KitPlus | Articles

Continuous power in the field

When on location whether in the depths of a jungle with reduced access to power or in a city centre with limited charging opportunities then good consideration to your kit bag is needed to remove those power hungry devices that could leave you running short for the final big shot of the day!The benefits of field recorders are well known, often doub...

Submitted by Raymond Burns

Published 01 July 2013

Do you have firmware deficiency syndrome?

For 5 days in June 2013 we did a survey on Facebook and our own website and asked how often camera users had gone online to check for firmware updates…Checked online for a firmware upgrade….. …within last 30 days 18%…within last 90 days 9%…within last 12 months 3%…never checked online 70%We could have gone further to see which users used what camer...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

The Teradek Bolt reviewed

The location is a small busy working kitchen of a top London restaurant; the chef and kitchen staff have enough on their plate (!) without having to worry about avoiding cables and bumping into members of the crew filming them go about their business. The soundman is able to keep himself out of the way, not causing trip hazards with cables and the...

Submitted by Jon Boast

Published 01 July 2013

The evolution of camera connectivity and the HPX600

Tape in, tape out. Cable in, video out. Card in, card out. Simpler times: productions orchestrated by an army of runners, tape op’s and engineers, with transmission to TV, ingest via a VTR and a room dedicated to storing media. Today’s production team has changed. It’s become a small elite squad, tasked with multi-channel playout, multi-resolution...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 July 2013

Making the second screen work

With little fuss, a major revolution has transformed the way that many – almost certainly the majority – consumers watch television. They now watch with a smartphone or a tablet in their hands. This is a genuine demand: consumers love the second screen. The key is for broadcasters to embrace it as an opportunity, and to ensure that, wherever possib...

Submitted by Mark Christie

Published 01 July 2013

Does size matter? with Polecam

It’s simple. Horses for Courses! ScenarioWhen shooting Anything, Anywhere, there is always a trade between budget, performance, manpower, speed and space – the production company and client will inevitably want quite simply “the best they can get and at the best price”. However when the application and location of the shoot dictate over and above t...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 July 2013

How to choose the right broadcast microphone

By Ralph Dunlop, Director, Sound Network– UK distributor for DPA Microphones1. What are most common types of microphones for broadcast use and how far has microphone technology progressed in the digital world?Traditionally the most popular microphone used in broadcast and film sound recording was the “Boom” mounted mic. The problem with older boom...

Submitted by Ralph Dunlop

Published 01 June 2013

Loudness: What happens now if my work is not compliant?

Now that loudness is a mandatory requirement in the United States, Europe, and much of the rest of the world, it’s not so much a question of when organizations will begin to comply, but how?1. Now the standards are in place, what happens now if my work is not compliant?There are varying repercussions for noncompliance, depending where you work and...

Submitted by Jon Schorah

Published 01 June 2013

Will Strauss captures some decent sound gear

Capturing decent location sound requires skill, experience and, as Will Strauss discovered when compiling a list of recent audio acquisition innovations, piles of expensive kit. Although some cameramen might disagree, audio is still the most important thing to get right when on location. The odd dodgy shot can, generally speaking, be sorted in post...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2013

LiveU Buyers guide to cellular uplinking

With Ronen Artman, LiveUCellular uplinking continues to change the way that video is gathered in the field, bringing new levels of flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The technology allows broadcasters to alter the way that they approach events, be that news, sports, community activities or anything in between. It has also delivered high quality li...

Submitted by Ronen Artman

Published 01 May 2013

Cost effective transport of video over long distances

The transportation of live video and audio feeds over the internet has become a widely accepted technique. This has led to a bewildering number of products and techniques becoming available from simple PC plug in cards to very sophisticated encoder / decoder sets. Of course each of these has its own place in the market, as there can be no one size...

Submitted by John Golding

Published 01 May 2013

The key to the success of OTT services

By: Antonin Krl, nangu.TV CEOSmartphones and tablets have provided a major technological breakthrough in how we operate. Look around and you’re likely to see someone using their device to search for content, watch content or interact either directly or via social media applications. This is reflected in the Orange Exposure 2012/2013 annual independ...

Submitted by Antonin Kral

Published 01 May 2013

Will Strauss gets a grip!

By Will StraussOf all the many areas of television technology that tv-bay Magazine covers, you might think that camera support is the one that appears, on the surface at least, to move the slowest. Take the tripod for example. Fundamentally, the design hasn’t changed for a hundred years. Or how about the dolly? The wheels and track device that Alfr...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 March 2013

Ask the Experts: What Workstation?

Investing in a new computer workstation or high end PC for use with digital video/or and media production can be a daunting task. With so many different manufacturers to choose from, and with a practically endless list of components to select from customers can be left with literally millions of possible choices. Scary if you aren’t a hardware guru...

Submitted by Mike Leach

Published 01 February 2013

Metering in the age of loudness: Keeping things on the le...

By Martin DysterThe new age of production and post production for HD broadcast has gotten more complicated with the advent of legislation and guidelines concerning the relative loudness between different programs, channels and, especially, commercials. With ATSC A85 in place in the U.S., EBU R128 covering the members of the European Broadcasting Un...

Submitted by Martin Dyster

Published 01 February 2013