KitPlus | Articles

The evolution of vision mixers

by Liam Laminman Issue 104 - August 2015 At the heart of any multi-camera production is a vision mixer or production switcher as some people call them. Its core role is the switching of different sources, primarily cameras, often VTs and sometimes incoming external sources such as remote feeds from broadcasters. Even for non-TV types, thats relativ...

Submitted by Liam Laminman

Published 01 September 2015

Every election counts

by Charlie Watts Issue 102 - June 2015 "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.\" - JF KennedyThis may seem slightly overblown, but that is how we face things here in the University of Portsmouth. It\'s possibly because we have to try that little bit harder due to our...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 July 2015

Tune in and turn on

by Dick Hobbs Issue 99 - March 2015 It was World Radio Day last month. Friday the thirteenth, to be precise, but I do not think the date was chosen with disaster in mind. In fact the date was set to celebrate the anniversary of the launch of United Nations Radio, on 13 February 1946. Unesco created World Radio Day much more recently: the first was...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 April 2015

The business of University: Or lack thereof

by Ashley Golder Issue 97 - January 2015 University. Finally a time of critical thinking, training for your future career and coming out with enough knowledge to confidently acquire a job... or rather that is the plan. But what if that doesn\'t happen? When the £9,000 a year tuition fee, plus the expense of living costs rear their ugly heads and th...

Submitted by Ashley Golder

Published 01 February 2015

Stars of the show - A visitors view

by Ben Sheriff Issue 96 - December 2014 Yesterday TV-BAY - Kit Plus came to East London\'s Brick Lane showcasing a roadshow packed with great seminars and kit to whet our appetites in advance of BVE in February. It was no great surprise that, for the DPs and camera operators at least the star of the event was the Sony PXW-FS7. Sony\'s latest large...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 01 January 2015

The Tour Revisited

Issue 96 - December 2014The November tour attracted over 1500 registrations visiting London and Manchester for one day in Shoreditch and the next in MediaCityUK. We asked people what they thought and there was simply too much to print. However here are the selected, together with our gallery and answers where there were issues, comments from visito...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 January 2015

Training in the video industry

by Bob Butler Issue 95 - November 2014 I have read quite a lot recently about training in the \'Video\' industry. Whilst it is true that as a hire company we at Broadcast Services are often surprised at the lack of knowledge about equipment, we can understand it to a point, due to the ever changing digital world. Not so long ago there were only a c...

Submitted by Bob Butler

Published 01 December 2014

In the Field

by Robin Brown Issue 93 - September 2014 Traditionally teleprompters were seen solely as a studio staple, but for more than two decades they have been consistently supporting talent in the field in a variety of locations around the globe. The numerous step changes in technology, which have had such a dramatic impact on all types of television equip...

Submitted by Robin Brown

Published 01 October 2014

Keeping it real

by Will Strauss Issue 92 - August 2014 With Sky buying into an immersive video start-up, and the BBC trialling content on an Oculus Rift headset, virtual reality could be about to move from simply sets and studios to a whole new realm. Once residing purely in the realms of science fiction and, latterly, video gaming, it appears that virtual reality...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 September 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

Tales from the teaching trenches: The offline, online bat...

by Charlie Watts Issue 85 - January 2014 Since the digital explosion of multiple video formats, students of higher education have often faced the process of ingest or capture with gritted teeth, and the drag and drop culture of speed and the \'quick fix\' has inadvertently created indifference to a vastly important part of the post-production proce...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 February 2014

Broadcasting from the icy tundra

by BJ KirschhofferIssue 84 - December 2013 Polar Bears International (PBI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to polar bear conservation and educating people about the effects of climate change on the arctic ecosystem. PBIs free educational broadcasts connect scientists in the field with students from all over the world who want to learn about...

Submitted by BJ Kirschhoffer

Published 01 January 2014

The UKs PTZ explosion

by Kieron SethIssue 83 - November 2013 The advent of broadcast quality, remotely controlled PTZ cameras has had an enormous impact on television production in the UK. Not only can cameras now be discreetly placed in virtually any location but they can also be operated a very small team of technicians. This combination of creative freedom and the si...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2013

Feeding a world hungry for instant news and entertainment

by Lorna GarrettIssue 81 - September 2013 It might sound cliche, but it is definitely true: the news never sleeps. With a third of the year still left, 2013 has already seen a host of events that have captured the worlds attention. From the anticipation of a royal baby to the devastation of hurricanes, tornados and bombings, from encounters on the...

Submitted by Lorna Garrett

Published 01 October 2013

Education: Live TV approaches to learning without a safe...

by Jennie RawlingIssue 81 - September 2013 Live broadcasting is the core business of the University of Portsmouth course, BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting, and they are now entering into their fifth successive year of weekly television output. Course leader and senior lecturer Charlie Watts is delighted with the developments so far, but there...

Submitted by Jennie Rawling

Published 01 October 2013