KitPlus | Articles

Cue Dick Barton Music

by Charlie Watts Issue 103 - July 2015 RUN VT: This time last year the University of Portsmouth course team and students of BSc Television and Broadcasting were recovering from a mammoth charity fundraising 24 hour broadcast. In hindsight this event helped to convey what the course was capable of, and it created an unforgettable milestone moment. I...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 August 2015

6 rules for the mountains

by Steffan Hewitt Issue 100 - April 2015 There are many rules (more than 6) to working in the mountains & having just returned from the 75th running of the most famous Downhill Skiing event in the world - The Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria, here are a few essentials!1. Thermals, sunglasses, sunscreen, hats, jackets, salopettes and lots of socks....

Submitted by Steffan Hewitt

Published 01 May 2015

What a difference a decade makes

by Dick Hobbs Issue 100 - April 2015 If you have got to the back of this magazine, you cannot fail to have noticed that it is issue number 100. I asked Simon Tillyer and Matt Robbins, the dynamic duo behind the publication, how it all started. "The website was initially just a project,\" Simon said, "and when Matt arrived in the summer of 2005 we c...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 May 2015

How full is your spectrum?

by Ian Muir Issue 98 - February 2015 Colour tuneable (Bi-Colour) LED based lamps are now increasingly commonplace in the world of Film and Broadcast. Their capacity to provide a choice of colour temperatures, usually in the realms of 3200K to 5600K, can be extremely useful. This is particularly beneficial when working in environments where setup ti...

Submitted by Ian Muir

Published 01 March 2015

Bring up the bodies

by Dick Hobbs Issue 98 - February 2015 If you have even once turned on BBC television in the last couple of months, you could not fail to learn that the big blockbuster drama this winter is Wolf Hall, a television adaptation of Hilary Mantel\'s two-thirds complete trilogy about the Tudors, and Thomas Cromwell in particular. I subscribe to what seem...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2015

All I want for Christmas...

by Peter Savage Issue 96 - December 2014 As if no time has passed since last Christmas, the festive season is upon us and Xmas cheer is all around. Sticking with our own tradition of a themed view on the broadcast industry specifically, and the wider economy in general, here are our wish lists for Santa. Five wants A good story about the banking...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 January 2015

Everything you ever needed to know about Wireless Links

by Michael Coyler Issue 96 - December 2014 Wireless links - be it catapulting footage from the cockpit of a Formula One Car as it reaches 180MPH into a knifepoint turn, or feeding a screen in the serene landscape of Scotland\'s world-renowned links for this year\'s Ryder Cup - Radio Frequency (RF) links have taken a major foothold in recent years i...

Submitted by Michael Coyler

Published 01 January 2015

Capture and Produce

Issue 94 - October 2014One of the hot topics at this year’s IBC was undoubtedly the growing adoption of end-to-end IP production and the imminent death of SDI. During a panel session, hosted by Mediasmiths and Cognizant, and including representatives from BBC, Sony and more, the key point made was that the adoption of IP production technology and w...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014

Everything you need to know about Anamorphic Lenses

by Les Zellan Issue 94 - October 2014 Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, film studios and theatre owners panicked. Television was the emerging new technology and as it expanded in popularity they feared audiences would shun the theatre to stay home and watch TV instead. What could they do to beat that? They needed a competitive edge to draw au...

Submitted by Les Zellan

Published 01 November 2014

Move and Deliver

Issue 93 - September 2014 In an industry that hands out a lot of awards, it can be easy to take the revelation of each golden statuette or glass embossed brick with a pinch of salt. When NATAS hands out a Technology and Engineering Emmy, however, people sit up and take notice. This month Video Services Forum, Media Links, Nevion, DVBlink, Inc, Harr...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

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

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

A new age of teleprompting?

by Jon Hilton Issue 92 - August 2014 Whilst it may not be the first thing on the production agenda, one could argue it is an essential production tool today delivering at least two fundamental production values. Firstly it can save you money by reducing the time required to get that perfect take and secondly it means that your presenter will be wor...

Submitted by Jon Hilton#

Published 01 September 2014

Is the future virtual

by Dick Hobbs Issue 91 - July 2014 Just a couple of days ago, I went to a memorial service for a very nice man called John Wilson. If you have heard of John, it was probably for his work as the chairman of IBC in the 1990s, leading the move from Brighton to Amsterdam, then to an annual event, then to its management by an independent and professiona...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 August 2014

QSC Sound Reinforcement System Supports Daft Punk, Michae...

Over the past 12 months, London-based audio and lighting equipment supply and rental business Podd Sound has increasingly turned to a QSC WideLine-8 line array for sound reinforcement at the PAs, live webcasts, launch parties and live performances that form a major part of its business. Since last year, founder Mat Pod has worked for some of the ho...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 June 2014