KitPlus | Articles

Near-live production with Softrons multicam logger

by Alastair Owen Issue 85 - January 2014 Berlin-based edelbytes works with German broadcasters for channels such as ZDFkultur, tape.tv and 3sat to deliver coverage of live events music concerts, arts shows with a live audience, comedy and cabaret. But its coverage with a twist. Side-stepping the big-budget satellite van template for live event broa...

Submitted by Alastair Owen

Published 01 February 2014

Ooh ahh.. just a little DIT with Will Strauss

by Will Strauss Issue 84 - December 2013 Issue 84 - December 2013 Like the Offshore Windfarm Engineer or the Waste Management Consultant, the Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) is very much a 21st Century profession and one that didnt exist 10 years ago. Generally recruited for a digitally-shot feature film, commercial or TV drama, the role was initi...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 January 2014

Will Strauss looks at automatic QC for the people

by Will StraussIssue 83 - November 2013 The method in which television producers should deliver their programmes to UK broadcasters is changing. From 1 October 2014 it will be digital files, rather than HDCam SR tapes, that are the preference. It is a fundamental and fairly disruptive change that is the cause of much debate right now. The parameter...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 December 2013

Revealing the real-lives behind 999 responses

by Jonathan BoltonIssue 82 - October 2013 Jonathan Bolton, head of PROCAMS Manchester operation discusses the challenges of capturing real time footage when following emergency services on call. Factual programming has seen a revolution. Viewers want more from factual programmes: they no longer want traditional, staid documentaries, but want to se...

Submitted by Jonathan Bolton

Published 01 November 2013

Just the facts with Dick Hobbs

My best ever expenses claim – back in the days when I was employed and had someone to claim expenses from – included the line item “Charter of train”. This was 25 or more years ago, back when IBC alternated with a television exhibition in Montreux in Switzerland. My employer at the time was launching something pretty revolutionary (although they su...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

Professional Video Editing Just Got Better

Endorsed by twenty five thousand Facebook fans, six industry awards and thousands of new users through the trial download and active forum communities, Autodesk, Inc.,announced that the new Autodesk Smoke 2013, professional video editing software is now shipping. “The anticipation for Smoke, since its thrilling announcement at the National Associat...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 February 2013

Plan Bs Playing with Fire Gets the DaVinci Resolve Treatm...

London-born rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director Plan B first hit the hip hop scene with his critically acclaimed debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. Since then Plan B has released a further two albums, made on-screen film appearances and picked up scores of industry accolades including Best Male Solo Artist at t...

Submitted by Dan Moran

Published 01 February 2013

No more pizza for Dick Hobbs!

A couple of months ago I used this column to talk about geeks and nerds. Our industry depends upon them, whether we like it or not. Re-reading the article, I was struck by the fact that I quoted four people in the article (five if you count Christian Louboutin). All were male. According to a recent survey just 17% of the people in the technology se...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2013

The joy of field editing

In the world of remote working, cloud storage and instant news, the ability to edit on location at a shoot has become a pre-requisite. Only a few years ago, field editing used to be merely about the quick rough cut, the assembly of proxy files or simply the ingest of media in an edit-friendly format. These days, however, energy efficient, high perf...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 February 2013

Strictly successful

It has been hard not to spend most of my time thinking about the BBC recently. While it may be the very epitome of the public service broadcasting ethos, it is bizarre to watch one BBC programme unleash invective on another BBC programme, lashing people who probably buy each other coffee on a daily basis. How did John Humphreys feel going to work t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

The semantic web made simple

There is a new term creeping in to discussions in the broadcasting business, and particularly around those involved in asset management and research projects. The term is “semantic web” and, I suspect, there are a lot of people who are neither completely sure they know what it means, nor trust its relevance in our business. I aim to provide some si...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

The evolution from audio to PIX

Sound Devices has built a strong reputation throughout the world as a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio field recorders and mixers renowned for rugged reliability, operational flexibility and pristine audio quality. While our users are quite familiar with our folks in sales, marketing and technical support areas, they may not be aware of t...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2012

Building an HD MCR for The Associated Press

The Associated Press delivers fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, it has grown into a large and trusted source of independent news and information. AP’s activity in the broadcast market centres on the supply of live and edited video to over 500 broadcasting operations and 200 news...

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

Back to Basics with Stereo 3D

In 2011 more than 35 networks in Europe and North America will broadcast stereo 3D programming — and several will launch dedicated 3D channels. 40 3D features are expected to hit theatres this year, and stereo-3D-ready consumer devices from TVs to video cameras to smartphones are hitting the streets. The demand for compelling content to meet the ne...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011