KitPlus | Articles

Social Media... a filmmakers new best friend?

by Beth Zarkhosh Issue 96 - December 2014 Social media platforms can be extremely helpful the mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube can be utilised for everything from generating interest in a project and sourcing ideas, getting feedback to getting funding. Sifting through my own personal Facebook and Twitter feeds I am...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 01 January 2015

Matrox Monarch HD

Issue 96 - December 2014 Matrox Monarch HD is the video streaming and recording appliance for the first live underground music site of its kind, DMO Live (Don't Miss Out), a new platform that records and live-streams international music parties, exclusive artist interviews and festivals direct to the DMO website. Created for the electronic music lo...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 January 2015

The Pitfalls of buying second hand kit

by Peter Savage Issue 95 - November 2014 Last week a client, on the lookout for some second-hand kit, asked me about the basic ground rules when buying equipment. How could he be assured that everything was sound, and in an orderly fashion, and that he would be able to gain good title on the equipment? There are two ways to buy equipment: through a...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 December 2014

REVIEW: Matrox Monarch HD

by Colin Ashby Issue 95 - November 2014 Firstly, a confession; it\'s a fair bet that, technically, I know a lot less than you the reader although I\'ve worked in broadcast television for over 30 years so I have a lot of hands-on experience. To balance this out, I\'m a cameraman so we\'re by nature attracted to new models, bright shiny things, whist...

Submitted by Colin Ashby

Published 01 December 2014

News

Issue 94 - October 2014The most complete, compact multimedia studio in the World NewTek™ have unveiled TriCaster Mini™––the world’s most complete and compact multimedia studio. The ultra-portable system allows anyone who doesn’t speak or understand the technical language of video production or broadcasting to transform an ordinary presentation into...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014

Capture and Produce

Issue 93 - September 2014 Amongst all the new cameras, support and other production kit being touted prior to IBC, it was a less tangible announcement that really captured the imagination: Atomos’ announcement that it wants to standardize its Start/Stop Trigger connectivity for HDMI by making it available to other manufacturers. Locking SDI interfa...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2014

Shooting Cinematically

by Ben Baldwin Issue 93 - September 2014 One Monday morning in July I headed to Pinewood Studios to spend an hour in the company of Den Lennie and Philip Bloom for a Sony Webinar - Shooting Cinematically. Both DOPs share a passion for helping aspiring filmmakers grow their skills and confidence and both have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to c...

Submitted by Ben Baldwin

Published 01 October 2014

Suriving IBC

by Larry Jordan Issue 93 - September 2014 I long ago lost count of the number of trade shows I’ve attended -- it runs into the hundreds. From small table-top affairs to massive shows like IBC, NAB, CES, and many others now long forgotten, I’ve attended shows, exhibited at shows, and covered shows as press. In this article, I want to share my experi...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 October 2014

Fashionable Live Streaming

by Katie Phibbs Issue 93 - September 2014 For the launch of their Autumn Winter 2014 collection, Ted Baker called on London studio 3xScreen Media to provide an ambitious production and live streaming solution. The brief was to provide catwalk coverage via four simultaneous live streams viewed in a player designed and built for purpose. The fashion...

Submitted by Kate Phibbs

Published 01 October 2014

How to Sell a Film Before it is Made

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 93 - September 2014 Independent filmmakers can produce some of the most gripping, compelling and original cinematic works around, but without funding it’s a real struggle to piece together the requisite resources for such productions to get the backing that they deserve. So what’s the answer? Simple - sell the DVD before you’v...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 01 October 2014

Portaprompt Tablet Prompter

by Mark Stopher Issue 93 - September 2014 The Portaprompt Tablet Prompter is a nifty mounting system that allows you to place a tablet on the front of your camera and use it as a screen for your teleprompter. Recently, I was using it in a studio set up to film some product demonstrations - using an iPad. I was impressed!The system has a 12’’ piece...

Submitted by Mark Stopher

Published 01 October 2014

Israels i24news

by Jason Danielston Issue 92 - August 2014 Israeli international news channel i24news went on air in July 2013. Broadcasting from Jaffa port, Tel Aviv, it airs international news on three channels in three languages: English, French, and Arabic. The channel provides news content and magazine pieces to 800 million households around the world on cabl...

Submitted by Jason Danielson#

Published 01 September 2014

Vision for the future of TV

Issue 92 - August 2014During the Commonwealth Games BBC Research and Development took the opportunity to unveil a range of new trials and public demonstrations as part of its Games showcase. These experiments brought together a wide range of industry partners and are helping to shape BBC R&D’s vision for the future of TV, and included a number of b...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 September 2014

UWP-D11 Review

by Kevin Cook Issue 91 - July 2014 Ever since the new regulations in the UK on radio microphone frequencies were introduced in the UK at the end of 2012, the days were numbered for my trusty old Sony UWP series radio mic system (consisting of the URX-P1 UHF dual-diversity receiver and UTX-B1 transmitter). Whilst super-reliable and excellent quality...

Submitted by Kevin Cook

Published 01 August 2014

Seamless and automated online publishing

by Rino Petricola Issue 91 - July 2014 In todays anywhere/anytime/any screen media environment, companies and advertisers have an unprecedented opportunity to connect with audiences. Consumers appetite for Internet-enabled gadgets and devices is showing no signs of abating, driven by improvements in encoding technology and bandwidth infrastructure....

Submitted by Rino Petricola

Published 01 August 2014