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TV Bay Questions

Who are you? (about yourself and Online Creative)I am the owner of Brighton based post production facility, Online Creative Ltd. I started the company in 1999 primarily as an edit facility which has since developed further into a production company and training facility. We have recently invested in a fully equipped grading suite to add to the serv...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2011

Flipping the Switch to Wireless Lighting Control

Despite the fact that the wider world is increasingly adopting multiple forms of wireless control and communication, the professional lighting industry continues to, by and large, be dominated by the wired link to carry the universal DMX512 control standard. There’s no question that wired DMX512 offers simplicity for point-to-point links to large b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 January 2011

TSL snaps up Ravensbourne gig

Ravensbourne College is one of the UK’s leading educators in the field of broadcast production and technology. In October 2010 the college moved from its campus in Chislehurst to a brand-new purpose-built building in the Greenwich Peninsula. Ravensbourne were looking to appoint a systems integrator to design a new end-to-end broadcast facility. TSL...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2010

Ravensbourne 21st Century Broadcast Education

Just over eighteen months ago, Adrian Scott of the Bakewell House Consultancy was commissioned to guide Ravensbourne through the EU Tendering process to appoint a Systems Integrator to transform the broadcast facilities of Ravensbourne as it moved into its new multi-million pound home at Greenwich Peninsula. Winning the contract, TSL rose to the ch...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2010

Around the globe with Q-Ball

The bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin was celebrated during 2009 by a variety of TV programmes studying the background to his 1859 book 'On the Origin of Species'. One of the most ambitious tributes was a 35-part series planned and produced by Dutch broadcaster VPRO. Rather than hire a studio, they commissioned the three-masted clipper Sta...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2010

TV Bay Questions

Who are you? (about yourself and Sequence)My name is Ben Foakes,29 years old and founder/ majority owner of Sequence. I work as an editor and post-supervisor as well as jointly running Sequence with my co-manager Kevin Chapman and our fantastic team of staff. The company was setup in June 2004, starting as a single home FCP suite and rapidly growin...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2010

The University of Sunderland

OverviewThe University of Sunderland School of Arts, Design and Media in Northeast England operates one of the country’s most vibrant and well-equipped media departments in the country. With a rating of excellence from the Quality Assurance Agency, the media and cultural studies department attracts a diverse group of students to its undergraduate a...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Ensuring the longevity of an archive

The role of the archive has changed dramatically over the last few years. Every broadcaster in the world, regardless of their size, has the tools at their disposal to unlock their assets, digitise and repurpose their content for renewed monetisation and, in some cases, for the benefit of historic value. Tapping into new revenue streams is essential...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Safekeeping for the Future

A CIRENCESTER audio archival engineering company has just finished working on a set of African recordings that are more than a century old. Paul Turney, of Sirensound Digital, was commissioned to digitize the wax cylinders for future safekeeping of the audio. Wax cylinders were patented by Thomas Edison and were one of the earliest form of sound re...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2010

Nucoda Film Master builds tension on Mistresses

Fans of popular UK television drama Mistresses saw the third series air on BBC One and BBC HD in August. Shot in Bristol on RED, the four x 60 minute drama was edited and graded at Bristol-based post production facility Films@59, who also supplied the camera kit. Produced by Ecosse Films, Mistresses delves into the tangled lives of four female frie...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

Making the grade

As we enjoy the Summer of 2010 the UK production industry remains in the grip of recession. Also, as noted in the recent UK Screen report, competition within the post production industry is damaging its own members with dangerous price wars. However, the biggest threat is coming from another direction – production companies and agencies bringing in...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2010

3D Diaries Part 2 Cameras and rigs

The idea of S-3D is not hard to grasp: one image for each eyeball. But making it work well enough to maintain the 3D illusion for the viewer is far from simple or straightforward. The fun starts with acquisition that breaks into two types of operation; live (no post production) and not live (with post). Shooting 3D requires acquiring two streams of...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2010

How to create and brand a live TV experience online

Late last year, Pixel Power worked closely with the Perform Group to brand the first ever live England football match online, a landmark event. Before we discuss that in detail, there is a wider question to answer: what do we mean by “branding”? Branding is fundamentally how you differentiate your channel; how you make it stand out in the crowd and...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2010

Does one size fits all

Economic realities are driving most technical industries toward considering solutions that combine what began as stand-alone, discrete devices into single, multifunction systems. In the broadcast and multimedia production arenas, character generators (CGs) are among the discrete systems now being offered in multifunction platforms. The assumption i...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2010

Filming Underwater

Filming underwater remains one of the toughest assignments for any professional production, whether documentary or drama. There are safety concerns involved in having crew and, possibly talent, working underwater. Documentary filmmakers often operate in remote locations, far from medical aid and, especially, decompression chambers needed to treat b...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2010