TVBE Nov 2013 digital edition

HD news revolutionfor Denmark’s TV 2

www.tvbeurope.com

NNovember 2013Europe’s Television Technology Business Magazine

Russian football gets graphic at Liga-TV

TVBEurope’s Fergal

Ringrose bids

farewellOur full IBC2013wrap-up

News & ContentsTVBEurope 3November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

VB288 OBJECTIVE QoE CONTENT EXTRACTOR performs

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4K and cinema: At war or together forever?BKSTS, THE society for thefilm and television industry in the UK held a paneldiscussion this month on ‘The Merging of Film and TV’,in association with the BFI.Chaired by BKSTS presidentRoland Brown, a panel ofindustry experts shared theirviews on ultra-high definitontechnology, 4K television and cinema, and their future relationship.

Paul Scanlon, director of BT Media Broadcast UHD production, opened thediscussion with a presentationon how BT Vision, inassociation with Ericsson,recorded a live multi-camera4K/UHD production of a rugbymatch and broadcast it as-live to IBC in September. Hequestioned whether there wasroom for celluloid, arguing that“digital is moving forward andwe have to embrace it.”

Milan Krsljanin, businessdevelopment manager at ARRI shared a more positiveoutlook on film: “Hopefullyfilm will last a long time becauseit is a beautiful medium.”Television productions now rivalfilm, Krsljanin argued, withBBC productions like DowntonAbbey and Peaky Blinders shotin the same quality as majorfilms — “they really lookoutstanding.” As a result,“cinema needs to raise the barand offer more than what’savailable at home.” Krsljaninsees this as a “goldenopportunity” to increase framerate and dynamic range toencourage more people to payfor the cinema experience.

Moving cinema into the homeRather than more people visitingthe cinema, the future will seethe cinema experience movinginto the home, commented

Chris Johns, chief engineerBroadcast Strategy, BSkyB. Morepeople are investing in bigger TVscreens for their homes, with “84-inch becoming increasinglypopular.” In Johns’ opinion,progression should happengradually. “It’s great when thingsdon’t move too fast,” he said. “It’s when things move tooquickly they start to fall apart.You need to take the time to doit, to get it right,” he concluded.

In agreement with much ofJohns’ comment was AndyQuested, head of technologyBBC HD & 3D. Audiencedemand for better colour,luminance and frame rate is

growing, and we are “moving toa point when cinema and TVwill merge to give us somethingbetter than real life.”

Despite this positive outlook,the practicalities of deliveringsuch a service still need to beconsidered. Alison Hutchins,senior propositions manager BTMedia and Broadcast, BTWholesale, argued that “untilcompression technology isdeveloped further” it cannot be

delivered to audiences. 4Kcomes with a cost — inworkflow, cabling, storage etc.As such, 4K productions will atfirst be limited to special eventssuch as ballet performances,concerts and sports. There isalso the question of audiencedemand — although thetechnology may be available to deliver such productions,broadcasters “actually need theaudience that wants to see it. It’s aquestion of using the technologyappropriately for the right venue,audience and content.”

Simon Gauntlett, technologydirector DTG, also placed anemphasis on content and raisedthe issue of how best to presentcontent to the viewer. Themerging of TV and cinemameans that we have to moveaway from strict categorisation:“We are moving to a world withdifferent types of content.”

Things are moving at a rapidpace and the quality of someTV productions is now rivalingthat of film, despite smallerbudgets. Whether the “beautifulmedium” of film remainspopular is open to debate,though it seems cinema will haveto offer audiences more if we areto apply Scanlon’s comment tothe future of TV: “Technologymoves forward and it wins in the end.”

Panel members (front row) Andy Quested, Peter Wilson, Milan Krsljanin andSimon Gauntlett with (behind) BKSTS president and panel Chair Roland Brown

Contents1-25 News & AnalysisOff the stageAfter 20 years at TVBEurope, FergalRingrose departs the editor’s chair 4

14-36 IBC Wrap-UpA look back at the new products,ideas and debates at this year’s IBC,held in Amsterdam in September,including reflections from keyindustry figures 14

New camera round-up: The evolution revolutionDavid Fox looks at the new camerasand acquisition technology showing at IBC2013 18

Cheeseman scouts the clouds for SkyNeal Romanek talks with Sky’s head of advanced production and innovation on Sky’s relationship with the cloud 26

38-39 The Business CaseTim Thorsteinson departed as Grass Valley’s president and CEO in 2001. Now he is back,and makes time to catch up with David Fox 38

40-49 The WorkflowSport illustratedPhilip Stevens discovers how Liga-TV is keeping up with Russian viewer demand forincreasingly immersive football coverage 40

Progression and EvolutionsEvolutions has branched out from Soho to open a new postproduction house in the south west of England. Holly Ashford finds out more about the Bristol facility 44

50 News ReviewA look back at some of the month’smost exciting stories from the broadcast technology industry 50

“It’s when things move too quickly they start to fall apart. You need to takethe time to do it, to get it right”

Chris Johns, chief engineer Broadcast Strategy, BSkyB

Opinionwww.tvbeurope.com NNovember 2013 4 TVBEurope

EDITORIALEditorial Director Fergal [email protected] House, South County BusinessPark, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland+3531 294 7783 Fax: +3531 294 7799

Acting Editor Neal [email protected]

Staff WriterHolly [email protected]

Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road,London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002

Editorial Consultant Adrian PenningtonAssociate Editor David FoxUSA Correspondent Carolyn GiardinaContributors Mike Clark, David Davies,Richard Dean, Chris Forrester, Mark Hill, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, Heather McLean, Bob Pank, Nick Radlo, Philip Stevens,Reinhard E Wagner

Digital Content Manager Tim Frost

Office Manager Lianne Davey

Head of Design & Production Adam ButlerEditorial Production Manager Dawn BoultwoodSenior Production ExecutiveAlistair Taylor

PublisherSteve [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

Sales ManagerBen [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

Sales ExecutiveRichard [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

Managing Director Stuart Dinsey

US SALESMichael MitchellBroadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY [email protected]+1 (631) 673 0072

JAPAN AND KOREA SALESSho HariharaSales & Project, Yukari Media [email protected]+81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800

CIRCULATIONIntent Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 9EF, UK

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© Intent Media 2013. No part of thispublication may be reproduced in any form orby any means without the prior permission ofthe copyright owners. TVB Europe is mailedto qualified persons residing on the Europeancontinent. Subscription rates£64/€96/$120.

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By Fergal Ringrose

BY THE time you read this I’ll have departed the editor’schair at TVBEurope. I steppeddown from the brand at the endof October.

I actually made this decisionalmost a year ago, returninghome to Dublin from the 2012Royal Television Society’sannual Thames Valley dinner.Walking through Heathrowairport, the thought suddenlyoccurred to me that 2013 wouldmark 20 years since my firstissue of TVBEurope — and with that realisation came animmediate and clear decisionthat it was time to step aside andlet someone else take up the reins.

I went home that evening andheaded up into the attic with atorch to dig out my first issue of TVBEurope. And there itwas, at the bottom of a box ofback issues — a yellow-paged,dust-laden April 1993 issue.Twenty years. Decision made.

But I also knew it could notbe just a question of walkingstraight out the door at thatpoint. On top of our regularpublishing schedule andeditorial calendar (already fullymapped out for 2013) we alsohad commitments to deliver ourBeyond HD Masters and ITBroadcast Workflow events in

June and July, and of course topublish The IBC Daily throughthe September show on behalfof the IBC Partnership.

Having been there at the startof TVBEurope in 1993, I’menormously proud of its growthfrom debutant to market-leading title for the Europeanbroadcast technology business.In print, events and digital Ileave the brand in excellentshape with a superb team inplace for future success, led byacting editor Neal Romanek,staff writer Holly Ashford,editorial production managerDawn Boultwood, salesmanager Ben Ewles and salesexecutive Richard Carr, andpublisher Steve Connolly.

In that first issue in 1993 wecarried stories about the battlebetween 1125/60 and 1250/50 as nascent standard for highdefinition broadcasting inEurope; the launch of the DigitalBetacam compressed digitalcomponent VTR format;introduction of the Open MediaFramework engine by Avid and70 other vendors at NAB; earlyplans by HBO and Viacom tolaunch hundreds of nichechannels enabled by new digitalcompression technologies; and thepossibility of using automation to increase broadcast stationefficiency and reduce costs.

In other words wecommenced a series ofEuropean television technologyjourneys, many of which we’reactually still on today —analogue to digital, standarddefinition to HDTV (andbeyond), linear to nonlinear,uncompressed to compressed,proprietary to generic, tape-based to tapeless, hardware tosoftware, unicast to multicast,manual to automated, video todata, broadcast to IT. Ourmission was to follow — andwherever possible, to lead —those change managementjourneys as they applied toEuropean broadcasters.

In launching TVBEurope wealso believed passionately thatthe broadcast equipment-buyingenvironment had fundamentallychanged; it was not simplyengineering-driven, but alsobusiness-driven. Engineers could no longer make keyequipment purchase decisions in isolation, based purely on technical specifications. Buying teams comprisingfinancial, operational andcreative management wouldinstead purchase new systemsthrough collaborative businessdecisions and return oninvestment analysis.

That thinking was really what separated us from our

competitors at the outset.Publishing dry engineeringdiagrams and descriptions alonewould no longer be sufficient. Ifreturn on investment wascentral, then the overall businesscase must be examined andunderstood by both end-usersand solutions providers.

If the process of broadcastoperations was becoming morecomplex (which it was) and allof its aspects requiredexplanation in our pages, thenwe would (a) need the besteditorial team in Europe and (b)must simply work harder thaneveryone else to tell the rightstories every issue, every month,every year.

No mystery there: a littleinsight, hard work, great teamand enduring passion for thebusiness. If that’s my legacy atTVBEurope, I’ll happily take it.And thanks to your loyalty andsupport, I’ve been lucky enoughto have the best seat in the housefor the last 20 years. Manythanks indeed.

What’s next for me? I don’tknow, time will tell. As SaturdayNight Live creator and executiveproducer Lorne Michaels wrotein a recent Vanity Fair piece,“Unless you get off the stage,you cannot make anotherentrance.” That really applies tous all, doesn’t it?

‘A little insight, hard work, great team andenduring passion for the business. If that’s mylegacy at TVBEurope, I’ll happily take it’

Off the stage

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Newswww.tvbeurope.com November 20136 TVBEurope

Guest Opinion

Ikegami and ARRI partnerfor Unicam HDIkegami has launched a new UnicamHD camera that combines broadcasttechnology with cinematic imagequality. The HDK-97ARRI is theresult of a collaboration betweenIkegami and ARRI, aiming to givethe broadcaster and contentproducer ‘the best of both worlds’. Itallows the picture characteristics ofdigital cinema to be achieved in amulti-camera production. Camerascan be operated in a conventionalbroadcast manner with a visionengineer operating multiplecameras. With a dynamic range ofabout 1000%, the dockable camerais close to the capability of film. Thecentrepiece of the camera is theSuper 35mm CMOS sensor of theARRI Alexa, with ARRI’s debayeringelectronics. 16-bit signals from theARRI frontend are transferred toIkegami’s digital signal processing,and all camera processes andfunctions are carried out in realtime.

New Italian distributor for GenelecAudio monitor specialist Genelechas announced a new distributor forItaly, MidiWare, following Genelec’samicable split with long-timedistributor, Leading Technology.Based in Rome, MidiWare has alocal sales office and demo space inthe Lecco area close to Milan andrepresents other audio brandsincluding SSL, REM, Moog, SE, andNovation. “MidiWare has a dynamicteam that is focused on achievingresults for their wide network ofdealers and business partners,” said Jarmo Masko, Genelecinternational sales manager. “They have excellent reach into theeducation sector through 30 yearsof experience, alongside theirexcellent programming andsoftware based product expertise. I would also like to take thisopportunity to thank LeadingTechnology for their dedication tothe Genelec cause for over 30 yearsand to wish them a fruitful future fortheir Monza-based operation.”

NEWS IN BRIEF Storing the digital future

THE EXPONENTIAL growthof digital media content inbroadcast and film has turnedarchiving and storage into oneof the largest issues facing theindustry. The sheer number ofhours being filmed is vast,transforming the problem intomore than a simple archivingand storage issue.

According to David Peto,CEO Aframe, “Storage,accessibility and makingsomething findable will makedigital content the focal point ofany business in the mediaindustry, with data centresplaying a major role in thecreation of a central media hubfor broadcasters and film andprogramme-makers.”

Today, many perceive storageas simply a place to archiveinformation for later retrieval,but global demands mean thereis a need to create a centralmedia hub or a ‘living entity’where users can access contentas and when needed and fromany location around the world.Data centres need to thinkbeyond merely providing space,racks and power as the mediaindustry looks to operators thatcan provide instant on-demandaccess to their content. As wellas being scaled to support thedata throughput demanded byusers, the systems must makethe whole process easy to useand economical — cloud will beincredibly important.

The sheer volume of data that is now being created by thetelevision and film industry isbreathtaking. To put this intocontext, take a standard TVbroadcast. Assuming that thefootage is filmed at 50MBps,then filming one minute ofvideo will generate 375MB of

data. One hour of film generates22.5GB of data.

There are 17 news channels inthe UK alone that broadcast 24 hours a day, meaning TVnews alone generates 9180GB of data per day. As news is a365-day activity, this equates to3,350,700GB of data per year. A reasonable estimate of theamount of footage recorded foran hour of TV is a 70:1 ratio —a staggering 10,000 hours of TV transits through BT Towereach week.

Using these numbers, we cancalculate that 15,750,000GB of

data is generated and stored eachweek. That’s 819,000,000GB per year. Assuming that this has to be stored for the next 50 years, there is likely to be40,950,000,000GB of data thatmust be stored somewhere! Allthis assumes that just one camerais used – in most cases more thanone camera will be used, so thereal number is much larger.

Gigabytes and zettabytesIf you think about media as notjust television, but include film,radio and even video created forYouTube, the numbers are

astronomical. Intel suggests thatin just one minute, 30 hours ofvideo will be uploaded toYouTube and 1.3 million videoswill be viewed via the site. Thefuture is even more staggering.According to Intel, by 2015 itwould take five years to view allthe video crossing IP networksin just one second!

Philip Low, MD BroadGroupConsulting, says: “Mediarepresents a key vertical for thedata centre industry. Storagesecurity, content distribution,cloud agility and costperformance are all importantrequirements for this sector.Data centres will need to staycompetitive in the increasinglydigital industry sector.”

Putting things in perspective,Cisco’s Visual NetworkingIndex recently suggested thatby 2016 the amount of datatransferred across the Internetwill breach the zettabytethreshold and that 55% of thisdata will be video. How big is azettabyte? It is almost 1 trilliongigabytes! If one accepts that1GB can store around 950minutes of music, a Zettabytewould be capable of storing 2 billion years of music! That’squite a lot of data.

Data centres: winners and losersThe days of storing, (or losing),hundreds of rolls of film havelong gone and have beenreplaced by data. This data mustbe stored somewhere and it mustbe available at any time forproducers, editors and directors.It must be stored in suitable data centres.

But not every data centre will be geared up for this kind of storage, so media companies

Alex Rabbetts: There are 17 news channels in the UK alone that broadcast 24 hours a day, meaning TV news alone generates 9180GB of data per day

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The rise of digital media will see data centres make a play for the film and broadcast industry, saysAlex Rabbetts, MD MigSolv — who hopes that the next BAFTA award will go to... a UK data centre

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LONDON-BASED VMI hasbecome the first camera rentalcompany to buy Teletest’s HDvideo wireless link, the Telesend.Teletest claims to provide theworld’s only portable LCDmonitor with an internal highdefinition receiver.

Transmitting a broadcast-quality signal up to 70m, theTelesend offers users a choice of HD video and stereo audiotransmitters which can be usedwith most batteries. The 7-inchmonitor also features a“directors guard” to stop“wandering directors fingers”from adjusting the settings,leaving the director only to turnthe monitor on and off or adjustthe volume. The system also

claims to have auto-tuning offrequencies and zero latency.

The HD-SDI and HDMITelesend transmitter can bemounted on any broadcastcamera using a choice of V-Lock plates or can be carriedin a shoulder or waist bag when using smaller cameras.The transmitter is small enoughto mount on 15mm rod systemsand can easily be mounted on Steadicam rigs. All Telesendtransmitters can be connecteddirectly to laptops with HDMI outputs.

VMI’s managing director,Barry Bassett said, “We areexcited to be the first to offerthese new Telesend kits todrama and documentary

producers. These are excellentproducts because directors lovethe lightweight and compactLCD monitor with the receiverbuilt in. The DFS auto tuningmakes them simple to use andthe range compares favourablywith WEVI. We chose thesmaller HDMI only transmittersas they fit perfectly on ourDSLR and C300 rigs.”

Since it was established in1979, VMI has been a supplierof cameras and lenses tocompanies throughout the UKand internationally, includingTiger Aspect, Hat Trick,Bentley, Big Talk and the BBC.The company claims to supportevery HD format and offers free camera training and testingfacilities for camera crews, as well as offering viewingfacilities for its productioncompany clients.

UK-based Teletest is anapproved supplier of wirelesstechnologies for a wide range of companies, including majorbroadcasters, the military andpolice forces.www.vmi.tvwww.teletest.tv

must be selective. Room forgrowth is an absoluteimperative. Also critical is theability to deploy additionalstorage quickly — no mediacompany will want to deploystorage that isn’t usedimmediately.

The data centre must be ready to use straight away withno waiting for fit-out to becompleted. Communicationslinks will be equally important.Media companies will notaccept that a data centre is ableto offer Internet links with justone supplier – they will requiremultiple carriers. The ability of

a data centre to provide multiplehigh bandwidth links will be keyin their decision of whichprovider to choose.

For media companies thedecision of which providers touse will not be based onlocation or on size oforganisation, the decision willbe entirely based on agility,flexibility, readiness, speed ofdeployment and on availabilityof carriers that can providefast, big pipes that enable themto transfer these huge filesquickly and easily around theglobe. Data centres that canoffer these attributes, along

with exceptional levels ofcustomer service will be thewinners and those that arerestricted by rigid offerings andare unable to respond tocustomer needs will,undoubtedly be the losers.

The advent of 4K and 8Ktechnology will exacerbate theproblem but data centreoperators with the right businessmodel have the opportunity tomake a major impact in thisfast-moving market. Time forour finest data centre operatorsto dust off their tuxedos as theymay make it onto the shortlistfor next year’s BAFTA’s…

News & Analysiswww.tvbeurope.com November 20138 TVBEurope

Global storage demands meanthere is a need to create a centralmedia hub or a ‘living entity’

VMI buys Telesend highdefinition video wireless link

“The world’s only wireless HD monitor,” claims Telesend

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People on the movewww.tvbeurope.com November 201310 TVBEurope

By Neal Romanek

Systems integrator AdvancedBroadcast Solutions (ABS) hasbrought Jeff Baggett onboard asCOO. Bagget has a 30-year careerwith Intel Corporation. He is taskedwith streamlining ABS’s operations insupport of sales personnel.

Matthijs Zwart has been appointedlinear operations director byAmsterdam digital media facilityChello DMC. Chello DMC underwent arestructuring of the business earlierthis year.

Broadcast Networks has appointedMalcolm Robinson as director ofmedia and broadcast solutions.Robinson had been general managerfor live production solutions at Sony PSE.

Multiscreen software providerClearleap has announced the

appointment of Jobst Muehlback asdirector, customer solutions architect,EMEA, and of Marco Silk as customersolutions architect, EMEA.

DPA Microphones hasrestructured its management team.Mikkel Nymand has been appointedto the newly created position ofproduct manager and will reportdirectly to CEO Christian Poulsen. BoBrinck will fill another new post,global sales support manager. KimNedertorp will be responsible forsales within Nordic countries as theregion’s new area manager, and NilsVinding will be area manager for theUK, Switzerland and Central andSouth America. Francis Lai will headsales in the Far East. Ole Moesmannhas been appointed to the newposition of R&D manager.

Newly opened post houseEvolutions Bristol has brought aboardthe first members of its team.Colourist Bill Wallace is the new headof grading. Joining him are Will Norieas head of audio, Tom Arnold as headof technical operations, Gabriel Wetzas head of post, and Robin Slater assenior post producer.

Orad has appointed MichaelKatznelson as VP of sales. Prior tojoining Orad, Katznelson held keymanagerial positions in CastUP(CISCO), Motorola Mobility, BitBand,and Gilat Satellite Networks.

Andrew Black has rejoined UKbroadcast hire company Procam as its new UK sales director. Blackpreviously worked at Procam in 2008 as the company’s clientrelations manager.

Timeline Television has brought onMalcolm Cowan as head oftechnology BT Sport. Cowan will runthe facilities at BT Sport’s newproduction hub located in the formerOlympic International BroadcastCentre in London.

Stefano Pucello has joined VDC, provider of specialist AV cables and solutions, as international sales manager.

Video advertising companyVideology has appointed several new executives. Rhys McLachlanwill be the new head of global TV strategies and Jana Eisensteinis the new SVP of Videology’s global accounts division. Thecompany has also promoted Anne de Kerckhove to managing director of EMEA.

The UK Screen Association has voted twonew members onto the Board for 2013/14,Helen Alexander, director of operationsand business development of audio post facility WB De Lane Lea, and Lesley Marr, COO of Deluxe Media. UK Screen is the UK’s facilities tradebody, representing companies servicingfilm, TV and commercials. “Our industryis in its biggest change/revolution,” saidMarr, “and keeping up to speed withadvances in technology, use of data, ITtechnologies and new ways of consumingcontent is a daily, fast-paced challenge, soI’m keen to explore how we can helpdemystify and work through some ofthese challenges through UK Screen.”

EVS HAS hired several new keymembers of staff. Frédéric Nyswill join the company as SVP ofglobal operations and professionalservices and will be based in EVSBelgium. Mohammed Bouita joinsEVS as VP of sales for the Middle

East and Northern Africa. Hewill lead regional sales and theexpansion of operations in theMiddle East region. CédricTombeur has joined EVS asbusiness development manager.Jeff Gouch has been appointedsales manager, North CentralRegion, US, and Peggy Stalhut hascome on board as marketingmanager for The Americas.

Raft of new EVSappointments

Frédéric Nys, EVS

Peggy Stalhut, EVS

Mohammed Bouita, EVS

Lesley Marr,Deluxe MediaUK Screen Board

gets new directors

Jeff BaggettABS

Matthijs ZwartChello

Malcolm RobinsonBroadcast Networks

Andrew BlackProcam

Stefano PucelloVDC

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News & AnalysisTVBEurope 13November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

Guest Opinion

By Douglas I Sheer

AFTER YEARS of less thanenthusiastic purchasing instudio and field cameras, in nosmall part due to the worldwideeconomic recession, sales ofcameras are undergoing a re-awakening. This finding isrevealed according to a newlypublished report called ‘Studio/Box Cameras World 2013’.

The annual study, conductedthis summer, looked at camerapurchasing as well as othercamera-related factors across aworldwide, five region and sevensegment research spread,including end-users inBroadcast/Cable, Production/Post, Mobile/OB, Event Video,Independent, Institutional andRental House, respectively.

And again, the study wasorganised by imaging sensor.The study not only looked atUHD in Super 35 and 4/3-inchsensor iterations but also allother sensor configurationscurrently utilised among theOwned, Bought and Plannedunits. The main thrust of thisinterest is definitely in Super 35and not nearly as much in 4/3-inch sensors.

Motion pictures andepisodic TV have beentransitioning to an all-digital workflow, and thathas been a driver to theSuper 35 sensor. Whilethis industry embracingof Super 35 is palpableand an exciting andmarket-movingdevelopment in camerasand for lens makers, thestudy also saw a rise inuse and purchasing ofmore traditional 2/3-inchsensor cameras, as a risingtide of camera sales has‘lifted all boats.’ So, eventraditional solutions usingsmaller sensors havebenefited by renewedspending on cameras.This has had a salutaryeffect on lens sales as well.

On a global basis, from asensor use perspective, Super35mm sensor-using UHDcameras already represent 16%of all cameras owned/installedas of 2013, indicating adramatic swing towards higherresolution and to the UHD levelproductions they enable, andone that obviously goes beyondpurely motion picture and

episodic TV applications. 2/3-inch represents 58%, ‘Other orUnknown’ sensors 21% and 4/3-inch represents 5%, respectively.

The arrival of UHD andlarger image sensors has so farhad no discernible impact onPTZ box cameras, but eventhere, it is expected that higherresolution — beyond HD — willbe found attractive in the nextfew years and provide a boost to

those, already increasing,purchases as well, just as colourdid once introduced.

While cameras benefit, at thesame time camcorder sales (whichwere suffering) are now alsoseeing somewhat of a rebound,based on similar factors. Theywere being primarily battered bythe rise and popularity ofDSLRs, which are capable ofusing interchangeable lenses,

allowing for a combination ofprimes and zooms. Now, however,with DSLRs slowing modestly,and many camcorders nowdeliverable with the potential ofinterchangeable lens use, they tooare benefitting.

Since the arrival of Super 35sensors several years ago adebate has waged on whethertheir use would spill out ofdigital cinematography, wherethey are already penetrating theranks of independents and intoother segments such as broadcastand institutional and movingwell beyond rental houses. And,the report underscores that atrend is already underway, andgoes well beyond rental houses.

Previous market interest in3D turned out to be a dud, incameras and other gear, andsome fears were voiced by usersthat investments in UHD mightbe similarly ill-conceived.Despite those fears, however,end-users seem to be much moreenthusiastic about UHD.

re-awakenscamera market

Super 35mm sensor-using UHD cameras already represent 16% of all cameras owned/installed

UHD

Bio:Doug Sheer is CEO and chief analystof DIS Consulting Corporation ofWoodstock, New York.

Image ©

: 2013 D.I.S. Consulting Corporation. A

ll Rights Reserved

WITH THE fire-sale on 3D TVover, the shelves at theAmsterdam RAI had been swiftlyrestocked with 4K TV — or‘UHD-1’, in European TVparlance. Like some pop-up store, here were UHD-1 cameras,servers, switchers, encoders and(the suspected root cause of allthe disruption) displays.

UHD is set to fare better than3D, as the former is essentiallyjust more of the same that TVprofessionals already handle ona day-to-day basis: no Z-axis,dual optics, dual paths andunfashionable spectacles.Despite what many on the showfloor would have us believe,however, we are a long way from4K being ready for primetime.

Beyond our mutual nod to, and liking for, the obvious spatialresolution improvement of UHD-1 (let’s agree not to mention

UHD-2 specifically) over today’sHD, there is a lot of work to do ifit is to be put into practice. Wecheer, as UHD brings with it thedeath knell for our elderly,analogue compression fiend,

interlace. All UHD pictures willbe displayed progressive scan and,crucially, acquired using camerascapturing whole frames at a timerather than making a frame fromtwo fields, captured successively.

Of course, this will not relieve theindustry of the challenge of havingto add into the edit legacy contentacquired as interlaced and ininferior resolutions. Moving the jobof de-interlacing (and up-scaling) oflegacy content wholly to thebroadcaster environment, ratherthan the domestic one, will at leastguarantee that far more money getsspent on these demandingprocesses, with better results.

Quality brings quantityCommitting to gathering framesbrings with it an opportunity toset the frame rate. In Europe, thereis a good measure of agreementthat the minimum frame rate for

UHD should be 50fps, while asmuch as 300fps has beensuggested as beneficial. If UHD isgoing to take off anytime soon inEurope, 50fps looks like areasonable starting point, withperhaps 120fps as a future(worldwide harmonised?) step.

UHD colourimetry is also setto benefit from an update, nowthat we are no longer constrainedby the chemistry of the glowingphosphors of the CRT. Anopportunity also exists toincrease luminance and coloursignal resolution from thecurrent 8/10-bit norm to 12-, oreven 16-bits. Such a move wouldpave the way for High DynamicRange (HDR) working.

Crudely summarising, the HDto UHD-1 upgrade equationlooks something like: [Increasespatial resolution = 4x bitraterequired] x [Capture pictures

faster = 2x to 12x bitrate required]x [HDR/increasing bit-depth1.25x to 2.00x bitrate required] =10x to 96x bitrate required. Thismight be compared with a figureof 2x for moving from interlaced-to progressive-scan HD, all otherthings being equal.

Compression to the rescueUHD represents a massiveincreased demand for bandwidth,processing power and storagevolumes, all of which add up tomoney but rarely in a simple,linear fashion. To lessen the shockon the bottom line, we look againto video compression technologiesto reduce the number of bits to beprocessed, stored and transportedat the many points in the ‘glass toglass’ experience. Even at this earlystage, it seems likely that base-levelUHD-1 pictures can be coded fortransmission so as to occupy aslittle, or no more, bandwidth astoday’s HD pictures.

Those having 1.5G HDinfrastructures at the heart oftheir station must now bewondering whether there will evernow be a need to upgrade to 3G-capable ones. 3G infrastructurescan accommodate HD(1080p50/60) working, but if youroperation is based on HD(1080i25/30), are you really goingto move to HD progressive asyour next upgrade? Despite theappearance on the show floor of‘6G’ coax-based interfaces, signalbandwidths for Ultra HD suggestthat the Serial Digital Interface(SDI) has run out of road. Yes,for UHD you could start cablingequipment up with multiple pathsof 3G and 6G coax interfaces, butwe gave such practices up a longtime ago with analoguecomponent video and surely haveno desire to return to those days.

UHD heralds the move away from broadcast industryproprietary, copper cable-basedSDI and bespoke networks andtowards the increasingly fibre-based interfaces and generic datanetworks of the IT world. Thiswill represent a step change forsystems integration (SI)companies and the installationsthey deploy in future.

Interconnects in fixedinstallations will move from cutlength, terminate on demandcopper cables, BNC plugs andjackfields and towards off-the-shelf, pre-terminated lengths ofsingle-and multi-mode fibre,plugged into optical interfaceports. Faster, lighter, more eco-friendly. With the change ofthe physical comes adoption offurther layers of the OSI seven-layer model and firmly into theworld of IP/IT.

IBC Wrap-Upwww.tvbeurope.com November 201314 TVBEurope

Excitable sellers set out new tech faster than they could answer the deluge of questionsarising from standards makers and prospective buyers. If ever there was a need for aroadmap, IBC2013 was it. Reflections from Mark Hill

UHD, QC and AVB: unscrambling IBC

Mark Hill: With the change of thephysical comes adoption of furtherlayers of the OSI seven-layer modeland firmly into the world of IP/IT

Quality ControlIBC saw the launch of the EBU‘periodic table’ of QC criteria forfile-based AV content. Circa 160tests have been scoped, with 50 orso defined in detail. Identifiedtests fall into four categories —Regulatory, Absolute (against aparticular standard), Objective(quantifiable, but not necessarilyhaving an applicable standard)and Subjective (may requirehuman eyes and ears) and exist inone, or more, layers — Baseband,Bitstream, Wrapper, Cross-check(that values in the other threelayers are in agreement).

Ten vendors are activelyparticipating in the surroundingproject and the results areexpected to dovetail into the nextpart of the Framework forInteroperability of Media Services(FIMS) initiative and become partof UK Digital Production

Partnership (DPP) AS-11standard for programme delivery.

Ongoing arguments about howmuch longer movie images will becaptured on film media andwhether cinema audiences shouldcontinue to be served the ‘filmlook’ aside, 4K/UHD-1 bringswith it the best opportunity yetfor convergence of master imagecapture between movies and TV.

Movie content forms an obviousand ongoing source of potentialcontent for UHD-1 broadcasters.The source most often suggested atIBC, however, was live sports. Theexchange of signals at baseband hasalways been a staple of live sportsproduction. Equipment interfacesare ubiquitous and content moves,predictably, in realtime.

One of the great hopes for file-based working has always beenthat it would be somehow fasterthan baseband (and tapes), faster

than realtime. In practice, withthe large file sizes associated withhigh definition content, this hopeis not always realised. Thecumulative latencies in processesof nonlinear editing, transcoding,file-packaging, staging, QC,network transfers, more staging,anti-virus checking, even morestaging, can be considerable.Where significant collaborativeworking between productionpartners and service providers isinvolved, this matter is already aconcern with HD pictures.Expect it to become a real issuewith UHD.

Simple things take timeFor most broadcasters, thereplacement of VTR-basedtechnology with video servers forshort-form replay has long sincehappened and was accomplishedrelatively swiftly. In 2013, delivery

of short-form content as files isthe norm, however muchtrafficking/delivery of long-formcontent remains on videotape. So what news of the work-a-dayreplacement for thesetransmission-ready videotapes,with their attached record reports?

One notable success in thisregard is that of the UK DigitalProduction Partnership (DPP) inits drawing together of majorUK broadcasters around acommon set of technicalrequirements for file-basedprogramme delivery. Key to thesuccess of the DPP AS-11standard, as it is known, is itssimplicity and recognition of thecrucial part that metadata has toplay in the modern, broadcastecosystem. Boiling down the‘standards soup’ into only twobase format choices and utilisingthe combined experience ofpractitioner participants hasdelivered an accessible and verypracticable result.

While on the subject of DPP at IBC, it also recently releasedthe last in the trilogy of its‘Revolution’ series of reports, thistime aimed at shining thespotlight on another piece ofAmsterdam fluff — the cloud.

Where once we used to debatewhat was meant by Media AssetManagement (MAM), we now dothe same for the cloud. Shouldthe cloud be characterised assomething technical — storage,networks, software applications,or something more editorially-friendly? Either way, the vibefrom visitors on the show floorand the conclusions of the reportwere in general agreement. Theforecast for usefulness of thecloud come IBC2014-timeremains, well... cloudy.

IBC Wrap-UpTVBEurope 15November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

The forecast for usefulness of the cloud come IBC2014-time remains, well... cloudy

Bio:Mark Hill is an industry consultant atIxedia Ltd, www.ixedia.co.uk

AVB to the rescueSet to ease the transition frombroadcast-specific to IT-generic isAVB, or Audio Video Bridging, an IEEEstandards initiative providing for time-critical, uncompressed basebandsound and/or vision to be carried overstandard IP networks. AVB isapplicable to wireless and wiredcommunications, using copper or fibreinfrastructure, so the media can beflexed to suit what needs to be carried.A number of broadcast industry names(Avid, Axon, Barco, Calrec, Cisco,

Dolby, to name a few) have cometogether in the ‘AVnu Alliance’ to lendpractical support to the project.

What future then for baseband audioand video routers, that have been gettinglarger and ever more dense over theyears? If AVB becomes mainstream,router and mixer manufacturers (and byassociation, manufacturers of cameras,servers, and graphics on the source sideand encoders and monitoring on thedestination side) will have some seriousre-engineering to do. – Mark Hill

With the fire-sale on 3D TV over, theshelves at the Amsterdam RAI had been

swiftly restocked with 4K TV


How can broadcasters really innovate when audiences are behaving so unpredictably?

“WHAT’S NEW for you at IBC this year?” That perennialquestion is posed to trustedcolleagues, associates and evencompetitors, who try to sum it allup with a single snappy andcompelling sentence.

Replies are of course manyand varied, and it took me alittle longer than usual to seewhat was really new this year,perhaps because “it” wasn’t “at” the show. Nevertheless aburning issue for IBC 2013 and a question that, by the timeof writing, over 116 millionviewers have asked themselvesis: “What does the fox say?”Stick with me.

In early September 2013,while established global playerDiscovery became Europe’sbiggest TV network and USdisruptor Netflix announced 36 million subscribers, the morecompact Norwegian broadcasterTV Norge was enjoying a foxyglobal cross-media sensation. A four minute pre-series promoentitled What Does the FoxSay?, featuring ‘Norwegiannational treasures’ Ylvispropelled both Ylvis and TVNorge to unprecedented global

notice. Even before the newseries was underway the promohad registered over 20 millionhits online.

I noticed this not because Idon’t mind foxes and rather likeNorway, but mostly because I’mtold what to watch by the juniordigital natives (my kids) usuallyvia YouTube. I wondered whatdrives the speed of such success,how did this audience grow soquickly? Apparently, traffic wasinitially driven by bloggers usingTumblr and Gawker and it didn’ttake long for Twitter andYouTube to do the rest. ByOctober, Ylvis were appearing onUS primetime network shows,whilst the online audiencecontinues to grow.

Audiences on the moveThere’s no shortage of newtechnology at IBC every yearand in 2013 we all have to beequally conversant with the full range of convergedtechnologies. The IT estate, thecloud, consumer technologiesand social media are creatingsome highly disruptive optionswhen blended with broadcasting.How can broadcasters really

innovate when audiences arebehaving so unpredictably?

For example, over the top TV(OTTTV) addresses viewers using internet delivery, and withpersonal browsers and devicesproviding a direct return path, it’spossible to measure changes inaudience behaviour right down toan individual viewer. AlthoughOTT currently only providessmall revenue for broadcasters, itcan influence audience behaviorsignificantly by extendingprogramming and advertising toother screens.

Promoters of OTT alsocontend that media companiesthat do not evolve to provide anengaging and personalised videoexperience across all screens willlose market-share and eventuallywill disappear. If that’s true,then this future vision will alsorequire huge amounts ofpersonalised audience feedbackto be processed intelligently.

At IBC OTT solutions providerOoyala stated that its analyticsengine now processes over twobillion events every day, derivedfrom nearly 200 million viewersworldwide who watch their videoon an Ooyala-powered player.

OTT solutions providers at IBCwere also featuring genericGoogle-style analytics andproviding specialist data miningtools to capitalise on theintelligence gathered aboutaudience movements.

The combination of socialmedia and TV is now known as Social TV. Althoughpredominantly US-based, theannouncement of a tie upbetween Nielsen and Twitter todeliver Nielsen Twitter TVRatings also caught my eye. Todate only the number of tweetsand respective Twitter authors hasbeen measurable. A measurementof the audience of people whoview those tweets is required forTV networks, advertisers and

agencies to know the true reachand influence of TV-relatedactivity on Twitter.

It seems that media companiesachieving broadcast innovationmost successfully are those whocan now tune into an audienceinstead of waiting for an audienceto tune into them. In many waysthis is almost the opposite oftraditional broadcasting. Byadapting their programming,making it discoverable throughrich metadata and by occasionallyshort-circuiting the schedule usingsocial media, broadcasters whoalready know their audiences arein good position to really driveTV everywhere.

This IBC’s Norwegian foxyexample, although really just ahighly original pop video used as apromotion for a popular nationalentertainment show, harnessedunexpected direct audiencerecommendation via social TV toachieve over 100 million views inless than a month.

The big guys are doing it bigand yet, the small guys have everyopportunity to do it even bigger.Whether it’s through originaltalent, great programming,converged technology or justgreat timing, perhaps there’snever been a better time forbroadcasters to innovate.

The IT estate, the cloud, consumer technologies and social media are creating some highly disruptive options when blended withbroadcasting — as consultant Russell Grute discovered at IBC

Time to innovate

Russell Grute: The big guys are doingit big and yet, the small guys haveevery opportunity to do it even bigger

Bio:Russell Grute is managing director atBroadcast Innovation, an independentconsultancy in media management forbroadcasting and TV everywhere.

ADVANCES SEEN at IBC2013included the rise of 4K, which isalmost ready for mainstreamproduction, large sensor cameras,high-speed capture, and the releaseof miniature cameras usable inalmost any type of production.

However, the biggest crowds on the show floor were headed inthe direction of ARRI’s firstdocumentary-style shoulder-mount digital camera, the Amira,which takes the sensor and manyfeatures of its Alexa, and addssuch things as in-camera colourgrading and 200fps shooting.

“Everyone wants the Alexaimage quality, but they said makethe camera smaller, lighter andmore affordable,” said StephanShenk, ARRI’s general manager,camera division.

It has live colour management,with 3D LUTs in the camera. “Alot of people doing documentariesdon’t have the time or budget to doelaborate colour grading, but theystill want the look,” said MilanKrsljanin, ARRI’s director ofbusiness development.

The Alexa influence extendedto the studio, where Ikegami wasshowing the new HDK-97 ARRIlarge-sensor camera. It is “a newtype of dock-cam style studiocamera with an ARRI front end,using a single large super 35mmsensor. It is ideal for studiodrama or music,” said MasanoriKondo, president, IkegamiEurope. The first delivery, ofeight PL-mount cameras, went toMTV, which used them for itsVideo Music Awards.

“Although it is the same sensoras the Alexa, it is Ikegami’s digitalsignal processing and TV output,”added Shenk. “It’s a collaborationbetween ARRI and Ikegami tobring the aesthetics of the motionpicture to the TV studio.” It cando 1080 50p, as well as 24 and25p, would normally be used with a fibre adaptor and will workwith all of Ikegami’s existingUnicam HD accessories, so it canuse the same base stations andcontrol infrastructure.

Panasonic is also aiming for thestudio drama market with its AK-HC3500A. It offers progressiveshooting (1080 at 25p, 23.98p or29.97p) with cine gamma andvarious other improvements to takeit beyond its existing AK-HC3500.

However, it has three 2/3-inch ITCCDs rather than a single largersensor. It boasts 60dB signal tonoise, uses spatial pixel shifttechnology and a newly developed16-bit A/D Digital Signal Processor(38-bit internal processing) forimproved picture quality.

Hitachi has gone the MOSsensor route with its first 3MOSsensor HD camera: the affordableZ-HD6000 portable studio/EFPdockable model that outputs 108050/60i with 1100TV linesresolution. “This is a globalrelease. There is a large market inthe US for universities andreligious use. That market doesn’texist in Europe at a high level, butthis will be an excellent entry-levelproduct for people with small

studios or OB vans,” said PaddyRoache, Hitachi director andgeneral manager.

Sony introduced two newstudio/OB camera ranges at IBC:the HSC-300R/RF and HSC-100R/RF. These are essentiallyupgrades of its existing HSC-300and HXC-100 system cameras, butwith new 2/3-inch Power HAD FXCCDs with an S/N ratio of 60dB.The HSC-300R/RF models arecompatible with the HDLA seriesof large lens adapters andequipped with Neutral Densityand Colour Correction dualoptical servo-controlled filterwheels for outside broadcast use,while the HSC-100R/RF modelsare compatible with a portable lensand more suited to studio use.

Grass Valley has extended itsLDX camera range with the newLDX 80 for robotic or remoteuse, which is claimed to offer highsensitivity with “best signal-to-noise performance”. It usesXensium-FT 2/3-inch CMOS1080 50/60p imagers with globalshutter, and there will be threeversions: LDX CompactPremiere, LDX Compact Elite,and LDX Compact Worldcam,all software upgradable.

One selling point of the LDXrange has been its flexibility,“allowing instant upgradesthrough perpetual or weeklylicensing,” said Matt Allard,Grass Valley’s marketdevelopment manager.

Remote miniaturesBradley Engineering launchedthree new miniature high-resolution (HD/SD up to 1080p)camera heads all with 10:1 zoomlenses at IBC. The Eyeb all-in-onedesign has up to 99 pre-setpositions for Pan, Tilt, Zoom andFocus, for commentary use, PoVs,or reality TV. The self-containedBEHD15 is designed to givegreater detail in low light, withoutnoise, has SDI and analogueoutputs, is infrared sensitive andhas an IP66 option. The mini,remote ball HDC150/150SR has32 pre-sets, is designed forsmooth, quiet operation and hasan infrared mode.

Its new Cam-Ball 3 miniaturerotating camera can have a 30xzoom lens to go with a new high-resolution sensor with increasedlow light sensitivity. The 1080pPTZ camera offers 32 pre-sets ina lightweight, weatherproofcarbon fibre housing, but userscan remove the front seal toattach a wide angle lens.

Telemetrics’ new HDSC-1Robotics Specialty Camera iscompact, lightweight and uses aSony 3.27-megapixel CMOSimage sensor with a Canon 20xzoom lens. It provides native1920x1080 HD-SDI videooutputs as well as SD compositevideo outputs in NTSC and PAL.

It also has a new RemoteCamera Operation System,including a touch-screenRobotic Camera Control Panel,Camera Shader Panel for singleoperator control of studiooperations, and EnterpriseDatabase Control Software, forenterprise level camera controlusing an SQL database withconfigurable access control.

The first operational controlpanel for IO Industries’ Flare2KSDI camera has been launchedby Polecam. This can control up tosix cameras from one panel,including lens control (iris and


New camera round-up: The evolution revolutionBroadcasting maystart with the camera,but it has been one ofthe last areas to gainfrom the move to IT-based hardware.However, the benefits of software-upgradeable flexibilityare now emerging,with free or low-costupgrades a key themeat IBC this year,reports David Fox

Searle: IO’s tiny 2KSDI can now take EF-mount lenses

Touchscreen ergonomics: An LCD is theProduction Camera 4K’s main user interface

Entry level: Roache withHitachi’s affordable new

Z-HD6000 dockable camera

Shenk: The Amira is an Alexa“for single operator use andwith perfect balance”

Could this be the Z1 for the 4K era?: The new Sony PXW-Z100 High speed, higher resolution: The Phantom Flex4K

focus) through the EF lens mount.The camera can output 108050/60p 10-bit (4:2:2 or RAW) via asingle link 3G-SDI connection.

IO’s Flare camera series hasbeen extended to include a 12-megapixel model, giving4096x3072 pixels at up to 125fps.IO also has a new lens adaptor toallow its miniature cameras takeCanon EF-mount lenses. “It’s anactive adaptor, meaning we canremotely control the lens,”explained Andrew Searle, IO’sglobal sales manager.

“We’re really trying to focus on broadcasting,” he added, andthe Polecam RCP is “reallyimportant for OB integration.We’ve had a lot of interest for livesports, especially for shootingspecial angles for viewing onsecond screen apps at home.”

IndieCam has also added newbroadcast-friendly functionalityfor its tiny cameras with itsindieUIP (Indiecam UniversalImage Processor), a “powerful butstill miniscule standalone ImageProcessor” that “gives our cameravery high-quality enhanced de-bayering, detail enhancement,noise management and RGBblack balance,” explained RaphaelBarth, managing director.

Also new is indieGS2K RAWrecording on Convergent Design’sOdyssey and Gemini 4:4:4recorders, which can takeCinemaDNG RAW footage fromup to four indieGS2K cameras atonce. They include rich metadataand timecode support, andrecording times start at 90 minutesper camera per SSD-module.

The new sinaCAM basicminiature camera is a 2D HDversion of Solectrix’s twin-head 3DsinaCAM HD remote camera. Itcan be controlled using a standardSony remote control panel in anOB vehicle. The sinaCAM basichas a single 2/3-inch CCD HDsensor, runs at up to 60fps, and hasa RAW output option.

GoPro has upgraded its Herocameras. The Hero3+ models are20% smaller and lighter with 30%better battery life than previously.They also have an improved lens,4x faster WiFi, and a wider rangeof mounts. The $400 Hero3+Black Edition also has aSuperView mode for moreimmersive wide-angle videos andan Auto Low Light mode thatintelligently adjusts frame rate forvarying lighting conditions.

The low-light performance ofIkegami’s new HDL-4500 superhigh sensitivity HD camera is suchthat “it will still give you colourpictures in star light,” according toMark Capstick, general managerIkegami UK. “It is a uniqueproduct. Its minimum illumination

is less than 0.001 lux, in colour,”emphasised Kondo. It has three2/3-inch CMOS sensors and can beused in normal conditions as astandard HD camera with an S/Nratio of 54dB, where it can alsoincrease gain with lower noise.

Upgrade pathCanon showed software upgradesfor most of its cameras at IBCthat brought many new features,including the ability to shoot inmuch lower light.

The firmware update will shiftthe maximum ISO setting on itsEOS C500, EOS C300 and EOSC100 from ISO 20,000 to ISO80,000, which its demonstrationshowed produced usable, ifgrainy, images.

There will also be a wide rangeof enhancements aimed atcinematic and drama production,notably for the 4K C500, includingwider colour gamuts, a new high-speed mode at up to 120fps, andreduced fan noise during shoots.

ARRI is also upgrading itsAlexa. The free Software UpdatePacket (SUP 9.0) offers higherspeed recording, pre-recordbuffers, self-healing metadata (theability to detect an incompletemetadata file, compare it with therecorded frames and reconstructit, to stop the camera refusing thismedia for further recording), andsupport for SanDisk’s new CFast2.0 media. The high-end AlexaXT can now go ‘open gate’, to useall 3434x3303 pixels on the sensor.

4K + large sensorCanon’s 4K DSLR camera, theEOS-1D C has become the firstDSLR to meet the EBU Tech3335 requirements for broadcastproduction. The camera is alsogaining new features via afirmware update, including lenscorrection functions, storage oflens metadata, and improvedaudio with the ability to use anexternal audio source.

The new Blackmagic DesignProduction Camera 4K makeslarge-sensor 4K production agreat deal more affordable — itcosts £2589/€3089. Not surprisingly,there were thousands of pre-orders before the show.

It doesn’t do 50p, but it doessupport Ultra HD and 1080HDresolution capture at 23.98, 24,25, 29.97 and 30p or 50/60i, andit has two quarter-inch jacks foraudio instead of XLRs. It maynot have the ergonomics andcontrols of a traditional camera,but its touchscreen controls arefairly simple to use, and it hasuseful metadata features.

There is also a Super35mmsensor, 6G-SDI output for liveproduction, and a Thunderboltconnection. It takes EF and ZE mount lenses, recordsCinemaDNG RAW and AppleProRes 422 (HQ) to its built-inSSD recorder, and comes with Blackmagic’s DaVinciResolve colour grading software.

Sony is also bringing 4K to lowerbudget productions with the newPXW-Z100, which it hopes will dofor 4K what the venerable Z1 didfor HD, by allowing users to beginshooting UHD even if they deliverHD, “and giving them the comfortof knowing they are investing infuture-proof technology,” said Sonychannel sales manager (NorthernEurope), Dave Cheesman.

It will cost about €6500 andrecord XAVC 4K 50p/60p, 4:2:210-bit at 500/600Mbps, HD at upto 223Mbps from its single 1/2.33-inch 4096x2160 Exmor R sensor.It should have similar low-lightperformance to the PMW-100.

Panasonic has revealed its plans to introduce a 4K VariCamcamcorder and ambition tooccupy the middle ground for4K, with switchers, palmcorders,field recorders and other 4Kproducts. “There are high-endcameras and some consumercameras, but for TV productionthere isn’t much choice,” saidRob Tarrant, Panasonic’sEuropean product manager,Broadcast and Pro AV.

Its 4K/2K/HD codec will beAVC-Ultra444 and it will support4K shooting from 24p to100/120p using a newly developedSuper35mm-size high sensitivitysensor offering wide dynamicrange, extended colour space, andlog support, recording to newUltra P2 cards with a high speedPCIe interface.

While others are tentativelymoving to 4K, Red has released itslatest 6K Dragon sensor for theEpic (now also available in acarbon fibre version that weighsabout 500g less). The Dragon canroar along at 100fps at 6K andcan be fitted as an upgrade toexisting Epic and Scarlet cameras.

On StreamFor news, getting the story backfast is at least as important aspicture quality, and a few camerasare now available with built-instreaming. JVC has upgraded itscompact GY-HM650 camcorderto do live streaming using WiFi,4G or 3G connections via USBwhile recording full HD to itsSDHC/SDXC memory card,thanks to its integrated dualencoder. Material can also beuploaded in the background viaFTP thanks to a clip trimmingfunction, which allows users toselect, copy, and dub sequencesvia a single button push.

“Streaming and FTP upload isa very important issue, for peopleto get content very fast fromlocation to studio,” said JVCproduct manager, Gustav Emrich.

For French news channelBFMTV, the integrated mobile

network connectivity (3G/4G/WiFi)in Panasonic’s new AJ-PX270handheld camera was a key factorin its decision to become the firstpurchaser of 1/3-inch camcorder onthe day it launched at IBC.

“Being able to send media whileor right after shooting in differentquality wasn’t possible withoutadditional equipment. It’s an all-in-one tool that will simplify theway field newsgathering works forjournalists,” said Quentin Guiné,BFMTV’s head of maintenanceand operations. www.arri.comwww.blackmagic-design.comwww.bradeng.comwww.canon-europe.comwww.gopro.comwww.grassvalley.comwww.hitachi-keu.comwww.i-movix.comwww.ikegami.dewww.indiecam.comwww.ioindustries.comwww.jvcpro.euwww.livemotionconcept.dewww.panasonic-broadcast.comwww.red.comwww.solectrix.de www.sinacam.euwww.pro.sony.euwww.telemetricsinc.com www.visionresearch.com

IBC Wrap-UpTVBEurope 19NNovember 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

“Streaming and FTP upload is a very important issue for news”

Equipped for live production:Canon’s 4K C500 in a full

broadcast cradleAndre Meterian, Panasonic Europe, with Quentin Guiné and Thomas Jumel of BFMTV and the new AJ-PX270

Higher and higherIn the high-speed realm, the newPhantom Flex4K from Vision Researchcan deliver 1000fps at 4K (4096x2160)and twice that in HD. The super 35mmsensor digital cinema camera alsofeatures new hot-swappable PhantomCineMag IV storage in sizes up to 2TB.

It outputs uncompressed Cine RAW,but in-camera compression will arrive viaa firmware update in early 2014. It alsohas 3G HD-SDI video outputs for use withexternal recorders.

According to its first European buyer,Stephen Price, director of Love HighSpeed, it is “the most advanced digitalhigh-speed camera ever produced,” withmany improvements, notably “muchmore latitude, so it can capture muchhigher brightness levels than before,”which will simplify matching it to normalcameras and make it more usable in high-contrast lighting. “It’s a muchcleaner video signal. You can look muchdeeper into the blacks.”

I-Movix has two significant upgradesfor its cameras: what it claims is “thefirst and only fast processing automaticde-flickering solution” and automaticcolour matching. Its d-flicker automaticde-flickering system works in realtimeto eliminate any flickering problemstypically found when using high-speedcameras in artificial lighting, and workswith its SprintCam Vvs HD andX10/X10+ systems.

The new ColorMatch function doesautomatic in-field calibration betweenX10/X10+ systems and other camerasused in a live broadcast and should savetime by simplifying the task of matchingthe colours between all cameras used atan event.

The tiny Antelope Pico can deliver340fps in HD, and can be fully integratedinto a live outside broadcast via three BNCcables to the CCU giving the OB truck totalcontrol of the camera and high-speedcache clips.

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SMOOTH CONTROLLABLEmovement at a low price is suchan attractive feature that when aNew Zealand start-up soughtsupport for a simple device thatcombines motion control withtime-lapse photography, itbecame a huge success onKickstarter, with thousands ofpre-orders and all of its initialproduction run sold in advance.

The Syrp Genie costs lessthan $1000 and uses a smallbase that can fit on a tripod ordolly for pan/tilt moves, ortracking using rope-driven linearmovement, and is smaller, lesscomplicated and less costly thanexisting systems. “In videomode, with the panningaccessory attached, the Geniecan perform perfectly smoothpans or tilts. When attached to aslider, the Genie will enable youto capture precise tracking shotsthat are otherwise impossible toget by hand,” said co-founderBen Ryan.

On a slider, it is driven by asimple rope attachment (using3mm rope that comes in 10m,50m or 100m lengths), whichcan pull at least 20kg along atrack. This also means it canpull itself along on a skateboardor even a hand-made cable-camfor longer shots.

High-speed roboticsThe Bolt High-Speed Cinebotfrom Mark Roberts MotionControl is a particularly quick robotic camera cranedesigned for high-speed camerasthat MRMC thinks will alsoshine in automated studios, such as newsrooms (thanks tobeing very quiet), as well as insports venues.

“We have other systems thatare faster, but this ramps up ordown much quicker,” explainedMRMC’s CEO Assaff Rawner.“It can go from stationary tomove a metre and back tostationary in half a second.” It carries up to 15kg and itsability to interface with Canonand Fujinon digital broadcastlenses means all aspects of themotion can be integrated as partof its trajectory.

MRMC also has three newPolycam software-controlledtracking systems for live sportsproduction that allow multipletriangulated cameras and lensesto automatically track a point(or numerous points) of interest,simultaneously, in realtime,using a single control interface.

The new BlackcamSystem B10is claimed to be the world’ssmallest professional remotecontrolled camera system on

tracks. The dolly and remote headmeasure just 18cmx14cmx10cm,weigh 2.3kg (plus miniaturecamera), and are quiet enough tobe placed almost anywhere.

The black anodised tracktakes up little space, at 15cmwide and 3cm high, and can belinear or curved (with tightcurves). The variable speedsystem can move at up to 1.5mper second.

Shotoku has a new ergonomic,high-resolution Virtual Trackingpan and tilt head that will work with a wide range ofcamera and lens configurations.The SX-300VR promises “high-accuracy, realtime dataoutput with absolutely no loss inmanual performance.”

Its Serial Position Interfaceallows it to do frame-synchronised high resolutiondata tracking, and it has theViscam Fluid-Leaf Drag Systemfor smooth, continuouslyadjustable pan and tilt drag withenhanced torque for improvedoperator control. It carries up to38kg and, for realtime full 3Dtracking, it can be used with oneof Shotoku’s VR pedestals suchas the TP-90. There is also anon-VR version, the SX-300.

Egripment has introduced anEncoding Package for VR workthat can be fitted to many of itssupport products, includingcranes, remote heads, telescopiccolumns and camera trackingdollies. Camera cranes for VR-applications are usuallyexpensive, but the companypromises that the EncodingPackage will deliver “high qualityand reliable crane operation in amuch more affordable pricerange.” Existing Egripmentcranes, such as the TDT CraneArm, the Scanner Classic Arm,the Scanner Elite Arm, and theJan Jib System, can be upgradedwith the package.

The tracking interfaceprovides information obtainedfrom all measured axes viaEthernet, allowing multiplesystems to be operated on onenetwork, and tracking data canbe easily integrated withgraphics software.

Aerial hot shotsThe new Shotover F1 is acompact six-axis gyro stabilisedplatform for use on helicopters,

watercraft or almost anythingthat moves. It has look downcapability and can be usedinverted, or right side up formultiple mounting options. Itcan be rigged quickly andaccommodates a wide range ofcameras and lenses.

Its lightweight carbon fibreconstruction facilitatesmanoeuvrability (it pans 360ºcontinuous, tilts +45 to -140ºand rolls +-85º) and allows theF1 to ship as excess baggage oncommercial flights. It is easilyintegrated onto a wide variety ofmounting platforms, and usesfibre connections for 3GHzvideo feeds. It also featurescustomisable graphics overlayfor realtime operator feedback,auto or steerable horizon,inverted operation using auto-position detectors, and a choiceof remote controlled polarisedfilter rotation, rain deflector andother accessories. GPS Geopointing and auto tracking arealso options.

Bradley Engineering’s newGekko is a fast-reactingstabilised gimbal with remotecontrol that can be used foraerial filming with small UAVs,on boats, cars or aircraft, andhas its own battery for use withhandheld cameras or cameras

on poles. Bradley has designed aclever joint that rotates in threeaxes to stabilise the camera forpan, tilt and roll, which meansyou can point the camera in anydirection you like without drift.

“It is manufactured entirelyfrom professional components,none of our parts come from the radio-controlled modelaeroplane market, and none ofthe controls are plastic,” saidcompany founder, DavidBradley. The 1.4kg Gekko takesa payload of more than 10kg, soit can handle cameras of anysize, from a GoPro to an ARRIAlexa. The cameras are fitted toa 200mm wide plate.

There is a built-in CCU andradio-operated remote controlfor the engineering set-up, gyros,motors and camera controls,including paint and racking.There is an optional upgrade to Bradley’s larger Gyrocontroller, which offers moreergonomic actions.

An alternative method ofcontrolling drone cameras isoffered by a new remote controlpan-bar with adjustable fluidfeel. The Drone-Bar “is acollaboration between Cartoniand Mo-Sys Technologies [and] is based on Cartoni fluidheads,” said Mo-Sys’ CEOMichael Geissler.

The fluid damped pan barconnects to most RC cameragimbals (FreeFly, PhotoHigher,etc) commonly used with dronesor UAVs. Drones “are gainingpopularity and enabling newways of filming. Those gimbalsare under drones or alsohandheld like a Steadicam. Inany case they need an additionalcamera operator, but those arenow forced to use hobbyist-likeradio control transmitters,” andthis offers a professionalalternative. He claimed that:“Some of the new breed ofcamera gimbal operators said

Motion-control magic to multiglider sliders


David Fox looks back to the IBC show, providing a review of the major camera support product launches at the event

Like a dream: Geniebeing demonstrated by

Ryan at IBC

Up to speed: The Bolt High-Speed Cinebot rapidly accelerates and decelerates

Virtually there: An encoded Egripment TDT3.0 ENC in use at TVN Poland

Freefly Systems’ Movi 10 stabiliser will carry up to 5kg and costs $15,000 for a complete rig

VariZoom’s McKay takes Stealthyapproach to camera support

IBC Wrap-Upwww.tvbeurope.com NNovember 201322 TVBEurope

‘finally, the missing link to theprofessional shoot’.”

It has an integratedtransmitter, interfaces to mostcommon RC receivers, and willbe useable with a hand wheel(coming soon). It has anadjustable smoothing feature totake jerkiness out of cameramoves, plus a soft stop.

Stability packedFreefly Systems’ new Movi 10 isa three-axis camera stabiliserwith three brushless motors thatkeep the camera where you wantit however much you move it.“You can balance your camerain virtually every situation,”claimed Freefly’s Toby Sali.

It can be locked to thehorizon no matter where itshandles are, will carry up to 5kg,and costs $15,000 for a completerig with batteries, software and acomplete remote control systemwith a 300m range (for pan, tilt,and speed of both so it can dosmooth pans). There is a tabletapp to change settings.

For broadcast, Sali sees thisbeing particularly useful fornews and sport. There will alsobe a $5000 M5 in December thatcan carry up to 3kg but doesn’tcome with the remote control (it is compatible with it — up to20 units can be on one remote).Freefly is also working onmounts for cablecams, cars and Easyrigs.

Polecam users havetraditionally used miniaturecameras, but its latest

motorised heads can also beused with larger cameras, suchas the Canon C300 or Red Epic.A choice of head is included inthe Polecam Starter Pack, whichwas introduced to bring theentry-level cost down. This has

now been extended with thePSP+ (costing £6495), which

adds a twinbattery

V-mount plate and carbon fibremonitor clamp, as they were thetwo products most added bybuyers to the PSP.

VariZoom’s new $330 Stealthyis a five-in-one support “that islike a Swiss Army knife forvideo,” claimed VariZoompresident, Tom McKay. It is afully-gimbalised stabiliser, as wellas a three-point shooter (a drop-down arm can be used againstyour chest for extra stability). Ithas a built-in short monopod,but can be converted to a longmonopod (about 2m) with anoptional accessory. There is alsoa straightforward handheldmode. It can be quickly switchedbetween modes.

It can also be set down on a flat surface, “something thatcan’t be done with the most

popular stabilisers,” he said,with both handheld and three-point modes self supporting. It carries up to about 2kg (aCanon 5D), with an additionalweight for balance, but asstandard it is ideally limited toabout 1kg. When not in use, itcan be comfortably hung onyour hip using its belt mount.

VariZoom also introduced its $600 DV MediaRig for thefirst time in Europe. The fullysupported (shoulder andmovable belt-mountedmonopod) rig can carry 9kg,and is designed for DSLR andcompact camera use.

Steadicam’s new FawcettExovest is an exoskeletal vestdesigned to redistribute cameraweight to the optimum areas ofthe body, for better mobility andcomfort. It has front and reararm mounts and a pivotingexoskeletal structure that isadjustable on the fly.

Compared to conventionalvests, it is less constrictive,allowing for better respiration,circulation and movement, sothat it should feel lighter, morecomfortable, and offer bettercontrol. After docking, theentire vest can be relaxed viaone lever. Also new is thelightweight $100 SteadicamCurve stabilisation system forGoPro cameras, which can beused one-handed and is smallenough to fit in a pocket.Steadicam inventor, GarrettBrown, called it “the coolestSteadicam ever.”

Tripod + DollyThe new Panther Classic PlusDolly promises rugged, almostmaintenance free construction,easy operation and versatility. It can be set up and adjustedwithout tools and comes withPanther’s High-Low Turnstilethat simplifies moving to a low orhigh shooting position withoutremoving Fluid Head or camera.

Its new powered P1 column iscompact (20x20cm), light (29kg)and accelerates from 0 to 100%

in four seconds. The column liftis 50cm (82-132cm) and itsheight can be extended by 80mmtubes. It can be used with thecompact P1 Dolly or otherdollies as the basis of a versatile,modular system.

Panther’s new MultiGlider isa 2m camera-slider with anintegrated and counter slidingweight that can be usedhorizontally, diagonally andvertically, once the cameraweight (20-35kg) is balanced. Itcan be used as a JibArm whenmounted with balance rod.Camera level can be adjustedwith the balance rod in parallelor automatic-tilt mode.

Also new is an extremelyversatile modular system made up primarily of twocomponents: a round baseplatewith a bubble level and a leg,which can be put together with aselection of other componentsto create a table dolly, doorwaydolly, LowBoy/HiHat, BazookaBase, or fitted with a rotatingseat, a Camera Base. TheFlexGripKit even becomes aStudio Dolly if used with studiowheels or can be used as part ofa slider or tracking dolly.

LazySuzy, from MatthewsStudio Equipment, is anarticulated camera platform thatis claimed to “make shots movebetter, easier, faster andsmoother.” It provides mobilitythrough the use of anarticulated double-swivelplatform and allows a user toplace the camera anywherewithin a 62.5cm diameter circlewithout having to reposition thedolly, tripod, or car mount rig.The camera can also be securedfirmly for travelling or lock-offshots. It supports up to 30kg.

The new Air tripod is Miller’sfirst system aimed at bothphotographers andvideographers, providing adurable fluid head and tripodsystem that supports both stillsand video. It can carry up to 5kgon a strong, lightweight alloybody supported by the versatile

On the fly: Justin Brown (left with remote control) and Sam Schraderdemonstrate the Movi 10 three-axis camera stabiliser from Freefly Systems

Something in the air: The new Miller Air System is designed for DSLRs and video cameras and can carry up to 5kg

The new Vocas wooden handgrip fitted to a Canon C300

Solo Rapid-Lock tripod, and isclaimed to offer the same sort ofperformance as Miller’s award-winning Compass, Arrow andSkyline ranges, including “softtake-offs, super-stable pan and tiltmoves and smooth fluid stops.”

Get a gripThe Easyrig is a unique way ofshifting the weight of a camera toyour hips, allowing you to get

steadier, more controlled shots.However, it was designed for larger,shoulder-mounted broadcastcameras. To work with smallercameras, it requires the new €490Easyrig Shoulder Mount.

It supports from 500g to 10kg,and “offers flexibility andmobility of operating handheldwhilst retaining stability andcontrol and is therefore ideal forDSLR and other small video

cameras,” said Swedishcameraman, and Easyrig inventor,Johan Hellsten. “When shootingwith the Easyrig Shoulder Mountit is like shooting with a bigcamera, in fact better because youhave the two handles in front ofyou.” On top of the unit is a gripto attach the Easyrig system. Itwas because this isn’t available onother shoulder mounts that hemade one himself.

ARRI has extended its ProCamera Accessories range forthe diminutive BlackmagicPocket Camera (MBP-3 adapterplate and Cage Hot Shoe CHS-4top support), 16mm-formatDigital Bolex (MBP-3 andARRI cage system), SonyF5/F55 (15mm LWS console for batteries or recorder, andlightweight handgrip/recordcable), and Canon C100/300/500

cameras (Cage Hot Shoe CHS-3 top support, Cage TopHandle CTH-1).

The classic ARRI 300mmbottom plate has had its weightcut by a quarter, but will stillwithstand the same forces.Heavy-duty Camlock fittingsmean strong plate interfaces,while the rear release pin isredesigned to be morecomfortable and reliable. There

are also two new longer balanceplates: 450mm and 600mm (with adjustable 15mm or 19mmstudio rod support brackets forvery long lenses).

Vocas has two new handgrips.Its new leather handgrip is shorterthan the original, allowing usersto support the camera closer tothe lens and fit a follow focus.This will also be sold in a kit witha left and right-handed version

of the handgrip and a simple 15mm bracket.

A wooden grip includes anintegrated remote record switch,with camera specific cables forCanon’s EOS Cinema cameras,Sony’s PMW-F5/F55, and ARRI’sAlexa, Vocas has also released newheight-adjustable versions of its15mm Shoulder Base Plate thatcan be used with a wide variety ofcameras, from Blackmagic Cinemacamera to Red Epic.www.arri.com www.blackcamsystem.comwww.bradeng.comwww.cartoni.comwww.easyrig.comwww.egripment.comwww.FreeflySystems.comwww.mrmoco.comwww.msegrip.comwww.millertripods.comwww.mo-sys.comwww.panther.tvwww.polecam.com www.senna.hrwww.shotoku.co.jpwww.shotover.comwww.syrp.co.nzwww.steadicam.comwww.varizoom.comwww.vocas.com

TVBEurope 23November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

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All filmed with Bradley Engineering equipment

Inventor Garrett Brown callsthe new $100 Curve systemfor GoPro cameras the“coolest Steadicam ever” Easy does it: Hellsten’s Shoulder

Mount is ideal for Gorilla film makersHot Rod-ded: ARRI’s Pro CameraAccessories on a Digital Bolex


TWO OF the most interestingnew offerings in the cloud werefrom Sony and Panasonic, eachwith different approaches: Sonyworking from the enterprisedown to the one-man band,Panasonic from the camera tothe newsroom.

Sony’s Ci is already in use,having been launched at NAB,but it is still in beta, and NaomiClimer, president, Sony MediaCloud Services, said: “We’re notgoing to finish this, ever. It’s goingto be in continual development.”

Ci allows lots of people toview and comment on material,or to create and manage anarchive. “It’s also a great way toget material from one place toanother,” she said.

“It’s not one tool that tries tobe everything to everybody. Thereis a ‘work in progress’ contentcreation side and a content

sharing and curation level. Thereis a huge overlap between the two,but a distinct difference in thedesign and feel.” The two sectionsare Workspace, for contentcreation and video production,and MediaBox, which is more ofan organisational tool.

The key theme to both iscollaborative production, with

several different applicationsavailable via the browser. At IBCthese included three new apps: Ci RoughCut, which can produceEDLs for Avid or Final Cut Pro,and Ci AudioReview and CiVideoReview, for reviewing,annotation, and collaboration.

For content creation, it is aquick way of getting materialback from location, and toreduce bandwidth needs a lot ofthe workflow is based onproxies. “It means editors andsenior personnel can startlooking at material very early,”she said.

She sees it as “a tool that quiterealistically could work for anindividual and for an enterprise.An organisation could havethousands of users on it. SonyPictures is using it prettyintensively for stock footage,archive, editorial and for a new

movie.” It also uses it for sharingmarketing material, while theUniversity of Southern Californiafilm school uses it for contentcollaboration and marking.

Another possible use is forlegal reviews, especially for fast-turnaround reality TV,helped by the ability tocomment by frame, so thereneed be no ambiguity. It is easyto jump to any frame, so that ifa producer is talking to aneditor they can be sure they arelooking at the same thing.

As it is a service, “it is idealfor customers who can’t getmore capital expenditure, butcan afford operational budgetfor storage,” she said.

Users can sign up online freeto the creation workflow, withlimited storage (5GB), buyingextra storage only when theyneed it. If you upload HD it

can generate the proxy, or youcan just upload the proxy if you have limited bandwidth.MediaBox supports Asperauploads (which will also come toWorkspace), which can copewith 4K and reduce latency.

There is also a very simple to use iOS App. “We want toachieve that [simplicity of use]with any camera on the planet.We can see opportunitiesthroughout our hardware tomake it cloud enabled. We wantto help people to collaborateand share content,” she added.“We can imagine quite a lot ofthings within the Sony world wewant to do. It will be availableall the time, as part of the newagile world.”

Sony announced wirelesscamera-to-cloud connectivity forits new and existing camcordersat IBC, with access to Ci via a

Cloudy with a chance of metadataA cloud hung over almost every hall at IBC, with services on offer for almost every part of the production chainincluding encoding, scheduling, promotion, sales and post. David Fox spoke with two big companies behind the clouds

Ahead in the clouds: Naomi Climerbelieves Ci will speed up workflows

wireless adapter (CBK-WA100)that can automatically createXAVC proxies, allowing users totransmit files (both proxies andoriginal high-res content) via3G, 4G, LTE, or WiFi to thecloud or direct to thebroadcaster. Because it hasWiFi, the camera can alsoconnect to mobile devices.

These can interact with thecamera or control it using Sony’s Content Browser Mobileapp. This allows users to log

metadata on set and reviewcontent without having toconnect a monitor to thecamcorder. The adapter iscompatible with Sony’sXDCAM Memory camcordersas well as cameras with an HD-SDI output.

Time for metadataPanasonic’s new cloud ENGsystem is aimed at making itsimpler to preview images, addmetadata and eventually streamlive news. “Our vision is that allof our products are cloudcapable and can support IP,”said Stephen Yeo, marketingdirector, PSCE.

To increase its expertise in this area, in July Panasonicbought CameraManager, aDutch company specialising in

cloud-based surveillance systemswith more than 40,000 camerasinstalled across Europe.Although it mainly providesvideo surveillance as a service,its cloud services will also beextended to the business andconsumer markets.

Panasonic wants to offer thisto its most important markets,particularly news production,where it has a very strongpresence in Europeanbroadcasters (of the more than300,000 P2HD units Panasonichas now sold, more than 70,000of those are in Europe).

“We are developing thebackend and workflow to getthe content back to base quicklyand cost effectively,” explainedRob Tarrant, European product

manager, Broadcast and Pro AV.“Part of the reason broadcastersaren’t using metadata is thatcameramen don’t have time todo it. The people who benefitfrom metadata are back in theTV station, so this system allowsthem to create metadata, email

it to the cameraman for uploadto the camera, and when theshoot is finished the proxy ispushed to the cloud, and can beviewed and edited,” he said.

“The EDL can be sent backto the camera, which will thenFTP full res quality to thecloud.” In future, users will alsobe able to stream live whilerecording so a piece can beedited and ready to go almost assoon as it is shot. Breaking newscan even use the proxy forimmediate use.

Panasonic already works withvarious uplink manufacturers,such as LiveU, to integrate these

wireless systems into theviewfinder, but its two newcamcorders can also use a singleSIM card to connect to thecloud. Both the €23,000shoulder-mount AJ-PX5000(available now) and handheldAJ-PX270 (available Spring2014) have this functionality, “soyou can pick the camera that bestsuits the application,” he said.

They are also the firstcameras with the AVC-Ultracodec built in rather than anoptional upgrade. The EBU hasrecommended LonG 25 as fullbroadcast quality. “It’s the samequality as AVC-Intra 100.”

Two existing Panasoniccamcorders already includeadvanced network functions: theAJ-HPX3100 and AG-HPX600.They can use a WiFi connectionto connect with a laptop or tablet.This enables various wirelesscamera functions such asstreaming, remote camera controland proxy list editing.www.cameramanager.comhttp://business.panasonic.eu/broadcast-and-proavwww.pro.sony.euwww.sonymcs.com

TVBEurope 25NNovember 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

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“Part of the reason broadcasters aren’tusing metadata is that cameramen don’thave time to do it. The people who benefitfrom metadata are back in the TV station”

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Rob Tarrant with the new AJ-PX270

CARA CHEESEMAN is nostranger to new technologies.She was 3D post productionsupervisor on Sky’sgroundbreaking nature seriesKingdom of Plants 3D whichused a bewildering variety ofcameras and photographictechniques to make the greeneryof London’s Kew Gardens comealive in astonishing ways. Thissummer, Cheeseman became ofhead of advanced productionand innovation at Sky. At IBC,she took part in a paneldiscussion on the current and

future uses of cloud production,hosted by Aframe founder DavidPeto [see ‘Breaking theproduction chain’, page 27 ].

Among Cheeseman’sresponsibilities is helping Skydevelop and streamline itstapeless workflows. Given Sky’senormous library of assets, itsneed for security and reliability,and the difficulty in predictinghow technologies will develop inthe future, Cheeseman’s job is acomplex one.

Sky has already made foraysinto cloud production and wasintroduced by a productioncompany to cloud videoproduction platform Aframe.They have employed Aframe onseveral shows, including ALeague Of Their Own and DuckQuacks Don’t Echo. Part ofCheeseman’s job has beenweighing the pros and cons ofadopting an external cloudplatform on a wide scale.

With a long history in postproduction, Cheesemanunderstands the immediate

benefits in cloud-basedproduction, most obviously inpractical time savings: “Youdon’t have to physicallymove files around,preparing disks, sendingcopies to commissioners.When you add all thosethings up, they take up a lot of time. And mediais generating larger and larger file formats. At the same time, people are expecting quickerturnaround times.”

Sky’s relationship withAframe has been positive, which has not been the case withevery cloud solution Sky hasinvestigated. “We’re alwaystesting new products. We did alot of testing when we looked atcloud solutions,” Cheesemansaid, “Some have worked. Andsome have not worked at all –even the bigger ones.”

Heavyweight broadcasters likeSky are understandably slow tohand over the security of theirmost valuable assets to an

outside enterprise. Sky has anenormous amount of content tostore and manage, and beingsuch a high profile companyalso can make it a target. “I haveto make a business case forevery decision and everypurchase. One of the big thingswe struggle with at Sky is gettingsecurity right,” says Cheeseman,“It’s a big issue for us. Fifty to

60 times a day, people try to getthrough Sky’s firewall.”

There are hints that theindustry might be at thebeginning of a cloud gold rush,with any company with a datacentre offering a cloud solution.Cheeseman underlines that Sky approaches partnershipwith cloud providers with muchdue diligence.

Cheeseman believes cloudplatforms will certainly grow innumber and breadth of offeringin the next two years, but thevery thing that makes the cloudso valuable – it’s near-infiniteflexibility — can be a stumblingblock to some cloud serviceproviders. “A lot of companiesare trying to do everything.Everyone has different needs.But it’s important to understandwhat you do and not try to beeverything to everyone.”

Sky also needs to be sure thatany company-wide solution is

scalable – and there are notmany companies in a

position to offer thatkind of scale with

the level ofsecurity Skyrequires.Cheesemanwouldn’t saywhether Skywould followSony indeveloping its

own internalplatform, but it’s

possible that thebest cloud provider

for a big broadcaster isthe broadcaster itself.

Transitioning to a post-tapeworld, with data universallyaccessible and able to beendlessly repurposed, maysound like too much change foranyone to cope with, butCheeseman points out that thedigitisation of workflowsactually helps companies adapt,as they become less married tohardware which requires endlessupdating: “The cloud is a bufferto change”.

www.tvbeurope.com NNovember 201326 TVBEurope

IBC Wrap-Up

Cheeseman scouts the clouds for Sky

Cara Cheeseman: “50 to 60 times a day,people try to get throughSky’s firewall”

“A lot of companies are

trying to doeverything …but it’s

important tounderstand what

you do and not try tobe everything to

everyone” Cara Cheeseman

Neal Romanektalks with Sky’s headof advancedproduction andinnovation on thebroadcaster’srelationship with the cloud

“IT’S CLOSER to being an IT conventionthan a broadcast convention,” observed onehigh-profile attendee of this September’sIBC event in Amsterdam. And though 4Kwas a dominant topic of conversation,much of that conversation was about howto deal with 4K’s huge data files.

This year seemed to be the IBC wherethe possibilities of a fully connected worldbecame apparent. Attendees began to seepractical implications of working in thecloud, and well-developed cloud-basedproduction solutions were shown off by anumber of major companies.

In truth, broadcasters have been usingcloud workflows for years; a post house withservers linked across its different locationsoperates, in some small degree, its owninternal cloud. But what has changed is thescale — a combination of terrific expansionof storage space, ubiquitous remoteconnectivity and ever-increasing datatransfer speed.

And the cloud is an evolving workspace— we can be certain that next year’s cloud solutions will be faster, cheaper andmore easily accessible than this year’s. The question staring broadcasters in theface is: why spend your own resources andreal estate on servers and storage, when —for example — Amazon’s AWS cloudservice has over half a million serversready and waiting?

Avid showed off its vision for the futureof workflows, Avid Everywhere. AvidEverywhere is an attempt to rethinkcontent production workflow from theground up, recognising that connectivityallows the sharing of information inendless permutations.

“It’s not a value chain anymore. It’s anecosystem of networked collaborators,” saidan Avid representative, “Just as consumers areno longer constrained by how and when theyconsume content, media organisations are nolonger limited to working within the walls oftheir facility.” A decade ago, Avid Everywherewould have been a pie in the sky fantasy, butvirtual workflows in the cloud make it notonly possible, but in some ways inevitable.

London-based Aframe promoted its owncloud asset management platform and

hosted a discussion, moderated bycompany founder David Peto, on thecurrent and future uses of cloudproduction. Peto and his team built thesoftware and system from the ground up,literally starting the company in a one-room flat. As of IBC three million videofiles, not including metadata, have gonethrough the Aframe system, with thelargest project clocking in at 6400 hours. Itsclients include the BBC, Sky, Panasonicand MTV.

Three panellists gave candid accounts oftheir experience with cloud production,Thomas Viner, executive producer at ArrowMedia, Cara Cheeseman, head of advancedproduction and innovation at Sky, andBryan Phillips, project manager at thedigital production partnership, BBC.

Viner, whose work is mostly in factualproduction, found that the cloud was useful inpost, but location shooting preventedimmediate cloud ingest of footage. “Getting tothe cloud is the problem. We still send a driveto the post house.” The success of Panasonic’scloud ENG solution suggests that this kind ofproblem may be eliminated in the near future.

Cloud production workflows offer theopportunity of bringing all parts ofworkflow together in a nonlinear,collaborative environment. The technology isavailable, it works, but the change in mindsetrequired might be the biggest stumblingblock to wide adoption.

Arrow’s Thomas Vinter summed up thatresistance to change: “‘Workflow solution’.When people hear those words, they think‘That’s not my job.’”www.aframe.com

November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

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TVBEurope 27

IBC Wrap-Up

David Peto: three million video files have gone through Aframe’s cloud system

The cloud promises toconnect everybody,everywhere, all the time.Neal Romanek looks athow close some IBC vendorscame to the dream ofuniversal connectivity

Breaking theproduction chain

HEVC WILL require new chipsin set-top boxes, so while it willbe relatively easy to implementin software on the latest mobilesand computers, or to implementin the contribution chain, itmight take a few years beforebroadcasters can depend on itfor transmission. However, thereis an alternative that can deliverthe same 50% cut in bitratewithout any changes on thereceiving end.

Beamr Video is “a perceptualquality filter that is highlycorrelated with human vision,” so it can “eliminate all theredundancies in video that arebeyond human vision,” explainedBeamr president Eli Lubitch.“This quality filter is attached tostandard encoders in such a waythat we guide the coder to frameby frame reduce the bitrate to thelowest possible rate. We take outall the differences between thehuman spectrum and the CMOSsensor spectrum.” At IBC itshowed 6Mbps and 3Mbpsversions of a 1080p movie side byside with no noticeable differencebetween them.

Users can either deliver better quality at the same targetbitrate, or offer identical qualitywith significant file savings,giving better delivery on mobilesor broadband and reducingmobile data bills.

“It will preserve all the settingsand profiles, so for the clients it istransparent. You don’t need anyspecial software in the receivingcard,” he explained. “This willallow you to do 4K withstandard H.264 with the samebandwidth as H.265, so it’s a wayof delivering 4K now instead ofwaiting two years.”

If you do move to HEVC,Beamr can be used with it too.“If someone has gained 50%efficiency by going to H.265,they could gain another 50% by using Beamr. We areincremental,” he claimed. BeamrVideo is now available for anannual licence fee and has beenthe subject of 44 differentpatents and patent applications.

Low bitratesContribution is one area whereHEVC could make an impactfairly quickly. LiveWire Digitalshowed a comparison at IBC ofHEVC and H.264 at just 1Mbps.“You don’t get an acceptablepicture with H.264, but it isacceptable with HEVC,” saidRichard Aylmer-Hall, businessdevelopment manager. Therewere parts of the picture inHEVC at 1Mbps that didn’tmatch what H.264 could do at2Mbps, but overall the qualitywas about the same at half thebitrate, with HEVC offeringmore accurate colour.

“We’ve been working hardto optimise our implementationof HEVC and will be launchingan update to our file-basedcontribution tool M-LinkNewscaster later this year,” he added.

However, it will be a whilelonger before Newscaster will beable to do live encoding in HEVC.“You could build a computerpowerful enough, but it wouldn’tfit in a journalist’s laptop,” he said.Currently LiveWire can do live fullHD at 1080i at 2Mbps, and itsgoal is to do that below 1Mbpswith HEVC.

Going liveOf course, live HEVC encodingis possible using equipment thatisn’t quite as journalist friendly.

Ericsson, for example,demonstrated live Ultra HDvideo contribution at 50p, 4:2:2,10-bit resolution, while its newSVP 5500 is claimed to be theworld’s first HEVC encoder formobile, capable of realtimeencoding at resolutions up toHD. Its main focus at IBC wasdelivery to mobile, and its LTEBroadcast products, whichcombine three new standards(HEVC, eMBMS and MPEG-DASH), are designed to addressconsumer demand for mediaservices over 4G (LTE).

Its AVP 4000 encoder will beupgradable to HEVC, but it isalso claimed to offer gains forexisting codecs. It “brings thehighest performance we’ve everhad in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4,primarily due to new work withalgorithms,” offering 10-20%better efficiency compared toEricsson’s previous generation,said Fabio Murra, head ofportfolio marketing,compression. “Operators cannot sit still waiting for HEVC,so they have to maximise theinfrastructure they have in place today.”

Elemental Technologies hasshown live encoding of HEVCat 1080p below 2.8Mbps usingits Elemental Live platform. It also showed 10-bit 4K andfull frame rate HEVC videoprocessing, as well as 4K HEVC

streaming to multiple devices,and live HEVC encoding viaElemental Cloud.

Allegro DVT’s AL1200 andAL2200 were claimed to be “the world’s first live broadcastencoder and transcoder forHEVC” for resolutions up toHD. They support TransportStream output and MPEG-DASH, and come with eitherHD-SDI or MPEG-TS inputs.

Ateme released its first HEVCproduct, in the form of softwareupgrades allowing HEVCencoding to be embedded inboth Titan Live/Titan File (itscarrier-grade software videotranscoding system formultiscreen delivery) and KyrionDR8400, its universal IntegratedReceived Decoder (which wasclaimed to be the first IRD thatcan decode HEVC).

Haivision previewed end-to-end live streaming of HEVC,using software-based encodingand decoding, as well as HybridEncoding, which makes the mostof CPU and GPU utilisation forencoding or transcoding. Thisoffers the combined densitygains of GPU acceleration whilemaintaining the quality gains ofpure software on the CPU.Haivision’s initial approach willtake advantage of the latest IntelCPUs, which incorporate GPUsdirectly as cores within the chip.

HEVC on trialThomson Video Networks alsoshowed live HEVC broadcastand decoding using its latest

ViBE VS7000 multi-screen videosystem, the QualcommSnapdragon 800 processor(which has HEVC decodingbuilt in and is used in mobiledevices), and adaptive streamingusing MPEG-DASH.

“Bringing a new technologyto this space requires a perfectalignment of the entire videoecosystem,” said Eric Gallier,TVN’s VP of marketing.“Illustrating the readiness ofHEVC and DASH from the headend to the end-userdevice is a key step towarddemonstrating to broadcastershow practical deployments canbe implemented.”

The VS7000 is being used byHISPASAT for its 4K trialchannel, which was launched atIBC and is one of the first stepsin the H2B2VS and UltraHD4U


Highly efficientvideo

compression

Eli Lubitch: Beamr Video“will allow you to do 4K withstandard H.264 with thesame bandwidth as H.265”

Richard Aylmer-Hall: HEVC contribution at 1Mbps should match what H.264 can do at 2Mbps

High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC or H.265) wasone of the hot topics at IBC, writes David Fox.

It can potentially deliver video at half the bandwidth needed by H.264, making it easier to

transmit high definition to mobiles or higherresolutions such as 4K or 8K to set-top boxes

Eureka research projects, andSky Italia’s UHD trials.

Meanwhile, TataCommunications has chosenHarmonic’s ProMedia file-basedtranscoding to delivermultiformat HEVC video overits Content Transform cloud-based video transcoding anddelivery system.

This will provide Tier 1operators “with easy access toHEVC support with thecapacity, speed, and securityrequired for delivering high-quality web and mobileservices,” said Sameer Kanse,business head, TataCommunications’ MediaServices. It will enableaccelerated file transfers andreduce broadcasters’ capitalexpenditure.

Freely availableTelestream’s new Vantage 6video processing platform fortranscoding and file-basedworkflow automation canhandle many different formats,including HEVC. Telestreamalso launched an open sourceH.265 encoder in partnershipwith MulticoreWare. The x256project (x.265.org) aims to be as“robust, efficient and highquality” as their previous x264collaboration. It will be freeunder GNU LGPL licensing,while commercial licenses will beavailable for companies to use itin their products.

Rovi launched DivX 10, thefirst consumer software forHEVC, enabling the freecreation and playback of DivXvideo H.265 on Windows orMac computers. “We believeDivX 10 is an application thatwill help fuel HEVC contentavailability and generatedemand for playback support tobe integrated into consumerelectronics devices,” saidKanaan Jemili, SVP, productmanagement, Rovi Corp.

The DivX HEVC profiles aresupported across DivXConverter, DivX Player andDivX Web Player, and it allowsrealtime decoding of HEVC atup to 1080p on Intel i5 systems.It will also create MP4 video forplayback on iOS.

Rovi’s end-to-end HEVCsystem also includes newMainConcept encoding SDKsfor professional content creators,the DivX Video Service withDivX DRM for protectedHEVC content delivery, and anextension to its DivXCertification programme thatallows integrated circuit and CEdevice customers to quicklybring to market products

supporting HEVC playback.www.allegrodvt.com www.ateme.com www.beamrvideo.comwww.divx.com www.elementaltechnologies.comwww.ericsson.com/televisionary/

www.haivision.comwww.harmonicinc.comwww.livewire.co.uk www.multicorewareinc.comwww.thomson-networks.com www.rovicorp.comwww.telestream.net


www.ikegami.de

“You could build a computer powerful enough, but it would not fit onto a journalist’s laptop”

Greater efficiency:Ericsson’s AVP 4000

delivers anything fromSD to UHD, using

multiple codecs, andwill be upgradeable

to HEVC

VIEWERS CAN’T tell thedifference between HD and 4K,they won’t pay a premium for itand there are much better usesof spectrum — the conclusionreached by delegates voting onthe motion ‘Do we really needto go beyond HD?’ at an IBCconference session.

“4K is too expensive,”asserted Brian Lenz, chiefinnovation officer at satellitebroadcaster Astro Malaysia.“It’s very expensive to deliverand you need new STBs, newchips and new consumerdisplays. We have only justfinished swapping out our SDedit suites to HD. You have toask where the business model is,or rather is there a company outthere which can make a businessmodel work?”

Nonetheless Giles Wilson,head of compression business,Ericsson predicted: “In everymature TV market one operatorwill go to Ultra HD first, then the question for otherbroadcasters becomes ‘can Iafford not to move to UltraHD?’ because consumers will gowhere the most compelling userexperience is. Ultra HD is about a sense of presence, notresolution. We are moving fromviewing a picture in a frame tohaving a window on the world,from viewing to experiencing.”

While there are strongopinions on both sides — notleast that Ultra HD should get out of the box with higherframe rates, higher than 8-bitcolour, wider dynamic range and a readily understoodconsumer message — thepractical issue of acquisition isslowly being solved.

It seems Russia will be firstout of the blocks when NTV+airs 4K coverage of the Sochi2014 Winter games in March.The transmission would go topublic viewing areas andcinemas. That distribution isalso likely for matches of the2014 World Cup. While just the final has been officiallyannounced, it allowed Sony toassert that “4K is no longer avision but a reality.”

“Why should you invest nowin 4K?” asked Sony’s European

VP Katsunori Yamanouchi.“Because this live productionsystem can also be used to shootHD, by offering HD cut outs,downconversion or high framerate sequences for slow motion.”

Sony’s new PWS-440 4Kserver makes it possible torecord ISOs in 4K and to createslow motion and highlightediting in 4K. The unit supportsfour 4K inputs and contains upto five hours record time and isa direct competitor to EVS. TheBelgian vendor incidentally hasintroduced a 4K version of itsXT3 production server, enabling

live slow motion in Ultra HD aswell as greater flexibility for highdefinition workflows.

“We are talking to OBoperators around Europe aboutadding a 4K layer to theirexisting infrastructure,”explained Sony strategicmarketing manager, liveproduction, Claus Pfeiffer,insisting that 4K investmentmakes business sense. Forexample, a transmission cameraadaptor attached to the F55provides familiar CCUoperation and talkback to theoperator. “If they have

HDC2500 cameras they canreuse the CCU, reuse theviewfinder and the RCP controlwhich means the additionalinvestment necessary for 4Kshooting is not so big,” he said.

Sony’s switcher houses a newupconversion processor to upresHDC-2500s to 4K. The sametechnology may make it possibleto upscale HD from specialistaerial or railcameras forintegration into a live 4Kworkflow. Shooting 60fps is alsonot considered an issue for whatSony considers the first phase oflive 4K production.

“The EBU discussions arecentering on 100fps but we canprove that 60fps is alreadycapable of creating very good4K images,” said Pfeiffer. “Sincechipsets for STBs capable of100fps might not arrive for acouple of years, 60fps makes 4Kpossible now.”

The F55 and F5 feature newhigh frame rate capability of 2K 240fps or 4K 60p. For higher4K rates, Sony’s F65 will reach120fps or you can turn to theVision Research Super35 sensorPhantom Flex4K which willgenerate 4K 1000fps or 2000fpsHD. It outputs uncompressedCine RAW with in-cameracompression to be introducedearly 2014.

Sony’s FS-700 can also record4K via external recorder and the company added a pair ofNXCAM camcorders. TheNEX-FS700R models feature a 4K Exmor Super35 CMOSsensor and enable 4K/2Krecording on an externalrecorder. A firmware updateincludes the S-log2 gammamode for wider dynamic rangewith Sony pitching the camerasat corporate, and low budgetproduction.

Sensors and sensitivitiesCanon’s EOS-1D C is anotheroption for those wantingpremium HD today, with 4Kcapability tomorrow. It is newlyminted as the first DSLR tomeet the EBU Tech 3335requirements for HD broadcast.BSkyB and US network 3nethave amassed a library oforiginal 3D content shot mostlyon Red cameras, which alsomeans that “in theory they areUHD ready,” noted Chris Johns,Sky’s chief engineer.

While there must be aquestion mark hanging over thecamera maker following thewithdrawal of founder JimJannard from day to day activityand with marketing front manTed Schilowitz also quietlyleaving, Red is shipping the 6KDragon sensor which is said tooffer 17 stops of latitude.

Blackmagic’s 4K productioncamera was still not ready atIBC. “We have an issue with themanufacturer of the sensor,”explained Craig Heffernan,technical sales consultant. “Weneed to get it recalibrated. Aswith [Blackmagic’s 2K camera,which was also delayed] we aremaking sure we get it right outof the box.”

The company is introducingUltra HD capability across itsproduct line, at IBC debuting a 1 M/E production switcher and


The next big leap

Blackmagic, Canon and GoPro have shaken rivals into redesigning their own product lines

Despite the rash of 4K products at IBC there are still only a handful of genuine options foracquiring high-end recorded or live action Ultra HD. Adrian Pennington considers the latest developments from the show

Katsunori Yamanouchi: “Why should you invest now in 4K? Because this live production system can also be used to shoot HD”

Do we need to go beyond HD? Delegates to this IBC session said viewers can’t tell the difference between HDTV and 4K

Giles Wilson: “We are moving fromviewing a picture in a frame to havinga window on the world; from viewingto experiencing”

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a 4K 6G-SDI version ofwaveform monitor Smartscope(a snip at £600). It also has IOboards, Da Vinci Resolve forgrading and while its conversionand routing products are not yet4K there are hints of ‘watch thisspace’ come NAB.

“Like other manufacturers weare laying the groundwork for 4Kso that when broadcasters dopress the go button the productsare there and the workflow isstable,” said Heffernan.

Blackmagic, Canon andGoPro have shaken rivals intoredesigning their own productline. A number of DSLR-styleunits with 4K video capability

are in the pipeline, with ShojiNemoto, EVP, corporateexecutive officer revealing thatSony’s “development will merge technology and designfrom the Alpha range [ofconsumer digital stills cameras]with professional technologieslike XDCAM.”

ARRI placed dynamic rangeahead of resolution in thedesign of the Alexa and has seenit become a firm favourite ofcinematographers. The companyhas confirmed that a technologybeyond the current 3.5K sensoris planned, with the brainsbehind the Alexa’s originaldigital imaging core — German

company Solectrix – understoodto be working on it.

Panasonic’s theme was‘Practical 4K’. “There are a lot of cameras that can do 4K forhigh end cinema and while notdiscounting that market, we wantto make 4K workflow practical foreveryday TV production,” saidNeil Noriaki Ugo, productmanager. Its 4K Varicam, shownunder glass at IBC, is due in 2014recording to new P2 cards incompression scheme AVC Ultra.

The chip is the basis ofPanasonic’s 4K product planswhich includes a switcher, portablestorage unit, studio camera and a handheld 4K camera as well ascompatible video servers, colourgrading and NLE systems.

Others to watch includePanavision’s long gestating digitalcine camera with a possible70mm sensor and Weisscam’s 4Kversion of its T-Cam.

At IBC stereo 3D wasvirtually absent from booths,with vendors transferring theirR&D and marketing dollarsinto 4K — which is seen by all as a safer bet. “You have tolook at what is mainstream andwhat is the toy that is going togo away,” says Luc Doneux

EVP, Sports Division, EVS. “It’s not always easy to pick theright horse because somebroadcasters want to be on the cutting edge to createuniqueness to their programming.We knew 3D was not going to

be right for live sport. Webelieve 4K and 8K should havea better innings. We can use thesame camera positions andshoot the same way as 1080i; the production is not anadditional burden.”

Monitoring 4K a problemUntil the ITU ratified Rec.2020(successor to HD standardRec.709) filters into product(not expected before NAB2014)there are no certified colour

accurate 4K projection ormonitoring devices. It’s perhapsthe most critical issue facingcinematographers and DITs asthey try and match colour fromset through post at studios,multiple vendors and distribution.


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“We knew 3D was not going to be right forlive sport. We believe 4K and 8K shouldhave a better innings. We can use the samecamera positions and shoot the same wayas 1080i” Luc Doneux, EVS

Blackmagic’s Production Camera 4K: “We have an issue with themanufacturer of the sensor,” explained Craig Heffernan

“Laser projection technologylooks promising as well as therecent 4K DLP chips and thelatest 4K Sony OLEDs but these are still to make it into theprofessional mainstream,” saidSGO’s Nicholas Recagno.Options include TVLogic’s 30-inch DCI unit and 56-inchbroadcast model capable of 10-bit 3840x2160 display; JVC’s£13,000 84-inch quad-HD LCDcan accept 4K from HDMI 1.4aat 120Hz 10-bit. Panasonicfields a 31-inch 4K LCD.

Eizo’s FDH3601 wasoriginally designed for air trafficcontrol and geophysics, but adigital uniformity equaliser, andsRGB (Rec.709) colour spacehave found use on several[unnamed] features. It’s awhopping £12,000 though andbuilt to order.

The ColorEdge CG276 takes a different approach andprovides a colour manageddisplay with integratedcalibration that provides a goodemulation of the DCI-P3 colourspace, according to thecompany. However, the2560x1440 screen resolution

means it is not able to deliverthe pixel for pixel mapping ofthe FDH3601, reflected in the£1299 price.

Barco claims its DP4K-P is the only 4K projectordedicated to post production.Technicolor Paris andCineLicious LA are namedusers. “Its native colour gamutis wider than DCI, so it canemulate different print filmstocks and ensure that theprojector can reach DCI moreaccurately, with different lampsand over time,” says Barco’sTom Bert. “The projector inany type of post production orcolour grading facility dealingwith film is a critical piece ofequipment. It should beabsolutely correct in terms ofimage reproduction.”

Perhaps the most sagequestion to the industry’s madrush to Ultra HD, to which Ihave not heard a reasoned reply,is what is wrong with lesseningthe compression on 1080i,making 1080p the standard itwas always supposed to be andtransmitting HD properly atonly incremental cost?

Dolby for instance wasshowing a master gradingcolour reference monitor at a1080p resolution so good itlooked like 4K. “The high

contrast levels bring greaterpereption of depth andsharpness,” said Dolby’s Gaven Wang of the 4220 LCD 12-bit display. “We are

concentrating on better pixelswith high dynamic range, notjust more pixels.”

The company is assessinglaunch of a 4K monitor, withcost and availability of thepanels the main impediment.“We know there is a need forprofessional reference in thefield, in studio and postproduction but since most 4Kgrading is done on 2K proxiesjust now, we are taking our timeto see who is adopting 4Kbefore we bring product tomarket,” said Wang.

Slightly better HD won’t sellTV sets — which is of coursethe driving force behind theurgency in some quarters to do4K now.www.arri.comwww.blackmagicdesign.comwww.barco.comwww.canon.comwww.eizo.co.ukwww.ericsson.comwww.evs.comwww.dolby.comwww.sky.comwww.sony.co.ukwww.technicolor.comwww.tvlogic.tv


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Technology beyond the current 3.5K sensor is planned for the ARRI Alexa

Barco’s DP4K-P “the only 4K projector dedicated to post production”

COMPETITION AT everyprice point from prosumer rightthrough to high-end broadcastbecomes more fierce with everypassing year, accelerated byintroduction of increasinglyambitious software designed forlatest-generation standard-platform computers. A classicexample of the latter wasQuantel’s new Pablo Rio 2KOpost production system. This iscapable of sourcing from 4Kcameras and delivering 2K orstereoscopic HD in realtime, allfrom software running on a PC.

A notable feature of IBC2013was the growing number ofbroadcast tools based on theApple iPhone, almost enoughnow to justify their ownexhibition hall. Phone-baseddevices have one big advantageover traditional tools: they areharder to lose. If all else fails,you just call them from anotherphone and track the ringtone.Downside is the shared battery.

Sony and Panasonic bothdisplayed refined versions of theirwidescreen multi-camera systems.These allow 16:9 HD content tobe selected on a pan-and-scanbasis either during a livebroadcast or from a server. Sony’s4K Live Production System usestwo PMW-F55 4K camerascapable of capturing at up to240fps. It is easy to imagine 8Ksooner or later being applied inthe same way for output as 4K orHD. Panasonic showed a systememploying four AW-HE120 HDcameras to create a 64:9 aspectratio ultra-wide-angle feed.

Most of the excitement atIBC2013 was in the conferencepresentations rather than theexhibition halls, reflecting anindustry which is evolving fasternow than ever. If you enjoyed the

videotape format wars andsubsequent file-formatskirmishes, the contest nowworth following is betweencompeting ways of streaming androuting audio and video within acontent-production network.Centre of attention is now on IPbased technologies. Keyur Parikhand Junius Kim of HarrisBroadcast addressed concernsabout the reliability of IP linkswith their paper ‘Methods forrobust audio streaming overimpaired IP networks’. Theessence of their case:

“Migration from fixed-circuitbased telecommunication servicesto IP based connections reducesoperational expenses as well asproviding flexibility in audionetworking. However, thereliability and quality of IPconnections can deter users frommaking this migration. A robustaudio streaming over IParchitecture includes elementssuch as forward error correction,interleaving, stream grouping,support for multiple IP networks,and dynamic and automaticnetwork adaptation. Test resultsusing both random and burstpacket loss type IP networks showaudio streaming performanceimprovements over a variety ofimpaired network environments.”

The IP StudioBBC Research & Development is developing a framework toinvestigate going beyondtraditional technologies such asSDI towards IP-based studioinfrastructure. PJ Brightwell andcolleagues outlined this project ina paper titled ‘The IP Studio’.

“A unified approach to theidentification and synchronisationof audio and video content anddata and control events, and the

adoption of techniques andtechnologies proven to scale forthe internet provide a level offlexibility that is not possible withtraditional infrastructures. Apotentially disruptive finding isthe proposal to distribute andconsume content and events aselemental grains.

“While this enables greatflexibility for a variety ofapplication use cases, it issomething of a step-change fromthe usual practice of layeringtraditional bitstreams onto ever-faster transports such as SDIover fibre. A software frameworkhas been implemented to test thefeasibility and usefulness of thisapproach in practice, throughtrials with productions andinfrastructure providers, and todetermine where futurestandards are needed. A jointtask force on networked mediahas recently been established bythe Video Services Forum, EBUand SMPTE.”

HEVC, next big thing?Jean-Pierre Henot and M Ropert of Envivio outlinedthe merits of H.265 as acompression standard for 4Kproduction and transmission intheir paper ‘HEVC, the next bigthing?’. “High-efficiency videocoding (HEVC) allows bitratereduction of 50% whileproviding equivalent qualitycompared to its predecessorH.264/MPEG-4 AVC. Theavailability of 4K/UHD TVdevices at affordable prices, fromUS$1,500, shows that consumertechnology may mature quickly.

“However that does not mean4K/UHD TV services are readyfor wide deployment. 4K/UHDis currently limited to 30fps in existing consumer devices.This allows 4K movies to bedisplayed on consumer TV setsbut 4K deployment will onlyhappen with the support of50fps as the minimum temporalresolution for smooth motioncapture on sports events. A newgeneration of connectors will berequired to support 4K at 50 or60fps on consumer displays.

“Recording and connectivityin the studio is also a challenge.With 4K, 60fps and at least 10 bits-per-sample, thebandwidth currently tops out atrates of 12Gbps at 4:2:2. Thetransmission bandwidth withexisting H.264/MPEG-4 AVCcompression standard wouldrequire between 20 to 40Mbpsto achieve acceptable videoquality but the transmission costwould be too high to reach largeaudiences. 4K/UHD at 60fps ison its way, and HEVC is theenabling technology that allowsfor its transmission overmultiple networks.”

6G SDI for UHDTV-1, 4K and 3D productionNigel Seth-Smith looked aheadto ‘6G SDI for UHDTV-1, 4Kand 3D production’: “There is apressing need to transportincreased data rates in a secure,reliable and timely manner withinthe broadcast environment. Anexpansion of the capabilities ofSDI is an appropriate choice forthis purpose. However, there is noobvious ‘sweet spot’ for the nextdata rate. Arguments can bemade for any rate between 6 and192Gbps, or even 384Gbps forstereoscopic 3D.

“Now that the SMPTE isstandardising multiple 3Gbpslinks for transport of 6Gbps and 12Gbps signals, the firstapplication of gearboxtechnology would be incombining these into 6G SDI or12G SDI single links. The sameapproach could then be used tocombine the 6Gbps and 12Gbpslinks into single 24, 48, 96 and192Gbps links, once thetechnology for these linksbecomes appropriately affordable.

“A single 6G SDI link cantransport any currently-defined1080p format at any combinationof frame rate and bit-depth. Itcan also carry the lower framerate 2160p formats. Multiple linkscan be used to carry higher framerate 2160p formats. 6G SDI canemploy existing infrastructureusing the existing SDI standardof scrambled NRZI encodedbinary data.”

Television over mobileThorsten Lohmar, seniorspecialist, Ericsson, discussed thesubject of ‘Revolutionising videodelivery in mobile networks withbroadcast techniques’:

“TV and video traffic aredominating today’s networks,growing from 40% to 90% ofmobile traffic within the nextthree to four years. Long TermEvolution (LTE) Broadcast is anew technique allowingoperators to manage theincreasing data volume in amore efficient way.

“It is built on the 3GPPdefined eMBMS technologyrelease, which introduces thesingle frequency networktransmission scheme into mobilenetworks. Using single frequencynetwork technology for broadcastincreases the signal quality, inparticular in border areasbetween cells. With LTE, one cellcan contribute to up to eightindependent single-frequencynetworks simultaneously.Broadcast and unicasttransmissions co-exist on the samecarrier at the same time.”

www.tvbeurope.com NNovember 201334 TVBEurope

IBC Wrap-Up

Acquisition, storage and dataAs at NAB in April so at IBC in September, themes of aggressive product pricing andaccelerating a push to 4K. David Kirk looks back at the Amsterdam event

Layers, zones and feeds structures in an IP studio

A 56-inch 4K OLED demo at Sony’s IBC stand

Picture: BBC Reseach & D

evelopment

Thorsten Lohmar: With LTE, one cell can contribute to up to eightindependent single-frequencynetworks simultaneously

A joint venture partnership of

Find out more. www.iseurope.org

Learn new ways to communicate and collaborate. Benefit from the best in business networking and professional development. Be part of the best-attended systems integration tradeshow ever held.

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� TVBEurope is the proven European marketleader in television broadcasting technologyanalysis. Through our monthly magazine, electronic newsletters and constant news presence at www.tvbeurope.com we publishmore original, journalist-written content everymonth than all our competitors combined.

� TVBEurope leads the market in discussion ofdigital workflows for acquisition, operations,post, playout and delivery – with a business-led approach that is insightful, readable and relevant.

� In addition to the Issue Specials outlined, in every issue our three established core sections anchor TVBEurope’s reporting of thetelevision broadcast workflow. News & Analysisdelivers headlines, context and explanation ofthe big stories. The Workflow is our bedrock coverage of end-user moves to HD, tapeless operation, an IT infrastructure and multi-platform delivery. And The Business Case is still unique to TVBEurope: every issue, an examination of a vendor’s business and how itimpacts the European marketplace.

JANUARY Channel in a Box Debate AAcquisition Focus: Camera Lenses

FEBRUARY Broadcast Video Expo Issue Cloud Services for Broadcast IP Networks to Replace SDI

MARCH NAB Product Preview Systems Integrators Forum Loudness Control Roundtable

APRIL NAB Show Issue Broadcast Video Expo Wrap-Up BBeyond HD: 4K Challenges

MAY NAB Wrap-Up Audio For Broadcast Special Satellite TV Focus

JUNE Beyond HD Masters Issue Summer of Sports OB Focus AAcquisition Focus: Lighting for TV

JULY IT Broadcast Workflow Issue Beyond HD Masters Wrap-Up Broadcast Graphics Forum

AUGUST IBC Product Preview IT Broadcast Workflow Wrap-Up Channel in a Box Forum 2

SEPTEMBER IBC Show Issue Quality Control in TV Forum Technologies for OTT Multiscreen

OCTOBER Best of IBC Awards Satellite TV Focus Audio For Broadcast Special

NOVEMBER IBC Wrap-Up AAcquisition Focus: New Cameras AAcquisition Focus: Camera Support

DECEMBER Media Asset Management Broadcast Archiving & Storage TTapeless Video: External Recorders

EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2014

For all advertising and sponsorship opportunities, contact the sales team: Europe Steve Connolly: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, [email protected] Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, [email protected], Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, [email protected]

USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072, [email protected]

TC Electronic updates TC Icon softwareTC Electronic has added new featuresto its hardware units that support theLM6 and LM2 Loudness Radar Metersand the TC Icon control software. TC Icon is a remote control applicationthat allows for controlling and auto-logging from a vast number of units.With the latest TC Icon v7 update,users can decide on a time intervalfrom one hour to one week whenlogging data can be saved andorganised for easy access and futurereference. Units are connected viaEthernet to a PC or Mac running TC Icon software and the softwarepulls the data automatically, saving itto a user-specified folder. The updatealso emphasizes Peak to LoudnessRatio (PLR) over Loudness Range(LRA). Loudness Range quantifiesloudness variations inside a programor a music track but isn’t very sensitiveto transient limiting and clipping.Peak to Loudness Ratio is a moreappropriate measure of the effect ofloudness restriction. PLR is alsorelevant when tailoring a track or aprogram to a certain amount ofdownstream headroom.

NEWS INBRIEF


Better, not more pixels...

Guest Opinion

By Kris Hardiman, Head of product management,Red Bee Media

FOLLOWING SUIT fromNAB, 4K and 8K took pride ofplace at IBC this year. In fact,you couldn’t walk far aroundany of the exhibitor hallswithout being confronted by a large TV screen showing rich, deep images in the latestand greatest high definition.‘It’s all here, it’s all do-able and your audiences want it right now’ was very much the (maybe slightlyembellished) mantra from thevendor community.

And it’s not just the vendors.There were also kind words for 4K uttered across thespeaker circuit, with manybroadcasters and studiosdiscussing how they’re alreadycapturing in 4K today, with the renewed attention to imagequality ‘ushering in a new

age of focus on the craft ofcinematography’.

So, what’s not to like? Basedon what I’ve seen at IBC thisyear, there seem to be few whodoubt that 4K (or at least 8K!)is now coming. It hascomprehensively moved onfrom an interesting projectaround the Olympics tosomething that’s going to hitour screens sooner rather thanlater. And therein lies thepotential problem...

Beyond the producers andvendors, you don’t have tosearch too far to spot morethan one furrowed brow fromthose involved in the world ofcontent preparation anddistribution. Among the manyconcerns harboured by thefolks ‘technically’ charged withgetting UHD on the air is thestandards landscape around thefirst incarnation of 4K —which appears to be leavingsome unimpressed — garnering

a fear that the consumerexperience will be underwhelming.

And the questions don’t stop there. What will be thequality impact of showing up-converted assets on UHDscreens? Are we set to unleash a new wave of confusion onaudiences with UHD after thefirst rounds of HD ready,HDTV, 1080i, 1080p? Not tomention the trials andtribulations of working withwhat are still likely to be very large files in alreadycreaking workflow.

There’s clearly a spectrum ofconcerns around 4K — rangingall the way from technology toaudiences. And for me, it’spotentially the latter thatrepresents the largest challenge.Will audiences becomedisenchanted with UHD if thenew ‘image quality landscape’starts to become even moreconfusing, not ‘incredibly’better, and at the same time

potentially short-lived (bearingin mind that the 4K screen youmay buy next year could besuperseded by an 8K one acouple of years after that)?

And even if 4K is a bigconsumer hit, will theincreasingly cash-constrainedbroadcaster have the ability toupgrade multiple parts of itsinfrastructure estate to 4K, andthen 8K?

So, many questions for 4K —which in all fairness is why Ithink it has played and willcontinue to play such a big roleboth this year and in years tocome. To repeat an oft-usedphrase at IBC this year —‘what we need are better pixels,not more pixels’. It strikes methat while this is abundantlytrue, we may also need toseriously think about how wetake the consumer on thejourney and figure out abusiness model that makesUHD work for everybody.

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FOR SOMEONE who grew upan hour from Grass Valley, it ismost definitely a return home:“For most of us, the business isnot just a business. I’m very gladto be back. We’ve got supportiveownership (I’ve run this andHarris under eight differentowners), which makes life a loteasier,” he says.

After his first stint at Grass,he was also president/CEO ofLeitch, then president of theBroadcast Communicationsdivision of Harris Corporation(after Harris bought Leitch in 2005). Before rejoining Grass Valley he was alsopresident/CEO of EnablenceTechnologies.

Thorsteinson has made acareer out of being adaptable, aquality shared by Grass Valley.As he points out, there are veryfew companies in the technologysector that have been around 52 years. “Virtually every

technology transformation theindustry has seen, we’ve been apart of.”

Has there been much changesince 2001? “It’s become a muchmore global business than it waswhen I was first at Grass

Valley.” For example, on oneday at IBC, there werecustomers from 72 differentcountries with demonstrationsbeing done in many languages.

“It’s a great business fromthat perspective. Very

interesting.” A lot of itscustomers are now talking aboutsecond screen applications,social media and 4K, and Grasshad a good IBC, with more than300 customer appointments —all of whom had budgets to

spend. Indeed, he has noticed amarked improvement in thebroadcast market recently. “It’sstronger than it was a couple ofyears ago, around the world.”

However, any investment ishappening in a very differentbroadcasting environment towhen he was at Grass first. “Asappointment TV has gone away,the consumption of content haschanged so much. Where peopleare investing is live sports andthat’s good for us, certainly halfof our business if you count OBvans.” Beyond sports, its biggestfocus is news, where itssoftware-based workflowsystems are winning orders fromthe likes of CNBC.

Over the 12 years while hewas away, Grass hastransitioned from being “mostlya hardware company todelivering most of our productsin software. It means customerscan keep the same essentialsystem and just upgradeunderlying hardware andsoftware.” This move has beendriven by broadcasters, whoincreasingly demand standardhardware. It suits him as itmeans other hardware suppliersprovide some of the support,“so it’s not us on the hook fortheir hard drive replacement.”

Harnessing the power ofgraphical processors has been amajor aspect of making the mostof IT, and Grass is using GPUsto do live work for its new GVDirector nonlinear productionsystem. “As the processing powerincreases, so will use of thattechnology,” he says.

However, as processing powerrises, broadcaster demands forhigher quality have increasedeven faster. “4K is not easy. Ifyou’d asked me at NAB about4K, I would have said it was faroff, but today it seems a lotmore pressing.”

Because Grass is alreadydoing a total refresh of its

The Business Casewww.tvbeurope.com NNovember 201338 TVBEurope

Grass Valley hasgone through severalchanges ofownership in thepast decade or two,but it is once more an independentcompany — with aveteran name at its helm. TimThorsteinsondeparted aspresident and CEO in 2001. Now he isback, in the samerole. David Foxcaught up with him

Grass Valley goesback to the future

Ready to fly: Grass Valley is starting to take off under Thorsteinson

GRASS VALLEY’S new GV Directornonlinear production centre, whichcombines the functionality of a switcher,video server, graphics generator andmultiviewer in one application will startshipping soon, and, along with ScalableVideo Systems’ new IT-based liveproduction system, it represents a newtrend in production systems that aremuch more software-driven and flexible.

“It’s a very strategic product for us.We’ve already got so many pre-ordersfor it - most from western European

broadcasters,” says Said Bacho, seniorVP of EMEA. “We’ve already startedtraining on it,” adds Matt Allard,market development manager.

It certainly lives up to TimThorsteinson’s desire to appeal tomore than just high-end broadcasters,GV’s traditional market, as this is alsoattracting universities, event producersand houses of worship. “It is usingGPUs to do the work, which is howboth we and [SVS] are trying to bridgethe gap,” says the CEO. SVS was

created by agroup of formerGrass Valley engineers, butThorsteinson is happy with thechallenge. “I worry more about my ownexecution than the competition.”

GV Director is “both more and lessthan a switcher. We’ve been very careful about not positioning it as aswitcher from Grass Valley,” saysAllard. “It has an iPad type of touch padthat a lot of new entrants to the businesswill love, but traditional broadcasters

are also embracing thetechnology,” adds Bacho.

“What we’re seeing in traditionalbroadcasters is a different model of use.Instead of having a technical directorthere may be a production assistant,” orsome other less technical operator, saysAllard. “Many are thinking of using it tocreate second screen content,”particularly for sport.

Panel game: GV Director is a

touchscreen-driven

non-linear production

centre

GV Director points way to nonlinear production

technology platforms, such ashaving moved to CMOS fromCCDs for its cameras, it will beable to move to 4K “prettyquickly. We will show somethings at NAB,” he says.“Timing is really important.Ultimately everyone will do 4K,but whether it will be a yearfrom now or five years, we can’tsay.” Sports production, inparticular, is seeing great interestin 4K, and he sees the TokyoOlympics of 2020 really pushingthe technical boundaries.

It already does 4K on itsEdius nonlinear editor, andcameras will probably be next.“4K super slo-mo will be areally interesting prospect,”although it will meansurmounting “a complex set ofproblems,” he adds.

Switcher platformsThorsteinson likes to think ofGrass as being “in the businessof solving our customer’schallenges. We’re very technologyfocused. I think we’re really abridge between traditionaltechnology and the future.”

However, one of his key aimsis rebuilding on its paststrengths. Grass intends to bringout three new switcher platformsin the next year, mainly aimed atnew markets, or, to be moreaccurate, returning to somemarkets it used to be in. “Wehave nothing at the low end —1M/E switchers and educationalinstitutions — and there is a bigmarket down there. There are alot of people who want to switchvideo on the same technology asthe big guys. We have a goodbrand in that space and we wantto make the most of it.”

There will also be a newserver and transmissionplatform soon, and newinfrastructure products (routing,conversion and distributionapplications). “We’d like to be ina position where people can buypretty much anything they wantfrom us,” he says. “Our biggestgrowth will come fromintegrators and distributorsaround the world. That’s a bigpart of our business that wethink has been neglected.”

Now, other than in Australia,the company is out of theintegration business, but it hastaken a year to convince systemsintegrators, its ‘natural partners’,that it is no longer in competitionwith them. “We are now doing35% of our business indirectly.We hope to get it to 50%.”

Grass has already done wellsince his return in January. Thesecond quarter, to the end ofJune, was its biggest ever. “We’re

profitable now, and expect toremain so. There was a significantamount of restructuring to bedone. We’re now adding people,particularly engineers. Things arenever stable, but we’re donecutting,” he states.

Grass now has about 900employees, more than a quarterof whom are engineersdeveloping products (on which it spends $45 million ayear), with a similar numberdoing support.

Some of its engineers havebeen with the company for more than 25 years, but it has a lot of new entrants too,although he believes the move tomore IT-based infrastructureswill take another three to five

years. “I get a good vibe out of the business. I ran a fibreoptics company for a couple of years. That is a toughindustry. Compared to someother technology companies,this is nice”.

Grass now has about 900 employees, more than a quarter product engineers The Business Case

TVBEurope 39NNovember 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

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IN 2012, the Russian FootballPremier League (RFPL)launched its own mediasubsidiary and broadcastingoperation known as Liga-TV.This production arm distributesthe official RFPL channel Nash Football (НАШ ФУТБОЛ),featuring all league games live inboth SD and HD versions.

At the same time, apartnership with the pay-tvoperator NTV Plus saw thebroadcaster take charge of theoverall television productionoperation from its Moscow base.The move allowed the RFPLlive matches to be seen in morehouseholds — adding moresubscriptions and, therefore,more revenue for the League.The project also enabledproduction techniques to beenhanced so that coverage of theRFPL matches would match

those of the English andGerman sports channels.

In September this year, and aspart of the plan to provide thehighest level of production,Liga-TV commissioned a newgraphics system that wouldbring more informative anddynamic graphics to itsproduction. That package,which is used both in the OBtrucks and for studiopresentations, was put togetherby Canadian creative agency,Motion Path, in conjunctionwith Orad.

“This is a complete graphicspackage for the coverage of theRussian football league,including in-game and studioproduction, with elements suchas full-screen and lower-thirdgraphics presenting complex andsophisticated football statisticsin a new and exhilarating way,”

states Ofir Benovici, vicepresident of Marketing at Orad.“The full graphics solutionincludes a rendering platformbased on Orad’s new HDVG2GO, 3Designer authoring tool,and 3DPlay that is used as thesports controller. All commonlyused video files are supported,including codecs thatsupport alpha channels.”

The package alsoenables Liga-TV todisplay line-upsthat include clipsof the players,yellow cards,team captains,comparisonbetween groupsaccording todefined criteria,player comparisonsincluding top threein each category such

as ‘best forward’, ‘goal keepers’and so on. In addition, graphicsprovide referee statistics and asmart game calendar showingupcoming games in a dynamicpresentation.

During the game, on-screenclocks provide statisticalinformation, such as corners,which player held the ball themost, substitutions and fouls.Orad’s system automaticallytriggers the relevant player’sclips according to the data that

comes online from the statisticaldatabase. In addition, the systemenables the operator to manuallyincorporate relevant clips.

At the end of the game, Liga-TV presents full-screengraphics showing each player’sstatistics during that game,along with relevant videofootage. The system also allowsviewers to select their ‘man ofthe match’ with voting figuresappearing on screen.

Integrating data“The statistics and playerprofile graphics can be createdin advance by the broadcastervia Orad’s 3Designer authoring

tool,” explains Benovici.“When implemented with

3DPlay, the appropriategraphics can be used in the

production environment. Byseamlessly integrating with theleague’s statistic and viewers’voting databases, multiple dataentry is avoided. In addition,Orad’s 3DPlay can also beintegrated to all commonlyused scheduling andautomation systems.”

Benovici says that, in general,Orad’s systems can integratewith different types of galleryequipment such as switchers,consoles and so on. In thisparticular project, however, theoperation is manually controlledby an operator and the outputof Orad’s system is fed as filland key into the switcher.Although fed manually, anumber of the realtime graphicsoperations are carried out inautomatic mode.

The Workflowwww.tvbeurope.com November 201340 TVBEurope

Sport illustratedEver more information is being provided for viewers during footballmatches. Philip Stevens discovers how one production unit ismeeting the challenge

Key player facts can be called up from regularly updated statistics using the Orad system

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“Now our spectators can

enjoy lots ofinteresting facts

presented in an exciting way.We are very happy

with the result” Ilya Gerkus, Liga-TV

“Working in a live — andfast-moving — environmentsuch as a football game can behighly pressured, so we designsystems with automatic andmanual modes. In the automaticmode, the system inputs all therelevant information, teamlogos, player videos, etc, directlyfrom the database, facilitatingthe workflow. In the event of aproblem, the user can overridethe automatic mode andmanually operate the systems.In addition, Orad’s ‘smart’ logiceliminates user error byensuring that no conflictinggraphics are displayed.”

He adds that the provision ofa linear key enables the systemto work both in downstreamand upstream workflows. The systems can be integratedsimultaneously to severaldatabases and can show relevant

graphics/videos/statistics live.“Orad’s systems support in thisproject an SQL server forstatistical data, Excel for backupand manual mode, and anadditional SQL server for theviewer voting database. Thewhole system is controlled byOrad’s 3DPlay from a PC.”

Dynamic animationsDesign of the graphics used byLiga-TV was handled byMotion Path, based inMontreal. “Design for livesports events has always been afocal point of what we do atMotion Path,” emphasisesAnton Maximovsky, presidentand CEO of the company. “The development of realtimegraphics for sports is a complextask, both creatively andtechnically. The aim of thisproject for Liga-TV was to

create a package of realtime,data-driven 3D graphics thatwould bring the quality of thebroadcast to the new level. It

was decided to depart from thetraditional style and to embracethe bold dynamic and engagingstyle of graphics.”

He reports that to achievethat result, Motion Path createdits graphics in a virtual 3D spacethat looks and behaves like acomputer game. Wheneverpossible, the designers use videoportraits of the players insteadof still photographs. “There areplenty of dynamic animationsand transitions morphing onegraphic into another.”

Maximovsky continues, “theproject was accomplished onOrad’s 3Designer, a tool thatallowed us a great degree ofcreative freedom. We believethat we managed to push thetraditional boundaries ofrealtime graphics by designingthe package for RFPL thatlooks like high-end postproduction material.

“Starting the project, wedecided that we would notaccept compromises either invisual nor in technical aspects ofthis project. As a result, RFPLreceived an aesthetically rich andsophisticated package with theNash Football brand being thecore element. We truly believethat a wealth of interesting andrelevant data for true footballfans is being presented clearlyand with a dynamic look.”www.motion-path.comwww.orad.tvwww.rus.rfpl.org

The WorkflowTVBEurope 41November 2013 www.tvbeurope.com

Motion Path’s dynamic graphics speedily provides details of the Man of the Match as soon as the choice is made

A dynamic graphic complete with clock can be created relevant to the time of day when the game is being played

“The development of realtime graphics for sports is a complex task, both creatively and technically”

LOCATED JUST over 160km (100 miles)west of the Danish capital Copenhagen is thecity of Odense. It is one of the oldest cities inthe country and in 1988 celebrated its 1000thanniversary. In the same year, publicly ownedTV 2 began nationwide broadcasting fromthe city, effectively ending the monopolypreviously held by Danmarks Radio.

Today, TV 2 operates a mainentertainment channel, plus othersspecifically catering for youth, the olderaudience and movie enthusiasts. There isalso a 24-hour news channel based inCopenhagen. Alongside that 24/7 channeloperation, there is a newsroom and studioin Odense that provides programmes forthe main TV 2 channel. This operation issupplemented by eight autonomousregional stations, linked to the centralnewsroom via dedicated IP lines.

Earlier this year, a project to upgradethis news output to HD was completed byDanish Systems Integrator, DanmonSystems Group. “Our brief was to design,

integrate and bring into commission a1920x1080 HD news studio at the Odensefacility,” explains Søren Bruun, operationsmanager at Danmon.

“This was a new build and involved astudio measuring 630sqm, which includesthe main presentation sets at one end andthe weather presentation area at theother. Sony provided the camera units,three of which are mounted on VintenRadamec robotic pedestals, while afourth is linked to a Steadicam system.”

Accent on automationBruun says that choice of equipmentfrequently came down to good userexperience in the past. “For that reason, TV 2 also opted for a Mosart automationsystem to support the daily newsprogramme production. The initial systemwas installed in the 24-hour news channelfacilities back in 2007, so this upgradepresented an opportunity to standardise onthe equipment in Odense.”

The production of news programmes isco-ordinated within the newsroom via anLSB Virtual Studio Manager and Mosartnews automation. This arrangementallows operators access to control panels,

interfaces and external devices by meansof an IP infrastructure linked to a VSM-Studio server.

Kjeld Skovlund, TV 2’s head ofDevelopment explains more. “When we


HD news to DenmarkSwitching to HD allowed TV 2 opportunity to create a new on-air look and change working practices.Philip Stevens investigates what was involved

The new 11m videowall is illuminated by three Barco HDF-W26 projectors

Alongside three pedestal cameras, Steadicam playsa part in creating a different dimension for news

were looking for an automation system,we chose Mosart because we could seefrom the way it is designed and the waythat it worked, that it was made withproducers in mind. Mosart uses atemplate-based structure that providesthe security and predictability essentialfor our news service.

“Once those templates are set up foreach of the scenarios we might faceduring a programme, you are guaranteedthat everything — graphics, audio, video,DVEs and so on — will happen the wayyou expect each time. The Mosart systemhas been created with productionworkflow foremost – and is designed tohelp operators who work under pressurewhen they are live, on-air.”

Feeding the Mosart system is an iNewssystem. Other Avid solutions in place atTV 2 include ISIS 7000, Interplay PAMwith Assist and Access. Avid NewsCutterXP is used for editing, which is carriedout by journalist/producers at theirdesktops on news packages and by crafteditors for more complex projects.Graphics are supplied by three VizRTsystems that drive the full-screen, overlay,and studio monitor displays.

Managing manpowerUsing the automated system allows forthe possibility of reducing the number ofgallery production staff. And in thatconnection, TV 2 has introduced new jobfunctions in the form of producer and co-producer. Beyond that, theautomation has allowed the galleryoperation for regular news programmesto be situated in the newsroom itself.

“We have removed the need fordirectors, vision mixers, graphics people,tape operators and so on,” reportsMichael Jensen, project manager for TV 2’s news department. “The producersits in front of a three-screen display. The right hand screen shows the outputof the graphics system or any othersource we care to select to view.”

He goes on to explain that the middlescreen shows the output of the studiocameras, the incoming feeds, the prompt,the programme timer and all the otherimages associated with a traditionalgallery set up. He admits the multiviewersimages are small — but that the produceris sitting close enough that size isn’t aproblem. Immediately in front of themultiviewers is the Mosart console thatreplaces the normal vision mixer.

So, what happens if a live event in thenews programme overruns? How does theproducer take over from the automation?

“You can use the keyboard to cutbetween different sources, such as livesignals, cameras, servers and so on. Whencutting out of running order, the timingis instantly recalculated. We normally setup one Live item in the iNews rundownto allow for timing such situations, andthen use the F10-F11 on the keyboard togo back to DVE setup and live sources,”says Jensen.

The third — left hand — screen showsthe iNews system where the producer canfollow the rundown and, if necessary

make any script amendments. Jensencontinues, “When we go on air we simplygo to the centre keyboard and GUI and it all operates very simply. The producercan control all that happens during ashow. If he or she decides to amend anitem during the show, everyone is awareof that change, because everything isconnected through the Mosart system.Furthermore, the system keeps the audio,video and graphics all in sync.”

Updating the lookThe VizRT system is also employed toprovide images to the new 11m videowallincorporated into the new studio. Thisvideowall is illuminated by three BarcoHDF-W26 projectors that provide blendedback projection on a curved screen.

“Upgrading the TV 2 newsservice from standard definition to HDpresented us with an opportunity tocreate a more visually attractive andversatile on-screen look,” statesSkovlund. “Using the videowall providesnumerous opportunities for many creativeoptions for studio interview programmesas well as presenter-to-camera shots.”

He continues, “A number of optionswere considered before selecting Barco —plasma, fluorescent, LED and backlitLCD technologies. But in the end theimage quality of the Barco, together withthe brightness closely matching the studiolighting, led us to our choice. It is also veryimportant for the news programmes thatthere are no visible transitions betweenscreens in the videowall. The Barcosolution provides the means to achieve thisresult, while creating a realistic backgroundwithout receiving shadows from talent.”

Although the newsroom-based galleryoperation works well for regular news

programmes, a more conventional controlroom linked to the news studio has beenbuilt for special events. “Again, there isan emphasis on equipment that hasproved reliable in the past,” confirmsBruun. “This additional equipmentincludes a Grass Valley Kayenne visionmixer, two Studer Vista audio controldesks, Miranda multiviewers, Gunterman& Drunk KVM systems, TC Electronicaudio interfaces, Genelec stereo andsurround-sound monitor loudspeakers,

Miranda glue, plus Omneon and EVSstudio servers.”

He concludes, “The news operation of TV 2continued without a break during the buildand operator training was carried out withoutthe regular output being affected.”www.tv2.dkwww.avid.comwww.barco.comwww.danmonsystems.comwww.evs.comwww.gdsys.dewww.genelec.comwww.grassvalley.comwww.l-s-b.dewww.miranda.comwww.mosart.nowww.pro.sony.comwww.studer.chwww.tcelectronic.comwww.vintenradamec.comwww.vizrt.com


“We have removed the need for directors, vision mixers, graphics people, tape operators and so on”

“Upgrading the news service fromSD to HD presented us with anopportunity to create a morevisually attractive and versatileon-screen look” Kjeld Skovlund

Up close and personal: testing Steadicam moves with dummy news presenter

EVOLUTIONS BRISTOL startedoperations in June and features severalproduction offices, 16 offline suites, twoAvid Symphony online suites, a Pro Tools5.1 mixing theatre with a second underconstruction and a Baselight gradingsuite. “The facility is all brand new, allcompatible and all file-based,” explainsGabriel Wetz, head of post production.

Rather than opting for FCP, an editingplatform “not really supported anymore”, Evolutions chose an Avidplatform and ISIS storage. Beingcompetitive means keeping up with theBBC, whose Broadcasting House issituated just a few doors down. The Beebhas replaced FCP with Adobe, so “itgoes without saying” that Evolutions“need to offer an Adobe Premieresolution, so that people in the BBC knowwe’re able to support that and they canbring work to us.” The move seems tohave paid off. Wetz stated that he“recently received a quote from someonewanting three Adobe edit suites inJanuary for 60 weeks.”

Staying at the frontThe machine room will soonaccommodate an extra ISIS 5500 anddoes not include tape decks, “which isprobably going to become more commonin post in the future,” says Wetz. Thecompany decided to go straight in with file-based delivery, taking note ofguidelines issued by the DPP and aimingto stay “right at the front.”

The dubbing theatre features Genelecspeakers, and head of audio Will Norieworks with Pro Tools 11 on a PC.Traditionally, when offline edits werefinished all the data had to be transferred

from the edit workspace to the dubbingtheatres’ hard drives and uploaded.However, with Pro Tools “Will can basicallyjust open the offline workspace and there’sthe editor’s timeline, there’s all the sound asthe editor left it, with none of the messingaround in the middle,” explains Wetz.

Dotted around the facility are a numberof small, wall-mounted tablet computers.“This is something we have in London,”Wetz explains: each tablet links to thecompany’s scheduling system via WiFi,refreshing every 15 minutes todisplay which clients areusing which room andthe jobs happening in each.

Equallyinteresting is thetechnologywhich can’t yet be seen –the launch ofa cloud-basedFORscenelogging system.This is already upand running inLondon, allowing

Evolutions toingest clientmedia andload it onto aserver, whichclients canthen access

by logging infrom any web

browser. Thislets users view

rushes and addlogging information,

allowing them to get “as far ahead asthey possibly can before they even setfoot in the editing suite.”

Occupying two large Victorian periodproperties, Evolutions has moved itsfacility in without moving any of the“characteristics and charm” of the setting out. The suites are large andspacious, including the two dubbingtheatres both of which — somewhatunusually in the industry — have largewindows, creating a light, airy environment.


Progression and Evolutions

“The facility is all brand new, all compatible and all file-based”

Evolutions Bristol occupies two characterfulVictorian properties on Bristol’s Whiteladies Road

One BornEvery MinuteThe production team from Channel 4documentary One Born Every Minute movedinto Evolutions Bristol as soon as the facilityopened its doors. Gabriel Wetz explains theintricacies of producing a rig show, which isfilmed in nearby Southmead Hospital.

There are three elements to the production:cameras filming inside the hospital,Portakabins stationed outside, and of courseall the work that takes place at Evolutions. One of the Portakabins acts as the gallery withvision and audio mixing, as well as aproduction office at the site. It is “almostmind-boggling in complexity” says Wetz. TheOne Born team currently occupies 10 suites atthe facility, using Cinegy logging software andcutting 20 episodes: filming is 24-hours a day,so the volume of data is huge.

Evolutions is perhaps best known for its post house in London’s Soho, though since the company launched in 1994, it has opened an operation in New York and, this year, a facility in Bristol. Holly Ashford finds out more about the Bristol facility, based in the city’s media district

The Baselight grading suite at Evolutions Bristol

The facility at Evolutions

Bristol will soon befull to capacity, and

Wetz describes itscurrent state as

a “golden phase”

As space is not an issue, plans are afootto install a lounge area for clients. “It’s aservice industry, we’re here to service[clients’] needs and part of that is makingsure they have a really nice experience.”

Another aspect of the company Wetz mentions is Evolutions’ team. Both Gabriel and Tom Arnold, head oftechnical operations, are ex-Bristol-basedFilms at 59. Will Norie, head of audio, isanother local recruit from Aardman. Akey appointment from slightly furtherafield was Blair Wallace, as head ofgrading. He came to Evolutions fromEnvy in London, with impressive creditsand years of industry experience.

Wetz stresses the importance of theappointment of a “really good colourist”as being “key to the business strategy”,considering the volume of high-end andfactual programme making that happensin the area. Bristol offers a “growingcreative pool” of talent, and Evolutions isalready looking to appoint new membersof the team.

A brave moveSo, with things going well in London,what could Evolutions gain from themove west? Wetz admits that, despiteother post companies looking to openfacilities in Bristol, Evolutions was “quitebrave” in making the move. But it didn’tgo in blindly: even before the opening,production company Dragonfly wasrequesting to set up and produce Channel

4 rig show One Born Every Minute, andRDF in London it had also expressedinterest in using the site. Wetz explainsthat there are also “cost incentives to dothings regionally.” One Born EveryMinute for example, is filmed at nearbySouthmead Hospital, and with the BBCas neighbours it’s perhaps no surprisethat “we’ve already got BBC work that’sjust come straight to us.”

Wetz confesses that “setting the placeup has been quite challenging”, however,he is looking forward to the next phase:“running the facility, and delivering ourclients’ work to the highest standardsattainable.” Details of future projects arebeing kept under wraps, however. Wetzdivulged that, as Norie had been mid-waythrough mixing Shaun the Sheep series 4when he was at Aardman, “it seems fairlylikely” that Evolutions will complete thesecond half. The company is also workingon a pilot for RDF, which will hopefullylead to a 10-part commission.

The facility at Evolutions Bristol willsoon be full to capacity, and Wetz describesits current state as a “golden phase.” Given good relations with neighbouringcompanies, work in the pipeline and newmembers coming on board, it looks asthough the move west will lead to furtherprogression at Evolutions.www.dragonfly.tvwww.evolutions.tvwww.filmsat59.comwww.rdftelevision.com


The facility has a ProTools 5.1 mixing theatre with a second in construction

One of 16 spacious offline edit suites at Evolutions Bristol

NEWBAY MEDIA has partnered withmedia research and advisory firm Outsellto offer Outsell TV, a series of invitation-only executive councils that connecttelevision industry experts to acommunity of their peers. The councilsoffer a peer-to-peer advisory groupdesigned exclusively for CEOs, COOs,Presidents, and division heads.

Each Outsell TV council will be madeup of a maximum of 20 executives fromvarious areas of the television industry.Councils, handpicked by previous councilmembers andOutsell TV staff,are comprised ofinnovators andchange agentsfrom differentmarket segments who are not directcompetitors but who face similarconcerns. Within the safety of thecouncil, members can discuss and debateissues crucial to their success and sharecase studies and best practices.

Additionally, a top Outsell TVexecutive facilitates the council and stays in touch with members throughoutthe year. Outsell TV members also have access to Outsell TV research and lead analysts for confidentialdecision support.

“We are pleased to join Outsell tobring this dynamic concept to C-levelprofessionals throughout the TVindustry,” said Steve Palm, CEO ofNewBay Media. “The expertise that both

partners bring in terms of marketknowledge, analytical and datacapabilities, council development, andnetworking will allow Outsell TV to servethe market in a deep, meaningful, andunusual way.”

“Our new Outsell TV membershipservice puts us at the epicentre of thebroadcast industry during a time ofunprecedented change,” said AntheaStratigos, co-founder and CEO ofOutsell. “This exclusive peer-to-peercommunity of executives from the

highest levels across theTV industry,augmented by our fact-based research andanalysis, will help shapethe future of broadcast

and provide leaders with critical guidanceas they position their companies forgrowth and success in the years ahead.”

“As an Outsell council member myself,I can attest to the impact of a personalpeer group,” added Palm. “My businessdata and information council hasprovided me invaluable insights that Icould not have gained anywhere else.There is no substitute for peer-leveladvice from leaders who are experiencingsimilar challenges as you, but fromdifferent perspectives. I am anxious to seewhat solutions and innovations theOutsell TV councils create.”

More information on Outsell TV can be obtained at: http://www.outsellinc.com/services/outsell_tv

Outsell TV offersexecutive peer councils

FROM ITS impressiveheadquarters in Warsaw, TVP(Polish Television) broadcasts twogeneral entertainment channels,one 24-hour news outlet, 16regional channels and sevenspeciality channels, including ahigh definition channel with pureHD content. The broadcaster’sstated mission is to give its viewersthe opportunity to contact with Polish culture, tradition,language and, most importantly,national identity. About onethird of the public broadcaster’sincome originates in the receiverlicence fee, while the remaindercomes from commercials and sponsorship.

“Over the past several years, a variety of upgrade projectshave been undertaken by TVP,especially in connection with thetransition to high definition,”states Wieslaw Lodzikowski,head of Technology at TVP.Local systems integratorStudiotech was involved withmany of these projects,including the HD upgrade ofthe facility’s Studio 3 and theinstallation of a new ingest area.

“The part of the upgradeproject that involved the studiohad to be completed within a fourweek period,” reports TomaszFrankowski, CTO at Studiotech.“Studio 3, which has been built

for virtual reality productions, ismainly used for political talkshows along with documentariesand commentaries. TVP alreadyoperated a Vizrt virtual studio, sowe carried out an upgrade ofhardware to HD. Although thiswas a standard VR package, theconfiguration and calibration wastailored to suit the needs of thebroadcaster. We also increasedthe number of licences for thecameras in the studio.”

Those cameras are four SonyHXC-100 models, all manuallyoperated. Each camera has adedicated Ultimatte 11 chromakeyer to provide increasedflexibility for directors andcamera operators.

When it came to visionmixers, three manufacturerswere considered, before a Snell Kahuna Flare waspurchased. According toFrankowski the reasons forselecting that equipmentincluded the adoption ofFormat Fusion, which allowsthe integration of SD material— such as live feeds in SD orfrom the archives — into HDproductions without the needfor upconversion, an easy GUIand a competitive price.

A second stage of the upgradeprogramme has seen theproduction gallery equipped witha Soundcraft Vi4 audio console.Other equipment involved in the upgrade has included the re-installation of an existingintercom system from Telex anda Harris Inscriber G5 forgraphics production.

A number of products fromEvertz have also been

commissioned. These include arouting system for video, tally,video and audio processors, gluefor amplifiers, embedders, de-embedders, multiviewers forvideo walls and, mostimportantly, a managementsystem that includes names andtally information. “Again, weopted for flexibility, reliabilityand the quality of processing anddisplaying,” states Frankowski.

Integrating ingest“The work surrounding theingest area was a major task,”states Frankowski “Previously,TVP had employed a singleserver for ingest, but theupgrade required a massivenumber of feeds. The first stagecalled for a capacity of 400TB.”

He says that five suppliers wereconsidered before EVS wasselected to provide the ingestsystem. “We felt that EVS offereda good understanding of TVP’srequirements, along with reliabilityand effective integration to thebroadcaster’s MAM system.”

That media asset managementelement is based on Video MediaEngine from VizRT. The ingestsystem also includes Isilon fromEMC as central storage. “Isilon

provides TVP with flexibility inmanagement, scalability in termsof size and bandwidth, Ethernetconnection, and a very easy wayof administrating the wholeMAM package.”

Although quality control isnot included in the system atpresent, plans call for this to beadded in the near future. “Thesystem that was commissionedhas allowed TVP to increase thespeed of work, and to introducea full file-based workflow.”

News needsAnother company that has beenheavily involved in providingequipment to TVP has beenDalet. All 15 regional operationshave been equipped with DaletNews Pack for end-to-end,integrated news production. This package provides thebroadcasters with a complete setof tools from NRCS, videoingest, production to playout.

“Eleven regions are equippedwith 24 workstations and four smaller regions with 15workstations,” explains RaoulCospen, director of Marketingand Business Development atDalet. “Each workstation hasaccess to all functions of the

newsroom and video production.”All the regions are connected

to each other using DaletNetXchange. This enables the easyexchange of video content andstories between any sites, using the broadcaster’s WAN. All theproduced material is also exportedto the Warsaw InformationAgency. NetXchange also ensuresexchanges with TVP sports.

“In each site, Dalet News Packis integrated with HarrisInscriber graphics system,” saysCospen. “Other integrationsinclude Harmonic Omneon forplayout video servers, AppleFinal Cut Pro 7 for advancedediting — using Dalet Xtend forthe integration, Autocueteleprompters and Rhozettranscoders for file-based ingest.”

When it comes to storage,Cospen reveals that in the mainregions, 400 hours in MPEG-2IMX 50Mbps with four PCMstereo 1.5Mbps at 48KHz 16-bitWAV is provided. In smallerregions, 200 hours of storage isavailable. Video is stored both in4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios, with aproxy resolution being generatedfor browsing and editing.

He continues, “TVP needed avery cost-effective system and thismet the criteria. The integratedaspect of Dalet News Pack givesjournalists, with a unifiedinterface, all the tools they needon a daily basis. It simplifiesdrastically the training of thesystem. In the meantime, there isno specific integration thatneeded to be developed, while thehardware is fully IT-based,lowering total cost of ownership.Because TVP needed a very cost-effective system, Dalet NewsPack was an ideal solution.”

Frankowski believes that therecent upgrades have greatlyenhanced the output of the TVPprogramming and the generalworkflow of the operation. “With Studio 3 they are offeredcompletely new possibilitiesthrough the use of the biggestgreen studio for televisionproduction in Poland. With theCentral Ingest they have a faster,file-based — which means higherquality — throughput, plus aready-to-implement digitalarchive. These projects have beena big success, and have beencompleted on time.”www.dalet.comwww.emc.comwww.evertz.comwww.evs.comwww.harrisbroadcast.comwww.pro.sony.comwww.snellgroup.comwww.soundcraft.comwww.studiotech.com.plwww.telex.com


Big green studio for TVP PolandPhilip Stevensexplores recentmajor studio andinfrastructure improvementsundertaken by thePolish Statebroadcaster TVP

The upgraded gallery serving Studio 3includes a Snell Kahuna Flare vision mixer

The upgrading of Studio 3 into an high definition virtual facility formed a major part of the recent upgrade at TVP

Tomasz Frankowski, CTO at Studiotech

“Isilon provides TVP with… a very easy way of administrating the whole MAM package”

LOCATED AN hour’s drive fromLondon in Maidstone, Kent, MaidstoneStudios has been the occasional home ofchildren’s programming and gameshows,including Take Me Out. But with theclosing of the BBC’s Television Centre,demand for Maidstone’s stages hasexploded. The facility had been host toHD shows on an ad hoc basis, but thenew wave of interest has pushed thestudio to invest in a full upgrade.

Maidstone CEO Rowland Kinchbegan to see that a full HD transitionwas inevitable: “We started to tip pastthe model of Pinewood — just an emptystage where they effectively bring in OB.

For each HD show, we used to hire in arouter and all the bits and pieces. It wasa huge plug up and a massive amount of work.

“So we went out and bought some ofthe big bits of glue that we don’t want tohire in. We didn’t want to touch cameras,because they’re flavour of the week orflavour of the show, but we have pulledout the stops in terms of the major HD upgrades.”

The upgrade consisted primarily of kitfrom Miranda Technologies. Includedwere two NVISION 8140 hybrid routers,dual NVISION 9000 control systems, twosets of Densité 3 frames populated withmultiple Miranda Kaleido-Modularmultiviewer cards and the XVP-39013Gbps/HD/SD up, down and cross-conversion platform. The hardware is

expandable to take into account any ofMaidstone’s future needs. The studioupgrades also included a new Sony MVS6530 production switcher and Studermixing console.

Maidstone’s big score this year wasbecoming the broadcast home to Later…with Jools Holland — and the studio willalso host Jools Holland’s live New Year’sshow, Hootenanny. “Landing probablythe world’s premiere live music show is a big deal for us,” says Kinch, “It’s fulllive, no delay. And the amount ofcapability and the way we can work withthe Miranda Nvision are amazing. It’snight and day.”

For Kinch, the HD upgrade is essentialto securing future business. “We’vealways been fighting for regular shows,then with the advent of Television Centre

shutting, our phone has been off thehook. All of a sudden people had to findhomes because they lost eight studios incentral London. The level of interestquadrupled. ITV is now forming apartnership with us to give overflowcapacity, so maybe our day has finallycome instead of being a bit of an also-ran that turns up twice a year.”

An Ultra HD future?With all the chatter of a move to 4Kproduction, it’s easy to forget that manyfacilities are only now switching to HD.“SD is still very big out there,” notes

Alastair Smith, Maidstone’s technicalmanager, who supervised the HDupgrade, “And there still aren’t that manyHD channels to watch.”

Smith observes that while broadcastersmay get to watch pure, uncompressedHD in the studio, the experience of theviewer is often very different, “When youget HD to the home, it’s been crushed. Sowith 4K, it’s going to be a while beforeyou can get it into the front room.”

Kinch thinks it will be some timebefore a good business case can be made for 4K/Ultra HD upgrades. “Wewatched clearly the transition from SDto HD, and everyone sat on the fenceand sat on the fence, until finally theywere forced to do something. Nowbudgets are as tight as hell and there’sgoing to be resistance. And if it’s goingto be 10 times the cost? No, everyone’sgoing to laugh it out of court.”

Kinch had the 4K conversation withMiranda, wanting to ensure that theMaidstone upgrade was state of the art.“They came out with all the obviousreasons why you couldn’t do it yet,issues that still needed to be sorted outwith 4K, because obviously they arelooking at it seriously. There is a tippingpoint for everything, but I think it’s stillfive years off.”


Maidstone Studios: indy upgrades to centre stageWith an HD upgrade, Maidstone Studios hopes to become the go to location for near-London TV production. Neal Romanek visited the facility and talked withCEO Rowland Kinch about the indy studio’s present and future

Cloud and connectionWHILE MAIDSTONE Studios has upgradedsome features of its facility, at least one offeringis at the leading edge: the studio has aformidable data centre. “We’ve got five POP’sand 90GB of edge transit,” says RowlandKinch. “There are some massive synergies hereas far as our fibre connectivity, and some of the skillsets from my network engineers in theIP world start to come across into the studio.Owning a data centre means you start tounderstand the level two stuff, so we can

provide a lot of help. And there is discussionhere about having an in-house cloud.”

Technical manager Smith notes thatalthough Maidstone’s data capabilities haveallowed it to expand its service, not everyonehas been ready to use it: “We once offered totake the output of an EVS straight up to theservers of a post house in London. But then thepost house said ‘We haven’t done that before’.It shows you just how behind the curve some ofthe guys are, in real terms,” Kinch adds.

“Now budgets are as tight as helland there’s going to be resistance[to UHD). And if it’s going to be 10 times the cost? No, everyone’sgoing to laugh it out of court”

Rowland Kinch

Rowland Kinch: “Maybe our day has finally come”

Maidstone’s big score this year was becoming the broadcast home to Later… with Jools Holland

STYPE KIT employs a standardStanton Jimmy crane to deliverpan, tilt and positional data that Vizrt software can use torealistically place virtual objectsin a set. The system also has anauto-aiming feature that allowsthe camera to stay focused onany point on the real set or thevirtual scene.

Every movement of the cranearm is recorded to a high degreeof precision. Camera movementand position, including focal data,and pan, tilt and roll movementsof the camera head are recordedtoo, as well as distance to thesubject. This data is encoded andoutput to computer to allow thecamera to interact with and focuson virtual objects in realtime.

The Stype Kit began withcompany CEO Stjepan Cajic’s

invention of an automaticfocusing of the crane. Cajic, whowas a national Croatianprogramming champion, beganto develop the auto-aimingsystem as his graduate project.Because the system was so

precise, Cajic thought it would beuseful to allow the camera data tobe sent to a 3D graphics engine.

Cajic explains: “It wasn’t untillater that we found that the projectwas suitable for the virtual studiomarket. To be able to make this

automatic aiming really, reallygood, we pushed to the limits all theprecision of camera data. And Ihad this idea that you could outputthe data to a computer to AutodeskMaya or 3D Studio Max. I didn’thave in mind realtime virtual studioapplications at that time.”

Stype has developed arelationship with Vizrt and the twohave recently partnered for a job inChina. “Stype Grip has a goodcooperation with Vizrt who see usas a good hardware provider fortheir software solution.”

The company’s bigbreakthrough came earlier thisyear when Fox Sports wereputting together a virtual studiofor its Australian NationalRugby League coverage. Fox hadnot been able to find a suitablesolution with its usual provider

Shotoku, and, discovering StypeGrip on the web, decided to takea gamble on the Stype Kit.

“It was a lucky situation withus,” says Marko Nakić, StypeGrip’s creative director, “Foxalready had an agreement withShotoku. But for this new showthey were making, they hadsome trouble, so Bob Slater, atFox Sports, decided to speedthings up a bit and he found us.”

“At first, they were a bitsceptical of course, because weare new on the market. We werenot proven yet. But when theysaw it and started using it, Iguess they fell in love with it!”

Interest has surged since theFox adoption. Stype Grip iscurrently getting enquiries fromCanada, Spain, and China.“Now is a period when a lot ofpeople have seen what we did anda lot of people are interested totry it out for themselves.”

“When we mentioned anencoded crane to someone, theysaid ‘OK, another encodedcrane’,” says Cajic, “but theautomatic aiming combinedwith virtual output is whatmakes the product unique.”


Realising the virtual

Stype Kit inventor and company CEO, Stjepan Cajic

Virtual graphics and moving cameras can make for a difficult partnership. Neal Romanektalks to Croatian company, Stype Grip, which offers a solution that allows 3D virtual objects to be reliably placed into any set with precision, using Vizrt software

SINCE ITS inception in June2013 with the start of productionon The Lumo Project — a four-part film series from Toy GunFilms and Big Book Media that chronicles the CanonicalGospels — The Allotment hasachieved its vision. It has evolvedinto a full-blown boutique filmediting studio with a cutting-edgepost production pipeline supportedby Facilis TerraBlock shared storage.

Earlier this year, executiveproducer Hannah Leaderenlisted the services ofindependent film editor and TheAllotment founder Ben Hiltonto complete post production forLumo. Before commencing workon the film, Hilton researchedthe best kit available to designthe studio’s ideal workflow fromthe ground up, starting withshared storage.

“We knew Lumo would be ahuge undertaking, so we had tofind the best kit for the

job including a SAN that couldact as our storage backbone,”says Hilton. “We wantedsomething affordable andcentralised that could withstandthe test of time — which is whywe opted for TerraBlock. It’sbecome the glue holding ourfacility together.”

The Allotment purchasedTerraBlock through UK resellerTyrell, which was on-site toensure installation ran smoothly.Today, the system sits at thecentre of The Allotment’s1500sqft studio, which was builtatop an original Shakespeariantheatre. It houses two AvidMedia Composer 7 edit roomscomplete with Apple Macs,Thunderbolt Displays and AvidArtist audio mixer, a mainMedia Composer 7 editingstudio and a BlackmagicDaVinci Resolve colour gradingsuite, all connected to theTerraBlock via 10GbE.

With creativity driving Lumoand every project the Allotmentteam takes on, TerraBlock hasproved an asset to the team,removing the tedious task ofmedia management. “We neverhave to worry about moving filesaround or waiting around towatch blue bars fill up, whichfrees up more of my time for thecreative. TerraBlock is so simpleto manage that once media isingested, it’s smooth sailing,”Hilton explains.

The plug-and-playfunctionality and advancedspeed of the system have alsocome to play a key role in TheAllotment’s everyday operations.“The fact that I can create avolume, quickly load media andremove it is nice. If I want toshare a project with everyone, I just throw it onto theTerraBlock and we’re good togo,” added Hilton. “Speed hasalso been a real game changer

over the last few years, especiallywith data rates so high, andTerraBlock is fast. We’veuploaded hours of material andnever once had to wait to seesomething happen.”

Additionally, TerraBlock hassimplified rush reviews for

directors visiting the studio.Hilton says, “I’m not verytechnical, nor are the directorsand freelancers we work with,but TerraBlock is so easy to usethat there’s no need for an in-house IT person during rushreviews. Visitors can easily plugin, log on and they’re inbusiness; it’s that easy.

“TerraBlock’s taken quite abeating from us on severalprojects, but no matter howmuch we push it, the systemcontinues to perform reallywell. I never have to worryabout editors running aroundlike a bunch of headlesschickens screaming that theSAN is down.”

The Allotment is alsocurrently working on a film and television series by XIXEntertainment that comprisesmore than 400 hours of 1960’sstock footage. Leveraging therapid speed of the TerraBlock,The Allotment crew is able to quickly connect to thesystem, ingest hundreds ofhours of material from allaround the world and completepost production.

“As a boutique studio withaspirations to expand in thefuture, the scalability ofTerraBlock is huge for us. It’s one of the main reasons we opted to purchase thesystem. You can tell throughFacilis’ updates that they payattention to and truly valuecustomer feedback.”www.theallotment.co.uk


Shoreditch studio The Allotment began as a group of UK filmmakerssharing a creative space with a few outdated editing suites and halfan idea to build a hub for local creative nomads. David Stewarttracks how things have developed since

By Holly Ashford

SWISS COMMUNICATIONSconsultancy comexperts isenabling its clients to perfecttheir interview skills in a newultra HD studio environment.Blackmagic Design’s ATEMProduction Studio 4K has beeninstalled in a facility, which aimsto replicate the environmenttheir high-profile clients willexperience when interviewed onnational TV or appearing intelevised debates.

comexperts’ client rosterincludes politicians, governmentofficials, CEOs and businessleaders from Switzerland’spublic and private sectors. Thecompany’s clients can now takepart in training sessions directedby Patrick Senn, director ofcomexperts and a former TVand radio journalist. Senn useshis experience to create realisticcrisis scenarios to help

participants learn techniques tocope with potential situationsthey could find themselves in.

The ATEM ProductionStudio 4K has already been usedto prepare Swiss politicians forArena, a weekly live debate

programme. “Our facilities arejust 200m away from Arena’sstudio, so a few hours before, weoffer the opportunity for gueststo warm up in a very similarenvironment,” explains Senn.“The show has huge influence

in Swiss politics, so debateparticipants have to becompletely at ease in order toperform at their best. Nervesand lack of preparation canhave major implications on apolitician’s ambitions, so ourstudio offers a great way to getused to being on air.”

ATEM was selected as itenables Senn to offer clients a highly realistic studioenvironment, built around thelatest broadcast technology, atan affordable rate. “We felt thatalthough broadcasters are stillworking across SD and HD,upgrading to the ATEMProduction Studio 4K meansthat our clients can experience areally high quality broadcastexperience, to ensure they arecompletely prepared for what toexpect in a real studio situationwithin an affordable budget.”

The switcher’s 6G-SDI andHDMI 4K video connections

enable the studio team to handleultra HD 4K video sources via asingle cable. The studio has agreen box for chroma keying,three cameras and monitors forplayback and review, which willall also be upgraded to supportultra HD 4K production. Actors at the studio play newspresenters, angry customers oropponents in debates.

“Our clients vary hugely interms of budget, market andtraining requirements, so it isimportant to be conscious ofour logistics and technical costs,as well as our own consultancyfees, so this was a veryimportant factor in our decisionto move early to 4K,” Senncontinues. “Also, as mybackground is in journalism,rather than technical studioproduction, I need equipmentfor the studio that is broadcastquality but extremely simple touse within our studio set up. TheATEM Production Studio 4Kfits this brief perfectly.”www.blackmagicdesign.com

Prepare for the unexpected

Ben Hilton: “We knew Lumo would bea huge undertaking, so we had to findthe best kit for the job”

The Allotment builds new post pipeline with Facilis TerraBlock

Blackmagic Design’s ATEM Production Studio 4K has been installed in comexperts’ facility

Lawo wins EmmyEngineering plaqueLawo was awarded an EmmyEngineering Plaque in LA lastmonth. The award honoursachievements that exhibit a highlevel of engineering and areimportant to the progress of theindustry. “I wish to thank allour partners and customers.They have always supported us and pushed us to developproducts that better suit their needs and support their

rapidly evolving workflowrequirements,” said PhilippLawo, CEO of the company. Lawo pioneered the use of telecommunication protocols such as ATM/SDH(asynchronous transfer mode)and now RAVENNA (realtimeaudio-over-IP technology),making it possible to distributebroadband audio in realtimeover WAN networks thousandsof miles apart.www.lawo.com

Telegenic trial Axon 4K in BrazilWorking with Sony, Telegenichas developed a new OutsideBroadcast vehicle, which was sent to Brazil to trial theacquiring and delivery of live 4K content. Trials tookplace at Estadio Mineiro inBelo Horizonte, one of six stadiums used for the FIFAConfederations Cup 2013. The matches are not plannedfor screening to an externalaudience and instead the trials, assessed the practicalityof bringing 4K broadcast to future sporting events. The capture of 4K picturesrequires up and downconverters to complementTelegenic’s existing range of Axon interfaces, and Axon developers were able to create hardware and

software for a quad highdefinition converter. www.axon.tv

Double success for Vinten Emmy-winning director JodyEldred has praised both theVinten Vision blue3 tripod system

and blueBridge accessory. Eldredspecialises in shooting news,documentaries, episodic TV andunscripted programmesworldwide, and said of the Vintenproducts: “I generally don’trecommend that people use reallylightweight heads for lightweightcameras,” said Eldred. “Alightweight camera and tripodsystem feels like you’re moving afeather, so everything, even yourheartbeat is transmitted to thattripod and to the camera. It makesit difficult to do a very smoothpan or tilt, or even hold steady.”However, on a recent assignmentEldred paired the Vinten camerasupport equipment with a SonyEX1 camera and was able tosmoothly pan and tilt whilezoomed to nearly full telephotowith excellent results. The Visionblue3 weighs 15lbs.www.vinten.com

Technicolor strikesback: Technicolor hasprovided post productioncolour grading and extensiveVFX work for the latestinstallment of Emmy award-nominated Strike Back. The action series was gradedby Technicolor’s principalcolourist Paul Ensby on

Autodesk Lustre. Strike Back is based on the novel by ex-special forces soldier Chris Ryanand follows a covert group of MI6 agents that undertakes missions across the globe.“Filming mainly took place in South Africa and Hungary, but these countries stood in for anumber of different locations,” explained Ensby. “The brief was to use colour and tone tocreate a sense of place so the viewer could quickly differentiate between each setting. We needed to maintain the show’s signature style, which emphasises a strong colourpalette and vivid tones but also to offer a visual short-hand to the location.” Strike Back isshowing in the UK now.wwww.technicolor.com

News Reviewwww.tvbeurope.com November 201350 TVBEurope

By Holly Ashford

Great British Bake Off lights up with Stage Electrics: StageElectrics worked with the design team at BBC2’s The Great British BakeOff to custom build a lighting solution for the hit TV series. The set forthe show was rigged in the middle of a field, and Stage Electrics broughtin BAFTA award-winning lighting designer Nick Collier to help design thelighting rig. It now sits in the roof of The Great British Bake Off ’s tent,producing the same very even lighting for each series. “We’re nowstarting series five and have done all the spin-offs including Junior BakeOff, The Great Comic Relief Bake Off and Sport Relief Bake Off. It’s ahuge success story for the BBC and a great bit of quirky British televisionwe’re really proud to be involved in,” commented Stage Electrics projectmanager Russell Payne.www.stage-electrics.co.uk

Adder ....................................25AJA........................................12BlackMagic.........................5, 31Blackmagic ............................37Bradley..................................23Bridge Technologies ................3

Canon ......................................9Cinegy ..........................13, 15, 17Cobalt....................................32Digital Rapids .......................IFCDVS .......................................14Evertz.....................................51

EVS .........................................6Harris .......................................1HHB ......................................39Infortrend Europe..................48Ikegami .................................29ISE.........................................35Lite Panels...............................7Matrox ....................................11

MediaGenix ...............43, 45, 47Miranda .................................33MOG......................................24Multidyne ..............................26Panasonic ..............................16Playbox ......................22, 41, 52Servizi Informatica.................27Snell......................................20

SSL .......................................40TC Electronics ........................10TV Logic..................................8

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TVBE Nov 2013 digital edition