KitPlus | Articles

Manipulate and Edit

Issue 93 - September 2014 Company mergers can be no fun. Staff panic about ‘efficiencies’ and therefore their jobs. The press speculates about ‘what really happened?’ And there are always lawyers involved. And no one likes that. When DiGiCo revealed that it would merge with fellow audio console manufacturers Calrec and Allen & Heath, following a bu...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2014

6

Must have or just a dream? Either way these are our 6 of the best this month chosen by Larry Jordan, David Crossman and Jon Boast. Issue 93 - September 2014 DJI Ronin Handheld Gimbal SystemThe DJI Ronin Handheld Gimbal System has been developed for the cinematographer with pro-grade build quality keeping up with the demands of everyday use and aeri...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 October 2014

Keeping it real

by Will Strauss Issue 92 - August 2014 With Sky buying into an immersive video start-up, and the BBC trialling content on an Oculus Rift headset, virtual reality could be about to move from simply sets and studios to a whole new realm. Once residing purely in the realms of science fiction and, latterly, video gaming, it appears that virtual reality...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 September 2014

What Directors do and dont do

by David Crossman Issue 92 - August 2014 Piers Haggard the BAFTA award-winning Director for his BBC TV work - says you can\'t teach Directing any more than you can teach Art. Piers may be right but I believe there are some directorial skills which can be passed on. Like many crew members and actors I have suffered at the hands of inexperienced Dire...

Submitted by David Crossman

Published 01 September 2014

Vision for the future of TV

Issue 92 - August 2014During the Commonwealth Games BBC Research and Development took the opportunity to unveil a range of new trials and public demonstrations as part of its Games showcase. These experiments brought together a wide range of industry partners and are helping to shape BBC R&D’s vision for the future of TV, and included a number of b...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 September 2014

UWP-D11 Review

by Kevin Cook Issue 91 - July 2014 Ever since the new regulations in the UK on radio microphone frequencies were introduced in the UK at the end of 2012, the days were numbered for my trusty old Sony UWP series radio mic system (consisting of the URX-P1 UHF dual-diversity receiver and UTX-B1 transmitter). Whilst super-reliable and excellent quality...

Submitted by Kevin Cook

Published 01 August 2014

The Challenges of streaming media

by Larry Jordan Issue 91 - July 2014 Internet streaming. It sounds easy, but doing it is surprisingly difficult. I know, Ive been streaming live audio every week for the last seven years for my podcast Digital Production Buzz. And Im streaming video from my website for the last three years as part of my on-going software training. If everything is...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 August 2014

Back to Basics with Media Transformation

by Craig Newbury Issue 90 - June 2014 With their shift toward use of file-based digital audio and video, rather than tape- or film-based media, broadcasters and other media companies have moved into a world that demands some familiarity with the concept of media compression. Because the video and audio captured by cameras and microphones often resu...

Submitted by Craig Newbury

Published 01 July 2014

Does lack of training produce inaudible sound

by John Barlow Issue 89 - May 2014 Jamaica Inn just happens to be the latest example of a mainstream TV drama production being broadcast with inaudible dialogue. The reasons vary from production to production but the end result is always an enormous waste of both acting and technical talent along with immense swathes of production budgets. Was it a...

Submitted by John Barlow

Published 01 June 2014

Problems and solutions in audio

by Mike Law Issue 89 - May 2014 BCD Audio is a UK manufacturing and design company specialising in audio products for the global broadcast and professional market. Mike Law is company managing director and also head of design. He is a member of the IET and the AES. He presents here several case studies to illustrate how the company has been able to...

Submitted by Mike Law#

Published 01 June 2014

Object of desire

by Will Strauss Issue 89 - May 2014 If NAB is a decent yardstick, 2014 is all about 4k and why, when and how it might become a mainstream TV proposition. But in amongst all this pixel counting and discussion about higher frame rates, there is a subject that often gets forgotten but definitely deserves a mention, one that is closely linked to the in...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 June 2014

Ask the experts: Life behind the rate card

by Mike Ransome Issue 88 - April 2014 From time to time, most people in broadcast and production need to rent in some equipment. It might be to extend capabilities an extra camera channel, for example or it might be to bring in something you do not normally use, like an EVS server, for instance. Now picking a dry hire company sounds awfully simple....

Submitted by Mike Ransome

Published 01 May 2014

Shooting in secret

by Kieron Seth Issue 88 - April 2014 Now showing on Channel 4 is Endemols new and highly popular Secret Eaters series. Based round a fixed rig production, the series uses newly developed mobile fixed rig technology and incorporates a number of recently introduced technical innovations, vital for fast turn-around TV. Secret Eaters is one of a string...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 May 2014

Ask the Experts: Wireless microphone systems for cameras

by Tobias von Allwrden Issue 86 - February 2014 Wireless microphone systems for cameras are used by ENG crews and reporting teams as well as for TV and film shootings, where compact size, low weight and unobtrusive miking are particularly important. A professional camera receiver like the EK 3241 is designed according to the Unislot or Sony standar...

Submitted by Tobias von Allworden

Published 01 March 2014

Live and behind the scenes with lEquipe

Issue 84 - December 2013L'Equipe is a nationwide daily French newspaper devoted to the world of sports. It has a significant online presence, including a popular weekly live web series, Chats Video Orange-Ligue 1 L'Equipe, interviewing players, managers and club owners involved in France’s top flight football league. Each interview lasts 30 minutes...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 January 2014