KitPlus | Articles

Capturing the spirit of Mexico

Filmmaker, director and editor, Leonardo Dalessandri first came to fame with his stunning video ‘Watchtower of Turkey,’ which with more than 200 million views, garnered the accolade of Best Vimeo Video in 2014. His vibrant images are combined with a unique editing style, incorporating slow motion, hyper lapses and invisible match cuts to produce ge...

Submitted by Leonardo Dalessandri

Published 12 February 2018

Panasonic GH5: Tried and Tested

My journey as a filmmaker began with a select number of enthusiastic BBC reporters picked out and trained in the concept of Personal Digital Production by the American Video Journalist Michael Rosenblum. Back in the early naughties he was pioneering the concept of one person journalist shoot editors. A complete news reporting package with small per...

Submitted by Tim Bearder

Published 12 February 2018

Steadicam M-1 Volt: Tried and Tested

Early in November some of us lucky Steadicam Operators from around the UK were invited to try out the new Tiffen M1 Volt, which is essentially an electronic motorized horizon assist unit attached to the gimbal of the latest Steadicam M1. Is it a good idea? As experienced Steadicam Operators, directors or producers, why would we be interested? Let’s...

Submitted by John E Fry

Published 12 February 2018

When a lens is more than just a lens

Matching shots between different cameras can be tricky at the best of times. But how do you match lens characteristics between a live action shoot and a CGI composition? The CP.3 XD lenses from Zeiss offer an efficient solution to this with their frame accurate meta-data. The ZEISS CP.3 Cinema Primes have all the characteristics that have made ZEIS...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 02 November 2017

The dangers of live streaming without a license

The entertainment industry is visual and sound driven. Without these two elements there would be no such a thing as entertainment. Its obvious that there are people who create sound/s and visuals. Copyright laws were created to protect the industry and these artists. Many organisations have been created to look after musician, writers, poets and fi...

Submitted by Joseph Adamson

Published 02 November 2017

Video Tape recorders cannnot die.

In its simplest form, Tape Archiving requires:- 1) Playback decks 2) Tape Cleaning Facilities 3) Tape Baking Incubator/Oven 4) Ingest Platforms 5) Storage This article concentrates on what is often described as the weakest link, namely 1) above i.e. the Playback Decks and what could be another weak link, namely 2) i.e. Tape Cleaning Facilities. I h...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 02 November 2017

Canon CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 Review

i The Canon Cine range of lenses have been around for quite a few years now. The CN-E Cinema Prime lenses became an early alternative to using PL adaptors or the Zeiss Compact Prime lenses. Other than that the choice was rehoused stills lenses or maybe if you were lucky a set of Zeiss super speeds. The cine lens set became a cost effective offering...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 07 September 2017

Facebook Workplace - why it might just work

i At the Facebook F8 Developer Conference last April, Facebook\'s Workplace, a collaborative platform for organisations, announced enhanced live video functionality. Being able to stream live into Workplace will fundamentally change the way companies communicate, from broadcasting weekly meetings and webinars to live streaming Q&As. The possibiliti...

Submitted by Jake Ward

Published 07 September 2017

State of the Nation - part 1

i Imagine you are the director of the Champions League Final, knowing that 200 million people will be watching your every decision. Or you\'re directing the Eurovision Song Contest. Or even, to be honest, the Tunbridge Wells local news opt out. And at live minus 30 seconds, all the screens in the monitor wall suddenly go black then show a demand, i...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 07 September 2017

A Bluffer Guide to....CMOS

i I like to break my employers\' cameras. For me, there is nothing more exciting than considering a daring location to install a micro camera system. It could be in a trackside breaking board at a motorsport event (culminating in slightly-too-extreme close up of, say, a Porsche bumper) - or a system installed a tad too high up a tree in a jungle (w...

Submitted by Mike Colyer

Published 01 August 2017

What happened to audio networking

i It may seem hard to believe, but audio networking has now been with us for over 20 years. In 1996, Peak Audio released CobraNet, the first system that used computer networking of some sort to transport audio. Looking at that early system, it wasn\'t easy to see all the benefits that were to come. Yes, you eventually got up to 64 channels on a sin...

Submitted by Brad Price

Published 01 August 2017

Thinking clearly about the cloud

As someone who is constantly trying to build better products, I\'m always asking questions and listening to the ones I get asked. For several years now I\'ve asked every broadcaster and media production company I\'ve met what they plan to do about \'the cloud\'. I\'ve had replies which range from \'the media must never leave the premises\' (imagine...

Submitted by Chris Steel 2

Published 19 May 2017

Why is drone training even an option

It\'s fair to say that one of the most disruptive, liberating and inventive technological advances for independent filmmakers in recent years has been the incredible leaps made in the world of Drones. Things we never thought possible are now completely within our reach and what is more they are easy and cheap to achieve. An operator can majesticall...

Submitted by Tim Bearder

Published 19 May 2017

Mr Cloud, as much about cashflow balance as technology

It was an ordinary Tuesday, the last day of February 2017. It was getting late in the day and I was online doing my monthly management accounts and was just finishing the data entry for a very long Invoice when refreshing the expenses Tab on my browser showed this delightful picture. Woah, I thought, someone has updated the package and not done the...

Submitted by Bruce Devlin - new

Published 04 April 2017

Streaming and the need for continued innovation

In a fast-changing world, audio producers need to adapt quickly in order to keep up. Media consumption is changing - fast. Almost without anyone noticing, we have passed the tipping point. Only a few years ago we were discussing streaming as an emerging technology; yet now, according to a recent Deloitte survey, streaming has overtaken live TV as t...

Submitted by Jon Schorah - new

Published 04 April 2017