KitPlus | Articles

Getting the 3D words right

Captions and sub-titling in 3D is not so easy as in 2D. The words cannot simply be superimposed over 3D content. They need to be accurately positioned in the depth plane otherwise they can create visual confusion and break the whole 3D illusion. For instance, consider a street lamp-post on the right in the foreground and in front of the screen plan...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 May 2011

BVE and the Year Ahead

In the IABM's market survey a year ago, the Director General, Peter White, forecast: “Although the worst appears to be over and a degree of optimism is discernible, 2010 is still shaping up to be a fairly lacklustre year. As we exit the year, however, we do expect to see better signs of market improvement with a more promising 2011 and 2012.” How p...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2011

HD Video on your website

IntroductionVideo has become an affordable way to effectively connect with your customers. Whether you are a content producer or equipment manufacturer there are fewer ways to communicate a message more quickly, concisely and with as much impact. This article looks at how the current state of online video, what the opportunity is, and how to get st...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

BVE 2011 retrospect

BVE 2011 had much of the buoyancy and buzz of an IBC. The organisers claimed an attendance of over 15,500 visitors and 240 exhibiting companies. Many of the UK-based stalwarts who make the annual pilgrimage to Amsterdam could be seen exploring the show, confirming that BVE is now taken seriously by mainstream broadcasters. It is perhaps over-optimi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

A novel approach to delivering radio content

Who does a national broadcaster turn to with 9 TV and radio stations, each with 20hrs of daily programmes and a need to deliver them locally and cross continental... In a media rich world where viewers habits are rapidly changing they need to add another dimension to radio while maintaining the 'spirit' of a radio programme. France Tlvisions’ Rseau...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

Will Youview and IPTV change the face of TV Broadcasting

Youview, and the evolution of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), are set to have a major impact on the UK broadcasting industry. Youview is the latest evolution of Freeview and Freesat, the Set Top Boxes (STB) that give access to additional channels without a monthly subscription. Freeview gives viewers access to terrestrial broadcasts, while Freesat ena...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

The 4 Golden Rules of Streaming

In November 2009 a Florida-based web design company ran a series of tests on their website. Their bounce rate (the % of visitors to their site that hit their home page but go no further on a site) started at 45% - a barely acceptable rate. Over the course of a month, they added graphic after graphic to their site. The effect was catastrophic with a...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

Where is the real source of digital creativity

The summit of Live music has always been dominated by large bands, filling arenas consisting of high production values, funded by record labels and advertisers looking to attain a huge audience. The opposite end of the music spectrum however, still holds a colossal circuit of unsigned bands, desperately promoting on the streets to get the crowds th...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

Realising the full benefits of hybrid broadcast and broad...

We are all clear that there is a great deal of momentum in pay television at the moment. Alongside that driver, though, there are others which are dramatically changing the way consumers watch television. These include the desire to watch programmes at a time of their choice not that of the broadcaster (and in the room of their choice), and the use...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

The #BVEXPO Great Experiment

NAB, IBC and Broadcast Video Expo share one thing - they play to a global audience for TV and film production, post-production and distribution. It’s not practical to get along to all the shows so there is an increasing trend to report for that global audience. BV Expo is currently the only show without a dedicated multimedia channel. With somethin...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 April 2011

Eyeballing 3D errors

Standard-issue human eyeballs are very adaptive and clever. Of course it’s the massively powerful image processing in the visual cortex of the brain that really allows us to resolve 3D images. Stereographers have been very practised over the years in achieving good camera set-up with only simple tools. The most common test uses a picture monitor sh...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011

Ask the experts - Monitoring

What are the latest innovations in monitoring?For both film and broadcast work, in addition to the fact that the picture must be true, without motion artifacts or aliasing, for a lot of applications you can also add that the picture must be processed in real time - less than one frame or one picture in progressive mode – so the main innovations are...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011

BBC Academy

Today’s broadcast industry depends on a mobile workforce of skilled professionals. And in the YouTube age where anyone can upload a film, what distinguishes the professional from the amateur? In short - great training!A recent survey of industry freelancers reveals that more than half rank training as one of the most important factors in developing...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011

tv-bay Questions

Who are you?I have the pleasure of being CEO of two companies! First being the diRoom, which is boutique post-production facility for colour grading, digital intermediates and delivery masters. We are all filmmakers at diRoom, so we tailor every project workflow to be an entire picture post solution for filmmakers or a service that can fill the gap...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011

Neither a borrower nor a lender be....

Much has been written in the press recently about access to, or more frequently, the absence of funding for small businesses, otherwise known as SMEs (small and medium enterprises). But how do we define a small enterprise and when does a company transition from a small to medium enterprise?The official definitions are as follows: a small company ha...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2011