KitPlus | Articles

2011: 3D Make or break?

Last year was predicted to be the year when 3D would leap forward or flop. History is littered with short periods of interest and development only for 3D to drop off the scene again. 3D Diaries has maintained that this time it’s different as now nearly all the right technologies are available – the only missing link being a practical autostereoscop...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Audio loudness for video post

For decades audiences have been complaining about the differences in perceived loudness between different parts of a television service, most commonly that the commercials seem louder than the programmes. Finally broadcasters, prompted in many cases by regulators, have addressed the issue. Over the last decade research has determined what it is tha...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Quality is the best policy

Despite all the changes in our industry at the moment – and maybe because of them – quality is more important than ever. HD has become the production standard norm. Why have audiences embraced HD so enthusiastically? Because it looks and sounds great. If you have a 42” or bigger screen in your home then the difference between SD and HD is obvious t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Grading across the Atlantic

In the last five years, color correction has made leaps and bounds in terms of the way we grade, the performance capabilities of grading systems and even the locations where we grade. Only a few years ago, color correction suites were isolated rooms that were nearly impossible to connect to other offices or artists. But the color world has changed...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Finding the right online video solution

Choosing the right online video platform is crucial to having a successful online video strategy. It’s not just a platform that enables your audience to access your content, it’s also a device that you can use to measure the success and learn more about your audience to build a community and increase engagement. Content owners frequently ask about...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

2011 wasnt all that bad for TV & Commercials, was it?...

2011 was pretty depressing, reading the paper or watching the news was a miserable experience, and all in all, those who still have a job, or have a business should apparently be chuffed to bits!Manufacturers have had a torrid 2011 with various disasters striking key supply lines around the world, meaning shortage of tape stock, and now hard drives...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

So why bother with training?

Joseph Turner, the famous British painter (1775 to 1851) studied at the Royal College of Art from 1789 until his first exhibition at the Academy in 1793. Rembrandt (1606 to 1669) studied first with the famous painter Jacob van Swanenburgh and then with Pieter Lastman. Young talented artists need guidance from experienced and talented teachers to he...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Headache-free 3D

With over 30 broadcast channels now offering 3D programmes, and cinemas in practically every major town and city equipped to show 3D films, demand for stereoscopic content is increasing rapidly. Display manufacturers are now responding to this growing market with various new technologies intended to improve the viewing experience. A useful show for...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Commercial break

The first commercial to be shown on British television was for Gibbs SR toothpaste, transmitted at 20.12 on 22 September, 1955. Back then, according to Lord Thomson, the founder of Scottish Television, commercial television was “a licence to print money”. The first ad I remember was from around 1960. A bloke in a trenchcoat and hat – not cause for...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Sennheiser MKH 8060, 8070 and MKE1 Lapel microphone revie...

Sennheiser recently asked me to review two new MKH series microphones, and a new Lapel MKE 1I had a job coming up and I thought this would be the perfect time to try the two MKH microphones out. The job was a TV commercial. We would shoot on the beach and in Jumeirah Beach Park. For my set up, I decided I would use a PSC Alphamix Mixer, a Sound Dev...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

3D Five years on

For me, IBC2006 was the beginning of the modern 3D era. At an invitation-only presentation, 3ality’s CEO Steve Schklair described what his company was achieving with S3D. Suddenly it all made sense. With the accuracy of digital shoots and computer technology replacing difficulties and expense of working with film, 3D could now be viable. Unlike the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

tv-bay Questions

Name & Title?Doug Garside, Chief Engineer at Edit 19 Ltd. based in ManchesterWho are you? (about yourself and who you work for)?As a teenage performer, I attended Manchester Youth Theatre for two years running and appeared in numerous amateur and college productions, including once being naked on stage at a catholic college! Having completed my A l...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

10 things you must monitor

Everyone will have their own view as to the ‘critical’ items that have to be monitored constantly in broadcast. It was this need to offer a solution to QC that led PHABRIX to create a new range of products moving on from the highly successful PHABRIX Sx hand held products to a rack mount solution. The PHABRIX Rx series was released at NAB this year...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Monitoring in the file-based environment

One of the major challenges facing broadcasters and content producers today is quality control. In the traditional model QC was performed by skilled viewers in real time, watching the content on a good monitor alongside a waveform monitor and audio meters to ensure the technical parameters were optimised. That is still critical, although the onus f...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Eye to eye: How secure is your content?

Before getting up steam for this article, I contacted a former colleague who worked for several decades on the editorial side of the consumer-audio press. He became one of the first collectors of Compact Discs, a medium trusted by many archivists. The oldest items in his collection date back to the original Q4 1982 launch of audio CDs. Were the old...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011