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Legacy and The Olympics

Legacy And The OlympicsLove sport or hate sport, the Olympics have arrived. What will they mean for you, me and the broadcast sector, asks Peter SavageThe days might still be counting down but there is no doubt: the Olympics have arrived. The Olympic torch is being carried round the country, test events have taken place in Olympic arenas, and the f...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

So you think you know Flash?

So you think you know Flash?It is becoming widely accepted that HTML5 will eventually replace Flash as the platform for rich content and video on connected devices, but how can video publishers make the leap and avoid the pitfalls?David Springall, YospaceBack in the early nineties, when what few websites existed were almost completely static, a com...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

Goes One Step Beyond In The Competitive Loudness Metering...

Over the last few years audio loudness has been a hot topic for the broadcast industry and one of the key issues faced by engineers in control of audio output. Significant differences in volume have led to many complaints from viewers who don’t like having to reach for the remote every time they change channel or are faced with a deafening commerci...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

SOCIAL FINANCE AND LAS VEGAS : A WORLD APART OR ARE THEY...

Peter Savage draws parallels between funding for social benefit and the razzamatazz of NAB in Las Vegas. Last month we discussed crowdfunding in the context of TV and film production. It’s funding again this month because, during our ‘Look, Listen, Experience’ speaking tour, several people asked me whether social and/or community funding are potent...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

3D audio - a dimension worth adding

3D audio - a dimension worth addingThose of you that have just returned from NAB may have been surprised to witness the distinct lack of stereo 3D hype during the show. I certainly was. After several conventions in a row when stereoscopy seemed to unnecessarily dominate the press announcements, the halls and some of the chatter, 2012 finally saw th...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2012

Crowd funding

MONEY AND THE POWER OF THE MIGHTY INTERNET!Peter Savage marvels at the power of the Internet to bring low cost documentary films to market and, inevitably, has an idea for one of his ownFor the last two weeks I have been speaking at the Look Listen Experience roadshow around Great Britain and, after my short (and sometimes informative) speech on bu...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 2012

Cloud Matter Part 1 - Fear of Fluff!

Although I’m writing this article in the usual way, by sitting at my desk and tapping on my keyboard, the only app running on my computer is the web browser. I can see the article on the screen but have no idea where it’s being stored. Still I have every confidence that it will be instantly recalled whenever I want it.... provided my modem and Inte...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

Casual specs

If you are a regular reader of this column, you probably know by now that I am a lover of technology that is useful, or at least very attractive. On the other hand I am quite scornful of stuff that engineers come up with because they can, without ever having an idea of what it is for. I do not go to the CES show – one trip a year to Las Vegas is en...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

How to choose a Location?

How to choose a Location?Clearly it depends on what your script or brief says so we need some examples to work with:Location 1: two back-gardens with a low fence between them. Script: one householder is envious of his next-door neighbour's new lawn mower. Location 2: a school playground. Script: a cuddly-toy monster is handing out a new range of ch...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

The premiership and conference leagues of online video

In a digital age where football clubs stand on multiple platforms, it’s the tribal ideologies and camaraderie that tie fan communities and club media together. But although personality and branding is key, so is the technology and functionality that powers the media content globally. Manchester United were ranked 6th most recognisable brand in a wo...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2012

BVE in the video on-demand era

Within the last ten years, on-demand culture has changed the way that the world accesses media. From Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday afternoons to Champions League highlights on a Tuesday evening, there is no longer any excuse to miss anything that we would otherwise tune into live. The same now goes for exhibitions, as not only is it hard e...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Dick gets hands on

There is a new buzz phrase in computer magazines at the moment. It is “digital skeuomorphism”, an expression which has come to describe the way that a user interface is designed to look like something else. To give an example of digital skeuomorphism, the picture is of my iPad calendar. The point is not to show how busy I am at NAB, but to show the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

RECESSION LOOMS: DOES THAT MEAN DOOM AND GLOOM?

Peter Savage argues that if you think creatively, there are opportunities out there to help your business survive the recession. Since I started writing this column in July 2007 (yes, it has been that long) the financial world has flipped over and is now standing on its head. Lehman Brothers went during IBC 2008 and, since then, life has become, if...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

A morning with MTF¦¦.

A morning with MTF……. Ever wondered what that little blue ring you see between the camera body and lens is? Lens adapters are not unique and are available from many people for many application, what however makes MTF a bit different and what sets their products apart as being arguably the best in the world…and made in the UK?Before visiting MTF I s...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Review on the Autocue SSP17 Starter Series

The time has come. My home made “autocue”, although working well, needed to be upgraded. It had served me well for a couple of years, but I needed something a bit higher quality and slightly bigger. So Autocue kindly loaned me one of their SSP17 Starter Package prompters. Their Starter Series of prompters is exactly that, it’s their lower end promp...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012