providing 3 to 10 fold increases in performance over previous approaches and allowing for future upgrades.

Visit www.1beyond.com/index.asp

Element Technica launched its Pulsar 3D rig at the 2010 IBC exhibition. The Pulsar, which provides stereoscopic mounting of mid-sized high resolution digital cameras with ENG-style lenses, gives Element Technica a complete range of Technica 3D rigs for the largest to the smallest professional digital cameras. The Pulsar joins the Quasar (large cameras) and Neutron (smallest cameras) by providing stereoscopic mounting of mid-sized and box-style cameras, including the Scarlet, Epic, SI-2K, Sony EX3 and P1. The Pulsar provides the same stereoscopic control of interocular and convergence as is available on the Quasar and Neutron rigs, either via wired or wireless linking with the Technica Hand Controller (THC). The Pulsar can also be interfaced with stereoscopic optimisation processors such as the Sony MPE-200 and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft HHS STAN, which allow them to be quickly integrated into multi-camera productions. Like other Technica 3D rigs, the Pulsar can be configured in side-by-side and beam splitter mode (both over/thru and under/thru), and can be quickly reconfigured from one mode to the other. For crane, dolly, camera car, stabiliser and hand-held operation of the Pulsar, bumping and jostling are the norm. The Pulsar maintains rock-solid rigidity through its construction from aircraft-grade CNC machined aluminium as well as stainless steel and carbon fibre. Visit www.technica3D.com

JVC Professional has unveiled three new 3D-enabled D-ILA projectors that all host unmatched native contrast ratios, with the top model delivering a 100,000:1 native contrast ratio. The new projectors are the Procision Series DLA-X9E, DLA-X7E and DLA-X3E.

For 3D content, each projector includes two HDMI 1.4a ports and supports side-by-side (broadcast), frame series (Blu-ray), and above-below 3D transmissions. An external 3D Signal Emitter (PK-EM1) syncs the projected image with JVC’s Active Shutter 3D Glasses (PK-AG1). The external 3D signal emitter ensures solid signal transmission to the 3D glasses for a superior 3D experience.

The new flagship DLA-X9E projector is built using hand-selected, hand-tested components and provides a 100,000:1 native contrast ratio. For 3D display, the DLA-X9E comes with two pairs of 3D glasses along with a PK-EM1 3D Signal Emitter.

All three new projectors feature three 0.7” 1920 x 1080 D-ILA devices and are designed around JVC’s third generation D-ILA High Dynamic Range optical engine to provide exceptional native contrast ratios.

These same two models also include a new seven-axis colour management system (R, G, B, C, M, Y and orange) that allows precise colour tuning.

www.jvcpro.com.au

JVC’S 3D-ENABLED D-ILA HOME THEATRE PROJECTORS

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26 The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension 27

3D Straight Out Of The Box Peter Parnham dons the glasses to look at Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 stereoscopic camera.

YOU REALLY should read the user manual before you pick up the new Panasonic AG-3DA1 stereoscopic camera. For many of us this means breaking the habit of a lifetime, but if you haven’t boned up on 3D shooting before you start, there is a pretty good chance your first download of footage will look all wrong.

But it’s hard to sit still and do your homework when you have a new generation of camera technology begging to be played with. After all, while it looks like an ordinary camera at first glance, it shoots 3D without all the usual paraphernalia of complicated rigs, mirrors, cables and controls.

Inside, three 1/4” CMOS sensors for each eye record AVCHD (PH mode) to separate SD/SDHC cards, along the way creating a new market: practical and easy to shoot 3DTV.

It’s also not going to get you past international broadcaster HD technical standards right now. But there is a high cost and rigmarole associated with shooting 3D using higher quality, bigger cameras that need to be mounted on stereo camera rigs. It is possible that we’ll see the standards relaxed in the future if broadcasters create 3D channels and need to fill lots of time slots at an economic price. Alternatively, you might be able to get over the broadcast hurdle by taking HD-SDI feeds for each eye out the back of the camera to a couple of separate, better quality, portable recorders.

The expectation of future 3D broadcasts might not provide enough reason just yet to invest almost A$26K (NZ$29.5K) in the Panasonic AG-3DA1, but with 3D televisions starting to appear in the shops there are other opportunities for early-adopters. This camera might help you add 3D pizzazz to music videos, short films and marketing material.

Television DP Paul Richards and I were lucky enough to get our hands on a pre-production model for a couple of days testing in Auckland, courtesy of Peter Fullerton, Panasonic New Zealand’s broadcast product sales manager.

NEW RULES We found the camera makes it relatively easy to shoot 3D, but we also discovered that the game is quite different.

“There is a whole world of restrictions that govern 3D image capture and you need to learn those rules very early on, otherwise you are going to fall into major traps,” says Richards.

That’s why you need to read the manual, which has clear explanations of 3D theory, and the helpful chapters, somewhat formally entitled, Improper 3D Video and In Order to Shoot Proper 3D.

We took delivery of the camera and the manual at the same time as we convened at Panavision Auckland who had lent us their test bays for a morning.

We eagerly set up the monitor and fired up the

camera. With the foot traffic through Panavision a small but admiring crowd had soon gathered and it seemed a pity not to rip straight into it. We promptly shot some improper 3D video, although in our defence, we were pushing the limits just to see what would happen.

It turns out that it is not a bad idea to shoot some bad 3D because it helps you understand how quickly it messes up your audience’s heads even if things are only slightly wrong. To get a hint of what bad 3D looks like, forget cameras and monitors for a moment and look at something at least three metres away while holding a finger about 100mm or so directly in front of your eyes. You see your finger and you don’t – at the same time. On the other hand if you try to focus on your finger the background goes out of whack. It doesn’t take very much of this effect on screen to bring a big headache on.

This was thoroughly rammed home when we took the footage over to Auckland post facility Images and Sound. What was merely testing the limits on the monitor turned out to be unwatchable on their full-size viewing theatre screen.

SEDUCEDPerhaps we had been seduced by our monitor. Panasonic loaned us a dreamy 50in 3D Panasonic plasma TH-P50VT202, a consumer TV that retails for about A$4K (NZ $5K) plus active glasses. It was great to watch, even though the active eyewear is not really suitable for professional environments. In a typical professional environment there will be other monitors, LED displays or fluorescent lights, none of which will be in sync. The resulting flicker in the active glasses quickly becomes absolutely maddening.

Panasonic has a solution – a 25” 3D BT-3DL2550 field monitor launching along with the camera. It offers a polarising screen for use with passive polarising glasses.

But visually relying on the monitor only works if it is the same size that the audience will see.

This is because if the maximum disparity in the left and right eye images ever exceeds the distance between your eyes – your interocular distance – your eyes have to skew outwards, or diverge, to look at them. You can’t physically do this.

But even before your eyes start skewing outwards, if there is too much parallax – the difference in the images – the footage may be unwatchable.

Either way you get the transparent finger effect as your brain struggles to make sense of what it sees.

What works on small screen may be way too much on a big screen simply because the dimensions of the images are bigger. Even if it works for you, it might not work for children who have a smaller interocular distance.

To be safe, the Panasonic user manual recommends a maximum image disparity of 50mm or 3% of screen width for displays less than 77 inches. For a screen of 200 inches and above this drops to 1.1% of screen width.

They also offer a handy, low-tech way of checking – get a monitor with an overlay function and use a tape measure.

But this camera is aimed at low cost, fast turnaround 3DTV productions. You need to be able to shoot without a monitor at all.

Thankfully, the camera can calculate the acceptable 3D depth zone and display it on the LCD screen, in the form of near and far distances in metres. The numbers change as you zoom or change convergence, with the wide end giving the greatest acceptable 3D depth.

“Without the 3D guide you’d make a lot of mistakes in the field – that guide is your best friend,” says Richards.

The 3D guide can be configured for smaller or larger viewing screens and the set up makes a big difference. For example, on one combination of settings a safe 3D depth zone of 1.5m to infinity on the small screen setting shrinks to only 1.5m to 6.2m on the big screen setting.

>> >> The Panasonic AG-3DA1

>> >> Checking footage and point of convergence

>> >> LCD screen with protective plastic

HYPERCONVERGENCE DISTANCEThis highlights a constraint when using the AG-3DA1 camera, particularly when shooting outside. Let’s say you have a presenter talking to camera against a landscape at infinity. If the presenter is placed at the point of convergence – in other words at the screen plane – you need to keep the background within the safe 3D depth zone.

As you block the shot you to need to identify the hyperconvergence distance, the closest you can set the convergence point while infinity still remains in the acceptable 3D zone.

The procedure at the moment is to peer at the overlaid images on the LCD screen to judge the convergence point. (3D viewing on the LCD or finder is not on offer – presumably ruled out as impractical.)

In this situation the hyperconvergence distance is where you will place the presenter, as you probably don’t want them appearing out in front of the screen. Not only would that seem gimmicky, in a medium close up they will appear to hover in the air with their legs cut off.

The trouble is that on this camera the hyperconvergence distance is not all that close. The closest we could get during our tests was a few metres, at best about a knee to head shot, which is hardly an intimate shot of a presenter conversing to camera.

This means the way shots are composed and cut together will have to significantly change compared to the way you shoot a 2D program.

If you faced this problem on a two-camera stereo rig, you would close the interocular distance. It reduces the 3D effect, but you can get in closer. But on this camera the interocular distance is fixed at 60mm.

The beauty of the AG-3DA1 camera is that the fixed interocular design means you can go out and shoot stereo relatively easily and at low cost. But you are stuck with those shot constraints.

Still, for the target market, the trade-off is most likely worth it because you can pull this camera out of the case and start shooting more or less straight away – something impossible with a rig that needs the two separate cameras to be precisely aligned, frequently re-checked and assembled.

The stereo camera rigs need precise alignment because your brain will not stand for vertical disparity in the images. The same thing goes for key stoning errors, rotational errors, size differences and any other image disparities apart from horizontal separation.

Lens distortions unnoticeable in 2D assume new

significance in 3D. On stereo rigs individual lens distortions make changing and aligning prime lenses a nightmare, while using zooms introduces zoom tracking and size errors. The colorimetry of rig cameras also has to be matched – complicated by the half silvered mirror through which the cameras shoot. All this is a big time and cost disincentive to shooting ordinary television stereoscopically.

This is where the Panasonic camera takes a great leap forward. It is a twinned lens and sensor system but somehow the optics and colorimetry are internally linked so that the alignment issues are eliminated.

We found the camera left and right eye alignment is closely matched even when blown up in the Images and Sound viewing theatre, while the lens matching is good enough to be able to zoom.

Of course, actually zooming with a 3D camera is a somewhat unusual effect, but it is nothing compared to pulling convergence that looks downright weird.

Because your eyes are physically focused on the viewing screen, this is where the visual convergence point is. This means when you set the convergence point on the subject it will appear to be at the screen plane. Pulling convergence shifts the screen window backwards or forwards in space without anything changing in size.

Perhaps over time it will develop into a new screen convention, but in the meantime it will probably be used sparingly, if at all, which is just as well, because convergence on the camera is controlled by a small thumb wheel that switches between iris and convergence.

Richards found this a nuisance. “In New Zealand conditions where light is changing rapidly you have to flip flop on the dial. But as you turn between the two, the viewfinder settings are turning on and off – but this is only a prototype.”

The camera does have a socket for a remote convergence control that might make the task easier, even if it means draping a cable around the camera. Even then pulling convergence will be difficult without some sort of meaningful scale and at the moment

the convergence point is displayed on the LCD as a number that seems unrelated to the 3D safe zone.

“We couldn’t really use it, it would be better if it was in metres,” explains Richards.

But for Richards, who has been behind cameras for over 30 years, overall the camera creates and fulfils a niche.

“It’s simple and it’s great as an introduction to the

3D world,” he says. “Like a lot of product that comes to the market you

need to establish a set routine to do steps 1, 2 or 3 before you can go to step 4.

“If someone hassles you,” he adds, perhaps referring to my eagerness to get going on the first day, “and you haven’t done steps 1, 2 and 3 you are definitely going to make mistakes on step 4.”

JVC HD 3D Consumer CamcorderJVC has announced the GS-TD1 3D consumer camcorder that uses two camera lenses and two 3.32 megapixel CMOS sensors – one for each lens – to capture three-dimensional images. JVC’s new high-speed imaging engine simultaneously processes the two Full HD images – left and right images at 1920 x 1080i – within that single chip. As well as this “LR Independent Format”, the GS-TD1 offers “Side-by-Side Format” for AVCHD (3D) and conventional AVCHD (2D) shooting.

Additional highlights include 3D optical 5x zoom, Optical Axis Automatic Stabilization System for disparity control to give depth to 3D images, JVC’s BIPHONIC technology for dynamic 3D sound and Automatic Parallax Adjustment to optimise the 3D-video comfort zone.

The GS-TD1 operates like other consumer-friendly camcorders from JVC. A 3.5” 3D touch panel LCD monitor displays 3D images without any need for 3D glasses, making it easy to check 3D images while shooting and watch 3D playback in the field.

JVC’s other new HD Everio with 3D capabilities is the GZ-HM960. Similar to other HD Everio models in size and features, the GZ-HM960 is distinguished by its 2D-to-3D output function, which turns any 2D footage into 3D. Output can be viewed without glasses on the camera’s 3.5-inch 3D LCD monitor, or by connecting the camcorder to an external 3D television. Bluetooth wireless technology enables integration with other devices, such as smartphones, to sync images with Google Maps.Visit www.jvcpro.com.au

>> >> Adjusting convergence (top)

BACK TO CONTENTS PAGE BACK TO CONTENTS PAGE

28 The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension The Third Dimension

The Third Dimension 29

The Third DimensionThe Third Dimension

3D Glasses, 3D ClassesOn February 9, 2011, join Content+Technology magazine and a range of experts for a day of technical and production insights into the Third Dimension! 3D-Day will include conference sessions, masterclasses and an exhibition which will cover the 3D chain from pre-production to post and transmission/exhibition.

Exhibitors include:DigistorJVC ProfessionalPanasonic AustraliaSony AustraliaSalzbrenner Stagetec/Natural View Systems.

Masterclasses3D-day Masterclasses cover practical aspects of 3D acquisition and post-production with lighting, post and camera sessions. Workshop spaces are limited and available to registrants on a first come, first serve basis.

Conference SpeakersSpeakers will include members of the production and post teams from upcoming Aussie 3D feature ‘Sanctum’ (James Cameron, Executive Producer), including Brett Popplewell – Line Producer; David Booth – VFX Supervisor; as well as representatives

from Universal Studios. View the Sanctum trailer above.Other Speakers include:* Ross Emery – DOP of upcoming 3D thriller Bait* Jamie Crooks – First Assistant Director, Bait* Peter Smart, Chief Technology Officer, Foxtel* Adam Wrightson, Group Technology Director, Hoyts* Laura Sivis, Producer, Station21* Paul Colley, Sony Australia* John Virtue, Panavision* Steve Dunn, FSM* Stuart Monksfield, Storm FX* Carl Ardron, Motionlink* Marcus Gillezeau | Executive Producer, Stormsurfers 3D* Robert Morton, Stereographer/Technical Supervisor, Stormsurfers 3D

There will also be a presentation from a leading behavioural optometrist!

Sessions will include:* Essential 3D basics for producers and content creators* Business issues for the business minded* Technical issues for the technically minded* Hands on workshops and demonstrations* Software and hardware solutions from conference exhibitors* 3D market overviews from cinema and consumer electronics leaders

Conference package cost is $345 per person which includes refreshments, lunch and conference material. Numbers are strictly limited to full paying registrants.

When: Wednesday February 9, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Where: Tattersalls Club, 181 Elizabeth Street, Sydney 2000, Australia

To register, visit www.3d-day.tv

DOP MASTERCLASSRoss Emery’s cut his teeth with camera operating and second unit roles for high-profile sci-fi visual feasts including John Frankenheimer’s The Island of Doctor Moreau, Alex Proyas’ Dark City and all three Matrix movies. Emery’s first feature DP credit was on underwater sci-fi horror flick The Cave. He then shot the action romp The Condemned and shot 2nd unit for director Bryan Singer on Superman Returns and Valkyrie. He went on to shoot Underworld: Rise of the Lycans for Patrick Tatopoloulos, additional units on Alex Proyas’ Knowing, Guillermo del Toros’ Don’t be Afraid of the Dark and The Killer Elite.

He has just completed shooting as DP on the 3D action film “Bait”, a 3D action thriller scheduled for release in late 2011, has been described as “taking the killer shark movie to the next level”.

Ross worked with Panavision to assemble the 3D kit for the shoot which included the new Panavision bespoke Primo 19-90mm zoom lens Qasar and Neutron 3D rigs, Red MX cameras, SI2K cameras and the processing power to make all the kit work.

Ross will be joined on 3D-Day by John Virtue of Panavision in a Masterclass at 9.40am on Lighting for 3D and in a panel session at 1.30pm on ‘Shooting the Third Dimension’.

SANCTUM – The Only Way Out is DownExecutive produced by James Cameron and shot using his 3D technology comes Sanctum, a 3D

action-thriller which follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. Released by from Universal Pictures, Sanctum was shot on location off the Gold Coast in Queensland by DOP Jules O’Loughlin, ACS, and directed by Alister Grierson.

SANCTUM SCREENING & HOYTS TOURAll 3D-Day attendees are in for a special treat as Hoyts have generously offered to provide a special 3D screening of Aussie-produced 3D feature ‘Sanctum’ (James Cameron, Executive Producer) followed by a behind the scenes tour of Hoyts’ all-digital Broadway multiplex.

3D-Day will feature presentations from members of the production and post teams who worked on Sanctum.

No Glasses - the Next Step in 3DTV?At this year’s Content + Technology 3D-DAY, Natural View Systems from Buttenheim (Germany) will present

a world first: the iVu display system for spatially enhanced stereoscopic reproduction of video images. The patents pending algorithm used by iVu computes a 3-D spatial image from every possible digital 2D-content. The system outputs the processed signal in real-time and is applicable to video content in any format and resolution. Watching spatial video produced by iVu requires just a standard consumer HD autostereoscopic screen. The image can be enjoyed without glasses.

Depending on the type and size of the screen used, the optimum viewing distance for iVu video is between 1 and 7 meters, and the system supports viewing angles of up to 160 degrees.

...without glasses3D TV3D TV3D TV

7 reasons for choosing iVu 3D TV

IT JUST WORKS “Fits seamlessly into standard display systems.”

RELAXING“Non strenuous TV-viewing, no 3D-glasses needed.”

USER FRIENDLY “Simplicity and accessibility are key features.”

SHORTEST LATENCY“Overall latency is short, very short .”

COMPATIBILITY “Supports any 2D or 3D content.”

INTEGRATION “Simple and cost effective.”

SUPERB, COMPACT DESIGN“Small set top box or possible integration within monitor.”

NVS - natural view systems gmbh

D-96155 Buttenheim, Germany

Phone: +49 9545 4400

www.natural-view-systems.com

spatial-image systems

3D Glasses,

3D Classes ...

for Content Creators

& Technologists

presents

contenttechnology

MAGAZINE

February 9, 2011, Sydney, AustraliaJoin C+T magazine and a range of experts for a day of technical and production insights into The Third Dimension!!!

3D-DAY

To register, visit www.3d-day.tv

Conference ProgramTime Conference Masterclasses

8.30-9.30am Registration & Exhibition Time Registration & Exhibition Time

9.30-9.40am PUT YOUR GLASSES ON! Movie Trailer and WelcomePhil Sandberg, Publisher, Content+Technology

9.40-9.55am You Can’t Argue with Physics & BiologyBehavioural Optometrist Chi Chi Lee gives the medical perspective on stereoscopic 3D. Who can perceive it, who can’t and should there be standards

DOP Masterclass Lighting for 3DRoss Emery, DOP, Bait, John Virtue, Panavision

Movie Trailer Presentation Lighting for 3D ... cont

10.00-10.30am The Business Dimension Part 1 - Stereo 3D 101, the basicsStuart Monksfield, Storm FX

Lighting for 3D ... cont

10.30-11.30am Exhibition Time Exhibition Time

Movie Trailer Presentation DOP Masterclass

11.30am-12.00pm The Business Dimension Part 2 – The Potential Consumer MarketAdam Wrightson, CTO, Hoyts Cinemas Paul Colley, Sony Australia Consumer DivisionPatrick Lagana, Sony Computer Entertainment (Playstation)

DOP Masterclass ... cont

12.00-12.30pm The Business Dimension Part 3 – Producing Stereo 3D ContentBrett Popplewell, Line Producer, SanctumJamie Crooks, 1st Assistant Director, Bait

DOP Masterclass ... cont

12.30-1.30pm Lunch & Exhibition Time Lunch & Exhibition Time

Movie Trailer Presentation Post-Production Masterclass

1.30-2.15pm 3-DOP! – Shooting the Third DimensionRoss Emery, DOP, BaitJohn Virtue, Panavision

Post-Production Masterclass ... cont

Movie Trailer Presentation Post-Production Masterclass ... cont

2.15pm-3.30pm 3DTV – The Broadcast ExperiencePeter Smart, Chief Technology Officer, FoxtelNine Network Australia

Post-Production Masterclass ... cont

3.30pm-4.00pm Exhibition Time Exhibition Time

Movie Trailer Presentation DOP Masterclass

4.00pm-5.00pm Post Production Workflow & DeliverablesModerator Steve Dunn, FSMDavid Booth, VFX Supervisor, SanctumBen Joss, 1st Assistant Editor, SanctumCarl Ardron, Motionlink

DOP Masterclass ... cont

5.10pm EXHIBITION TIME, DRINKS, NETWORKING & PRIZE DRAW EXHIBITION TIME, DRINKS, NETWORKING & PRIZE DRAW

6.00pm End of Conference – Board Transport to Hoyts Broadway for 3D screening of Sanctum and tour of Hoyts Digital Multiplex

End of Conference

Proudly supported by:

...without glasses3D TV3D TV3D TV

7 reasons for choosing iVu 3D TV

IT JUST WORKS “Fits seamlessly into standard display systems.”

RELAXING“Non strenuous TV-viewing, no 3D-glasses needed.”

USER FRIENDLY “Simplicity and accessibility are key features.”

SHORTEST LATENCY“Overall latency is short, very short .”

COMPATIBILITY “Supports any 2D or 3D content.”

INTEGRATION “Simple and cost effective.”

SUPERB, COMPACT DESIGN“Small set top box or possible integration within monitor.”

NVS - natural view systems gmbh

D-96155 Buttenheim, Germany

Phone: +49 9545 4400

www.natural-view-systems.com

spatial-image systems

Digistor has over 20 year’s experience providing professional solutions for the creative, broadcast and post production industries. We provide the full Autodesk Media & Entertainment and Creative Finishing product ranges and offer world-class technical support Australia-wide.

Call Digistor today to book a demonstration or to discuss your needs – 1800 643 789 .

Digistor Pty LtdSydney • Melbourne • Brisbanewww.digistor.com.au

*Trial products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies the software.Autodesk and Smoke are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Mac OS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at anytime without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Acquisition

30 Acquisition

ACQUISITION

ALEXA Triggers Love at First Sight for Cinoptix

>> >> Centenarian entertainer Olive Webber and the Flickchicks camera crew.

Flickchicks stalk Centenarians with JVC BRISBANE-BASED film production company, Flickchicks, say they have spent the last year “stalking” centenarians with JVC ProHD cameras for their bittersweet documentary The 100+ Club.

Flickchicks co-founder and director Mandy Lake explained, “We read a newspaper article two years ago about this incredible social group called The 100+ Club. So we contacted the organisers and suggested making a documentary about its members. Fortunately they loved the idea and agreed.”

The 100+ Club is literally one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. But you don’t have to be fabulously wealthy or wearing the right school tie to join, you just have to be old. More than 100 years old, in fact.

The 100+ Club follows three central characters as they pursue their goals over the course of a year: Ruth Frith, the world’s oldest competing athlete in pursuit of world records; all-round entertainer Olive Webber making one last performance following her bowel cancer operation; and cattleman turned outback

author Dexter Kruger painstakingly eking out his fifth, and possibly last, book.

Flickchicks co-founder and producer Margie Brown said, “Our story focus was always upon how amazing they were to be doing what they are doing

at 100+ years of age – chasing big dreams and being late starters. We also wanted the film to be very good looking, as a way of paying homage to these incredible people. All the cameramen who used our 100 and 200 series ProHD cameras shot the footage beautifully. It has a real cinematic feel. Again, we have to give special thanks to Dave Russell our DOP who shot the doco 25p.

“JVC ProHD is simply better for documentaries involving field work – overall it’s an easier workflow. We love how user friendly the ProHD cameras are, the tape factor and the shoulder mount. Also, we must give special credit to Steve Hibberd at JVC main dealer Pro Visual. The support he has given us has been second to none.”

The 100+ Club has been commissioned by ABC TV and has also received funding from Screen Queensland. It is currently in post-production. To see the 100+ Club trailer go to www.youtube.com/user/flickchicks

Sony PMW-F3 Handheld Super 35mm Digital CameraSony has unveiled the PMW-F3 professional handheld digital production camera with a Super 35mm imager. The on-board recording capability of the new F3 camcorder is based on Sony’s XDCAM EX workflow and uses Sony’s SxS ExpressCard-based recording media. The Super 35mm CMOS imager delivers shallow depth of field, with high sensitivity and low noise levels (ISO 800, F11; and S/N ratio of 63db in 1920x1080/50i mode), as well as exceptional latitude. The camcorder offers filmmakers a wide range of image creation options. Through the use of an HD-SDI dual-link output for external recording (4:2:2 1080 50/59.94P as standard, and RGB 4:4:4 1080 23.98/25/29.97PsFas an

option), footage shot with the F3 can be seamlessly inter-cut with content shot on other Sony digital cinematography camera systems.

Additionally, ‘S-Log’ or ‘Hyper Gamma’ modes can be selected, which can significantly increase the camera’s latitude. S-Log is Sony’s unique approach to the raw ‘Digital Negative’, allowing access to the full dynamic range of the Super 35mm imager for maximum flexibility in image manipulation during post production. This allows users to take advantage of already well-established HDCAM-SR and other file-based workflows. Recording formats include 1920x1080, 1440x1080 and 1280x720 at 23.98/25/29.97p, 50/59.94i and, in standard

definition DVCAM mode, 25/29.97PsF and 50/59.94i. Filmmakers can also take advantage of the F3’s under and over cranking capabilities, shooting from 1 to 30 fps at 1920x1080 (17 to 30 fps in dual-link mode) or 1 to 60 fps at 1280x720 (17 to 60 fps in dual-link mode).

The PMW-F3’s PL mount adapter can accommodate both PL and Sony’s upcoming zoom lenses, and offers compatibility with a variety of cine lenses such as Arri, Cooke, Fujinon and Zeiss. Sony is also planning to introduce a compatible SR Memory Portable Recorder for the PMW-F3 camcorder. The camera will also support Look-up Tables (LUTs). Visit www.sony.com.au/production

According to the owners of boutique Sydney-based digital and film equipment rental business Cinoptix, much of their continued success is a result of a close collaboration with ARRI Australia.

Cinoptix co-owner Aquiles Sande explained, “We started Cinoptix in 2008. Coming from 15 years with ARRI’s main distributor in Venezuela I had a lot of experience of the ‘ARRI way’ and their extremely high levels of service and support. Our aim for Cinoptix

was to very much mirror this approach and ethos to create Sydney’s finest boutique rentals facility.”

Cinoptix’s initial offering to the market consisted of a set of ARRI Ultra Prime lenses, ARRIFLEX 435 camera and the first ARRIFLEX D-21 camera to arrive in Australia. With Cinoptix growing Sande and Hasuike decided to expand the company’s offering further and went to ARRI Australia General Manager Stefan Sedlmeier to discuss their options.

According to Sande, “We got on to discussing the new ARRI ALEXA. Not only is it a beautiful camera but you can record direct to camera, there’s the Direct-To-Edit capability which allows footage to be recorded onto SxS cards with immediate availability of material into FCP and AVID, it’s quick to work with, it is ProRes 422HQ and 4:4:4:4 which are great for TVCs and TV series – the list of benefits is endless.”Visit www.cinoptix.com.au and www.arri.com.au

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Acquisition

32 Acquisition

Acquisition

Acquistion 33

THERE IS SOMETHING FILMIC about the Arri Alexa, even though it is a digital camera that will never expose a grain of silver halide. It is more than the film-style buttons and menus that ignore pedestal, detail, and other settings that belong in video cameras. It is more than calculating shutter angles in degrees.

According to cinematographer Waka Attewell (pronounced Wocka), there is something about the way the camera fits together, something about the way the card slot door closes with a satisfying click, that announces this is a camera made by people who know how to make cameras.

Attewell has had enough of the computer approach to cameras. To him it means long boot times, overheating and crashes.

“Last time I used a RED camera it was a three-day freebie drama for an up and coming director,” he says. “We spent half a day totally focussed on the RED and trying to get it built as a camera and get it to do what we wanted to do.”

Attewell was preparing for the feature documentary Kiwi Joker: The Billy T James Movie when he heard the first New Zealand Alexa camera had arrived at Queenstown Camera Company, a South Island rental house. He asked them to ship it to Rocket Rentals in Wellington for a test.

“My idea was to build the kit at Rocket with their infrastructure, their knowledge and monitors.

“We arrived at Rocket and the silver box was there. We put the camera on a tripod, put a battery on it, turned it on, and went to the menu side. There are six buttons. I set up the shutter angle and the colour temperature and all of that immediately.

“We could have been shooting with that camera within three minutes.”

He had considered other digital cameras with 35mm sensors for the shoot, but they were going to be too cumbersome – a problem solved by Queenstown Camera.

“The Alexa came with two beautiful Angenieux Optimo lenses – the 15-40mm and the 28-76mm variable primes,” he says.

The Optimo 15-40mm T2.6 lens weighs 1.92kg and is 186mm long, just 43mm longer and .92kg heavier than a 40mm Ultraprime lens.

The compact camera and lens combination was ideal for the big screen documentary because it gives the operator flexibility.

“It is always very nice to lay down a track, put a 32mm prime lens on and just ooze in,” says Attewell. “But with non-actors you can have an interview situation in somebody’s farm kitchen, and just when they are going through a moment of profound wisdom and emotion suddenly there is this huge juggernaut starting to track straight towards them. It would be so distracting. To use the Optimos for subtle lense shifts was absolutely perfect.”

In front of the lenses he uses neutral density filters

because of the 800 ASA rating of the camera. “We did the film out test at Weta Digital. I varied

the exposures and tried to create grain and change the ASA on the sensor, but leaving it on the sweet spot at 800 ASA is the way to go,” he says.

“You’ve 14 stops latitude so you might as well use it, and on your user buttons you can assign the Log-C negative look.”

Log-C is an optional gamma curve that can be applied to the recorded files to extend the latitude – dynamic range – of the digital file. It is identical to the Cineon log curve used to encode scans of film negative. An uncorrected viewed image looks washed out, but once the inverse look up table (LUT) is applied in post production the image is optimised for cinema projection and ready for processing as a digital intermediate. This is a different approach to a video shoot where footage may go to air with minimal grading or correction applied. Like a film negative, the raw footage is unusable without processing, giving rise to the term digital negative.

“If I hadn’t known that I shot the film-out test as a digital negative I could have sworn I was looking at something shot on 5247 film,” says Attewell.

“The easiest way to spot a video camera is to shoot candles or bright bulbs or something where there is no detail. Whereas Arri have been very conscious of keeping that film look,” he adds.

When recording with a Log-C gamma curve the Alexa offers the options of REC.709 gamma curve outputs to properly correct the viewfinder and monitor displays.

“I feel very confident about pulling the exposure off the eyepiece,” says Attewell. “And I’ve got a scope on the main monitor so I can see where the whites are and where the blacks are. I’ve had my light meter out about twice in the last three weeks.”

Attewell’s confidence in the camera is based on his own testing, a smart move because technical specifications can only take you so far.

The Arri Digital Camera System Brochure lists the ALEV III as a CMOS sensor with a pixel count of 3.5K, describing it as oversampling the recorded image. That’s a generous number for a sensor that produces a 1920 x 1080 HDTV picture from a 4:3 windowed Bayer pattern sensor. Each recorded line off the Bayer chip is 2880 pixels made up of 1920

green photosites with red or blue sub-sampled on alternative lines with 960 photosites. By this logic, any ordinary video camera with three native 1920 x 1080 sensors would be a 6K camera.

Unlike video style cameras, the Alexa’s sensor does over scan so that the operator can see outside the frame marked with electronic frame lines. Operators can see just outside frame allowing precision re-framing without unexpected intrusions of miscellany around the edge of frame.

The ALEV III sensor also employs dual gain architecture (DGA), which is a relatively new technique that takes two different gain readouts from each photosite on the sensor, the low gain signal capturing detail in the highlights, and the high gain signal capturing detail in the blacks. The A/D converters recombine the signals producing a high dynamic range (HDR) picture.

The quality and look of the pictures is very high, enthuses Attewell, and he is not alone.

Stefan Sedlmeier, General Manager of Arri Australia, says he has sold over a dozen cameras in Australia and he has back orders that will put two-and-a-half times as many cameras in the region as soon as he can get them from the factory.

“Everybody is happy and many customers have already ordered the third or fourth camera, this is why we have back orders,” he explains.

He says he almost always sells the base model, although options with extra features are available. In 2011, the A-OV version is due with optional optical viewfinder and can make full use of the 4:3 sensor. Proprietary Arri Raw 2K output for certified off-board recorders will also become available.

The camera currently records 1080p Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) up to 60fps or Apple ProRes 4444 up to 40fps to on board SxS memory cards or an external recorder via HD-SDI.

Sedlmeier also points to faster sensor readout times that reduce the rolling shutter effect inherent in CMOS sensors, a point confirmed by Attewell.

“We’ve tried to fool the sensor with quick pans but we haven’t seen any of the aliasing you might see on other cameras,” Attewell says. “I think it spells the end for film.”

Digital Camera in Film Disguise

>> >> Sony’s SRW-9000PL comes with 35mm imager.

By Peter Parnham

ARRI has released ALEXA Software Update Package (SUP) 2.0, implementing the camera’s ProRes recording capability. Customers owning ALEXAs are now able to download the software from ARRI’s website. In-camera recording at up to 30fps onto high-performance SxS PRO cards with ProRes codecs is enabled in the new release. Customers now have the freedom to choose whether to record in-camera with

Anton/Bauer has introduced the new Gold Mount and ElipZ power solutions for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D Digital SLR cameras. These power solutions will run monitors, lights, transmitters and other accessories not possible with a standard OEM battery. The Gold Mount solution has the ability to mount to most third party support rigs, such as Red-Rock Micro, Zacuto and Cinevate, and offers a counter balance to the rig. It can be configured in a pouch pack worn on a belt. The ElipZ solution is an appealing option among the event photographer crowd. This can be adapted to both a shoulder mount or pouch pack configuration. “The biggest trend in cinematography is using Digital SLRs. Anton/Bauer’s new solutions for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D give filmmakers using Digital SLRs more

Anton/Bauer power for Canon EOS 5 Digital SLRs

ARRI releases ALEXA ProRes DTE

ARRI and Colorfront have announced a partnership for a new digital dailies product enabling enhanced levels of productivity and cost-efficiency. The agreement sees the launch of Colorfront On-Set Dailies, a state-of-the-art digital dailies tool optimised for use with ARRI’s ALEXA and ARRIFLEX D-21 digital cameras and their workflows. The new system incorporates production-proven tools for dailies work – playback and sync, QC, colour grading, audio and metadata management, simultaneous faster-than-real-time deliverables in all common file formats. Colorfront’s system also integrates into any digital dailies workflow. It harnesses direct experience gained on TV series including The Pillars Of The Earth (Tandem Communications, Muse Entertainment & Scott Free Productions), The Borgias (CTV/Showtime), and feature films Monte Carlo (Fox 2000 Pictures) and The Debt (Miramax), all shot in Hungary, where Colorfront is based. “Colorfront’s On-Set Dailies is the logical complement to the workflow behind ALEXA and the D-21, and beyond that to all digital dailies involving scanners such as the ARRISCAN, telecines, as well as other cameras,” says Markus Frees, ARRI’s director for DI sales, EMEA region.

Aron Jaszberenyi, Colorfront’s managing director, comments, “Working closely with ARRI’s solid engineering team, we are bringing to market a system that provides filmmakers with a process that stacks up advantageously on the producer’s budget

ARRI and Colorfront launch On-Set Dailies against traditional photochemical and current digital dailies”. Colorfront’s On-Set Dailies has an easy, node-based operator interface, can load media files from film scans, tape capture, disk and solid state recorders, and synchronises sound files with picture. Its image-processing capabilities include primary and selective colour correction, the application of 3D LUTs, printer-light and ASC CDL compatibility, image resizing tools, and a range of burn-in options. It works with 3D stereo media, allowing stereo adjustments of

colour and position, and assembles takes into rolls and tapes for deliverables, screeners and archival. Input media formats include DPX, ARRI RAW files, ProRes 422 and 444 QTs, Avid DNxHD media, QT files with various codecs, and broadcast WAV audio files. Deliverable formats include: MPG4 H.264 for web delivery, iPhone and iPad; MPG2 for authored DVDs and chaptered Blu-rays; Avid DNxHD MXF and QT files; as well as TIFF, JPG still formats, and WAV audio. Visit www.arri.com www.colorfront.com

ProRes DTE or via the HD-SDI interface with onboard HD recorders. Simultaneous capture with frame-accurate time code of in-camera ProRes and HD footage from an onboard recorder is possible.

ARRI has also announced the first modular enhancement to its ALEXA system platform: the ALEXA Plus.

The ALEXA Plus is an upgrade to the ALEXA

camera, adding built-in wireless remote control, the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), additional MON OUT video and RS power outputs, lens synchronisation for 3D and built-in position and motion sensors.

Among the accessories were Remote Control Unit RCU-4, Wireless Network Adapter WNA-1, ALEXA 3D Cable Set, and the ALEXA Low Mode Set LMS-3. Visit www.arri.com

options to power all of the equipment they use,” said Michael Accardi, president, Anton/Bauer. Visit www.antonbauer.com www.vitecgroup.com

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Acquisition

34 Acquisition

Telecast Fiber Systems’ CopperHead ProHD KA-F790 is a camera-mounted fibre optic transceiver built exclusively for the JVC GY-HM790 ProHD camera, it is the first CopperHead to provide a direct connection to a camcorder without requiring external cables. Using a 68-pin connector on the back of the GY-HM790, the compact KA-F790 attaches directly to the camera body and enables broadcasters to leverage the GY-HM790’s full studio functionality in the field. It connects the camera via SMPTE hybrid (powered) or tactical (unpowered) fibre optic cable to a truck, control room, or “video village” position. The system simultaneously transports bidirectional digital (SDI or HD-SDI) and analogue (NTSC or PAL) video, as well as all two-way camera control, audio, video, data, sync, tally/call, prompter, and intercom signals between the camera head and the remote

CopperHead Base Station. The lightweight, 1 RU Base Station is easily integrated into any studio, mobile truck, or portable flypack – and plugs directly into a facility’s switcher, router, intercom, and house sync systems. “Since its unveiling at this year’s NAB show, the GY-HM790 has received rave reviews for excellent HD image quality as well as its versatility for both studio and ENG use,” said Steve DeFrancesco, vice president and general manager of Telecast Fiber Systems. “And now, our new CopperHead ProHD KA-F790 makes it easy and seamless for GY-HM790 users to leverage the range, quality, and reliability of fibre for their remote productions.” “With the CopperHead ProHD systems from Telecast Fiber Systems, GY-HM790 users can have the convenience and performance of fibre on location,” said Lon Mass, vice president of sales and marketing, JVC Professional

Products. “The customised KA-F790 transceiver fits directly on the camera, which provides an elegant, reliable, and streamlined fibre optic solution.” http://www.telecast-fiber.comhttp://pro.jvc.com

FIBRE OPTIC TRANSCEIVER FOR JVC PROHD CAMERAS

Thales Angenieux recently unveiled new HD video, digital production and 35mm film lenses, including: HD Video Lenses A new 14 x 4.5 HD Video Wide Angle Lens with a focal range of 4.5 to 63mm (9 to 126mm with 2x extender) and an aperture of f/1.8 (4.5 to 41mm); the 19 x 7.3 HD Video Lens with a focal range of 7.3mm to 139mm; and the 26 x 7.8 HD Video Telephoto Lens with a focal range of 7.8mm to 203mm (5.6mm to 406mm with a 2x extender) and an aperture of f/2.2. These lenses offer the longest zoom ranges in their respective categories. In the area of large format digital production lenses, the Optimo DP 16-42mm Lens features a wide-angle position of 16mm (75.4 degrees), a fast aperture of T2.8, calibrated focus marks and no ramping or breathing; and the Optimo DP 30-80mm Lens features a focal length of 30-80mm (2.7x zoom). Both deliver the image coverage of full S35 (32mm diagonal). In addition, Thales Angenieux’s line of Optimo 35mm Film Zoom Lenses are available in 24-290mm, 17-80mm, 15-40mm and 28-76mm focal ranges to provide a comprehensive selection of solutions to meet the most demanding production needs. New accessories include the WA 0.75X Wide Angle Adapter which easily attaches to the front of the Optimo DP 16-42 Lens and Optimo 15-40 35mm Film Lens. The Adapter provides a fish eye effect for both lenses by further extending their wide-angle field of view. Thales Angenieux is also offering new 2X Extenders for its 24-290mm and 17-80mm Optimo 35mm Film Zoom Lenses, as well as DSLR mounts for the 24-290mm, 28-76mm and 15-40mm. In addition Thales Angenieux offers a 3D Ready Optimo DP Lens Package that contains factory matched 16-42 or 30-80 Optimo DP Lenses in a customised compact carrying case. In addition to superior optical quality and a reliable and precise mechanical system, the Optimo 3D ready package includes specific features for 3D applications like factory matched zoom and focus scale, comparable optical quality and easily adjustable tracking to assure flawless performance. Visit http://www.angenieux.com

AJA Video Systems brought production and post a step closer with the introduction of Ki Pro Mini, a smaller, lighter version of its portable tapeless recorder that captures to the Apple ProRes 422 codec directly from camera. The Ki Pro Mini flash disk recorder mounts easily to digital cameras and accessories, enabling it to fit unobtrusively in small spaces for on-set capture of 10-bit 4:2:2 files that are immediately ready for editing. Ki Pro Mini offers a small form factor, support for SDI & HDMI cameras and key features including: · 10-bit full-raster recording to Apple ProRes 422 SD and HD formats (including HQ, LT and Proxy) · Recording of SD/HD files from digital video

AJA PORTABLE FILE-BASED RECORDER

THALES ANGENIEUX HIGHLIGHTS HD VIDEO, DIGITAL PRODUCTION

cameras to Compact Flash (CF) cards · Mac OS X friendly media and native QuickTime files — no log-and-capture required · Professional video connectivity through SD/HD SDI and HDMI I/O · 2 channels of balanced XLR audio with switch selectable line/mic levels · 8 channels of embedded digital audio over SDI and HDMI · Flexible control options including familiar front panel and web browser interfaces “Anywhere a camera can go, Ki Pro Mini can follow,” said AJA President Nick Rashby. “It’s smaller than some battery packs and mounts to virtually everything.” Visit http://www.aja.com

FUJIFILM EXPANDS ETERNA FILM RANGE FUJIFILM has launched a new addition to its ETERNA range, the ETERNA 250D daylight-type E.I. 250 motion picture colour negative film.

Fujifilm Australia General Manager Recording Media/Motion Picture Film Marc Van Agten said, “The new ETERNA Vivid 250D is a high contrast, high saturation daylight balanced film stock which offers punchy vivid colours, crisp deep blacks and excellent skin tones. What’s more, the new ETERNA Vivid 250D provides a seamless match with ETERNA Vivid 160T and ETERNA Vivid 500T tungsten balanced film stocks. Fujifilm’s commitment to film and the motion picture industry is as solid as ever.”

The new ETERNA 250D film incorporates Fujifilm’s proprietary Super Nano-structured ? Grain Technology which controls the light-sensitive structure of the silver-halide grain to nanoscale, creating extremely fine grain. Photons generated by light are concentrated in the photosensitive nuclear lamina by way of electron accumulators. These grains feature a precise electron accumulator structure that efficiently concentrates photons into a relatively thick latent image. This thickness is engineered to minimise reflections, enhancing sharpness by minimising light scatter. This technology makes it possible to reduce the volume of the photosensitive grain by approximately 1/3 compared to previous colour negative films with the same speed.

ETERNA 250D shares the same palette and gradation characteristics as high-speed (E.I. 500) ETERNA 500, for seamless intercutting of images as required for many types of motion picture productions. Gradation balance has been optimised to ensure smooth, natural reproduction of skin tones and greys even when under- or overexposed, making possible a range of atmospheric effects. Optimised orange mask density and enhanced grain also contribute to improved image quality for film scanning or telecine transfer of images from negative film to videotape.

ETERNA Vivid 250D is available in 35mm 8546 and 16mm 8646 formats.Visit www.FUJIFILM.com.au

A U S T R A L I A N

Kim Williams AMChief Executive

Foxtel

David PoltrackChief Research OfficerCBS Corporation (USA)

Andy TownendExecutive Director

Digital Switchover TaskforceDepartment of Broadband, Communications and the

Digital Economy

Julie FlynnCEO

Free TV Australia

Scott LorsonCEO

FetchTV

Steve WeaverHead of Research

Channel 9

John Smith CEO

BBC Worldwide

Guy DuncanGlobal Creative Director

Coca-Cola (USA)

Clive DickensChief Operating Officer

Absolute Radio (UK)

Ian HoggCEO

FremantleMedia

Jack MatthewsCEO

Fairfax Digital

Richard North Strategic Partner Manager AU/NZ

Google

Lunch Sponsor Cocktail Sponsor Associate Sponsor Media Partner

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36 Sportscasting

Sportscasting

Sportscasting 37

Sportscasting

SPORTSCASTINGContained Sports Coverage from Gearhouse BroadcastGearhouse Broadcast has put itself in the box seat with the launch of SP-1, described as “one of the more unique HD facilities on offer in this region”.

According to Andrew Timlin, General Manager of Gearhouse Broadcast Australia, “We have converted a standard 20ft-shipping container into an 8-x camera outside broadcast unit which brings previously unheard of flexibility and efficiencies in a unit so small and transportable.

“From the outside it looks just like any other 20ft shipping container that we’ve all seen being transported and shipped all over the world. However, on the inside is an extremely high powered, hi-tech outside broadcast facility. The unit can be placed in multiple situations and locations where sometimes vehicle access can be difficult.”

Vital statistics for SP-1 include: •ContainerDimensions–6mLx2.6mHx2.5mW•Vision–SonyMFS-2000•Audio–YamahaDM-2000•Comms–TelexRTS• Production–2xpositions•CameraControl–8xSonyHDC-1500

•Monitoring–2x47”multi-screenLCD•EVS/VTR–2xEVS&2xVTR• Engineering–2xCCU• Power–1x32-amp3-Phase•A/C – 2 x 6.8Kw A/C units – Fully climate-

controlledThe container can be picked up and placed nearly

anywhere by using a side-lift container transport truck. “The costs of moving the unit are small compared

with running a standard OB vehicle with a driver,” says Andrew Timlin. “Naturally we can arrange for

the unit’s delivery and collection after the production is complete – anywhere and anytime.

“The 20ft container performed flawlessly on its debut at the 77th UCI Road World Championships held in Geelong late last year. As one of three OB facilities Gearhouse provided for this very complex outside broadcast. Covering the cameras and replay vision source for the Montpellier Hill and Queens Park stages, this was a mission critical installation that resulted in a faultless conclusion.”Visit www.gearhousebroadcast.com

Riedel Communicates at Asian GamesLast year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, saw Riedel Communications install a comprehensive, combined wired and wireless communications system that provided venue communications as well as intercoms for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The system for the ceremonies furnished an Artist digital matrix intercom system consisting of two mainframes connected via fibre, about 20 Artist 1000 series control panels and around 75 Performer digital partyline beltpacks.

To provide the infrastructure for venue

communications, Riedel equipped the venues with a Performer digital partyline systems offering a versatile and easy to use communications system with high quality digital audio and more than 600 beltpacks.

Riedel Communications also handled the installation of the analogue radio network that was also integrated into the wired intercom infrastructure via RiFace interfaces. The radio network that covered the whole venue during the opening and closing ceremonies consisted of 16 semi-duplex channels for 720 conventional Motorola radios. Five FM-

transmitters were used to address the 8000 radio receivers at the events.

Furthermore a Riedel RockNet installation provided the routing of the audio at the opening and closing ceremonies over the fibre infrastructure of the event. Ten RockNet 300 input and output modules each offered the needed connections for the events. To bridge the large distances four RockNet fibre converters were used.Visit www.riedel.net

StarComm Upgrades Pipeline for Surfing CoverageSporting OB specialist StarComm has upgraded its arsenal of equipment to support coverage of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) competition fixtures.

A recent software purchase, Chyron MicroX CG and Lyric 7.1 supplied by Magna Systems & Engineering, has enabled an improvement in the quality of the graphics and integration with the scoring system.

The Chyron MicroX is a single-channel character generator suited to automation environments that

require text and graphics playout without clips. The MicroX can be easily tailored to facility needs, with premium Lyric optional upgrades.

ASP CTO Mano Ziul has been developing additional programming on the scoring system to generate the files necessary for the graphics updates and has also been working on a Lyric 7.1 offline version to build the graphic wireframe that then goes to the graphics operator.

All ASP data uses an OBDC source database files that are linked to the Lyric 7.1. The scoring

system keeps the files up to date ensuring Lyric 7.1 always utilises the latest and most accurate information available.

Ziul added, “We are installing custom data entry terminals to collect each judge’s score and then compiling the results, stats and information sheets into different files that will get read by the Chyron MicroX. We use machine code language between the terminals to increase speed and high level visual applications at the user end.”Visit www.magnasys.tv

Nanjing Youth Olympics Quick Off the Blocks

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>> >> Senator Stephen Conroy.

Interim Sports Anti-Siphoning ListThe Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has announced that an interim anti-siphoning list has been made to ensure the continued operation of the anti-siphoning scheme.

The existing anti-siphoning list was due to expire on 31 December, 2010, and without a new list there would be no ongoing “protection” of sport on free-to-air television.

In November, 2010, the Senator announced intended changes to the existing anti-siphoning scheme. The main changes included:•Theintroductionoftwotiersofeventsontheanti-

siphoning list – Tiers A and B •TierAwillcomprisenationallyiconiceventssuch

as the Melbourne Cup, Bathurst 1000 and finals of major Australian tournaments like the NRL and AFL Premiership. Free-to-air broadcasters will be required to broadcast these events live and in-full, with limited exceptions.

• Tier B will comprise events such as the regulargames of the AFL and NRL premierships seasons, and non-finals games of the Australian Open tennis. Free-to-air broadcasters will have the flexibility to televise these events on digital multi-channels, which will increase their capacity to show more sport on free-to-air television.According to Senator Conroy, the new list has

been revised to ensure it remains relevant to Australian audiences and to reflect the commercial realities of the sporting and broadcasting sectors.

The list also reflects the popularity of certain sports, with some Twenty20 cricket matches and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches involving Australia added.

The new list does not include previously listed events that have traditionally received little or no free-to-air television coverage, such as the British Open golf and French Open tennis tournaments.

In other aspects, the new list specifies the same events as the previous list.

The Australian Government will also put in place a mechanism to protect the quality of AFL games on free-to-air television.

This mechanism will ensure, as is the case now, that Friday and Saturday night games are able to be purchased by free-to-air, and that these feature the two best games of each round, as selected by the AFL. It will also ensure that South Australian and Western Australian viewers will be able to watch matches involving teams from their respective home states each week on free-to-air, and that Anzac Day and Queen’s Birthday games are also available on free-to-air.

The Government expects to negotiate a similar quality-assurance mechanism for weekly NRL games with Australian Rugby League’s newly-formed Independent Commission.

Until these quality guarantees are agreed, all games of AFL and NRL will remain listed events, preventing their acquisition by a Pay TV licence holder until free-to-air broadcasters have a right to televise those events.

In early 2011, details on these quality guarantees for free-to-air coverage of AFL and NRL matches will be announced and legislation to amend the anti-siphoning scheme will be introduced into the Parliament.

Passage of the legislation will enable the Government to make a new, two-tier anti-siphoning list that will work in conjunction with the new scheme to enhance television coverage of key sporting events in Australia.Visit www.dbcde.gov.au/anti-siphoning

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the second Youth Olympic Games in 2014 has announced a successful first visit to the host city of Nanjing, China.

Chaired by IOC member Alexander Popov, the Coordination Commission was pleased with the progress made by the local Organising Committee

as it approaches the one-year mark. Currently in the foundation-planning phase, the organisers reported on the work already completed, the blueprint that lays out the plans to deliver the Games in three-and-a-half years. A local-governance framework is in place.

This first visit gave the Coordination Commission the opportunity to conduct a full site visit that included

the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, which will play host to a number of sports for Nanjing 2014.

The Nanjing Organising Committee presented its updated master plan for venues, with the integration of golf and rugby sites included. Construction planning for the Youth Olympic Village is on schedule.

Visit www.olympic.org/youtholympicgames

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News Operations

38 News Operations

News Operations

News Operations 39

The Finance News Network, an Australian provider of online business and financial video news, has purchased the FOR-A HVS-300HS portable video switcher from Magna Systems and Engineering. Finance News Network’s MD Simon Van Es explained his organisation’s decision to purchase the switcher. He said, “We had been looking for a system that could take some of our older 720×576 content and upscale it to HD but also take new HD sources and mix them all together. Ultimately our goal was to move to a full HD workflow but in the process we still wanted to use some of our older equipment. We looked at a heap of options and the one that stood out head and shoulders above the rest in terms of functionality

newsOPERATIONS

WEATHER CHANNEL‘S BLACKBERRY APPAustralia’s Weather Channel has launched a new weather forecast smartphone app specifically designed for BlackBerry users. The app is “packed with intelligent features” to help Australians stay on top of local and international weather conditions. The Weather Channel BlackBerry app recognises the user’s location via GPS and instantly delivers them the latest weather information for their area. Alternatively, the user can simply search for locations elsewhere with local forecasts available for every postcode Australia-wide. For travellers, the app can synchronise with the user’s calendar and display the weather forecast for the locations of scheduled meetings and activities. The app is also able to coordinate with a user’s phonebook to show the weather conditions for saved contacts. The Weather Channel app provides morning, noon and night as well as 10-day forecasts. It has animating rain radar, satellite and lightning displays, as well as the latest Australian weather warnings, so that users can be kept up-to-date on the latest breaking weather across the severe weather season.

As well as Australian local weather, the app also covers international locations. The BlackBerry user can check the seven-day weather forecast for over 300 worldwide destinations. “The weather affects almost everything we do – from what we put on in the mornings, to how we plan our day and what we eat at night. The app’s ability to seamlessly synchronise with the user’s calendar and contacts is a feature we’re extremely excited about,” says Julian Delany, General Manager for The Weather Channel. Visit http://au.blackberry.com/appworld

FOR-A for Finance News Network

and value for money was the FOR-A HVS 300”. The HVS-300HS is part of FOR-A’s Hanabi series and, although small – the 1RU HVS-300HS (there is also

a 2RU HVS-300RPS) – it is packed with features including frame synchronising and re-sizing engine on every channel that allows any standard definition equipment to be used in full HD mode. Van Es continued, “The HVS-300 had a long list of excellent functions. We were particularly impressed with the fact that the HVS-300 also has keyer with chroma key, DSK, dual picture-in-picture, 16-channel multi-viewer, still stores and much more. To be honest we could have purchased it online but we decided to go with Magna Systems because of their excellent local sales and support and I’m happy to say we are delighted with the HVS-300 and Magna’s service.” Visit www.magnasys.tv

GLOBECAST CONNECTS DURING AUSTRALIAN FLOOD CRISIS As television audiences struggle to comprehend an ongoing deadly flooding disaster that has gripped different parts of Australia this summer, GlobeCast Australia is continuing to provide live transmissions for at least 20 major news broadcasters.

GlobeCast Australia Commercial Director Andrew Nealon says, Australia’s leaders have repeatedly remarked on how live television coverage is assisting those amidst the crisis, whilst ensuring the rest of the world is kept informed. “Despite an already heavily dedicated live television schedule this January, we of course ensured sufficient personnel and facilities were available to facilitate as much live coverage of these devastating floods as possible,” Mr Nealon said.

Broadcasters across Europe, Asia, the US and Australia are booking via GlobeCast Australia’s Optus and AsiaSat satellite leases, and on its global fibre, to cover the mounting death toll from the worst flooding in the Australian state of Queensland in almost 40 years.

Mr Nealon said, “For example, flood disaster coverage from ABC-TV is being delivered live to RTL Germany and coverage from the Nine Network to BSkyB News London. APTN London has taken fibre feeds from both the ABC and Seven Network.

“Other global networks booking with us include CNN, Fox News New York, CCTV China, ARD and ZDF Germany, Orf Vienna Turkey, Channel 2 Israel, TV Asahi Japan, ITN and Reuters.

“For domestic broadcasts, Network TEN is drawing on its GlobeCast Australia provisioned satellite lease and supplementing its extensive coverage with ad hoc bookings; whilst ABC News 24 is being transmitted live in HD to FOXTEL and Austar on GlobeCast Australia’s Optus D3 owned and operated capacity. SKY News Australia has also deployed its satellite vehicle to the flood zone and is taking regular live satellite slots with GlobeCast Australia. And, the Nine Network is booking our Optus D2 space as well,” Mr Nealon said.

Live coverage continues around the clock with the support of GlobeCast Australia’s dedicated 24/7 Bookings and Master Control teams.

Coverage of the flood crisis has come on top of what would normally be a busy time for GlobeCast with the annual round of summer sporting fixtures. Across all capital cities, there will be more than 35 days of live tennis television coverage delivered nationally – to FOX Sports and the Seven Network – and internationally. The Australian Open in Melbourne will be delivered globally in HD for the first time. The Tennis commitment follows ongoing cricket broadcasts and almost daily coverage of harness and thoroughbred racing for SKY Racing.

Other key events include the Tour Down Under Cycling for SBS, BskyB and globally this January 2011; and live reality television such as Granada’s “Ich Bin Ein Star” (“I’m a Celebrity”) live from Australia for German audiences. Visit www.globecast.com.au

BUILDING4MEDIA LAUNCHES MOBILE2AIR IPHONE APPLICATIONBuilding4Media, expert in advanced broadcast and IT solutions, announced Mobile2Air, an Apple iPhone app that integrates remote field reporting with Building4Media’s FORK Production Suite, the powerful cross platform production automation software for news and sports reporting.

Mobile2Air enables recording and uploading of videos securely from the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 mobile devices to any broadcast facility equipped with Building4Media’s FORK Production Suite. Users can embed content and location metadata and select compression rates for video up to full 720p HD. Mobile2Air also includes a companion app on the iPad to issue assignments, manage media by shoot location and chat between reporters and producers.

“New devices such as the iPhone are delivering high quality content for mobile reporting,” said Claudio Lisman, CEO, Primestream. “Mobile2Air extends FORK’s powerful end-to-end platform to allow broadcasters to deliver content to viewers almost as quickly as it is recorded in the field. When we acquired Building4Media last year, Primestream’s strategy was to extend FORK’s powerful platform, which is based on the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Mobile2Air is the first of many offerings we will be bringing to the FORK platform.”

Building4Media also announced its XMPilotTM metadata workflow for Sony XDCAM camcorders. The FORK Production Suite integrates with XMPilotTM to automate the workflow between newsroom control

systems and production, ensuring faster and more accurate story ingest, production and archiving.

“The integration of Sony’s XMPilot TM and Building4Media’s FORK Production Suite means that metadata can now be assigned and followed all the way from acquisition of content, through the production workflow and on into archive,” said Warren Arenstein, VP of Business Development for Primestream’s Building4Media.

“Only an open architecture, software-based system like Building4Media’s FORK Production Suite can provide this level of flexibility, security, scalability and stability,” said Richard Brooking, product manager, Sony Professional Solutions Europe. Visit www.b4m.com

ANTON/BAUER TANDEM POWER SYSTEM WITH VEHICLE CHARGERAnton/Bauer, a Vitec Group brand, and provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, introduced its cutting-edge Tandem 150 Modular Power System. The Tandem 150 system provides great flexibility for shoots in isolated areas offering two unique methods of charging.

Crews working out of their cars during a night shoot in an isolated location, or in an area where power is not accessible, can simply use the CA-TMCL with their dependable vehicle AC power outlet. The CA-TMCL is the smallest portable car charger on the market and does not require an inverter. The battery snaps on the QR-TM bracket and plugs into the

vehicle’s power outlet. In addition, for productions where sunlight is available, crews can charge any Logic Series battery with the award-winning Anton/Bauer Solar Panel.

Weighing just two-and-a-half pounds, the Tandem 150 is the smallest and lightest charger and on-camera power supply, as well as the only on-camera AC power supply over 100 watts without a fan available on the market. This fully automatic system allows a user to simultaneously charge a battery and power a camera. When a 75-watt draw is exceeded, the system automatically stops charging and performs solely as a 150-watt power supply. When the camera is turned off or the load is

reduced below 75 watts, the Tandem 150 system instantly resumes normal operation as a simultaneous charger/power supply. Users can operate the system from the AC Mains at 100 to 240 volts AC or 50-60 Hz.

“The Tandem 150 Modular Power System gives industry professionals working on-location or in remote areas a lightweight solution with several choices for power supply.

“We certainly focused on ease of use for this system,” says Michael Accardi, president, Anton/Bauer.

Visit www.antonbauer.com

VERICORDER OFFERS FREELANCE JOURNALIST SERVICECanadian company VeriCorder Technology is combining its mobile journalism technology with a new service for freelance journalists.

FindStringers is an advanced system designed to connect media companies with freelance journalists. FindStringers allows companies to locate stringers on a map, hire them, and integrate them into their newsroom system.

FindStringers also gives stringers a place to sell their work, and an easy, effective way to pitch stories to news directors around the world. The system includes VeriCorder’s mobile reporting system for iPhone and iPod Touch,

called 1st Video. 1st Video allows users to record and edit HD video into stories suitable for broadcast, and features a full audio editor as well for radio. 1st Video can be integrated directly into most newsroom systems.

FindStringers system features, include:Get found: Newsdesks and media editors find

you by mapping a stringer’s current location and by searching by speciality and qualifications or respond to posted assignments.

Integrate: Stringers are integrated instantly into a newsroom system, through the Mobile Integration Management System. Send media

content securely, reliably, and quickly.Market the work: Post stories, photos, audio

and sell them to multiple markets in the Media Marketplace.

Pitch: Send ideas to assignment editors using the Pitch Page; or use the Auction Block to get your best rate. Copyright Protection: Ready to go contracts between you and the buyer FindStringers works on a commission basis only on completed sales made through the site.

Visit www.FindStringers.com

>> >> Finance News Network’s MD Simon Van Es

SBS NEWS ADOPTS PANASONIC P2 HD TECHNOLOGYSBS Television has decided to use Panasonic P2 HD technology to enhance its newsgathering and field production systems. SBS Television has deployed 11 AJ-HPX2100 P2 HD Camcorders as well as three AJ-HPM200 P2 HD Mobile and three AG-HPG20 P2 Portable tools across its news operations in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. The company has also purchased various P2 Card Readers including the AJ-PCD2, AJ-PCD20, AJ-PCD35 and AG-MSU10.

John Lock, Capital Development Manager, SBS Television, said, “Panasonic’s P2 HD product suite ticked all the right boxes, offering SBS a cost-

effective, easy-to-use solution that enables us to deliver news content in a reliable, flexible and efficient way. Panasonic’s solid-state production technology has helped us achieve a faster workflow by improving the way we capture, and distribute video content.”

Mr. Lock added, “I was concerned that the migration to P2 HD format would be disruptive to our field teams. However, Panasonic’s customer support was extremely helpful in ensuring the transition was smooth and resulted in very little down-time.”

SBS joins over 950 television networks around the world that have adopted the P2 format. P2’s solid-

state design – from camera to media with no moving parts – has been integral in television networks choosing the format.

Commenting on the deal, Mathew Alexander, Product Manager – Broadcast, Panasonic Australia, said, “Panasonic is delighted that SBS Television has selected our P2 HD technology to support the upgrade of its newsgathering and field production systems. We are confident that the deployment of this technology will revolutionise the way SBS gathers and transmits news content now and in the future.”Visit www.panasonic-broadcast.com.au

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Post Production

42 Post Production

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Nolan Murtha is the Digital Effects Supervisor for Lightstorm Entertainment, the film production company responsible for Avatar, while Shawn Dunn is Animation Technical Supervisor with Weta Digital, the visual effects company in New Zealand established by Peter Jackson and one of the main companies that worked on Avatar doing the final effects for the movie. Here, they discuss some of their experiences in the 3D realm.

Q: What do people need to look at in terms of not detracting from the 3D experience?

SD: “If people are going to do 3D, they’d need to learn what you can do and how to do it properly. If you look at Avatar, Avatar’s really successful because James Cameron spent a huge amount of time actually doing the stereo portion of it.

“And, when you look at other productions that may decide to go the easy route, which is to take my 2D movie and make it 3D, it’s not as successful at this point. It doesn’t mean that down the road they won’t have better technology, but now it’s like colourising black and white movies.

“But, if you actually shoot it and you understand how to shoot it, and you put the effort into it, it’s a really successful way to shoot things.”

NM: “I see the same thing about 3D that I do about visual effects and the CG content. Making movies that rely on that as the gimmick is the complete wrong attitude to have with this stuff. We spent a lot of time making sure that the 3D was comfortable. We sat in black rooms and watched frame by frame by frame and made sure that the stereo was comfortable.

“But, we also watched the movie in 2D and we made sure that the experience was still there in 2D, and that we weren’t relying on 3D for the audience, or the CG. You know, obviously, it’s kind of hard to defend that statement because some 80% of Avatar was CG, but I don’t think that people walked away from Avatar saying ‘that was a CG movie’. I think people walked away and they talked more about the experience of Avatar,

Posting the Third DimensionNolan Murtha, Digital Effects Supervisor for Lightstorm Entertainment and Shawn Dunn,

Animation Technical Supervisor with Weta Digital Talk 3D Stereo.

the world of Pandora and definitely CG enabled us, but I don’t think that we relied on it to wow the audience.

“I think people fell in love with the characters. I think the emotion of the characters came across the screen, and I think the 3D immersed people in the world, and that was our goal: not to stick things in their face, but to pull people in.

“I think there’s going to be more successes and there’ll be a lot more failures. People jumped on the band wagon and tried to get on the heels of Avatar and heels of the success. But, it was the same thing we saw with CG movies. Once more and more studios were able to do larger effects sequences, people were cranking out movies with gratuitous CG content. And, some of them were successful because they just were in the right place at the right time, the right summer. And some of them were monumental failures.”

Q: The 3D testing on Avatar, what did that actually involve?

NM: “We did it at various depths, distances from the screen and across the whole length of the screen. We were on a much smaller scale in our screen room where we actually programmed all of the 3D information on the 100% scenes. But, 3D actually, we found, scales up, once you reach a certain size.

“I don’t think you can look at a 23-inch computer monitor, composite a 3D shot, and then blow it up on the projector and it’s going to give you the same effects. But once you’ve reached a certain size, 3D actually scales very comfortably. So as long as you have the left to the right, it is comfortable, I think. It works fairly well.

“One of the things that we were very meticulous with was shot to shot to shot. We had similar values of stereo. So, just like when you’re editing and the end of one shot lines up visually or the focus of that shot lines up visually with the start of the next one. That’s how we proceed with 3D or that’s how we edited the 3D – so that, as you’re going from shot to shot to shot, your eyes aren’t going into abnormal changes in a 3D space.

“I don’t think a lot of movies have gotten that right

still, especially with the 3D converted stuff. They look at it as a shot, and they want that shot to have great 3D and then they go onto the next shot. And they want that shot temporarily 3D. And that jars the audience. It’s just like a bad edit in a film. It’s added a new dimension of actually editing your 3D space as you’re editing your 2D picture.

Q: And so were your depths changing throughout the movie?

NM: “Yeah, absolutely. And they actually changed dynamically if we have a character come running out of the screen, the depth and the convergence point is actually moving with that character. But, our basic rule of thumb is that whatever the focus of the shot is, is where the convergence is. There’s maybe one or

two examples where like in Home Tree when the … there’s a missile that’s coming at the camera, we just had the 3D on the vehicle and let the missile come out for the audience. But we did that very sparingly and only in very isolated and selected incidences.”

Q: What about the costs involved in 3D? It is more expensive, isn’t it?

NM: “Yeah. To do it correctly, I mean it is. The amount of gear that you need on stages, it’s more of everything, including more brains that are figuring out the problems with the material. Salaries are what eat up most of digital film budgets. I think artists’ salaries probably eclipse the hardware that we burn through, like multiples.

Q: How has the evolution of technology impacted on the productions you’ve been involved with?

NM: “Avatar wouldn’t have existed without [Autodesk’s] MotionBuilder and Maya. We looked at several technologies in order to develop the virtual world and, obviously, video game engines are where we immediately started looking. But, MotionBuilder offers a certain flexibility as far as manipulation of content, importing new content to a scene and a video image, and once you load the engine and it’s running, you can’t add a new tree to that scene, you’ve got to shut the engine down, put that tree into the model, call library, then you got to recompile all of the code for the engine which on some engines could take, you know, half a day to compile all the code. And then your new tree might or might not introduce various bugs, and assist on the gravity on the tree can be wrong, whatever and there could be, you know, numerous problems.

“A character could walk right through it and sort of, you know, colliding with it. MotionBuilder, one of its huge strengths is its ability to just contain a whole lot of data within its scene file. Our scene files were up to six, seven hundred megabytes and we’re not talking about, you know, film resolution assets, we’re talking about assets that are measured in kilobytes. So we have multiple thousands of unique assets in a MotionBuilder scene file. Every artist that was working with us in Lightstorm could immediately traverse the hierarchy of the scene and find where an object is. We had a very intelligent hierarchical system within each scene file. And, those kind of assets you just don’t have in a game engine.

“MotionBuilder was at the core of all of our virtual technology and I still don’t think that there’s anything out there that could produce the same results as far as off the shelf software. I mean there is likely to be some proprietary stuff that people are using. In the last few years, technology is definitely headed in this direction, people are starting to transform a game engine to start working in this type of scenario. But at the time, especially in 2005, it just didn’t exist.”

Q: And how about WETA?

SD: “Well, we’ve never done a stereo feature. So, Avatar was obviously encouraging. But, Peter Jackson himself is very keen on stereo. So, he’s always, you know, pushing and trying to figure out how to do it, where to do it. So, we’ve always sort of had our hand in doing the tests and stuff internally for it, but Avatar would have been the first full-on project.”

Q: How do you guys see the digital production industry in this part of the world?

NM: “To see countries like New Zealand with Weta, and Fox Studios in Australia, and Animal Logic and Doctor D, the accessibility is just greater than it ever has been. In the art world, we don’t want borders and we don’t want problems arising because of geographic locations. And, now we’re in an age where a country as isolated as New Zealand can be, Weta is one of the top two visual effects companies

in the world and they’re on one of the most isolated land masses in the world. And, I think that’s just proof positive that the world is definitely changing and now anyone can be a player.

“I think it’s really cool that so many countries now are playing such a large role in this industry. It’s really given kind of a global community of artists a great opportunity to collaborate and to reach each other.

Q: How do you guys view, and don’t say with glasses, the live-event aspect of 3D? The sporting matches opera, etc.

NM: “There’s a lot of interesting ideas that are evolving now. I can see home movies being screened in 3D where people would be involved in that. But, and I’m speaking from the American perspective, I just can’t imagine a Superbowl party where you’ve got 30 adults walking around with glasses on and watching something for four or five hours with that.

“When you have lenticular screens where you can get a 3D effect without wearing glasses, as those evolve I think you’ll see more and more of it. I just can’t picture sitting around watching the news in 3D, I just don’t see that as kind of a day to day event. But, for special things and special events like music concerts, like sporting events, I think people will start getting into it.

“What’s also interesting is that there are sort of fringe opportunities with the technology that are necessarily 3D. So, for example, one of the limitations always of things like first person shooters on game consoles was that you either had to play with a friend that has their own system somewhere in their house, or you have to have to play with a split screen, both of which are sort of taking away from the experience. And now instead of having a left eye and a right eye, you could have basically player-one glasses, and player-two glasses using the same technology. And, two people looking at the same screen to see actually different content.”

Q: Lastly, as ‘digital guys’, do you think film as an acquisition medium, is dead, shaky ground, not well?

NM: “I was actually at a talk a couple of months ago, and the speaker started off by saying what we’re seeing today is going to destroy cinema. And then his next statement was something like, unfortunately for all of us, the true art of filmmaking has just been destroyed.

“And he said I’m not talking about 3D and I’m not talking about CG. These are statements that were made about the introduction to sound with movies in 1927, and the introduction of colour film in the 1940 and ‘50s.

“And you’re always going to have people that are going to hold what they think is the ideal art form. What I think everyone needs to understand is that art needs to evolve, otherwise art dies. You can’t keep recreating a Monet. You have to try something new and you have to move forward with technology.”

>> >> Nolan Murtha.

>> >> Shawn Dunn.

postPRODUCTION

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Post Production

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44 Post Production

SSL DV, a Solid State Logic Company and the maker of Gravity Media Asset Management systems has introduced Gravity LiveEdit Version 2.0 real time non-linear editing system. LiveEdit delivers the power to modify a program’s content while keeping within pre-existing time schedules for live and near-live broadcasting applications. New features help streamline production flow.

“The Gravity LiveEdit Version 2.0 is a full-featured non-linear editing system that gives the broadcaster incredible control over content editing, live commercial insertion (right up to air) and compliance monitoring,” says Shaun McTernan, vice president of marketing for SSL DV.

“LiveEdit lets an operator modify a timeline in many ways including append, insert, overlay, replace, trim, splice, slip, lift, cut, copy and paste functions. The delete feature can either close the resulting gap or leave it open for content insertion. The new features further enhance LiveEdit’s capabilities, for

greater content throughput. LiveEdit is perfect for live sports applications and for cross-culture compliance monitoring.”

The new Pixelate feature, with the option to interpolate between keyframes, delivers the power to take any frame or series of frames or desired portions of a frame and literally pixelate the content. This feature is widely seen on portions of interviews where the identity of a person must be kept private.

A major broadcaster in Malaysia is currently using LiveEdit for compliance editing where the pixelate feature is used to block content that would be considered inappropriate to air in Malaysia. A new batch of dissolves has also been added to increase the creative options regarding switching between cuts. The dissolves can greatly enhance the impact of a program.

LiveEdit now has the capability to display between one and four predefined overlay options with alpha mask transparency values. This feature

is ideal for reviewing, for example, up to four different text overlays for a program segment. Fit to fill motion effects, most commonly seen as slow motion segments in a program, allow the engineer to lengthen or shorten a portion of video to fit a time requirement or to enhance or highlight particular content. This tool is perfect for fast-paced news operations where a particular action within a clip needs to be emphasised.

The long form overlay feature allows for up to a one-hour replacement program to overlay an existing playout with editing capabilities available with as little as a five-minute delay. The original program will reappear when the overlay program finishes playout. LiveEdit now features automatic commercial insertion and traffic mark display capabilities when integrated with a station’s traffic system. All LiveEdit enhancements can be applied in real time on both SD and HD transmissions.

Visit www.solidstatelogic.com/gravity

SSL DV INTRODUCES GRAVITY LIVE-EDIT

ARRI ADDS REAL TIME, SOUND SCANNING

ARRI will be an official reseller of the sondor ALTRA telecine and is thereby adding real time and sound scanning capabilities to its product range. This development comes after the successful collaboration on the sale of a package combining an ARRISCAN for scanning and sondor ALTRA for real time telecine to a German university. With the ARRISCAN/sondor ALTRA package, users can cover all of their scanning needs with just two machines. Stephan Schenk, General Manager Business Unit Camera & Digital Intermediate Systems at ARRI, says: “The

Blackmagic Design announced support for Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.0.2 for its entire range of capture and playback products. New software installers supporting Windows and Mac OS X are available for immediate download. These updates are provided free of charge for all Blackmagic Design customers using DeckLink, Intensity, UltraStudio Pro and Multibridge products. Adobe Premiere Pro 5.0.2 software accelerates workflows from scriptwriting

through to post production. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 was optimised from the ground up to deliver outstanding performance and exceptional stability. The all-new Adobe Mercury Playback Engine is 64-bit native, GPU-accelerated and optimised for multiple-core systems. Blackmagic Design products such as DeckLink, Intensity, Multibridge and UltraStudio Pro, will now take full advantage of the huge number of new performance improvements in

Premiere Pro 5.0.2, including the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine for massive processing power of realtime effects, enhanced paint, 3D workflows and improved NLE integration. This combination provides breakthrough performance, integration and collaborative flexibility to video editors, post professionals, motion graphics and interactive designers. www.blackmagic-design.com

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN SUPPORTS ADOBE PREMIERE PRO 5.0.2

sondor ALTRA is an ideal real time addition to our high performance ARRISCAN and therefore the perfect cost-effective combination for the archive and dailies market”. William Hungerbuehler, sondor Vice President responsible for business development, says: “Our film transfer products are an ideal match and sondor customers will profit from ARRI’s excellent worldwide sales network”. ARRI is a leading manufacturer of motion picture camera, digital intermediate and lighting equipment. ARRI is involved in all aspects of the film industry: engineering, design, manufacturing, production,

visual effects, postproduction, equipment rental, complete turnkey lighting solutions and both film and sound laboratory services. Sondor manufactures 16mm and 35mm magnetic film equipment. The company also invented worldwide standards such as the bi-phase interlocking signal. After its first telecine in the early 1970s, sondor perfected the design of affordable film-to-video transfer machines, now represented by the ALTRA. Visit www.arri.com www.sondor.ch

The new Dolby Laboratories PRM-4200 42-inch Professional Reference Monitor at IBC is billed as the world’s first LCD-based video reference display that accurately reveals true and deep black levels with higher contrast. It also provides an unprecedented luminance range and level that delivers the accuracy of previous CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors, with the versatility of flat-panel displays. Using a backlight comprised of red, green and blue LEDs that are modulated

individually on a frame-by-frame basis, the PRM-4200’s LCD panel is also modulated in real time as part of the dual-modulation process.

“In creating our new reference monitor, we took a really close look at the video side of content creation and leveraged our expertise in imaging and manufacturing to produce a true next-generation reference display,” said Jason Power, Senior Director of Marketing, Broadcast, Dolby Laboratories.

Other key features of the PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor include extended dynamic range, DCI/P3 colour gamut support, for digital cinema colour grading without the use of a digital projector, colour accuracy across all luminance levels, and the versatility to emulate any other display device so all content preparation and quality evaluation can be done on one monitor.

Visit www.dolby.com

DOLBY PRM-4200 PRO REFERENCE MONITOR

UK firm Light Illusion has launched SpaceMan ICC, an ICC Profile Management System that enables film and media industry standard 3D LUTs (Look Up Tables) to be converted to computer industry ICC profiles, as well as the editing of existing ICC profiles. 3D LUTs have become a standard part of any colour critical post-production workflow, especially where DI (Digital Intermediate) grading is performed. The problem many operations face is that most creative tools now used as part of an entire project’s workflow are not LUT capable, instead using computer and print industry ICC profiles for colour management. The development of Light Illusion’s SpaceMan ICC management software allows creative systems based on ICC colour management to display images in an identical way to LUT based systems. Such compatible colour management enables software systems, such as Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, as well as any other ICC compliant software packages, to be colour accurate when performing work in parallel with mainstream post-production systems.

“While the use of LUTs has become standard for colour calibration within the industry’s DI operations, many projects also rely on software systems that are not LUT compatible, but are ICC compliant. SpaceMan ICC enables such systems to be colour matched to those using LUTs,” says Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion.

“Tying the colour pipeline together across all departments of the facility is a must. With the ability to convert LUTs to ICC profiles, we can now be sure that all our 2D artists are seeing the same thing, whichever software they are using,” says Hugh MacDonald of vfx facility, Nvizible.

Steve Shaw adds, “SpaceMan ICC can accurately convert LUTs to ICC profiles, allowing precise control over the final look of all material regardless of the creative systems being used. It doesn’t matter if the workflow pipeline is film-source to film-deliverable, via a Rec709, P3, XYZ or any other colour space environment, back to film, video or DCI deliverable.” Visit www.lightillusion.com

LIGHT ILLUSION RELEASES SPACEMAN ICC

Blackmagic Design’s new model of DeckLink HD Extreme 3D now includes upgraded HDMI 1.4 for full resolution 3D capture and playback as well as input re-clocking for capture from poor quality SDI sources. The latest HDMI 1.4 technology allows full resolution 3D using the frame packing method to produce stunning 3D images on compatible HDMI 1.4 displays. The frame packing 3D allows full resolution frames for the left and right eyes down the single HDMI connection, so each eye gets a full resolution image. DeckLink HD Extreme 3D can also capture from HDMI 1.4 into two separate full resolution media files for each eye. The new DeckLink HD Extreme 3D model retains all SDI 3D capture and playback modes for the widest compatibility.

Dual stream 3D allows customers to use the DeckLink HD Extreme 3D dual SDI connections to capture and playback two streams, one for the left eye, and one for the right eye. The two streams are recorded into two separate media files. Blackmagic Design’s Media Express has been upgraded to handle both interleaved and dual stream 3D.

This new model of DeckLink HD Extreme 3D also includes features such as hardware up, down and cross conversion, 12-bit hardware architecture, 3 Gb/s SDI, support for up to 1080p60 in SDI, component analogue and HDMI connections, as well as full SD, HD and 2K support. With SDI, HDMI and analogue video capture and playback, combined with balanced analogue and AES/EBU digital audio, DeckLink HD Extreme 3D lets customers connect to all decks, cameras and monitors.

Blackmagic’s High-end DI grading system DaVinci Resolve 7.0 for Mac now reads and writes all the common Apple ProRes file formats

BLACKMAGIC RELEASES DECKLINK HD EXTREME 3D, DAVINCI 7.0including 4444, 422, 422(HQ), 422 (Proxy) and 422 (LT) directly on the timeline with no conversion required. Colourists can select the clips in their media storage and DaVinci Resolve will play and grade them in real time.

Both Mac OSX and Linux systems now support read and write of DNxHD files with the optional DaVinci Resolve DNxHD Update. For production using the new generation of DSLR cameras such as the Canon 5D, DaVinci Resolve 7.0 now supports read and write of H.264 files on Mac and playback on Linux. Colourists can grade directly from DSLR media files in real time for professional production.

DaVinci Resolve now supports RED Rocket cards on both Mac OS X and Linux platforms for native r3d file grading with full resolution decoding and premium debayer all in real time.

Colourists can now extract r3d reel names from either FCP, Adobe or Avid EDLs, grade and render to ProRes or DPX or DNxHD at near real time speeds.

On Linux, DaVinci Resolve now supports dual RED Rocket cards in a single computer for stereoscopic 3D real time performance with r3d files.

DaVinci Resolve 7.0 massively upgrades the stereoscopic 3D grading features and now includes 3D features on the Mac OS X platform that previously required multiple Linux CPUs. DaVinci Resolve 7.0 features a new convergence control tool to let colourists separately program pan adjustments to change the point of convergence on 3D projects while still making individual eye pan adjustments. The new stereoscopic 3D support lets colourists play back, grade and monitor in 3D using side-by-side and line mesh displays. Visit www.blackmagic-design.com

VEGAS PRO 10 FOR STEREOSCOPIC 3D VIDEO EDITINGSony Creative Software launched Vegas Pro 10 software. The most recent upgrade to Sony’s award-winning nonlinear HD video and audio editing (NLE) application provides broad audio and video support for media ingest, editing and delivery workflows for production professionals. New features in the native 32- and 64-bit versions of Vegas Pro 10 include powerful stereoscopic 3D editing tools, enhanced closed captioning features, broadened video effect support and new event level audio effects, as well as workflow and user interface enhancements. Vegas Pro 10 Feature Highlights include

•Stereoscopic 3D Editing: Vegas Pro 10facilitates the creation of 3D projects by enabling users to import, adjust, edit, preview and export stereoscopic 3D projects natively.

• Improved Closed Captioning: Improvedsupport for closed captions enables broadcasters to preview captions.

Sony also introduced the following updates to Vegas Pro 10:

•ExpandedMulticamFunctionality:Updatedmulticam features provide a more robust editing and preview experience

•ImprovedsupportforDSLRvideo

•TrackGrouping:Thisupdateoffersaquickand easy way to organise and manage complex projects by grouping related sections of video/audio for a cleaner working environment

•ImageStabilisation

•VideoPlug-inSDK

In addition to the Dolby Digital Professional 5.1 surround sound production capabilities of Vegas Pro, the upcoming version includes:

•AudioEventFX:VegasPro10allowseditorsto assign audio effects at the master output, bus level, track level and now at the event level.

•Input Busses enable editors to record,mixand monitor audio from external hardware devices.

•VUmeters:TheVegasProMixingConsoleview is more powerful with the new VU meters.

• Track Meters: Track Meters provide directfeedback and a faster editing workflow throughout the record, edit and mix process.

Visit www.newmagic.com.au/where2buy

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46 Storage & Asset Management

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Storage & Asset Management Storage & Asset Management

Sneakers and video tape have been ousted by Ethernet and digital files at Television New Zealand thanks to Nexus, a NZ$23.5 million project that is designed to transform the operations of the company.

In the basement of TVNZ’s Auckland headquarters subdued lighting illuminates new ingest, quality control, control and transmission suites. If you swipe the right ID card you can go deeper to where racks and racks of gleaming new servers and routers hum away in a brightly lit apparatus room.

It is from here that video content and information – media assets if you will – are served up across the ordinary Ethernet office LAN to anyone who needs it, when they need it.

Anyone that has an input into shaping what goes to air, mobile or online, have access to browse this media grid. That’s 150 people sitting at desks in departments from sales to scheduling and promos.

They see browse quality H.264 proxy video, but once the transmission schedules for the various channels are shaped, high resolution masters – currently DVC PRO100 for HD programming – are automatically loaded up to the transmission servers from a near-time LTO tape archive.

The automated full resolution archive may be in the form of magnetic tape, but it is a far cry from walking video tapes around the building every time somebody needed access.

The news room went tapeless a couple of years ago, and with Nexus, apart from ingestion, a new graduate joining the broadcaster has the potential to go through their entire careers without encountering video tape except as the subject of reminiscences at

social events.The system integrator for the project is U.K. based

TSL (Television Systems Ltd), and according to Tom McVeigh, TVNZ’s project director, the full impact of their work is now being felt across the company after the broadcast channels were switched over in November.

General manger of operations at TVNZ in the 1990s, McVeigh came to the project after a decade at ESPN STAR Sports in Singapore where he was senior vice president of operations and technology.

Acronyms fly when McVeigh talks about Nexus but he cheerfully translates without any trace of impatience. All the same there must be a certain amount of steel underneath the genial manner because he bought the project in on time and budget.

“I arrived in mid-January, and the kit started to arrive in early February,” he says. “All the design and layout had been done and I came in to ride it home. I am known as someone who gets things done on time.

“There’s a little bit of pain here and there,” he grins, “but things get done.”

He says the biggest challenge was managing user expectations, because the project started three years ago and impacts everybody in the company.

“A project like this has been going for so long that people tend to forget the original discussions they had, and everybody’s expectations are all over the place. So when I came in I sat down with the stakeholders and asked, ‘What do you think we are giving you?’ It was quite a treat to find out in some cases.

The effort was commensurate with the risk.“The biggest risk for any project, especially

something this size,” he says, “is understanding exactly what it is you are trying to do.”

The possibilities offered by the technology have also changed since the beginning of the project some three years ago. McVeigh says this needs to be accounted for in the planning and implementation.

“By the time you get there, you have to have enough wherewithal to be able to make realistic decisions that will save the company money. So upgrades will take place almost immediately,” he says.

“But the benefits from a cost benefit analysis perspective are quite immense.”

One of the prime business benefits of the project is the reduced cost of origination and transmission, and part of that comes from bringing all the TVNZ channels together on one central system, which will also cut the cost of any future start up channels.

“TV1 and TV2 channels were running on different platforms to TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7 and TVNZ Heartland. The project brings them all into line with their scheduling systems, and fully integrates scheduling systems, media asset management and the archive,” says McVeigh.

“Nexus is the backbone – everything is ingested and quality controlled on the way in. We deal with it once; we can edit in different ways, bed it into our archive for holding and feed it into a series of trans-coders for whatever flavour output is required.

“If you deal to it once within the Nexus platform you don’t have to re-purpose it – you do a trans-code. If you need to make separate duration pieces

TVNZ transforms operations

storage & ASSET MANAGEMENT

By Peter Parnham for mobile or television on demand you can deal with it quickly.”

Changing all the workflows means transforming the way people work and this is a major factor in design of the control and transmission suites.

“The whole thing has been put together with glass, everything is right there and everybody is aware of what is going on, so everybody is a lot more focused, nobody is outside the spokes of the wheel,” he says.

It looks a calm and smooth operation now, but there were risks that come with making fundamental changes, especially during implementation.

“We are changing so much that our primary revenue would be at risk unless you get it right,” says McVeigh.

“It is important to know what you have to protect and what you need to do to protect it, and – so long as your planning is right – which parts of the system you can do without.

“For instance if you have pre-loaded your transmission servers and you have got alternative ways of getting the stuff in, then you can take big chunks of the system down. But the coordination of the plan is probably one of the bigger risks because we’ve had developers from Sweden, the UK as well as from Australia all plugged into the system.”

One way of reducing the risk for TVNZ was single point accountability with TSL for delivery of the system where TSL took responsibility for interfacing with existing systems.

This meant that if there were problems TVNZ would not get caught up in hardware vs. software or system interface issues.

But despite the single point accountability for the system itself, McVeigh’s team of five still had lots to do.

“We had some quite chunky bits – the change management at TVNZ, the training, migration, and user acceptance testing,” he says.

“My prime role is to ensure that TVNZ gets delivered contractually all the deliverables they paid for, to ensure the bits we are responsible for align with the plan and that TSL hit the time lines.”

Keeping the TSL schedule on track is Matt Phelps, TSL’s project manager, in Auckland for the full 2010 year.

“Flying in or out wouldn’t work for us or TVNZ, so we made a commitment to actually move out here for a year,” he says.

Two TSL engineers were in Auckland with Phelps, and the company flew in extra staff from time to time, also using local labour where they could. At times 20 to 30 people were on the job particularly during media asset management testing.

Phelps says each project he has worked on is unique.

“Often you are needing to interface with legacy equipment or with the workflow and that is different everywhere you go, you also deal with some very different business cases.

“We start with a blank piece of paper and ask ‘What is it you want to do and what is it you want to achieve?’, and move on from there. We are not wedded to any particular manufacturer, we go to the marketplace and see what equipment and systems would do that best.”

Phelps says that in some cases they work with equipment or software that they’ve have never integrated before.

“It’s all in the detail and the difficulty is that you can’t exhaust every avenue. So you get the equipment and work hard to smooth off all the rough edges, and make sure it works well with the rest of the systems.

“Traditionally integration has been hardware orientated but now it is definitely about software, workflow and understanding how somebody is going to use the system. It’s a combination of operational knowledge and engineering knowledge.

“With project Nexus we spent a good amount of time helping workflow design. We looked at what would work best for them and what they wanted to do in the future and designed and built the system around that.”

For Phelps the biggest challenge in the project – and he admits there have been a few – was trying to integrate all of the workflows that everybody wanted into the system. He says it involved predicting and anticipating what people would require, because users will ask for certain things but then later realise they needed something different.

“It is difficult for users because it is an abstract thing, then once you start getting your hand on the kit you realise what would work better. So we’ve had to be flexible and change the approach as we put it in.”

Given the complexity of integration of the project, with some 16 different major software and hardware components from 14 different vendors, the earlier integration issues are recognised the better.

To reduce the risks TSL did a pre-build at their U.K. facility in Maidenhead.

“We put all the racks together, installed the equipment, sparked it all up,” says Phelps. “We checked it for things like power and disc drives, and did some initial integration amongst the kit. You can’t test everything because we are interfacing with the kit already on site, but we did some testing, wire checks and it meant the wiremen could wire up desks and that kind of thing.

“We were doing that at the end of 2009. Then we took it apart again, took all the wires off, put them carefully in boxes and crated it up to ship out to New Zealand.”

The thoroughness paid off.“It’s been a very long project and it’s been hard

work but we’ve had really good cooperation from the vendors and also from TVNZ and that’s really what has made it successful,” says Phelps.

“It is something that will be organic and will grow. It can expand without having to start again from scratch – which was a key objective for TVNZ.”

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ATTO SANman Vertical Strip_c.indd 1 13/01/11 4:56 PM

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48 Storage & Asset Management

Storage & Asset Management

GLOBECAST FORMS “DIGITAL ECOSYTEM”

FACILIS TECHNOLOGY TERRABLOCK 64-BIT SHARED STORAGE

EDITSHARE SHIPS FLOW 2.0EditShare has announced Flow 2.0, its asset management solution for building collaborative media production workflows. The new features of Flow 2.0 include: Edit-While-Capture, scanning non-Flow ingested media, bandwidth-controlled file-based ingest of XDCAM and P2 media, support for new codecs, sequence creation and pre-editing with drag and drop into NLEs, and integration with the EditShare backup and archiving solution, Ark.

“Flow removes the complexities of content and metadata management in production environments large and small, allowing you to be way more efficient and creative,” says Andy Liebman, founder and CEO, EditShare. “In addition to tagging and tracking every piece of media that goes through your organisation – as it travels from real-time storage to Ark backup and archiving devices – Flow 2.0 provides innovative tools that augment any production workflow.

“From custom logging templates for reality shows and sports, to Shared Projects, Bins and Sequences; with Flow 2.0,” adds Liebman, “you can always find the media you’re looking for.”

Visit www.editshare.com

Facilis Technology, provider of shared media storage technology for post-production and content creation, has announced a new hardware and operating system for TerraBlock shared storage systems. The 64bit operating system, as well as high performance SAS controllers, adds to the available bandwidth for multi-stream uncompressed and 2K/4K DI workflow.

TerraBlock now supports 10Gbit Ethernet for access to Multi-user Write volumes. This more than doubles the stream count for Ethernet clients on the Facilis Shared File System network when aggregating multiple 1Gbit clients.

Key features of TerraBlock shared storage now include: •Dynamic sharingmethods ofMulti-userWrite (file-

level) and Single-user Write (volume-level), selectable on a per-virtual volume basis

•Accesstovirtualvolumesover8Gbitfibrechannelor1Gbit Ethernet with 10Gbit uplink

•Avidmediaandprojectsharingthroughnativefilesystem emulation

• Single-user Write volumes that support up to 4Kuncompressed bandwidth

Visit www.facilis.com

DIGITAL NIRVANA GENCOM TIE-UPDigital Nirvana, provider of broadcast monitoring and media management solutions, has teamed up with Asian distributor Gencom Technology, provider of global media technology solutions, to enhance their presence in the global market.

Gencom is active primarily in South East Asia, as well as New Zealand and Australia. The company provides technology, as well as complete design and construction services to broadcasters and telecommunications systems (Telco).

Digital Nirvana decided to take their business overseas and work with Gencom as the company covers all aspects of broadcast monitoring, from

studio technologies to the transmission chain to building broadcasting trucks and electronic news-gathering (ENG) vans.

Digital Nirvana’s MonitorIQ Broadcast Monitoring System (MonitorIQ BMS) combines the functionality of content recording (HD and SD in full resolution), content search, retrieve and repurposing, web publishing, signal monitoring, air check logging, archiving, ad verification and tracking, and competitive analysis in a highly scalable networked appliance, with a powerful web-based management user interface designed to help improve broadcasters’ productivity.

“Gencom is looking forward to its newfound

partnership with Digital Nirvana,” says Ray Sanders, chief executive officer, Gencom. “Digital Nirvana generates exceptionally innovative products, which suit the various markets in which we operate. MonitorIQ BMS has brand new pioneering features and is compatible with current and future tools, which makes their products attractive to those we’re distributing to, especially as new technologies deploy, such as multichannel audio.”

Gencom is active in all areas of broadcast television, and the company also does radio and Telco solutions such as Internet Protocol television. Visit www.digital-nirvana.com

GlobeCast has reached agreements with several post-production and digital media service companies in America, Asia and Europe that will allow its existing and future clients to connect the post-production aspect of their workflows with the company’s Media Asset Management and delivery services, effectively becoming part of a Digital Ecosystem.

SDI Media Group, Bigfoot Entertainment, Broadway Video Digital Media, Medi-LAN, Infinite Frameworks, re:fine, TVT and Éclair-Télétota are the first providers to have agreed to connect with GlobeCast, and more are in discussion with the content management and delivery company.

The immediate benefit to content creators and broadcasters is the ability to streamline processes and workflows. A client working on aspects of their post-production with providers in GlobeCast’s Digital Ecosystem can now connect editors at those facilities to GlobeCast’s Media Asset Management platform to easily, quickly and cost-effectively create regional versions of content at playout centres around the world. This is done using either fibre links or advanced file transfer programs such as GlobeCast Content Exchange. Visit www.globecast.com

SNS UPGRADES EVO SHARED STORAGEStudio Network Solutions (SNS), provider of post-production storage products for video and audio workgroups, announced the availability of EVO version 2.2, which brings new capabilities and performance enhancements to its SAN + NAS shared storage system.

Digital content producers all over the world are choosing the EVO shared storage system. Customers include The History Channel, BBC, NHL, Johns Hopkins University, Irwin Entertainment, McKinsey and many others.

EVO’s integration of SAN and NAS enables multiple users to edit, share and review projects, media and other large files using the most appropriate connection type for each task.

The system allows direct-attach and switch-based connection of Fibre Channel, Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet computers.

The OS upgrade to version 2.2 includes several SAN and NAS performance enhancements, most notably for multipathed Ethernet environments, as well as stability improvements. This version also prepares for support of upcoming hardware advancements. This service release is a free upgrade for all existing EVO customers.

“We’ve been relentless in the development of EVO; we’re releasing full upgrades about every six months. One of the great advantages to EVO customers is that we keep adding more value to their storage system long after they buy it,” states

Eric Newbauer, Vice President of Studio Network Solutions. “We’ve just made a huge improvement to that multipathing capability. And we have no plans to slow down our pace. In fact, we already have several major customer-requested features in the works for the next two upcoming releases.”

EVO is designed for and compatible with Final Cut Pro, Avid, Adobe Premiere Pro, Pro Tools, Smoke, and most similar applications for Mac and Windows. It is also compatible with SANmp, Xsan/StorNext or metaSAN, most popular Fibre Channel HBAs, as well as the free SNS globalSAN iSCSI initiator for Mac OS X and Microsoft iSCSI initiator. Visit www.studionetworksolutions.com

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50 Storage & Asset Management

Storage & Asset Management

Storage & Asset Management 51

Storage & Asset Management

HARRIS MAKES ADDITIONS TO NEXIO PORTFOLIO

SEACHANGE EMBRACES OPEN APPROACH

Solid State Logic Company SSL DV demonstrated the integration of the Snell Morpheus Automation and Media Management Systems with the Gravity Media Asset Management system at IBC. This integration facilitates the automation of on-air playout of media assets for the Gravity system.

“Morpheus receives metadata from the Gravity gateway and manages the broadcast schedule, controlling Gravity play to air servers for on-air playout via the Morpheus PBAK LAN protocol. Snell integration is available for all Gravity Media, Network and Enterprise level systems,” says Shaun McTernan, vice president of marketing for SSL DV.

Morpheus Automation features Snell’s Media Ball system, which manages everything from

simple server playout to complex channels where schedules are changing regularly and, therefore, unpredictable. Morpheus Media Management (M3) is a family of PC-based applications centred on a relational database. As part of the Morpheus Automation Solution, M3 ensures that material is identified, located and moved with precision for timely broadcast to air. The TCP/IP connection to Gravity is through the PBAK interface. The Gravity Metadatapublisher was created to notify the Morpheus automation that new media was created, changed or deleted on the Gravity system. As the playout is timecode-based, Morpheus automation can trigger other events such as a graphic synchronised with the main playout within Gravity. Gravity Media Asset

Management systems pull together the essential elements of encoding, storing, transcoding and decoding digital media to provide an integrated system for the ingestion, editing and playout of content.

SSL DV, Inc., a Solid State Logic Company offers comprehensive advanced turnkey Gravity Digital Asset Management and rapid media production systems serving the entertainment, broadcast, education, corporate and government markets. Systems can be configured for small workgroups up to multi-location enterprise systems.

Visit www.solidstatelogic.com/gravity

SeaChange has introduced additions to its MediaLibrary/MediaClient family of broadcast play-to-air solutions.

Available now are the new Universal MediaLibrary 7200 and the MediaClient 8200 next-generation software, streaming, and storage solutions.

With these introductions SeaChange transitions from its proprietary media file formats to supporting open standard formats, including MXF and MOV, which further extends SeaChange’s product support for

tapeless workflows including non-linear editing systems and media asset management systems.

The MediaClient 8200, the latest in the series of broadcast-quality modular software codecs, enables multiple-format and multiple-resolution playout.

Configurations include SD only and SD/HD to ensure seamless analogue-to-digital migration, each also providing MXF interoperability to deliver low per-channel cost and high channel density.

The Universal MediaLibrary 7200 is a 10GigE

storage infrastructure for a range of applications such as a content source for play-to-air servers, online archiving, and near-line production storage.

Its Linux-based, high-availability servers ensures fast failover providing constant access to all drives. It also offers a massive storage capacity of up to 144 TB that supports a range of broadcast needs.

For more details, visit the SeaChange website at http://www.schange.com

SSL DV GRAVITY INTEGRATION OF SNELL MORPHEUS, MEDIA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Harris Corporation, communications and information technology company, has added to its NEXIO video server portfolio, designed to help broadcasters accelerate time-to-air, reduce costs and streamline workflows in both playout and production environments. NEXIO Volt is a small form-factor, high-performance baseband video server equipped with 2 TB of RAID 3-protected integrated media storage. Offering support for up to four mixed SD/HD or SD-only baseband channels in a 1RU package, the high-density NEXIO Volt integrates easily into environments where space is at a premium. It reduces power consumption and lowers operating costs — without sacrificing functionality or flexibility. NEXIO Volt is ideal for applications including disaster recovery, edge server, on-air cache, production playout and ingest-to-archive. NEXIO Volt offers software-enabled licence keying that allows customers to pay for only the channels and resolutions they need, and easily upgrade to more channels or HD at anytime. A simple software reconfiguration enables NEXIO Volt to attach to NEXIO shared storage as system requirements increase. NEXIO Farad is a high-performance online storage system ideal for large-scale ingest, editing and playout for production, sports, news and live-event applications. Customers in today’s production environments face escalating storage and bandwidth requirements due to higher data rate codecs, more channels, more concurrent editing seats, additional

camera feeds, 3 Gb/s and the overall volume of content. To address these challenges, NEXIO Farad delivers the highest levels of bandwidth and storage capacity to support even the most demanding multiplatform media delivery workflows. NEXIO Farad is designed for customers requiring more than 10,000 Mb/s bandwidth and more than 58 TB storage capacity. NEXIO Farad makes building a storage system that meets individual needs simple, thanks to its scale-out architecture, which allows bandwidth and capacity to be accommodated independently of each other. Customers can achieve the system design they need, without compromising on performance, channel count, file-based I/O or their preference of compression technology. Compatibility with NEXIO AMP and Volt servers, Velocity editors, Apple Final Cut Pro and an extensive range of media appliances are all assured for best-in-class performance. The system is equipped with inherent RAID-601 storage protection to maintain system performance and resilience, and provide complete redundancy and backup without degrading system performance. Harris introduced ingest and playout support for two new codecs in its NEXIO platform: for playout, the H.264 video compression standard; and for production, the popular Avid DNxHD “mastering” format for post-editing. Native playout support in NEXIO AMP and Volt servers means that no transcoder is required to handle H.264 or DNxHD; in many competing products, customers

would have to buy additional hardware to support these codecs. Unique to NEXIO, all supported codecs can be played back-to-back in any order with all other supported codecs. As the new codecs are implemented in software, they are turned on via a simple software licence key. The Harris Production Playout Center (PPC) is an ingest, preparation and playout system designed to control NEXIO server channels in fast-turnaround production environments from scripted news, to sports arenas, to on-the-fly live productions. From a single 1RU platform, PPC controls up to 16 NEXIO channels, as well as up to eight routers. Onboard media preparation tools and built-in Fast-Cue technology enable users to get material on air in record time. PPC offers a number of benefits over other available systems, including a smaller form factor; access to true shared storage and on-SAN edit-in-place; and software-only modules that allow for cost-effective system scaling. The Newsfish enables broadcasters to implement cost-cutting business models wherever a citizen is on-site capturing the action. Newsfish is an Apple iPhone app that allows iPhone users to capture video and send it to designated catch servers. Newsrooms receive fast content that is verifiable by GPS location and call-back phone number, and is fully searchable using the Harris Invenio asset management system. NEXIO servers manage the non-broadcast resolution of the iPhone material and ready it for broadcast via Velocity editors. Visit www.harris.com

Interra Systems, provider of QC or Automated Content Verification, announced the integration of its product Baton with SeaChange storage servers. The SeaChange Universal MediaLibrary (UML) meets the demands for scalable, reliable and multi-format play-to-air storage of today’s broadcast operations. Considered as the next-generation IP storage, this enterprise-class server infrastructure offers simple-to-manage, open storage that enables broadcasters to economically deploy and expand their operations. It also serves as a play-to-air server as well as the production storage for today’s most popular non-linear editors. Moreover, current and future users of the SeaChange Broadcast MediaLibrary (BML) 24000ex can also take advantage of this integration, as SeaChange BML 24000ex – a high performance, fault-resilient digital media library – also supports Baton’s automated content verification solution. BML 24000ex caters to media companies that aim to achieve a seamless, highly reliable tapeless workflow. Interra’s Baton is the industry’s leading QC or Automated Content Verification system that ensures content readiness in file-based SD, HD, and mixed workflows. Baton is used in production by leading broadcasters, post-production houses and studios. Baton Content Readiness solution goes beyond the traditional QC with its ability to handle maximum formats, most complete quality checks, fastest verification and integrated with servers/software in all workflows across content lifecycle. The integration enables Baton to support efficient content verification for customers using SeaChange UML. Baton can seamlessly access content on these systems with support for content access via both FTP and CIFS protocols. This enables in-place verification of media content, resulting in higher throughput and enhanced workflow efficiencies. “Baton integrated with SeaChange is being used in production environments at many top-tier customers across the world. The integration enables customers to derive new efficiencies by automating and linking Interra’s content verification solution with SeaChange’s capabilities,” said Krishna Uppuluri, VP of Marketing at Interra Systems. SeaChange International Vice-President for Worldwide Broadcast Sales, Stephane Jauroyou, said, “This partnership with Baton strengthens our commitment to our customers for a completely dependable broadcast solution that ensures high-quality and reliable content. With Interra’s Baton product, broadcasters need not worry about broadcast mishaps, delays, and the like, plus the assurance of fast verification and seamless integration with their workflow.” Visit www.schange.com www.interrasystems.com/

Building4Media, a Primestream Company, and Omneon, Inc. announced an alliance to expand offerings to existing customers, as well as develop a new customer base with advanced solutions. Omneon and Building4Media will work together to optimise the integration of new and existing products and the companies will continue to develop mutually beneficial and innovative broadcast automation solutions. Building4Media’s FORK Production, FORK Playout and Mobile2Air deliver an end-to-end production platform that includes digital acquisition of live and file-based content, media asset management, editing, archiving, streaming and pushing content to multiple screens and devices driven by an advanced file based metadata workflow. Warren Arenstein, vice president of Business Development, Primestream, said, “Omneon is one of the most reliable platforms in the world for mission critical applications in broadcasting. We are excited to expand our existing relationships

with our customers and our resellers with new opportunities and to make further available our combined offerings.” “Building4Media and their FORK Suite of applications is among the most innovative playout automation systems for television stations and other production environments,” said Dave Fredrick, senior director of Product Solutions and Marketing, Omneon. “Building4Media’s focus on creating added value for broadcaster media data centres has produced a state-of-the-art software application. On the Omneon platform, FORK provides complete control over their media assets. This, combined with their studio production and playout automation workflow solutions, creates a tightly integrated and streamlined solution.” Workflows that both companies support include playout, studio production, news, sports highlights, and collaborative shared editing.

Visit http://www.Omneon.com

Marquis Debuts Medway with Support for ProRes Codec

Interra Integrates Baton with SeaChange

Omneon, Building4Media Expand Global Offerings

Marquis Broadcast has unveiled its Medway media transfer and format conversion software with support for the Apple ProRes codec. This new Medway feature brings a higher degree of flexibility and collaboration to file-based workflows for customers whose preferred editing system is Final Cut Pro. Designed for all broadcasting and television production environments, Medway integrates with newsroom, asset management, editing and broadcast automation systems and a range of playout servers. Its intuitive interface and simple drag and drop control make it easy to use by all operators. Through its support of ProRes, Medway simplifies cross-platform compatibility, allowing entire sequence timelines to be moved seamlessly between Final Cut Pro and a range of other post-production and broadcast edit systems in a single drag and drop operation. “This new development for Medway brings much excitement to the industry and opens up many opportunities,” said Granby Patrick, Partner Director, Technology, Marquis Broadcast. “By moving sequences and timelines effortlessly between systems from different manufacturers,

users can build more efficiency, productivity and flexibility to their workflows.” Medway eliminates file incompatibility problems that occur when media moves between post-production and broadcast systems from different manufacturers. By rewrapping files and translating EDL structures, Medway allows media to be transferred quickly and easily between processes, enabling media companies to achieve faster and more efficient digital workflows. Media is ready for use as soon as it arrives at its new destination. Medway also provides comprehensive metadata management tools that extract the metadata attached to media, enabling easy tracking and repurposing of content. Designed for all broadcasting and television production environments, Medway integrates with newsroom, asset management, editing and broadcast automation systems and a range of playout servers. Its intuitive interface and simple drag and drop control make it easy to use by all operators.

Visit www.marquisbroadcast.com

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Cloud Computing

52 Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing 53

Akamai – First Cloud on the HorizonBy Phil Sandberg

CLOUD COMPUTING& outsourced services

>> >> Greg Lazar [left], Akamai’s VP & GM for International and Global Partners, and Ian Teague, ANZ Country Manager.

SEEKING TO overcome the congestion and bottlenecks of the public Internet, Akamai was launched in 1999 to build on work undertaken by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) into algorithms for intelligently routing and replicating content over a large network of distributed servers.

Today the company has over 2000 employees, annual revenues of US$859.8 million, and what it describes as “the most pervasive, highly-distributed cloud optimisation platform” with over 73,000 servers in 70 countries within nearly 1000 networks.

The company’s offerings include: Digital Asset Solutions; the Akamai HD Video Network; the Akamai Media Delivery service; Electronic Software Delivery; Dynamic Site Accelerator; Web Application Accelerator; an IP Application Accelerator that provides optimised architecture for delivering all classes of IP-based applications; and Advertising Decision Solutions to enable more relevant online advertising.

According to Greg Lazar, Akamai’s VP & GM for International and Global Partners, and Ian Teague, ANZ Country Manager, the company has truly reached a global level.

“We’re getting larger,” says Lazar. “We have many more products than we used to have. We have many more business partners, resellers. We now have about five primary industries that we go to.”

C+T: What is the make-up of your customers in Australasia?

GL: “The primary industries are what we call digital media, so that’s media and entertainment, social networking companies, broadcasters, sporting events, online games and publishing companies.

“Digital media is our biggest industry, but close to that is e-commerce. E-commerce is basically online retailers, anybody pretty much selling anything online, but [it] also includes the travel and hotel industries. Then after that it breaks down into hi-tech companies, and then manufacturing companies, public sector, and financial services.”

IT: “In Australia, we’ve been very successful with most of the major media companies using us. We’ve been a bit slower in Australia in adopting e-commerce, 2010 was a landmark year in shift. All the major retailers are now going online. There are many pure

play retailers already online and successful and profitable. So, that’s a big category for us.

“Looking forward, we have customers in each of the other sectors, so we’ve got banks... good users. We have government departments, we actually have some small hi-tech. We also have the enterprise. So, corporate Australia is now using the Internet as a way of communicating, no longer buying fixed MPLS lines, which are expensive and slow to provision. They’re now using the public Internet with the Akamai services to give quality of service on top to deliver their apps.”

C+T: So, it’s not necessarily limited to video? It can be anything?

IT: “Well, commerce actually uses a lot of video as well. It was siloed, but now people are seeing the benefits. In commerce they’re using rich, engaging video experience to help consumers purchase products. But, the big guy on the block and streaming is definitely media.”

C+T: For your customers, how big a factor is speed and how important is security?

GL: “If you look on the enterprise side of the business, speed is always important. Since the day we started, the whole idea was ‘can we make this thing go faster?’ That’s always a number one design point of whatever we do. I would say a close second, in some cases it’s a first, is security. So, we’ve spent a lot of effort on secure applications, especially if you

think about, in the commerce space, there are billions of dollars of transactions being done, and if you look around the world at the top online retailers, probably 80% or 90% of them are using Akamai.

“Availability is another one where customers have a lot of traffic, or they have spikes in their applications, maybe it’s a news story, something happens on a particular day, so the idea that that website is going to be available and doesn’t get overwhelmed is another of the advantages that we sell.”

IT: “We help our customers focus on their infrastructure layer and the look and feel of their site, whether it’s their streams or their site itself. But they don’t need to worry about how big do they build their infrastructures there. Because media companies aren’t infrastructure companies, and commerce companies really don’t have skills in that and neither does the enterprise, so we’ve got this great platform that they share, which really is a shared service. In fact, we truly are a cloud services platform.”

C+T: Would you say you were the first cloud on the horizon?

GL: “We’ve only been cloud. We probably should have used the term a lot earlier. We’ve caught up though. We’ve made sure the marketing department has pushed ‘cloud’, and it’s amazing. It’s really helped the stock price.

“But, all kidding aside, we are cloud computing, I mean that’s what we do. If you look at our evolution, at the beginning it was not cloud computing ‘cause we’re just taking your stuff and we’re moving it. So, we’re really a delivery mechanism. But, we also very early on had a capability that we call edge computing. We’re not just taking your content and moving it, we’re running the application actually on the Akamai service.

“The basic reason we’re in business is there’s what we call a middle-mile problem. That the Internet itself just bogs down. It just was not designed for high volume transactions and we solve that problem.”

IT: “For our media customers, we continue to innovate. We’ve announced our universal streaming service where the goal is, we’re not there yet, but the goal is to have one stream in and to deliver multiple bit rates to multiple formats coming out. So, by the end of 2011, that’ll be reality. And so we have many services adding onto that.”

C+T: Does that include digital rights management?

IT: “Of course. Digital rights management is extremely important for content rights. Through services like tokenisation, we can protect a customer’s rights. So, many of the big names in the industry, ABC, BBC, Hulu in the US, all use Akamai’s technology to protect their content rights and deliver that out in a cost effective way as well.”

C+T: What’s Akamai’s view on the various national broadband networks now being built around the world?

GL: “Here’s the way, at a high level, we look at the opportunity. There’s the first mile problem, which is getting stuff out of the data centre, into the network, then the middle mile problem, which is being on the network itself, and then the last mile problem, getting it to the home.

“Our whole focus has been the middle mile, but, obviously, if the bottleneck at the last mile is unsolvable, it doesn’t matter how fast we come, if you get here and it takes 45 seconds for somebody to render a page, it’s not going to work. So, the dynamic site acceleration capability actually helps to solve some of the last mile problems.

“Quite simply, this is an opportunity for us. But it isn’t anything that we can control. We wouldn’t go to the Australian government and have them lay out their architectural plans and see how that might affect how we’re going to do things per se.

“When the Australian government rolls this out, and however long that takes – five years, eight years, 10 years – whatever it is, my personal view is it won’t be enough.

“When you look at other markets, let’s go to Korea, let’s go to Japan, markets like that, those kinds of societies are way ahead of the game in terms of their use of mobile devices. People have their iPhone here and their phone here and their Bluetooth there and everybody’s attached and talking and whatever. So, they have, I don’t say a multitude of bandwidth, but they have certainly more bandwidth than probably the average Australian citizen, and they’re using it.

“Most traffic is still driven from a PC. So, whether it’s a desktop or a laptop, that’s how people access the net. But, more and more they are accessing it now through the iPhone and the iPad, whatever they have.

“That is not a trend. That’s a rocket ship taking off. If you look at our investments, a lot is going into those mobile devices, and the mobile device support because it’s clear that you’ve got to be able to support that. People are going to new platforms and we need to support them and we need to work with our customers so that their websites will work, will be transformed if somebody’s looking at a Blackberry versus someone who’s looking at a laptop. So, we need to stay up with that trend.

“The other thing that we’re seeing is the network itself. Akamai is embedded in the telecommunications network. We’re embedded on classic Intel UNIX-based systems, but embedded in these ISPs and these telcos.

“One of the things we need to look at is what

consumers are using to access it and what devices, but then if you look at the actual network, is it the old landline kind of telco environment, which really wasn’t built, especially when you start looking at video, as anything more than a voice system

“The mobile networks are the same thing. I don’t think when people started doing cell phone towers 20 years ago they pictured people going to watch a movie on a phone. It almost seems ludicrous, but that’s what people are doing.

“What’s happening here in Australia is very important, because you’ve got to get mobile, you’ve got to get more capacity out to the users. But, I think it’s just going to be you built a bridge and now you can go to the other side. I think you’ve got to build it and as you’re building that bridge there’s going to be other bridges being built at the same time and the devices and the support and the mobile networks, they’ll all evolve at the same time.”

C+T: You mentioned taking one stream in and many streams out. How will that platform work?

IT: “So you’ve got the multi-bit rate technologies that are available, which will take full advantage of the available capacity in the end-user network and they will fluctuate up and down as they go. So that’s part of the multi-bit rate technology. It’s also using HTTP (Adaptive Bitrate Streaming) as the transport. Everyone now is going to HTTP. Flash is also going to HTTP and we have our HD network, which is also usable for standard streaming delivery.

“That enables us to deliver flash streams out across the HTTP platform, which is far greater and bigger. And so, the vision is to be able to have content owners have one stream come in one format and on our platform use our technology there to then deliver it out to the many different devices that are out there in the appropriate formats that are needed.”

GL: “The idea is you want the customer to not to have to give us three or four versions of their content. The more we can allow the customer to focus on their application and building their own content, then the better.

“Not one of [the] customers are building everything themselves. They all talk about outsourcing. They’re basically saying ‘hey, I’ll let somebody else deal with this’. They’re too busy creating the content and trying to figure out [if] their customers are interested in [it] and how do we get them interested, using the site, how do we populate and keep the content fresh? That’s their business. Everything else is outsource, outsource!”

C+T: Finally, are the traditional print-based companies, the newspapers and magazines, catching up with the broadcasters in terms of using the web?

IT: “Some publishers have taken the opportunity to go to different markets. Their market was under threat by the Internet, but a lot of them have just taken the opportunity and run with it. So, Lonely Planet’s a great example. They’ve got an online video channel.

They’re now doing booking of holidays. They’re still selling a ton of books, and there’s blogs on the sites. They’ve really adopted all these different parts of the digital media world, combining it and transforming it and running with the business. And, they’ve been pretty successful.

“Fairfax have just launched their video channel. They’re trying to cut the lunch of the TV stations. So, the game’s changed. If you have the audience, you have your eyeballs and you can get the content, you can create the right engaging experience. Certainly, I think the publishers are doing a great job in that.”

Switch to Offer Hosted Flash ServiceOnline broadcast platform provider, Switch Media has become one of the first companies in the world to offer Flash Access as a hosted service.

Switch Media is the online technology partner to a range of broadcast, corporate and educational entities including AUSTAR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), INSEAD, Disney, Fairfax Business Media and The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

Adobe Flash Access protects premium/broadcast video content for both streaming and downloading for viewing offline. The system gives content providers control over how their intellectual property is being used regardless of the delivery method.

Switch Media will provide a cost effective option for what is normally an expensive and labour intensive investment in technology. The service will be made available to content providers no matter the size of the organisation.

Technical Director of Switch Media, Luke Durham, says: “Online business models need a way to securely and effectively protect their copyright, no matter their size. The Flash Access solution offers a greater range of usage and delivery models that premium online video ventures require to be successful. This includes, subscription, rental and ‘download to own’ services.

“Flash Access is a key part of our multi-platform multi-device online video solution, ensuring our services deliver the highest possible protection with the least impact on usability.”Visit www.switchmedia.asia

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Digital Signage

54 Digital Signage

Digital Signage

Digital Signage 55

Focus Media D-Signage Reaches 500 Commercial Buildings

digitalSIGNAGE

HONG KONG’S most extensive digital Out-Of-Home (OOH) media company, Focus Media, has boosted its long-standing partnership with one of Hong Kong’s most prominent property developers, Cheung Kong Holdings, with the deployment of its digital media network at The Metropolis Mall, Hunghom, Kowloon; making it the 500th building under Focus Media’s Office & Commercial Building digital network.

Owned by Fortune REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), an affiliate of Cheung Kong, The Metropolis Mall, conveniently located next to the Hunghom MTR Station, is a popular destination for shoppers, as well as meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. Fortune REIT is Cheung Kong’s first REIT, which is also the first property developer in Hong Kong to establish a REIT in 2003. Currently, Fortune REIT holds a portfolio of 14 shopping malls and properties in Hong Kong.

Mr Justin Chiu, Executive Director of Cheung Kong Holdings and Chairman and Non-Executive Director of ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited, the Manager of Fortune REIT, said, “We saw huge potential in the Focus Media business model – turning a mundane elevator waiting time into an entertaining experience. This unique entertainment & infotainment platform is well received as a value-added service to our tenants and visitors at the office & commercial properties owned and managed by our Group. We are delighted that The Metropolis Mall has joined Focus Media as their 500th building.”

Apart from The Metropolis Mall, Focus Media’s screens are also deployed at 18 other Cheung Kong’s properties, including five owned by Prosperity REIT in Hong Kong and six owned by Suntec REIT in Singapore. Its Office & Commercial Building digital network now reaches more than 1.3 million unique business executives, on a daily basis.

Mr P J Wong, co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Focus Media Hong Kong and Singapore, said, “Cheung Kong is amongst our most supportive network partner since we created this unique communication platform at elevator-lobbies in early 2004. Through the years, it has been a real privilege for us to work with various property affiliates of the Cheung Kong Group in Hong Kong and Singapore. We are excited about this latest addition and welcome The Metropolis Mall as our 500th building under our Office & Commercial

Building digital network in Hong Kong.”

Recently, Focus Media expanded its In-Store digital network to 200 of Mannings’ top health & beauty stores in terms of shopper traffic. The network that operates on Internet-delivery broadcast offers a robust “real-time” Point-Of-Sale advertising platform for brands sold at Mannings’ stores, giving them the final opportunity to engage with their customers right before the purchase decision is made.

The Focus Media network is also available in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, India,

PumpTV Launches Operations in ChinaAustralian based and owned PumpTV, the only national petrol station TV network, will launch in China through a new deal with Chinese digital and outdoor signage company Joy Media.

Taking place just a year after PumpTV was launched in Melbourne, this deal marks PumpTV’s first venture into overseas markets. The partnership will see PumpTV sell its proprietary digital outdoor signage technology that delivers video content and advertising to consumers at the petrol pump through LCD screens with full audio to Joy Media. In addition to hardware sales and systems updates, PumpTV will also provide ongoing technology and helpdesk support from Australia.

The initial roll-out will take place across 64 Shell Petroleum sites – estimated to reach over three million consumers per month – in Tianjin. With the addition of further sites every month across other parts of China, this reach is expected to expand to over 11 million consumers per month by 2012.

“We have some strong interest from other countries and are looking forward to expanding our product into these dynamic markets. This deal reiterates the strength of the digital outdoor signage industry and

the value of place based advertising. Audience engagement through entertaining and relevant content is the key and we hope to emulate the success we’ve had in Australia through this approach to other countries,” said David Parker, CEO of PumpTV.

Having launched in November 2009 and celebrating its first anniversary, PumpTV broadcasts nationally to over three million Australians watching TV while filling petrol at stations fitted with PumpTV screens. Through content partners Channel 7 and Yahoo!7, PumpTV delivers news, sports, weather and lifestyle updates and advertising content to consumers.

Advertisers on the PumpTV platform include AAMI, Amex, Hyundai, Cadbury, Schweppes, Myer, Pacific Magazines and Coca-Cola.

Research conducted by McNair Ingenuity found that 88% of consumers recall advertisements aired on the PumpTV network and 26% say they would respond to one or more of the advertisements. An overwhelming 90% of consumers commented that they enjoyed the break that PumpTV screens provided to the task of filling petrol.Visit www.pumptv.com.au/pumptv/

Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, the Gulf States, Russia and Latin America. Visit www.FocusMedia.tv

IPL Communications has joined forces with LG Electronics which will see IPL distributing LG’s range of digital signage and commercial panels throughout Australia. IPL is now able to offer a wider range of innovative products to its extensive national network of resellers. Part of the IPL Group, IPL Communications is a value added distributor of Voice, Video and Data products throughout Australia. Focusing on solutions aimed at small to medium enterprises, IPL Communications carries a comprehensive range of leading edge Telecommunication and Video Conferencing equipment and software representing high-profile brands including Alcatel, Lifesize, Panasonic and Siemens.

Matrox Graphics launched a building block for video wall controllers with the new Matrox Mura controller board, capable of capturing four full 1080p HD inputs and simultaneously driving four monitors at up to 2048×1080, while maintaining full RGB 888 image quality. Based on second generation PCI Express technology, the controller board boasts a x16 bus interface providing an unrivalled 64 Gb/s of bandwidth for cutting-edge performance, while the customised 10-slot Matrox Mura switch fabric can deliver 512 Gb/s upstream and downstream for an unprecedented total throughput of 1Tb/sec. The flexible, all-in-one controller board captures content from and displays to a range of signal types including RGB,

MATROX MURA CONTROLLER BOARD

IPL DISTRIBUTES LG SIGNAGEThe LG products being distributed by IPL will include

its bespoke panels, information monitors for call centres and specialist digital signage products. The expansive range of LG LCD monitors are designed to maximise content quality and effect, with all the monitors matched to the unique demands of each customer’s environment.

As part of the deal, IPL will also distribute LG’s new ‘SuperSign,’ an all-in-one turn-key digital signage solutionwhich provides access to content management software and starter templates as well as news and weather feeds from CNN.Visit http://www.ipl.com.au.

DVI/HDMI, component, composite, and S-video sources. Integrating input and output plus support for all types of channels in one single-slot controller board simplifies inventory management, while its standard form factor makes it easy to integrate into any video wall processor.

“Matrox Mura’s upstream and downstream capabilities on a single board—at 4 times the performance of its competition—represents the new building block standard for display wall applications,” says Alain Thiffault, Business Development Manager, Matrox Graphics. “By replacing existing multi-board set offerings, integrators can now easily exploit a mainstream computer’s available system slots to drive boardroom-type installs or use our custom

switch fabric to comfortably power large-scale visualisation and collaboration environments.”

The new addition to the well-established Matrox family of Display Wall Controller boards supports the existing Matrox Display Wall API interface, allowing current OEM customers to use their existing wall management software, without any additional development, for a seamless transition from the existing Matrox VPX and Matrox PPX product lines. Matrox Display Wall SDK now offers a new management interface, network API, and RS-232 control to help new customers shorten their time to market. Visit http://www.matrox.com/graphics

NEC Australia, provider of commercial LCD displays, multimedia projectors and innovative digital signage solutions, announced its new ultra short throw series with the 3100 lumen U310WG, 2600 lumen U260WG and the 2500 lumen U250XG. The complete elimination of shadows and glare typically found with standard projection systems is accomplished by mounting these ultra short throw projectors to the wall above the screen, making them ideal for education environments using inte active or standard whiteboards.

In addition to the ultra-short throw distance, the reflection method, with a resulting distance of less than 25cm to the cabinet, makes the usage of the models extremely space-saving and improves the stability of the hole whiteboard installation. The integrated desktop mode means the projectors can also be used on a table, sideboard or a mobile trolley.

The 3D-ready U Series are built with DLP and DLP Link technologies from Texas Instruments, making customers future-proof for next generation projection. For corporate customers that lack the space required for a standard projector, these projectors offer a compelling alternative. They offer XGA and WXGA resolutions, respectively, and brightness up to 3100 lumens.

Their connectivity includes HDMI and dual computer inputs, as well as variable audio out to connect the projector to an external speaker and control the volume through the projector’s remote control.Visit http://www.nec.com.au

NEC ULTRA SHORT THROW PROJECTOR

HDMI TO MINI DISPLAYPORT CONVERTERAtlona Technologies is now shipping its AT-HD620 HDMI to Mini DisplayPort converter, which is capable of up-converting video signals to dual-link resolutions up to 2560×1440. The AT-HD620 features an HDCP-compliant HDMI input, in addition to a Mini DisplayPort input that functions as a pass-through for Mini DisplayPort sources. The unit allows users to switch between the two inputs, enabling them to use both a connected Mini DisplayPort computer such as

Ultra-compact, lightweight with a power consumption of only 7W, the HMP200 can be concealed behind a screen, installed with ‘zero config’ network integration. There are no moving parts, the device has no vulnerability to PC viruses or OS issues, and SpinetiX offers a lifetime warranty for every Hyper Media Player it sells.

According to Serge Konter, Marketing Manager, SpinetiX, “For applications where the ultimate in image quality is needed such as high-end digital out of home (DOOH) advertising, there is no substitute for HD. The HMP200 has been designed with exactly this requirement in mind.”

As well as decoding HD video, the HMP200 can publish data, audio, and dynamic content from RSS feeds, widgets and instant messaging using SpinetiX’s own Fusion software, which resides inside the unit and is part of the package.

The creation of bespoke applications such as multi-screen videowalls, interactive kiosks and touchscreens is also eased by the fact that, like all SpinetiX players, the HMP200 is based on open protocols such as SVG and JavaScript. There are comprehensive scheduling options and the unit’s standard 8GB of solid-state memory can be expanded via USB 2.0.

Visit http://www.spinetix.com

SPINETIX LAUNCHES HMP200

a MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, or Mac mini, as well as an HDMI source such as a PlayStation PS3, Apple TV, or Xbox 360.

The converter scales any resolution, including 1080p, to dual-link resolutions up to 2560×1440. Support for 3D motion video adaptive deinterlacing allows for the best possible image, while providing less than a single frame delay.Visit http://www.atlona.com.

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Radio

56 Radio

RADIO

THE ORIGINAL BROADCAST MEDIA

AUSTRALIA’S SPECIAL Broadcasting Service (SBS), the public radio and television broadcaster delivering media in 68 different languages, is using NETIA’s Radio-Assist automation system to publish content to its website.

SBS gathers programming from content creators worldwide and uses Radio-Assist to deliver this content online in 50 different languages. The Radio-Assist publishing module provides all the media asset management capabilities required by SBS to manage both media and metadata for accurate, efficient multilingual publication to the Web.

NETIA’s Radio-Assist offers a solution for extending broadcast content to the Web using minimal resources. The software goes beyond conventional radio automation to make it easy for journalists and other staff to repurpose content in multiple languages for additional platforms.

The multiple-language programs available through SBS Television, Radio, and Online ensure that all Australians, including the estimated three million who speak languages other than English in their homes, are able to share the broadcaster’s content. SBS Online delivers world news, current affairs, sports,

NETIA Simplifies Repurposing at SBS

>> >> Peter Stavrianos, manager broadcast engineering at SBS.film, and food content, as well as a full range of SBS television and radio programming to a monthly audience of 900,000 people.

SBS has extended features of its current Radio-Assist automation system to interface with its online service. Within the NETIA solution, SBS has expanded the metadata model of its production database to support all the data needed for online publishing of its radio content in multiple languages and unicode scripts. For any program audio clip, staff can associate images and rich metadata content in any language. Online publishing is then completely automated.

Regional Digital Radio Review Germany Paves Way for National DAB+ Germany has taken an important step towards launching a national DAB+ digital radio network as German broadcasters joined together and signed contracts with the network operator Media Broadcast. The contract signing will mean national digital radio services will be on-air from the public broadcaster Deutschlandradio and commercial broadcasters.

These national services will be launched in 2011 alongside regional DAB+ digital programmes from the public broadcasters.

WorldDMB, the international, non-governmental body with a mandate to promote the awareness, adoption and implementation of Eureka 147 based technologies, expressed delight at the agreement.

“This paves the way for national digital radio in Germany and demonstrates a clear commitment on behalf of both public and commercial broadcasters to the country’s digital radio future,” said WorldDMB President Jørn Jensen. Visit www.worlddab.org

“SBS is a clear leader in creating, aggregating, and broadcasting programming that reflects the diverse cultures, experiences, and viewpoints in today’s Australian society, and the use of Radio-Assist demonstrates that even the most complex operations, spanning language and content aggregation barriers, can realise a streamlined workflow for the multiplatform delivery of content,” said Peter Stavrianos, manager broadcast engineering at SBS.

With the Radio-Assist platform acting as a media asset management system, encoding, packaging, and moving the content with its associated metadata to the Web as a multimedia package is as simple as marking the item with a single mouse click.

“Large broadcast operations working in multiple languages can face a difficult challenge in repurposing content for a variety of distribution platforms, but with metadata content managed inside the production system itself, multimedia packages can now be sent directly to the Web without having to manage the complexity of an intermediate content management system,” said Benjamin Schvent, APAC operations manager at NETIA. Visit www.netia.com

November 2010 saw the Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announce a discussion paper ‘Technologies for transmission of digital radio services in regional licence areas’, which was released to support the review of digital radio technologies conducted in accordance with section 215A of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

It provides information on the various terrestrial and satellite technologies available to transmit digital radio broadcasting services, key consumer/listener requirements for digital radio in regional areas, and the key technical issues for the major digital radio technologies and their potential for regional digital radio services.

Public comment was invited on the key requirements for listeners in regional areas (such as sound quality, coverage, additional radio services, availability of receivers) and the key technical issues for each of the major digital radio technologies (such as coverage equivalent to existing analogue services, spectrum requirements, merits of using different systems in metropolitan and regional areas).

As required by the Act, the review will also consider:

• thedevelopmentofthesetechnologies(whetherornot in Australia)

• the availability and price (whether or not inAustralia) of– transmission equipment– domestic reception equipment

•whether legislative amendments are required tofacilitate the transmission of– digital radio broadcasting services in regional

licence areas– restricted datacasting services in regional

licence areas• thegeographiccoverageofthetechnologiesused

to transmit– digital radio broadcasting services– restricted datacasting services

• the characteristics of digital radio and restricteddatacasting services that are likely to result from the technologies used to transmit these services in regional areas.The consultation period closed on Friday 24

December 2010 and submissions will be posted on the Department’s website.Visit www.dbcde.gov.au/radio/digital_radio/

© 2010 TLS Corp. Omnia.11 is a trademark of TLS Corp. All rights reserved.

Distributed by AVC Group Tel.: 1-800-631-728Email: sales@avc-group.com.auWeb: www.avc-group.nz

.

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Radio

58 Radio Radio 59

RadioRadio

The MKE1Whether for musicians, live

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Commercial Radio Recognised for Emergency Services InfoChief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia Joan Warner has welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NSW Government, making commercial radio stations official providers of emergency services information.

“The commercial radio industry welcomes the MOU with the NSW Government, which now means all commercial radio stations in this State are recognised and promoted as official broadcasters of information in times of emergency,” Ms Warner said. “This is a sensible decision given commercial radio reaches 80 per cent of Australians and can provide a crucial role in helping disseminate information to local communities in times of emergency.”

All commercial stations in NSW are involved in the MOU including stations owned by DMG Radio, Australian Radio Network, Fairfax Radio Network, Grant Broadcasters, Austereo and Southern Cross Media.

Ms Warner said the NSW MOU follows a similar arrangement with the Victorian, South Australian and Queensland Governments.

“The industry has argued for some time for commercial radio to be included and promoted as an official provider of information in emergencies, along with the ABC. This is a common sense decision and one which will hopefully be emulated nationwide in the near future,” Ms Warner said.

Ms Warner said the industry was already bound by its Code of Practice to broadcast emergency information but was happy to sign the MOU, to ensure the industry was officially recognised as a provider of emergency services information.

“Commercial radio stations are an integral part of many local communities around the country and stand ready, willing and able to assist these communities in times of emergency,” Ms Warner said.Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

PhoneBOX Prize ManagerPhoneBOX Prize Manager is a “competition workflow management tool”. It’s a web-based system that bolts on to PhoneBOX to seamlessly integrate the studio phone-in system with prize give-aways. PhoneBOX facilitates the smooth running of competitions, from advance scheduling, prize inventory allocations to shows, keeping track of what you’ve already given away, displaying promotional scripts to prompt the presenter to read out, to the prize arriving with the winner in a timely manner.

PhoneBOX Prize Manager is fully searchable, and its compliance module makes all the station’s competitions certified bona fide with a full audit of every transaction.

There are three levels of prize management for PhoneBOX. From version 3.3 of PhoneBOX software the entry level of Prize Manager is included free of charge. This lets the user record a prize being won from within PhoneBOX; provide the promo dept with the prize and its winners details on a screen away from the studio.

Advanced Prize Manager features include:– Schedule competitions and view them by months, week, day and indicate

competition type– Competitions may have different and multiple mechanics– Manage prize stock inventory– Fulfilment system, including space for tracking details

The Promo department receives a completed form containing all the information they need to get the prize to the winner– Track winners through PhoneBOX– Winner Alert icon in PhoneBOX (definable) when the winner calls again– Read only view– Fully searchable– Data export to other software– Unlimited users

Everyone works from the same data, assign the competition to different users at different stages of the competitionVisit www.bionics.co.uk

ACMA Finds Breach of Radio DirectorshipsAustralian regulator ACMA has determined that the commercial radio broadcasting directorship limits in section 56 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the Act) were breached by Mr Lachlan Murdoch and Ms Siobhan McKenna.

The directorship limits for television and radio licences recognise the potential ability of a director of a company in a position to exercise control of a licence to influence aspects of the operation of that licence.

Mr Murdoch came into breach of section 56 on 7 October 2010 when he was appointed as a director of Prime Media Group Limited (Prime), which is in a position to exercise control of Hot91/4MCY

in the Nambour radio licence area. At that time, Mr Murdoch was also a director and a controller of a number of companies that were in a position to exercise control of Nova 106.9/4BNE and 97.3/4BFM in the Brisbane radio licence area. Mr Murdoch resigned as a director of Prime on 9 November 2010.

Under the Act, the overlapping Brisbane and Nambour commercial radio broadcasting licence areas are treated as a single licence area for the purposes of section 56 because more than 30% of the Nambour RA1 licence area population is attributable to an area that overlaps with the

Brisbane RA1 licence area. The ACMA also found that Ms McKenna was a director of companies that controlled more than two radio licences in the combined Nambour/Brisbane radio licence area, and was in breach of section 56. Ms McKenna was a director of Prime and a director of two companies, DMG Radio Investments Limited and Illyria Radio Investments Limited, which were in a position to exercise control of Nova 106.9/4BNE and 97.3/4BFM. Ms McKenna resigned as a director of DMG Radio Investments Limited and Illyria Radio Investments Limited on 10 November 2010.Visit http://acma.gov.au

Live Radio in North-West TasmaniaTasmanian Broadcasters has announced that after 13 years commercial radio returned to the North-West Coast with 7BU-7AD-7SD Classic Hits Tasmania commencing broadcasting operations from the new Tasmanian Broadcasters Devonport studios, and SEAFM Northern Tasmania opening the microphones for the first time on Thursday 9 December 2010.

Simultaneously, Tasmanian Broadcasters and SEAFM Northern Tasmania launched two new StreetStar teams based in Burnie and Devonport to provide local communities with the opportunity to integrate with on-air programming.

Tasmanian Broadcasters Executive General Manager Tim Holder said, “Grant Broadcasters continues to invest in Tasmanian Broadcasters since acquiring a number of radio licences in recent years.”

ABC Live Digital Station for Queensland FloodsABC Local Radio in Queensland started broadcasting live on digital radio and nationally online, giving all Australians a local perspective on the devastating floods currently affecting much of Queensland.

The broadcast included 24-hour rolling coverage of the unfolding events in Brisbane, the crisis in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, and the recovery mode across the state.

The special digital station, ABC QLD Floods, was carried on digital radio in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and streamed nationally online at www.abc.net.au/emergency

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The NAVIGATOR DAB+ has been designed to perform mobile measurement campaigns for DAB+ networks. This handheld equipment can be used in a vehicle, or on foot (indoor or outdoor). The campaign can be dedicated to a single channel (frequency) or for multiple channels at the same time.

The second-generation Ariane Sequel features TransLanTech’s signature sum and difference processing and can also work in conventional left and right stereo with adjustable coupling between channels, as well as in dual channel mono mode. It’s the unique multiband, release gated, ‘windowing’ feed-forward RMS control that sets the Ariane in a class by itself. It just makes things sound better!

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60 Audio

Audio

NBN TV Takes SSL for SoundNBN Television based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, has installed an SSL C10 HD audio console for use in the “On Air” news studio.

Supplied by Amber Technology, the console is a 16/8/16 configuration (32 channel faders and 8 master faders) supplied with dual redundant power supplies and processors, which was critical for NBN’s one-hour News broadcast application.

NBN undertook an extensive evaluation of the various console options available, with emphasis on a solution that would provide all the features and core requirements needed for the application, as well as providing a “value for money” solution.

“We were looking at all the options, and had virtually made a decision to purchase an alternative brand, when I saw the C10 HD at SMPTE 2009. The C10, a new model just released by SSL at the time, provided the configuration, layout and features we were looking for, and very importantly, at the right price,” commented Leo Perren from NBN.

Visit www.ambertech.com.au and www.solid-state-logic.com

AUDIO

Malaysia’s RTM Upgrades TV Audio with StagetecRadio Television Malaysia (RTM), the Malaysian government-owned broadcaster based in Kuala Lumpur, has installed audio console and routing technology from Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup.

After having equipped three sound control rooms with AURUS consoles back in 2005 and 2008, the broadcaster purchased three AURATUS consoles for TV production – two consoles for RTM’s HQ in Kuala Lumpur and one for the RTM TV studio in Kuching, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. All three consoles are supplemented by NEXUS routing systems.

Together with this purchase, RTM also opted to upgrade the audio technology of its most prominent auditorium, the Auditorium Perdana in Kuala Lumpur that has been equipped with an AURUS console since 2008.

A VIVACE room acoustics system will complement this installation in order to improve the acoustics of

the auditorium, which was built in the late sixties. Thus, the 700 seat hall will offer a demonstrably better sound experience for the audiences of the numerous TV shows produced here. At the same time, the sound control room is getting an upgrade to surround capability with additional DSP-resources for its 48-fader AURUS and Dolby-E decoder and encoder cards, complemented by HD-SDI cards for the NEXUS audio routing system.

“This latest project with RTM is an overwhelming sign of trust for us,” states David Chan, head of Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup Malaysia. “We are proud to hear that, with this installation, all the sound control rooms in the main broadcasting house will now rely on MEDIAGROUP audio mixers and routers for their operations.”Visit www.stagetec.com

>> >> Advon Tan and David Chan of the Salzbrenner Strategic Media Group Malaysia

Ovation adopts Evertz SystemThe Ovation Channel has turned to Quinto Communications for an Evertz Intelligain system designed to measure the perceived loudness of audio embedded within a digital video signal and then apply gain adjustments to maintain the signal’s audio volume level within target limits.

The result is consistent audio loudness, avoiding over-level audio, or audio that is too quiet within and between programs. This ensures that Ovation’s program content will always be within an optimum range for the viewer without employing excessive audio compression, which could spoil the dynamics of an operatic or classical performance. It also eliminates unwanted drastic volume changes between programs and promos or commercials, for example.

According to Ovation’s On-Air Services Manager, Charles Horry, “with the very diverse nature of our programming, maintaining consistent and appropriate audio levels had been a tricky issue. But we have been very pleased with Intelligain, which just works for us to effectively and automatically manage our audio levels without requiring operator intervention”.Visit www.quinto.com.au

SAE Education Business SoldAustralian global education services provider Navitas has announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of SAE Group (SAE), the leading global provider of creative and new media education.

Founded in Australia in 1976 by Tom Misner, SAE has expanded to become one of the world’s largest media technology training institutes, with 47 campuses in 19 countries.

In Australia SAE has operations in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia as well as an established presence in Germany, the US and UK and operations in South Africa, Dubai, Singapore, New Zealand and much of Europe.

SAE offers a range of post secondary education opportunities to approximately 8,000 students, including certificate, diploma, degree and Masters programs across three major fields of study: audio production, film production and interactive media. SAE is expected to deliver revenue of A$109 million and EBITDA of $33 million in the 2010 calendar year.

Navitas is acquiring SAE for A$289 million with the deal expected to add a high demand and complementary new range of educational options to Navitas’ current offering. The acquisition will also expand Navitas’ geographic footprint and increase its ratio of domestic students compared to international students.Visit www.navitas.com and www.sae.edu

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62 Audio

Audio

Clear-Com, a global provider of voice communication systems, has enhanced its Eclipse digital matrix intercom system, including the recently released Production Maestro Pro with Clear-Vu, an add-on metering module. By improving the ease of configuration, these upgrades offer users a more efficient, productive communications workflow.

Recognising that the demands on European broadcast production teams are at an all-time high, Clear-Com upgraded the Eclipse Configuration Software (ECS) with new features that automate the setup of intercom communications, reducing operator engagement and improving workflow.

RAVENNA, a new solution for real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based environments, utilises existing network infrastructures and adapts to the performance of the underlying network architecture. RAVENNA meets the high demands of professional audio applications, including particularly low latency, full signal transparency and high reliability.

These new advancements allow the system to auto-detect matrices and networks, load or change pre-established configurations and auto-default to a factory setting. The new ECS software also includes assisted on-screen help, which provides instant troubleshooting with rapid results.

Broadcasters can employ the enhanced Eclipse to better manage even the most frenetic of production environments. For example, during live remote news broadcasts, an operator can quickly link reporters and production staff in the field with the swift click of a mouse. He can then save those setting configurations for use in the future. If an

RAVENNA is suitable for the professional broadcast market as well as other pro-audio fields, for example, live sound, fixed installations and recording. Fields of application include flexible setups at venues and live events, OB van support etc., as well as in-house signal distribution in broadcast centres, theatres and music halls, and even via WAN connections. RAVENNA can create faster and more flexible workflows.

operator needs to make any changes, these can easily be accomplished using the ECS.

In addition, Clear-Com has developed a new audio monitor card for Eclipse, the LMC-64. This card enables Clear-Vu on Production Maestro Pro, an add-on module for Eclipse introduced earlier this year, to display visual levels on screen by using up to 64 real-time graphical meters. Through standard VU or Nordic scaling, customers can easily adjust audio levels by selecting a few icons on a computer monitor. Visit www.clearcom.com and www.hme.com

All protocols and procedures used by RAVENNA are based on widely distributed and established IT and audio methodology.

RAVENNA is an open technology standard. Companies first in line to take up the RAVENNA technology are Merging Technologies, Innovason, DirectOut, LSB/VSM Control and DSA Volgmann. Visit www.lawo.de

DTS, a digital technology company, has unveiled DTS-HD Master Audio Suite v2.6 (MAS v2.6).

DTS-HD Master Audio Suite v2.6 adds a series of new encode modes, signifying a leap forward in the world of digital delivery services. Building on the success of DTS-HD Master Audio Suite tools in Blu-ray, this version advances DTS-HD technology in the digital download/streaming space, offering new stream types and additional bit-rates, including the bandwidth-adaptive DTS Express encode format.

“The new DTS Express encode modes provide excellent audio experience at low bit-rates that flex and scale to meet bandwidth constraints,” says Ronny Katz, Director, Professional Audio, DTS. “With DTS technologies integrated into

content delivery ecosystems such as Sonic’s RoxioNow, and in preparation for the UltraViolet (formerly DECE) consumer launch, MAS v2.6 provides new capabilities to meet the changing needs of our customers.”

Another significant upgrade to DTS-HD Master Audio Suite v2.6 is the dramatic increase to encoding speed, clocking in at up to 48 times faster than real-time (based on 12 CPU cores running multiple simultaneous encodes). This new multi-processor speed increase combined with existing folder-based encoding, auto-import, and auto-verification features, make DTS-HD Master Audio Suite v2.6 a fast and efficient stand-alone audio encoding solution. Visit www.dts.com

TC-Helicon’s VoiceLive Touch is now shipping to stores worldwide. VoiceLive Touch is the ‘go anywhere’ vocal processor delivers vocal effects that TC–Helicon has become synonymous with, but adds VLOOP to the mix.

This vocal processing power sits behind one of the most innovative user interfaces ever created. VoiceLive Touch is also the first vocal processor to sit precisely where it’s needed for total hands-on control – on the mic stand.

With VoiceLive Touch’s innovative ‘touch’ interface sounds can be changed in an instant with a tap or swipe of the smooth surface preset slider. Users can search by genre through hundreds of sounds or assemble a whole song with their voice by creating loops.

Visit www.tc-helicon.com/voicelive-touch

RAVENNA STREAMLINES AUDIO WORKFLOW

CLEAR-COM PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON ECLIPSE

DTS-HD ADDS NEW ENCODE MODES VOCAL PROCESSOR

Release 2 of the Open IPTV Form (OIPF) specification for standardised end-to-end delivery of IPTV services will include DTS digital audio technology as an option for audio coding and delivery.

DTS surround sound technology allows content aggregators and IPTV service providers to offer a high quality, differentiated multi-channel audio experience across a rapidly growing number of service delivery and distribution platform options. Visit www.dts.com

DTS IN OIPF STANDARD

RTW, manufacturer and distributor of professional audio metering and control devices, has unveiled its new TouchMonitor series. The two TouchMonitor versions include the TM7 featuring a 7” touch screen and the TM9 with a 9“ touch screen. Both units combine unprecedented flexibility and modularity with an intuitive user interface.

Seven different hardware versions are available providing various combinations of analogue (D-Sub) and/or digital-audio interfaces. Digital ports are available in the AES3 (D-Sub) or AES3id (BNC) formats. All versions feature a LAN port, a VGA output for connecting external screens, GPIO interfaces, and two USB ports. In addition to the standard versions featuring desktop enclosures, external power supplies, and an integrated stand, RTW also offers OEM versions that can be integrated into mixing-console surfaces. Visit www.rtw.de

RTW DEBUTS TOUCHMONITOR SERIES

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64 Audio

Audio

Audio 65

Audio

DTS has announced a partnership with Digital Rapids, provider of encoding tools and solutions. DTS and DTS-HD audio support will be incorporated into future versions of Digital Rapids’ encoding and transcoding solutions including the Digital Rapids Transcode Manager enterprise-class, high-volume transcoding software and the company’s StreamZ and StreamZHD systems.

Digital Rapids’ solutions support multi-platform

distribution opportunities, multi-format workflows, and applications ranging from internet TV, IPTV and broadcast, to archive and Blu-ray authoring. DTS technology integration will range from DTS-HD Master Audio, the de facto lossless audio format for Blu-ray, to DTS’ adaptive stereo and multichannel streams for digital delivery.Visit www.digital-rapids.com www.dts.com

DTS TIES UP WITH DIGITAL RAPIDS RIEDEL VOIP INTEGRATION TECHNOLOGY

Riedel Communications, maker of intercom, fibre, audio and radio technologies, has shown native integration of VoIP telephone technology into a matrix intercom infrastructure.

After installing Riedel’s new firmware update for the Artist VOIP-108 client card, SIP-compatible VoIP telephone servers can now be integrated into the Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom system. As a result it is possible to call any VoIP telephone within the network directly from an Artist key panel. In addition it is possible to call Artist panels from a VoIP telephone.

Riedel’s comprehensive Voice-over-IP product range includes the VOIP-108 matrix client card, the Connect IPx2 and Connect IPx8 panel interfaces for connecting two eight-intercom panels over IP and the Riedel’s Virtual Key Panel Series. The virtual Artist panels allow a regular computer to be used as an intercom control panel in combination with any Artist digital matrix intercom system. While the free Artist VCP-1004 Virtual Panel provides four talk-keys, the new Artist VCP-1012 Virtual Panel features 12 talk-keys.

Riedel also unveiled the new RockNet RN.345.IL network plug-in card for Allen & Heath’s iLive digital mixing console family at this year’s PLASA show in London. The RN.345.IL card fits into any iLive MixRack Port B expansion slot and provides an interface to 64 input and 64 output channels. A rotary switch on the front panel sets device identification and selection of up to 15 programmable routing tables. The RN.345.IL enables the iLive console system to become part of the RockNet digital audio network.

The RN.345.IL in combination with RockWorks also supports RockNet’s renowned and unique Independent Gain Feature. Independent Gain allows several mixing consoles to operate with the same mic pre-amps without affecting each other. While the master-console is controlling the analogue gain of the pre-amps remotely, all other consoles operate with emulated pre-amps just as if they were also controlling the actual mic input. This makes multi-console and recording setups very convenient.

RockNet is a digital real-time audio network that provides up to 160 digital audio channels over a single counter-rotating CAT-5 ring. Based on a redundant ring topology, RockNet forms a self-healing network with no loss of audio in case of a connection fault between two devices. Visit www.riedel.net

LAWO LAUNCHES AMBIT, IPHONE

NTP Technology has a new addition to its range of digital audio routing and processing equipment. Introduced at IBC2010 the NTP 625 MADI router is a 2048 x 2048 crosspoint router in a single 19-inch 5 RU frame, complete with dual controller and dual power supply unit. Up to 18 MADI cards with four MADI input and output interfaces can be accommodated. Each frame has a TDM bus capacity of 2048 channels at 48 kHz sampling rate. Two frames can be interconnected using the NTP XBus connection for a total of 3072 channels.

The 625 MADI router provides a fully non-blocking routing switcher solution. A typical 2048 x 2028

MADI router requires eight MADI interface cards. If the full MADI capacity is not needed, the frame can also be configured with analogue and digital AES3 cards.

NTP’s 625 MADI interface card consists of the 625-531 QUAD TDM card and the 625-556 QUAD MADI box. The 625-531 Quad TDM card interfaces the internal TDM bus of the frame and the 625-556 QUAD MADI box provides the external MADI and XBus I/O connections. The 625-556 QUAD MADI box can interface up to four bi-directional MADI connections available on optical fibre or CAT6 electrical cables. Visit www.ntp.dk

NTP TECHNOLOGY LAUNCHES 625 MADI ROUTER

Lawo has presented a new DSP module for surround channels – AMBIT Upmix. Using sophisticated algorithms, this converts stereo signals into surround signals, thus providing an upmix facility completely integral to the mixing console.

The AMBIT Upmix is suited for modern productions, versatile in use for completed stereo mixes, on a source in an input channel or on sub groups. By the adjustment of a few, easily understandable parameters it is possible to create stunningly authentic sound spaces, and build a “perfect” 5.1 image.

Thanks to innovative parameters such as ‘Auto-Centering’ for the front channels, the AMBIT Upmix algorithms are also capable of adapting to the most diverse source material, and offer stability when panning the original image. All the AMBIT parameters are stored in production data and

snapshots. AMBIT is fully downmix compatible.The Lawo iPhone Remote app, which allows you

to operate every fader on a mc² console, follows the mixing console’s layout, and a simple ‘swipe’ will navigate you from left to right of the control surface.

Load snapshots when you want from the snapshot folders – a feature that makes the Lawo Remote app the ideal tool for production preparation, as well as theatre rehearsals. Special user buttons that appear only on the iPhone app can be assigned from the mxGUI using the same CustomFunction that is used for the console’s user buttons. This makes it possible for the iPhone to act, for example, as a monitor panel for the director, or as a remote control for a GPI.

The Lawo Remote app is available, free of charge, from the Lawo App Store.Visit www.lawo.de

Miranda Technologies has started volume shipping of its NVISION 8500 Hybrid embedded audio routers with integrated audio processing, which significantly streamline television infrastructures and eliminate video/audio timing issues.

Miranda’s NVISION 8500 Hybrid router (3D/3Gbps/HD) integrates de-embedding, shuffling, break-away and re-embedding in a single frame.

Aaudio processing functionality is available across the entire NVISION 8500 router range, from 144×144 to 1152×1152.

To minimise costs, the advanced Hybrid router cards with audio processing functionality can be mixed with regular input, crosspoint, and output cards

MIRANDA SHIPS NVISION 8500 HYBRID AUDIO ROUTERSwithin a router frame. With Dynamic Hybrid Path-finding, the router is fully aware of the card types in the frame, and can intelligently route signals from the standard cards to the Hybrid cards for processing, and thereby make the audio processing available across all the inputs.

The NVISION 8500 Hybrid routers perform audio processing in a typical production studio environment with a delay of just one or two lines.

These audio processing capabilities of the NVISION 8500 Hybrid router can be readily controlled from any NVISION control panel. Visit www.miranda.com/nvision

Clear-Com is now shipping worldwide its Tempest 2400 digital wireless intercom with a new firmware update. This update introduces two new modes of operation — Shared Mode and Split Mode — and functions that increase the capacity, flexibility and usability of the system, such as the ability to connect an unlimited number of BeltStations to a Tempest2400 BaseStation.

Building upon Tempest’s ability to connect up to 10 BaseStations within the same RF area, the new firmware update gives users the opportunity to combine three different modes of operation to accommodate most production wireless intercom requirements. In addition to the Normal Mode that offers up to five full-duplex BeltStations per BaseStation, Shared and Split Modes were added to allow for an unlimited number of users per BaseStation. In Shared Mode, all of the BeltStations can utilise the dual listen/talk feature and BeltStation users can individually select which channels they listen and talk to just like in normal mode. While all of the BeltStations can talk, only five BeltStations may have talk enabled at any one time. If a sixth BeltStation tries to talk, the user will receive a busy signal. In Split Mode, users operate in a combination of the other two modes: Normal and Shared, offering the use of four BeltStations that utilise the standard anytime talk-back capability and an unlimited number of BeltStations sharing one talk path at any given time.

Tempest2400, available in two- and four-channel versions, is a cost-effective option for broadcast professionals who require fewer channels of communications and offers users unprecedented access to licence-free communications. Utilising patented Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum radio technology to ensure robust, reliable communications, Tempest2400 operates licence-free in the 2.4 GHz band worldwide. Visit www.clearcom.com

CLEAR-COM CREATES STORM WITH TEMPEST

“ I have u s ed R yco t e p roduc t s on a l l o f the Top Gear Spec ia l s , the Nor th Po l e , Bo t swana and V i e tnam, they

d id no t l e t me down, i t ’ s a s s imp l e a s tha t . ”

Russell Edwards, Sound Recordist

K i t

F U L LW I N D S H I E L D

“ I have u s ed R yco t e p roduc t s on a l l o f the Top Gear Spec ia l s , the Nor th Po l e , Bo t swana and V i e tnam, they

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Reducing mechanical and wind noise inaudio recordings wi thout compromis ing f requency response i s not a s imple task. I t requires a so l id engineer ing background coupled wi th knowledge

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RØDE LAUNCHES NEW MICROPHONES Australian manufacturer RØDE has launched three new miniature microphones.• RØDE HS1 Headset MicrophoneMade for television presenting and built to last, the new RØDE HS1 is an ultra-light headset microphone that gives the user the ultimate in flexibility and mobility. The malleable, lightweight headband and tube arm assembly features three axes of mechanical adjustment providing comfortable, unobtrusive mounting, while the microphone tube arm can be relocated to either the left or right side of the user’s face to ensure the perfect fit and function for any individual.

The HS1’s omnidirectional capsule provides pure, clear audio and low handling noise and a wide frequency response, ensuring perfect intelligibility.

Available in both black (HS1-B) and pink (HS1-P), the headset is supplied with a 1.2m detachable shielded Kevlar-reinforced cable as well as a pop filter, mini furry and a complete set of adjustment tools.• RØDE PinMicThe new RØDE PinMic offers a unique and innovative take on the traditional lapel microphone. While lapel microphones are the industry standard for close-miking presenters and talent, their presence on a collar or lapel can be distracting or entirely undesirable, depending on the application. The new RØDE PinMic features a detachable capsule head that mounts onto three pins on the microphone backplate.• RØDE Lavalier MicrophoneCompleting the new product line is the RØDE Lavalier, a high performance lapel microphone that offers simple, intuitive use and cable management.

Like the HS1 and PinMic, the Lavalier comes with a pop filter, mini furry for use in adverse environments, cable management clips and a storage case.

RØDE has developed the MiCon connector system that provides seamless integration between all of RØDE’s compact wearable microphones and a wide range of wireless systems.Visit www.rodemicrophones.com

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66 Audio

Audio

RadiantGrid Technologies, developer of transcoding, transformation and new media automation service platforms, is collaborating with Linear Acoustic, provider of television audio control from content creation to transmission, to deliver solutions for loudness and audio control in a file-based workflow.

RadiantGrid’s transwrapping and transcoding capabilities have been combined with Linear Acoustic audio technology in the new Linear Acoustic AERO.file.

This software solution brings upmixing, downmixing, loudness range control and multi-pass scaling to file-based workflows without the need for outside hardware devices. AERO.file also supports audio transcoding between multichannel broadcast formats such as AC-3, Dolby E, AAC and Broadcast WAV (BWF).

Via RadiantGrid’s transwrapping functionality, users are able to pass through video streams of any type, while re-encoding, applying loudness processing, upmixing or downmixing the audio sources using Linear Acoustic AERO.

qc processing. This will be performed in a triple pass approach, allowing for a first measurement of the entire program segment, a second pass for user-selected UPMAX-II upmixing and/or loudness range control, and then a final pass to ensure the results perfectly match the chosen target.

This enables complete independence of loudness matching from other processing choices and guarantees the target is reached every time while preserving the quality of the original content.

“Until now, when processing audio in a file-based workflow, customers only had the option of loudness scaling,” explains Tim Carroll, founder and president of Linear Acoustic. “While simple scaling can produce loudness matched segments, it may not go far enough for programs whose loudness range exceeds the target for a given channel. By combining the ultra-stable and flexible RadiantGrid transwrapping and TrueGrid transcoding technologies with our AERO.qc processing, users will be able to process audio while converting it to other file formats all within one solution.”

RadiantGrid have also added new capabilities to the RadiantGrid Platform giving users a full suite of tools to correct for loudness, upmix and downmix audio files and transcode to a variety of file formats. RadiantGrid’s transwrapping function is also used here to allow the audio files to be processed while leaving the associated video files untouched.

“We are honored to be working with an industry leader such as Linear Acoustic to help bring loudness correction into the file-based realm,” says Kirk Marple, president and chief software architect, RadiantGrid Technologies. “Users have requested a means of processing audio without the need to decode and re-encode video files. Our faster than real-time transcoding and transwrapping capabilities, combined with the high-quality audio control solutions by Linear Acoustic, means our users will have all the tools necessary to process files for deployment – regardless of the file format and means of delivery.”Visit www.radiantgrid.com and www.linearacoustic.com

RADIANTGRID, LINEAR ACOUSTIC TIE UP

Zaxcom has introduced the TRX900LTS (LTS), a new recording wireless transmitter that supports two microphone inputs and independent transmission of two isolated audio channels, all on a single RF carrier signal. This product will allow audio professionals in the television broadcasting, live event, sporting, and theatre markets to transmit a stereo image wirelessly from talent via a single body pack. The LTS’ dual-microphone input greatly enhances the production of 5.1 surround sound.

“Our new LTS two-channel recording wireless transmitter is ideal for any type of wireless audio production where a stereo image, with its clear right/left perception of audio, will enhance the sound track,” said Glenn Sanders, Zaxcom’s president. “As a lightweight bodypack with no heat generation and a six-hour run time on just one AA lithium battery, the LTS is likely to be very popular with both production staff and talent alike. Users even have the option

ZAXCOM TWO-CHANNEL RECORDING WIRELESS TRANSMITTER

of switching the LTS to single-channel transmission, ensuring flexible production options no matter what audio needs our customers face.”

Incorporating the key functionality of Zaxcom’s patented wireless-recording technologies, the LTS records timecode-stamped, two-channel, back-up audio directly within the body pack to eliminate the risk of audio loss due to interference or signal drop out. With 100 per cent digital audio wireless transmission and no intermodulation, the LTS provides

superior audio quality that rivals that of a hardwired connection. Each unit also features an internal SMPTE timecode reader/generator. The LTS provides up to 96 hours of recording time, and is supported by the ZaxNet remote control network for easy adjustments on-the-fly. Visit www.zaxcom.com

AKG launched the comprehensive 99 Series microphone line. With nine different products that provide nine different applications, the 99 Series is a diverse group of microphones that offer a solution for nearly any installed sound application.

The new line – which consists of the CGN99, CHM99, CBL99, CK99L and the DGN99 – incorporates components from classic AKG products such as the capsule of the C542 BL boundary layer microphone and the well-proven acoustical components of the discreet gooseneck

range. All of the microphones are equipped with proper RF shielding to meet the high demands of electromagnetic compatibility in everyday installations. The family consists of nine microphones for nearly any typical installed sound application, including: conferencing, paging, surveillance, on-stage use and recording.

The condenser gooseneck range includes the CGN99 C/S, CGN99 C/L, CGN99 H/S and CGN99 H/L, which provide both cardioid or hypercardioid polar patterns and can come on

a short or long gooseneck stand. This range is the perfect solution for conferencing systems, lecterns, podiums and altars, too. Also included in the 99 Series range is the CHM99 hanging microphone on a 10 m twist-free cable. Available in either black or white, the CHM99 is an ideal microphone for teleconferencing applications, theatres, or as a choir microphone in a house of worship.

Visit www.audioproducts.com.au

WIDER RANGE OF INSTALLED SOUNDS WITH AKG’S 99 SERIES

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Transmission

68 Transmission

Transmission

Transmission 69

transmission SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION, TEST & MEASUREMENT

The Playroom Adds National Geographic ChannelsThe Playroom, facilitator of production infrastructure, content aggregation and broadcast services, is now managing the playout and distribution of the National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Adventure channels in Australia and New Zealand.

The Playroom GM Tom Kennedy explained, “This is a major coup for The Playroom as National Geographic is one of the world’s most respected brands. The negotiations started in early 2010 when National Geographic were looking for a more independent approach to their playout and channel positioning. At that point we gave them a full tour of our Yurong Street facility and explained how we work with the other channels we play out, including The Movie Network.”

In Australia, National Geographic Channel

reaches on average 1.6 million different people each week.

With the discussions ongoing and the partnership

business model agreed National Geographic signed a multi-year contract with The Playroom for its National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Adventure channels across Australia and New Zealand.

Kennedy added, “All the channels are being played out from The Playroom to Foxtel, Austar, Optus and Sky TV NZ with Transact and Fetch also coming online soon. I’m delighted to announce that in addition to the channels being played out from here, the entire National Geographic team have also moved into level 2 of our Yurong Street premises. In this way National Geographic can truly be integrated into our facility. Along with MTV, Droga 5 and Ignite Media the Yurong Street building has now become one of Sydney’s real media centres.”Visit www.theplayroom.tv

Corning Cable to Supply Oz Broadband NetworkCorning Cable Systems Pty. Ltd., part of Corning Incorporated’s Telecommunications segment, has announced that Corning has been selected as a primary NBN Co supplier of optical fibre cable and hardware for the Australian government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) initiative to bring high-speed broadband services nationwide.

Corning and NBN Co have signed a contract for the supply of optical cable and hardware that could be valued at up to AUD $1.2 billion over the contract period with an initial purchase commitment of AUD $400 million. Having participated in Australian FTTH

builds since 2005, including the launch of NBN in Tasmania, Corning Cable Systems Australia has crafted a country-specific solution set that will be able to withstand the various environments found throughout the Australian landscape. Use of the FlexNAP terminal distribution system with RPX ribbon cable for aerial installations will be complemented by ALTOS ribbon cable featuring enhanced low-loss ITU-T G.652.D compliant SMF-28e+ LL fibre for underground installations.

It is expected that 400 new manufacturing jobs will be created for Australian workers following the

signing by Corning and two other companies of National Broadband Network equipment contracts.

Australian company Warren & Brown Technologies and Australian located global companies Prysmian and Corning will help the Government deliver the NBN through the supply of hardware equipment. This includes underground and aerial cable, user connection equipment, splice closures, fibre distribution hubs, optical distribution frames and sub-racks.Visit www.nbn.gov.au and www.corning.com/cablesystems.

Broadcast ONE Wins Vietnam Transmission ProjectAustralian company, Broadcast ONE, continues its expansion into south-east Asia with the announcement it has been awarded another significant broadcast transmission project in the region. The Hanoi Tower for Ha Noi Televison & Radio will bring broadcasting into the 21st century for the Vietnamese capital, with Broadcast ONE responsible for the high-power antenna systems including feeders, combiners and dehydrators.

Working closely with antenna manufacturer Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) and Vietnam

systems integrator Hoang Kim Digicoms, Broadcast ONE is providing three systems including an RFS 100kW VHF-FM radio panel antenna system, an RFS 130kW VHF-TV (4 sided, 8 level) television antenna and an RFS 140kW UHF-TV (4 sided, 14 level) antenna. The antennas will be installed on a 252 metre LeBLANC broadcast tower.

Broadcast ONE also recently secured the supply, installation and commissioning of a number of high powered television and radio transmission antenna systems in Manila, Philippines.

The company has also signed an agreement to serve as an authorised distributor of General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies’ products in Australia. General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies offers a full range of satellite earth station communications products including fixed and mobile satellite communication gateways, antennas, high power amplifiers, baseband products, frequency converters and controls.Visit www.broadcastONE.com.au

A division of Dingbat Technology

Phone +61 2 8882 7766 Email sales@onair.com.au www.onair.com.au

Don’t hesitate to contact OnAir Solutions with your enquiry

The new WorldCast Astral is a rock-solid IP STL platform offering a full complement of professional audio algorithms including Eapt-X, Linear, MPEG L3, MPEG L2, G.711 and G.722. Packed full of innovative new features such as streaming audio back-up and broadcast facility management, the WorldCast Astral is a key device for every studio and transmitter site.

The NAVIGATOR DAB+ has been designed to perform mobile measurement campaigns for DAB+ networks. This handheld equipment can be used in a vehicle, or on foot (indoor or outdoor). The campaign can be dedicated to a single channel (frequency) or for multiple channels at the same time.

The second-generation Ariane Sequel features TransLanTech’s signature sum and difference processing and can also work in conventional left and right stereo with adjustable coupling between channels, as well as in dual channel mono mode. It’s the unique multiband, release gated, ‘windowing’ feed-forward RMS control that sets the Ariane in a class by itself. It just makes things sound better!

APT | Audemat | Arctic PalmKintronic Labs | Belar | DielectricExir Broadcasting | MeinbergAriane | UBS

Ariane Sequel Digital Audio Leveller Mobile Field Strength Mapping for DAB+/DVBNew WorldCast Astral Audio Codec

Magna Rides Wave of Online StreamsMagna Systems recently supplied the Department of Education (DoE), Premier Media Group (PMG) and the Hillsong Church with systems based around the Inlet Spinnaker SD/5000 multi-format encoder that provides full support of adaptive streaming and Video On Demand (VOD).

Spinnaker uses a state-of-the-art encoding engine and an advanced toolset to deliver high bandwidth performance and a unique feature set on the web.

Magna Systems Technical Sales Engineer Dave Alderton says, “The DoE required a solution which would allow them to stream to the web in order to provide remote students with effective distance learning. Inlet’s Spinnaker SD / 5000 multi-format encoder was the ideal solution as it allows the DoE to deliver content online with an effective user interface to its audience. We gave the DoE a Spinnaker SD / 5000 to test and it worked perfectly giving them smooth streaming to the web, iPhones, iPads and iPods with no buffering and no lag.”

Premier Media Group (PMG) is home to some of Australia’s favourite subscription television channels, and also runs Australia’s number one

general sport website. According to Magna’s Alderton, PMG “... were looking for an online solution so they could stream content to the Fox Sports website and onto iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Meanwhile, the Hillsong Church mission is outworked through four major campuses in Australia (Hills, City, South West and Brisbane), a city-wide network of connect groups, contributing ministries and extension services. Hillsong recorded several large church events and then streamed them via their website.

The Spinnaker SD / 5000 can simultaneously stream in multiple formats including 3GP, H.264, Flash, Silver Light, VBR and CBR within the same system all from one compact box.

Magna Systems and Engineering also recently supplied additional Anystream Agility 2G encoding functionality to TV3 in New Zealand to help increase the network’s online presence and On Demand services.

The Anystream Agility 2G system produces high quality digital video, direct from broadcast or from any archived file format, in any on-demand format, for any on-demand distribution outlet - web, mobile or VOD. The Anystream Agility 2G

system also comes with Resource Manager which is designed for intermediate and advanced video groups or organisations that need scalability and clustering to process tens to hundreds of video clips and programmes per day in a networked environment.

Magna Systems and Engineering NZ Sales Manager Keith Brewer said, “[In 2010] we sold and installed an Anystream (Grab Networks) Agility 2G system to TV3 and they have been successfully using it to transcode video files for use on their website. TV3 recently made a commitment to increase their online presence and provide their viewers with more ‘on-demand’ offerings. As a result TV3 have added an additional two encoding nodes to their existing two-node Agility G2 transcoding system. This now gives them four encoding nodes each capable of multiple tasks under the control of Resource Manager to maximise throughput. TV3 are using H.264 codecs across all 4 nodes as this is their main on-line format for VOD and are planning to provide content to iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad in the near future.” Visit www.magnasys.tv

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Jampro Antennas’ UHF RWED-516-U is a compact TV mask/filter combiner with four-port directionality. It may be used as either a mask filter or constant impedance-combining module for high power UHF television transmission. The unit has a cross-coupled design to accommodate adjacent channels, meet stringent filtering standards, and provide constant impedance for adjacent and channel separations greater than 15. The RWED-516-U provides the high isolation of traditional constant impedance technology and achieves elliptical response without external coupling mechanisms. Large cavities handle high power with low insertion loss; its temperature compensated filters are ideal for closely spaced applications. The RWED-516-U is expandable to accommodate future channels, unrestricted by the bandwidth limitations of standard hybrid technology designs.

Meanwhile Jampro’s JA/MS-BB Broadband UHF Slot antenna is an economical alternative to buying, installing and maintaining multiple individual units. Recently added to the Company’s Prostar line, the JA/MS-BB is a single compact solution that conserves tower space and minimises wind loading. Especially designed for multi-channel/combined channel operations in analogue-analogue, analogue-digital or digital-digital TV applications, the streamlined JA/MS-BB arrives factory tuned and ready-to-install. Broadcasters can select from a wide range of standard and custom transmission patterns configurable for horizontal, circular or elliptical polarisation, with available beam tilt and null fill, the JA/MS-BB handles power ratings from 2 to 10 kW. Visit www.jampro.com

JAMPRO ANTENNAS, COMBINERS

RIEDEL MEDIORNET VIDEO CARD

Riedel Communications, manufacturer of intercom, fibre, audio and radio technology, has announced additional video and media cards as well as new software based processing and conversion features.

The new MediorNet MN-HD6IO HD/SDI video card offers two inputs, two outputs and two universal connectors that can be defined by the user as inputs or outputs.

The MediorNet MN-HD6IO video card is available in two different versions. While the standard version offers all software based conversion and processing features already available for the MediorNet system, the enhanced version of the MN-HD6IO card provides additional on-board signal conversion.

Standard cards can be easily upgraded to the enhanced version.

To provide an even more road-proof interface for the MediorNet WDM and CWDM LINK cards, all new LNK cards are also available with Neutrik opticalCON connectors on board.

The MediorNet Ethernet card enables better Ethernet connectivity. The MN-ETH6 offers six 1Gbit Ethernet ports for transparent tunnelling data within MediorNet.

All ports are freely scalable to provide the best possible bandwidth utilisation of the MediorNet network. The Ethernet card allows for fiber and copper connections.

To expand the possibilities of Mediornet’s software based processing features, a new feature offers signal

conversion in broadcast quality. MediorNet now features integrated timecode display, timecode generation and timecode distribution. The VITC is transported via the Blackburst sync signal. To provide detailed signalisiation options, the timecode is available as an On-Screen-Display. To compensate potential runtime delays, the MediorNet timecode features integrated Delay/Runtime Compensation.

The new MediorNet On-Screen-Display options expand the system’s usability and monitoring features. The display shows connection status, distribution status, signal status, timecode, destination or source of the video inputs and outputs. Visit www.riedel.net

package allows an administrator to configure up to 12 custom presets. The microLite has a straightforward interface that facilitates trouble-free and straightforward preset selection. The user interface also provides rapid assessment of power, signal strength, demodulator lock and decoding.Visit www.rfcentral.com www.vitecgroup.com

RF Central, a Vitec Group brand, and provider of digital and analogue microwave systems for the broadcast, sports and entertainment, government, military and international marketplace, has unveiled its new microLite HD Receiver.

The microLite HD Receiver is a compact dual diversity COFDM receiver, which offers exceptional RF performance combined with uncomplicated operation. The microLite is a perfect companion to the RF Central microLite HD Transmitter, which is a compact and mountable COFDM SD/HD digital transmitter designed for the next generation of professional lightweight cameras.

Aside from its superb H.264 SD and HD decoding and MPEG-4 capabilities for extremely efficient use of the bandwidth, which enable high-quality broadcast HD video to be delivered in as little as 6 MHzs, the microLite HD Receiver is also durable in its weather resistant packaging.

The unit can deliver a broad array of video output signals, including HD, ASI, HD-SDI and SD-SDI (SDI is auto switched depending on the signal received) and has a composite video output, which is down converted to SD when receiving HD signals. In addition, the microLite HD Receiver also features an Ethernet port for streaming video over a LAN to remote software or hardware decoders.

The receiver uses standardised cables and requires no special adapters. The unit is capable of receiving COFDM DVB-T digital transmissions in the 2 GHz band. 5.8 GHz capable units are also available. The microLite HD Receiver will decode 480i, 576, 720p and 1080i formats.

For advanced functions, such as changing frequency plans, an easy-to-use administration software package is included. The software

RF CENTRAL LAUNCHES MICROLITE HD RECEIVER

MultiDyne Video & Fibre Optic Systems, provider of fibre optic-based video and audio transport and routing solutions for broadcast and pro A/V applications, has introduced a new line of multi-rate HD-SDI fibre optic transport links – the HD-1520, HD-1540, HD-3200 and HD-3400. These new solutions offer 1.5G or 3Gb/s fibre optic transport over a single-mode fibre.

The HD-1520 offers 1.5G HD Video (720P and 1080i) and 2-CH two-way data (RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485). The HD-3200 provides 3.0G HD Video (720P, 1080i and 1080P) and 2-CH two-way

MULTIDYNE INTRODUCES HD-SDI FIBRE OPTIC

data (RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485). The HD-1520 and HD-3200 are suited to provide fibre interfaces for unmanned POV (point-of-view) field cameras and sky cameras that capture the city skyline on broadcast news, weather and traffic reports.

The HD-1540 and HD-3400 provide the basic building block for today’s video and audio infrastructure. The HD-1540 has 1.5G HD video (720P and 1080i) and 4-CH line-level audio and the HD-3400 offers 3.0G HD video (720P, 1080i and 1080P) and 4-CH line-level audio. Visit www.multidyne.com

Lumina Broadcast Systems are proud to represent these world leaders in broadcast equipment.

Lumina Broadcast Systems Australia Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 1693, Lane Cove NSW 1595Phone: +61 2 9113 0720. Fax: +61 2 8572 5285. Email: sales@luminabsa.com www.luminabroadcast.com.au

W I L L - B U R T

WTS

C+T Lumina HP 30-04-10.indd 1 4/5/10 2:45:35 PM

HARMONIC’S RHOZET TRANSCODER INTEGRATES WITH MANZANITA

Harmonic and Manzanita Systems have teamed to integrate the Manzanita CrossCheck verification tools with Harmonic’s Rhozet universal media transcoding solutions. Integrated under the open Rhozet Workflow System (WFS) API framework, the combined solution allows Manzanita’s transport stream verifications within Rhozet’s automated transcoding workflow.

CrossCheck leverages Manzanita’s reputation for performance and adherence to standards in order to deliver fast and rigorous verification of content against CableLabs, MPEG, ATSC, and DVB profiles. Under the Rhozet Workflow System (WFS) umbrella, CrossCheck works in collaboration with Carbon Coder and Rhozet Quality Control System (QCS) to unify currently disparate steps in the workflow. Rhozet QCS, together with CrossCheck’s transport stream analysis tools, provides comprehensive file-based quality testing, compliance and verification.

Harmonic’s Rhozet product family works together to optimise the transcoding process. Carbon Coder handles transcoding tasks and provides a host of additional functions. Rhozet WFS manages a network of Carbon Coder engines. Visit www.manzanitasystems.com and www.harmonicinc.com

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RF Central has launched its Pro-Link HD 5.8 GHz HD/SD Portable Video Microwave Link.

The 2-way diversity receiver Pro-Link HD 5.8 GHz HD/SD Portable Video Microwave Link is the latest addition to the comprehensive RF Central MPEG-4 product portfolio. The Pro-Link HD offers both balanced microphone and line level inputs via switch selectable XLR connectors on the transmitter. The high quality, rugged, seamlessly integrated transmitter and receiver platform comes in a milled aluminium chassis for secure transportation and heavy use in a variety of broadcasting environments, bringing together value and return on investment.

“The Pro-Link HD was designed as a high quality, yet value priced technology solution. In addition to a host of advanced engineering performance features, such as HD/SD, 1080i, 720p, and bi-directional communication, the new portable microwave link has reliable performance and is very user friendly,” says Stephen Shpock, president, Integrated Microwave Technologies.

“This compact system delivers considerable operational benefits to ENG news broadcasts, sports coverage, and church and worship applications.”

The Pro-Link HD is equipped with phantom power for microphone inputs, providing cost-effective solutions for roaming news, sports crews and house of worship productions. The transmitter is designed to mount between an ENG camera and its battery. The receiver has built in flexibility and can be fitted on its compatible tripod or customised for specific location requirements, increasing the versatility of the system use. Depending upon conditions, the Pro-Link HD 5.8 GHz HD/SD Portable Video Microwave Link can achieve a distance range of up to 610 meters (2000 feet) in both HD and SD, dependent on conditions.

Operating in the 5.8 GHz licence-free band, the Pro-Link HD distributes high-quality wireless digital video and audio all in a compact package.

Visit www.rfcentral.com www.vitecgroup.com

RF CENTRAL DEBUTS NEW VIDEO PORTABLE MICROWAVE LINK

Compix, a developer of professional character generators (CGs), has announced the release of Channel Brander, a low-cost, broadcast-quality logo branding and RSS crawl solution for the Cablecast cable station automation system from Tightrope Media Systems. Channel Brander provides cable channels with the same robust feature set and creation tools featured in the newly enhanced Compix NewsScroll system while leaving actual graphics playout to the Cablecast system.

“Because viewers search for content on local cable channels through channel-surfing rather than through a program guide, there is a clear need in the local cable market for a straightforward channel-branding solution,” said Richard Turner, Tightrope Media Systems’ regional sales manager. “On-screen channel identification is a critical aspect of the local cable business, and the Channel Brander solution from Compix addresses this need perfectly, making it easy for our customers to increase their brand exposure and viewer loyalty.”

Tightrope’s Cablecast is a cable station automation system that can be operated through a web browser. Tightrope has automated all functions so that Cablecast users need only enter program information one time

while the software does the rest. Users simply drag and drop programs into the software, and Cablecast schedules them for playout, promotes them on the bulletin board, publishes them to the cable operator’s website, sends the schedule to TV Guide, generates programming reports, transcodes program files, and offers them live and on-demand on the Web. The Channel Brander integrates neatly into Cablecast and into the workflow at local cable stations.

In addition to providing a flexible means of adding RSS crawls or turning station bugs and IDs on and off as needed, the Compix system enables the operator to provide viewers with emergency alerts and critical community information without moving away from programming. This same functionality can be used to put “see it again” information on-screen to draw viewers to repeat programs or future shows. Channel Brander also allows the user to add time-based titling information. Tied in with Cablecast, Channel Brander can automatically add “live” and “prerecorded” graphics downstream according to the program schedule. This model eliminates the need to edit video or remove “live” when content is being rebroadcast.

Visit www.compix.tv www.trms.com

COMPIX WALKS WITH TIGHTROPE

NK SERIES ROUTING SYSTEMSRoss Video’s new line of NK Series Routing Systems is a comprehensive family of routing solutions with a wide variety of matrix sizes and types to choose from, a selection of flexible control panels and a powerful control system tying it all together.

NK Series Routers come in sizes ranging from 16×4 to 320×320. Any matrix type can be incorporated into a system with any combination of other NK matrices and united under one control umbrella.

Visit www.rossvideo.com

The R&S DVMS4 from Rohde & Schwarz monitors transport streams and DVB-T/H and DVB-S/S2 signals to ensure high operational reliability. The R&S DVMS4 measures just one height unit. It can simultaneously monitor the RF and transport stream characteristics of up to four signals, which makes it ideal for sites with multiple transmitters. Because the R&S DVMS4 detects all relevant errors, network operators do not have to invest in more complex monitoring solutions. Its flexible hardware concept makes the R&S DVMS4 just as capable of monitoring tasks in DVB-T2 networks.

In order to respond instantly to signal failures or faults, network operators must be able to localise the problem quickly. The R&S DVMS4 helps monitor the transmission of signals to DVB-T/H transmitters or the feeding and distribution of signals via DVB-S/S2 satellites.

In multiplex centres, the R&S DVMS4 monitors signal processing and, in the case of program providers, signal generation. Because the R&S DVMS4 monitors any combination of up to four RF signals or transport streams at a single site, it helps ensure high operational reliability. For monitoring just one RF or transport stream signal, Rohde & Schwarz offers the R&S DVMS1. The modularity of the company’s product family means that there is always a scalable solution available regardless of the number of signals to be monitored.

The R&S DVMS4 checks key RF characteristics such as level, frequency, modulation error ratio (MER) and bit error ratio (BER). A software option enables users to simultaneously monitor the transport streams contained in RF signals and the transport streams that are fed directly into the R&S DVMS4. This ability to simultaneously monitor signals that are fed in or transmitted makes the instrument ideal for use at transmitter sites. Errors and measurement results are either displayed on-site or reported to the monitoring station using SNMP traps. The R&S DVMS4 displays measurements graphically for a quick overview. It incorporates numerous other analysis and viewing functions, including PCR jitter analysis and display of thumbnails and EPG.

Visit www.rohde-schwarz.com

COMPACT TRANSPORT STREAM MONITORING

PORTABLE MONITORING FROM BRIDGEBridge Technologies extended its satellite-to-set-top box VideoBRIDGE monitoring system with the launch of the VB12-RF, a compact, highly portable broadcast-IP monitoring and measurement appliance for terrestrial and cable applications.

Designed for the rigors of real-world use on the road, the VB12-RF is smaller, lighter, and tougher than any comparable monitoring solution. Providing the engineer with all the interfaces needed for broadcast or IP analysis at any location in the transmission chain of both cable and terrestrial broadcast-IP digital media operations, the VB12-RF requires no external equipment or power supplies, is easy to handle, and

is robust enough to withstand severe physical shocks and harsh operating conditions.

The VB12-RF incorporates many of the most advanced patented technologies from the VideoBRIDGE end-to-end digital media monitoring system, building them into an ergonomic 114 x 41 x 335mm appliance that replaces a carload of equipment the engineer would otherwise have to bring to the site. The VB12-RF also completely integrates the tool set engineers need with a consistent interface that makes understanding of complex data much easier and minimises training requirements. The VB12-RF is designed to be used by an engineer

FIBRE OPTIC FIELD TRANSPORTMultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems, has announced the LiGHTCuBE fibre optic field transport system and the HaLFCuBE portable fibre optic field transport system.

Capable of housing any product in the MultiDyne product line, the LiGHTCuBE and HaLFCuBE represent the company’s most customisable, rugged and high-density solutions to date. Designed for the fibre optic field transport of composite, HD video, PL, IFB, audio and more, the LiGHTCuBE can be configured for as many as 80 HD-SDI, SDI or composite video paths, while the HaLFCuBE allows for up to 40 channels over just one fibre optic cable. Both products can also be configured with DVI, RGB and HDMI and

ready to run on batteries for field use or 110/220 VAC power.

In addition, the new test and monitor features make both the LiGHTCuBE and HaLFCuBE especially effective for in-the-field signal monitoring. With an HD monitor and signal generator on either end of the product, users can test the circuit even if the camera has not arrived. Further, the HD test signal generator option also allows users to send the test pattern down the line, or to send the signal from the studio end directly to the LiGHTCuBE or HaLFCuBE. This function allows users to monitor the camera output and the signals arriving at the shoot, and can be added to any solution in MultiDyne’s LiGHTBoX product line.

A major benefit also lies in the LiGHTCuBE’s and HaLFCuBE’s sizes. Though heavy on HD and audio signals, the LiGHTCuBE is a compact and extremely portable 14-inch cube design, making it small enough for sports and ENG, an announce-booth setting, as well as any field application where signal density is a must. The 7-inch design makes the HaLFCuBE compact and extremely portable, while still supplying multiple HD and audio signals, which makes it ideal for the football field, basketball playoffs, or near the first base line. A carry handle allows users “grab-and-go” access for remote or on-location productions. A weather resistant cover is also available.Visit www.multidyne.com

for on-site analysis, or to be left in situ for continuous monitoring of that point in the network and remote analysis of the data.

For on-site analysis, the engineer can use the VB12-RF’s management port to interrogate or download data, or use the VB12-RF’s internal memory to store data that can then be analysed when the engineer returns to the device. For monitoring over a longer period, the VB12-RF can be left at the remote location from where it will provide continuous data over the internet to a third-party network management system (NMS) or to the VideoBRIDGE controller (VBC).Visit www.bridgetech.tv

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ESP DirectoryEquipment > Services > Products

Classifieds 75 74 Conferences Exhibitions & Roadshows

Conference

conferencesEXHIBITIONS & ROADSHOWS

FEBRUARY>>3D-Day

February 9, 2011Tattersalls Club, Elizabeth StreetSydney, Australiawww.3d-day.tv

>>Broadcasting AustraliaConference & Expo14-15 FebruarySydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbourwww.abcevents.net.au/broadcasting

>>Music for Radio Summit19 February 2011Adelaide, South Australiawww.amrap.org/summits

>>Australian Directors Guild Conference 2011Crossing the LineFeb 27 – Mar 1, 2011Adelaide, South Australiawww.adg.org.au/conference.asp

MARCH>>Australian Broadcasting Summit2-3 March 2011Sydney Convention Centrewww.acevents.com.au/broadcasting2011

>>ad-tech Sydney9-10 March, 2011Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbourwww.ad-tech.com/sydney

>>ASTRA 201129 March, 2011Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbourwww.astra.org.au/Conference2011

>>ad-tech Melbourne30-31 March, 2011Hilton on the ParkMelbournewww.ad-tech.com/melbourne

APRIL>>NABSHOW9-14 April, 2011Las Vegas Convention Centerwww.nabshow.com

ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2011– Adding the 3rd Dimension 8-11 March, 2011, Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThe Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union is pleased to announce the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2011 with the theme ‘Adding the 3rd Dimension’. This international symposium is aimed at TV and radio broadcasters, equipment manufacturers, facility integrators and other broadcasting industry players. Attendees will include senior executives from the areas of technical, content development, management and business development.

The 2011 Digital Broadcasting Symposium will explore 3DTV capture, post-production and delivery. Also on the agenda is the delivery of surround sound and info services via digital radio, and Hybrid Broadcast Broadband. The Symposium comprises several pre-event workshops, a three day conference and a comprehensive exhibition.

Broadcast Australia will be Principal Sponsor of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s (ABU) Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2011 while the Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium (DRM) will be a Major Sponsor.

Broadcast Australia’s Managing Director, International Business Group, Chris Jaeger, said: “I am delighted that, once again, Broadcast Australia will be Principal Sponsor for the ABU Digital Broadcast Symposium 2011. This event, which has grown over the years, offers a one-stop window for Broadcast Australia and other key industry stakeholders to have a multilateral interaction with the Asia-Pacific broadcast industry, enhance business potential and share information in the region.”

Ms Ruxandra Obreja, Chairperson of DRM, said: “The Consortium is delighted to be for the first time a Major Sponsor for the 2011 Symposium. This broadcasting industry symposium has matured into a reputed regional industry event. It provides a unique platform for the industry to network and learn about the latest developments in broadcasting.”

The ABU’s Secretary-General, Javad Mottaghi, said: “Broadcast Australia has consistently supported the ABU, particularly with the annual digital broadcasting symposiums. We are very pleased that Broadcast Australia has chosen to be one of the two key Sponsors for the Symposium. The DRM Consortium has had a long standing partnership with the ABU and we welcome their support to this notable industry event.”Visit www.abu.org.my

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ADVERTISER INDEXAmber Technology .......................15Australian Broadcasting Summit .....35AVC Australia ........................57,63Blackmagic Design ........................ 7Digistor ..................... IFC,21,47,67 Eureka Pacific .............................49Gencom ....................................17Globecast .............................40,41Harris Communications ................ 73IBC Show ............. Inside Back Cover JVC Professional ..........................25Linear Acoustic ............................61

Lumina Broadcast Systems ............71Magna Systems & Engineering .19,33Mediaware .............................OBCNatural View Systems (Stagetec) ....23On-air Solutions .....................59,69Omneon ......................................5Quinto ........................................ 9Riedel .......................................37SMPTE ..............................2011 11Syntec International .................58,65Techtel .......................................13Videocraft ..................................31

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>> >> TV Pioneers Xmas Rave

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Off-Air

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>> >> Sony Xmas

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>> >> Sony Xmas>> >> Sony Xmas

>> >> Sony Xmas

>> >> Quinto Xmas>> >> Sony Xmas

>> >> Sony Xmas>> >> Quinto Xmas >> >> Sony BSD Xmas

>> >> Techtel Xmas on Sea>> >> Techtel Xmas on Sea

>> >> Quinto Xmas >> >> Quinto Xmas>> >> Quinto Xmas>> >> Quinto Xmas

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80 Babbling Brooks

Read the Blog Online at www.babblingbrooks.tv

– The Last Word from Gerry Brooks

BABBLING Brooks

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the second year of the second decade of the 3rd Millennium! Is it just me or has everyone suddenly decided that 2010 is the end of the decade? To my engineering mind, numbering systems start at zero. But we can still look back at the last decade I guess.

In Australia, in 2000, we embarked on the digital era in television with the Olympics being all digital production in 16 x 9, while NBC in the USA would have been happy to have 4 x 3 NTSC feeds. In 1999, the SMPTE Conference was themed around Convergence, and suddenly that seemed to be the buzzword for a new era. Along with deregulation of the Telco industry, old demarcations between Television and IT and computers were getting fuzzy. We started seeing lots more TV happening in the form of IPTV test patterns and talk of Video On Demand.

Soon we were working to turn all TV Stations into serial digital, with plans for dumping analogue altogether. Amid some Canberra-based dither, Australia eventually announced the changeover should be complete by year’s- end 2013.

A quick survey shows that, while most other countries followed Australia on the digital switchover, as of now only 18 countries have completed the analogue switch-off. At the end of the first decade, i.e., late 2009, some 45 countries are still somewhere in the process - including Australia, New Zealand and the UK. And, there are dozens of countries, mainly in Africa, yet to make any sort of decision.

In contrast to this slow pace of change for Broadcast Television, developments in the computer/IT and Telco areas have been eye-blinkingly fast. Think about it - Facebook didn’t exist until 2004, and YouTube only started in 2005.

Yet, in these last 5 years, YouTube has already become a world-wide standard repository for on-line video. According to Wikipedia, market research estimates more than 14 billion videos were viewed in May 2010, with 35 hours of new video being uploaded every minute.

Mobile phones have shown even more exponential growth. From a ‘mere’ 800 million units in 2000, it is estimated that there are now 5 billion mobiles in use

Decade-Dense!

around the world – that’s approximately 72% of the world population.

Consider performance, too: the smartest millennium-2000 mobile had storage limits of 64MB, a battery life of 2 hours talk time, and no apps available. Compare that to today’s iPhone capacity of 16GB and 5 hours talk time – all with WiFi, camera and video recording included, plus way more than 100,000 apps available.

Most of the mobile content is, of course, games, graphics and text in the form of SMS. Try this for more number-crunching: in 2000 there were 17Million SMS messages as against 2 Trillion today. It’s changing a generation of thumbs. In some countries mobile phone use is exceeding that of PCs.

You can see why. As mobile screens come out in higher resolution and with super-savvy controls for instant camera shots and video capture, so people are using their phones more and more – emails, internet access, texting and so on. It’s like convergence in your hand – communication, info-gathering, entertainment all there at a click. There is also talk of providing stereo 3D images as well.

This ‘overlap’ of technologies is giving Washington’s FCC a headache or two in trying to define privacy rules. For instance: is an email a transmission (broadcast) or a telecommunication? Right now, they’ve opted for the status quo (separation of modes) but I predict that legal

uncertainties (such as current Wiki Leaks scenario) will prompt a revisit.

Viewing habits with mobile phones will be different of course. Short, sharp content will probably be next big thing – something that can be watched on bus or train. Those old Looney Tunes cartoons come to mind. Some method of making money out of them will be found. There is already talk of “Brandcasting”.

As a judge for several years of student short films, I know what talent we’ve got in the genre of short-and-snappy, including Oscars. Could be a whole new market for up-and-coming film-makers – or with the volume throughput needed for mobile phones, maybe even a renaissance for the whole film industry.

No doubt we’re well and truly living in the digital world. Just how much came home to me on New Year’s Eve, in a panic phone call from an old friend. They’d missed receiving a Christmas card from the Brooks abode. “But I’ve done all that by email this year!” I exclaimed, apologizing. “And, as you’ve moved, I don’t have your new email address”.

Having got that, I then happily sent the message used for festive wishes to all.

Here’s the link to share:h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /

watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA

Gerry Brooks is an Independent Consultant. You can reach him via email at gerry.brooks@gmail.

The Technical Papers Sessions at IBC are world-renowned for their up-to-the-minute reports and presentations and allow industry experts to explore and debate the latest developments and cutting-edge thinking in technologies and their applications.

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www.ibc.orgIBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK T +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E info@ibc.org

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To find out more information about the IBC Technical Papers and how to submit your synopsis by Friday 11 February 2011, visit: www.ibc.org/callforpapers

Presented and attended by the most influential professionals in the electronic media, broadcasting and entertainment industry, the IBC Conference is the place to unveil the latest in engineering innovation and technological thinking.

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