KitPlus | Articles

Creating Broadcast Quality Live Streams for Social

We go behind the scenes of YouTube Premiere League Football Show, “The Kick Off”Now in its third season, live streamed roundtable “The Kick Off” is the perfect weekly companion show for football fans looking to discuss the latest Premiere league match. Featuring YouTube sensation, True Geordie, and including the option to chat interactively with th...

Submitted by Alex Pettitt

Published 27 January 2020

State of the Nation - Drama

If you can remember as far back as the 1980s, then you probably remember a Saturday night drama called Hill Street Blues, written and developed by Steven Bochco. Made for NBC in the States, it was widely shown around the world, including in the UK. It was a pioneer ensemble drama, with no star characters but a lot of individuals – the police office...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 21 March 2019

State of the Nation

I sometimes think I pay too much to get my hair cut. On the most recent occasion I was trimmed, my hairdresser had just returned from a holiday in Hawaii. Where she thought she was going to die. She thought this because the state’s emergency alert system was triggered, sending messages across all available platforms, for 38 minutes, that a ballisti...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs - new

Published 26 March 2018

50 years in and the show must go on

At IBC we always look forward to meeting old faces and new. For those more recently acquainted with the broadcast industry, you may not realise IBC was born half a century ago in London. In 1967 the show, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, attracted just 32 exhibitors and 500 delegates. However, its popularity grew and the exhibition quickly upgrad...

Submitted by John Smith -new

Published 19 October 2017

Hacking Hell

There was a really scary story in the news a week or two ago. In the words of Yves Bigot, director-general of TV5 Monde, "we were a couple of hours from having the whole station gone for good". What happened to this highly respected broadcaster was that malicious hackers set out to destroy the network\'s systems. That has to be an alarm call for al...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 07 December 2016

Dick looks at the faster future

I really enjoyed IBC this year. The fact that I barely set foot on the show floor is, of course, entirely coincidental, and I should take this opportunity to apologise to all those people I did not see in Amsterdam. One of the jobs I do at IBC is produce the awards ceremony, and this year that meant I got to meet some really nice people. We gave on...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 10 November 2016

Resolute over Resolution

by Leighton Chenery Issue 112 - April 2016 According to an industry think-tank, the end of 2017 will see the tipping point for UHD in the UK. But, ask the people working on the frontline, and that picture is not so clear. As we approach NAB, talk will once again return to the thorny subject of picture resolution. I say \'thorny\' because it has div...

Submitted by Peter Savage 2

Published 25 April 2016

How Your iPad Can Help Your Filmmaking

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 110 - February 2016 How Your iPad Can Help Your FilmmakingThe new iPad is a fantastic and innovative tool for practically anything, but now you can rely on it for your filmmaking needs as well. It may not be what Spielberg is using to shoot his next blockbuster, however its rapidly becoming a must-have tool for filmmakers of a...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 16 March 2016

Editing broadcast video in a mobile app a ridiculous noti...

by Jason Cowan Issue 109 - January 2016 A trend appears to be developing in broadcast technology development the more ridiculous an idea initially seems, the better the chances are that it will turn the whole industry on its head. Ten years ago editing over an internet connection was a pipe-dream, and the suggestion that broadcast equipment might b...

Submitted by Jason Cowan

Published 21 January 2016

Looking at the teleprompter

by Beth Zarkhosh Issue 104 - August 2015 Talking directly to the camera - a basic fundamental in the world of TV presenting. If youve dabbled, you\'ll probably know just how hard it is to remember an entire script word for word without taking your eyes away in order to keep things nice and smooth. So, (please excuse the pun) cue the teleprompter. A...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 01 September 2015

The production desk finally gets innovative

by Kieron Seth Issue 104 - August 2015 The video switcher (aka vision mixer) is at the heart of all live television, all AV and many a live webcast. But despite its core role, its remained essentially the same concept for decades, consisting of a digital video effects processing unit, matrix switcher and control panel. Fundamentally this hardware-b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 September 2015

Shoot safe, shoot dynamic

by Nick Allen-Miles Issue 104 - August 2015 Todays craze for shooting from a UAV or drone is not for the faint hearted. Unless used legally and in very limited situations, its a dangerous way of capturing dynamic shots. Wherever people are involved or height restrictions apply, there are more useful ways of filming safely that deliver a more intere...

Submitted by Nick Allen Miles

Published 01 September 2015

Back to the future

by Dick Hobbs Issue 103 - July 2015 I was recently talking to the estimable James Gilbert, who runs the equally estimable graphics and automation specialist Pixel Power. He said something that made me think. We were talking about scalability, and he said that it works in two directions. There is the sort of scalability that we all readily understan...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 August 2015

DOPs discuss minicams, lenses, 4k and all

by Mel Noonan Issue 100 - April 2015 If anyone knows about the practical reality of using minicams and lenses it has to be the DOPs who are out there using them. We are now seeing minicams used in all areas of production, some with 1080p and 4K capability at prices you would not have believed possible a few years back. I spoke to some of the DOPs I...

Submitted by Mel Noonan

Published 01 May 2015

Tune in and turn on

by Dick Hobbs Issue 99 - March 2015 It was World Radio Day last month. Friday the thirteenth, to be precise, but I do not think the date was chosen with disaster in mind. In fact the date was set to celebrate the anniversary of the launch of United Nations Radio, on 13 February 1946. Unesco created World Radio Day much more recently: the first was...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 April 2015