KitPlus | Articles

3D: The Stereographers Tool Kit

Essentially we all want stereoscopic 3D to become less technically complex, but it’s crucial to understand why so much additional attention to detail is required. It’s our opinion at Dimension Media, that to successfully produce visually engaging and technically excellent 3D the best and often most cost effective solution is actually to keep your e...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Fast 3D

It is easy to make the assumption that 3D should comply with existing standards, as in the 2D video streams of television or movie images running at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, according to the relevant 2D standards. However, the recent step up to doubled frame rates, generally referred to as 50p or 60p for television and 48p (or higher) for mo...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

Soooooo. IBC

Soooooo. IBC!For those of you who don't know (and obviously only read tv-bay for my column) IBC is the world's second largest broadcast convention, held in Amsterdam. As previously mentioned in last months' column, I went with tv-bay. It was my first convention of any kind, and I was in no way prepared for the sheer scale of the event. This thing i...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

Capturing the Gumball 3000 Rally 2011 with an iPhone4

Sons of Oscar nominated Director - Mike Figgis, Arlen and Louis Figgis, were tasked this year with following and recording the Gumball 3000 Rally. The Gumball 3000 is an annual 3,000-mile (4,800 km) international road rally which takes place over 8 days on public roads, with a different route around the world each year. Founded in 1999 by Maximilli...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2011

A grand boy

I am smiling a particularly content smile while writing this month’s column, as just a couple of days ago I met one of my great heroes, and a giant amongst broadcasters: Sir David Attenborough. He is the recipient of the IBC International Honour for Excellence this year, and I was directing a video interview with him to use as part of the awards ce...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Final Cut Pro X Keyboard Shortcuts and Quick Tips

So, Final Cut Pro X has been released and the shortcuts have nearly all changed. I'm here to lend a helping hand and show you some of my top keyboard shortcuts and let you into a little known secret… Final Cut Pro X also supports multi-touch gestures!Top 10 Final Cut Pro X keyboard shortcuts:Want to quickly get back to browsing the web for a little...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

September. My new year

September. My new year. The new year in January is just logistics. The new financial year in April is just maths. But September, September is a new beginning. Its ironic how when everything begins to die, school starts up again. Symbolic you might say. But autumn is my favourite season. Going back to school meant new pencils, new shoes, and having...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Storage and archiving

Anyone looking closely at a helical scan video tape mechanism, particularly the miniature variety, might be forgiven for wondering how such an elaborate technology ever came to be invented. The first experimental video tape recorders were essentially audio recorders running at very high speed to achieve the bandwidth needed for television signals....

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

How the mysteries of Library and Archive have changed in...

As I walked into the ATV Bridge Street studios in Birmingham in November 1974 I could not have known what a revolutionary time I would experience in my career as a “Library Guy”. Since 2” tape became the recording medium for television in the late fifties nothing much had changed in its cataloguing, storage and usage. A few stickers on the tape, a...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Jack of all trades

So those following my column will know I’m Emma and currently in my first year working as a freelance production assistant. There’s been a few n00by mistakes but also some successes!The best thing about my job has to be the variety of clients I work with, and the variety of roles I can fulfil. This month I've been a second camera operator, producti...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Operating at the cellular level

The live coverage of outside broadcast events, news or sports has always been an expensive and logistically cumbersome business. The need to invest millions of pounds in specialist satellite trucks can take years to recoup, putting the ability to service live sports contracts beyond the economy of a very few suppliers. Even the live presentation of...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Cameras for streaming

I first saw true HD pictures years ago at IBC. OpTex had a camera focusing on some beautifully lit fruit. The image on the screen was extraordinary, hypnotising. Leap forward a decade and Amsterdam brought Europe its first taste of Ultra High Definition Television - not 720p, not 1080i, but 4320p. The enveloping cinematic pictures and the embrace o...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

Robert Llewellyn

Many of you will have heard of the TV show on the "Dave\" Channel called "Carpool". You know the one, Red Dwarf and Scrap heap Challenge star Robert Llewellyn picks up someone in his car, drives him or her around a bit and has a chat. It’s a great series and you feel like your spying on a private conversation between two people on their way to work...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 August 2011

Introducing Emma and her commentaries

My name’s Emma, and I am currently in my first year working as a freelance production assistant. In these commentaries I’ll be sharing with you what I get up to, the n00by mistakes I’ll inevitably make, but hopefully some successes!This month I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt. If only the life of a production assista...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2011

Review of Rycote Portable Recorder Audio Kit

Pocket-sized digital audio recorders with integral microphones are ideal for capturing sound during a video shoot. Provided the start point is marked with a hand-clap, wild audio can be imported and synchronised quite easily during video editing. And there is always the option of feeding the live audio signal directly into the camera. Either way, t...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 June 2011