KitPlus | Articles

Is the future virtual

by Dick Hobbs Issue 91 - July 2014 Just a couple of days ago, I went to a memorial service for a very nice man called John Wilson. If you have heard of John, it was probably for his work as the chairman of IBC in the 1990s, leading the move from Brighton to Amsterdam, then to an annual event, then to its management by an independent and professiona...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 August 2014

Information Control and Automation but not as you know it

by Sandra Squire Issue 90 - June 2014 Cameras, branding, lighting and timers all at the touch of a button. Accurate clocks, timing and cue information are essential components of any broadcasting environment directors, production teams and presenters have always depended on them for the delivery of broadcast critical operations. This is still the c...

Submitted by Sandra Squire

Published 01 July 2014

Rotolight ANOVA from the eyes of a DoP

by Alasdair McBroom Issue 90 - June 2014 Belfast based Photographer and DoP, Alasdair McBroom talks about his experience of the Rotolight ANOVA V2 that he used to light his latest projects working along side Director / Writer Stuart Drennan (Hollyoaks, BBC, Channel 4) for their TV and Film Production Company, Wolfhound Media. The Rotolight Anova V2...

Submitted by Alasdair McBroom

Published 01 July 2014

Does lack of training produce inaudible sound

by John Barlow Issue 89 - May 2014 Jamaica Inn just happens to be the latest example of a mainstream TV drama production being broadcast with inaudible dialogue. The reasons vary from production to production but the end result is always an enormous waste of both acting and technical talent along with immense swathes of production budgets. Was it a...

Submitted by John Barlow

Published 01 June 2014

Problems and solutions in audio

by Mike Law Issue 89 - May 2014 BCD Audio is a UK manufacturing and design company specialising in audio products for the global broadcast and professional market. Mike Law is company managing director and also head of design. He is a member of the IET and the AES. He presents here several case studies to illustrate how the company has been able to...

Submitted by Mike Law#

Published 01 June 2014

Taming the Thames for Boat Race coverage

by Presteigne Charter Issue 89 - May 2014 Each April teams representing the two oldest universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge, meet on the Thames for one of the toughest challenges in rowing. A very popular event, this years race, which was covered by BBC Sport, saw Oxford claim an emphatic 11-length victory over their old rivals. Leading hi...

Submitted by Presteigne Charter

Published 01 June 2014

4K at NAB

by Bob Pank Issue 89 - May 2014 The long term NAB veterans will be well aware of just how quickly new technologies can come and go in the television industry. For instance, only a couple of years ago, 3D was still the hot topic, now it has gone quiet, but not altogether gone away. So it is good to report that 4K had another very good NAB, probably...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2014

Game Set Match

by Nico Lewis & Jon Ridel Issue 89 - May 2014 Sports events such as the Super Bowl, the Winter Games in Sochi and the Wimbledon Championships are among the most prestigious jobs for broadcast companies. The larger the event, the more viewers it reaches and consequentially, the more complicated and important the communication system becomes. Without...

Submitted by Nico Lewis

Published 01 June 2014

Object of desire

by Will Strauss Issue 89 - May 2014 If NAB is a decent yardstick, 2014 is all about 4k and why, when and how it might become a mainstream TV proposition. But in amongst all this pixel counting and discussion about higher frame rates, there is a subject that often gets forgotten but definitely deserves a mention, one that is closely linked to the in...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2014

Whats in a name

by Dick Hobbs Issue 88 - April 2014 That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Juliet, being a bit too passionate for her tender years, thinks that Romeo would, if he were not Romeo calld, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. When I was Juliets age, and had done something which deserved a treat, I wo...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 May 2014

Fixing that inhospitable location shoot

by Harry Amies Issue 88 - April 2014 Say Iran. What do most people think of? Hostage-taking, nuclear programmes, angry mobs, CGI outsourcing, VFX, a multi-million dollar movie industry? If Harry Amies and Amir Rezazadeh of UK based co-producers HarryAmir have anything to do with it itll be the last three. HarryAmir is a UK-based company, that helps...

Submitted by Harry Amies

Published 01 May 2014

Dick Hobbs reaches for the remote

by Dick Hobbs Issue 87 - March 2014 I spent two weeks of February working in South Africa. I tell you this not to make you jealous although temperatures were around the 30 degree mark in glorious sunshine while those I left behind in England were forming local action committees to watch puddles. Neither am I trying to suggest some sort of superiori...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 April 2014

Dick Hobbs is Counting Pixels

by Dick Hobbs Issue 86 - February 2014 At the start of each year you hear the sound and fury as the technology correspondents of broadcasters and the popular press head off to Las Vegas for CES, the annual exhibition of the Consumer Electronics Association. I have never been: I feel that two trips to Las Vegas a year would count as cruel and unusua...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2014

Disaster Recovery with Peter Savage

by Peter Savage Issue 86 - February 2014 Disaster recovery planning was, on the morning of Sunday 9th February, as far from my mind as was winning the figure-skating gold medal at Sochi. I recall my Rothschild days when we employed one guy whose job was almost totally devoted to what if strategic thinking and preparation. However, Azule is a small...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2014

Will Strauss looks at 6 reasons why 4k is so special

by Will Strauss Issue 86 - February 2014 4k (or UHD) is everywhere. Whether you want it or not, it is (slowly) permeating the living room - in the form of TV sets - and gradually becoming more commonplace on location and in the studio. Someday soon it will be broadcast in the UK too. As Bob Pank points out on page 56 there are a number of reasons f...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 March 2014