KitPlus | Articles

The semantic web made simple

There is a new term creeping in to discussions in the broadcasting business, and particularly around those involved in asset management and research projects. The term is “semantic web” and, I suspect, there are a lot of people who are neither completely sure they know what it means, nor trust its relevance in our business. I aim to provide some si...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

Gold all round

In my ramblings in the January edition of TV-Bay, I offered some predictions for the year, which included the following:“Television coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics will be extraordinary, capturing all the skill and dedication, elation and heartbreak of the world’s finest athletes. But somewhere in 29 days of intensive, multi-channel broadc...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Extensive, flawless and enjoyed by millions

Due to the multiple locations of the London Games, coverage was inevitably going to a be a challenge, with locations throughout London and the South; some of them specifically designed and created for the events such as the main Stadium, Velodrome and Aquatics Centre, whilst clever forward thinking meant that existing famous landmarks such as Horse...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Parting the Cloud

Every so often a trend looms over the broadcast horizon that gathers pace so quickly it soon becomes the buzzword at every launch and trade show. A few years ago it was MAM and more recently stereoscopic; now the big buzz in town is the cloud. But despite its recent rise to fame in the broadcast sector there’s still a lot of confusion regarding how...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Beaten by branding

Beaten by brandingI should say right at the start that I very much like Pixel Power’s James Gilbert. He is charming company, an excellent engineer and a good judge of wine. Yet, for all these admirable qualities, I hold him personally responsible for one of the greatest evils of modern society. I refer, of course, to the squeezeback. This is the ho...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

Our third digital revolution?

Our third digital revolution?By Bob PankA little history – the first digital revolution for the TV production and post industries started somewhere about 1972 and then involved introducing digital islands into an analogue world. The introduction of much more affordable digital VTRs such as Sony’s DigiBeta in 1993 heralded the beginning of the end o...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012

An Authentically American firm with an Englishmans heart

America has always been a land marked by pioneers and trailblazers, by entrepreneurship and vision. So, in 2004, when London based equipment hire firm HotCam sought to expand, founder Trevor Hotz could think of no better place to be. “Back then a lot of our competitors were opening up in Manchester and Glasgow but that didn’t appeal to me,” says Ho...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 May 2012

Ask the experts......Intercoms for outside broadcasts

Ask the experts – intercoms for outside broadcastsBarry Spencer, Trilogy CommunicationsI just assume outside broadcast trucks come with an intercom. Why do I need to even think about it?The first big point is that an outside broadcast is not just a control room on wheels. It is an event. And that means communications beyond the truck. Within the pr...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 April 2012

Ask the expert exhibition travel

There are too many trade shows and they are all expensive. Why should I travel to them?You probably should not attempt to travel to every show on the calendar, even if it was possible. It would take all your time and blow the budget out of the water. But that does not mean you should turn your back on shows altogether. They are still the primary wa...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 March 2012

Grading across the Atlantic

In the last five years, color correction has made leaps and bounds in terms of the way we grade, the performance capabilities of grading systems and even the locations where we grade. Only a few years ago, color correction suites were isolated rooms that were nearly impossible to connect to other offices or artists. But the color world has changed...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 February 2012

Reaching for 3D

From the opening shot of the Ryder Cup to the Champions League final when Manchester United played Barcelona this year, a stately homes documentary to a Derren Brown magic show, cameraman Chris Taber has been there, filmed it and got the T-shirt. And the reason the camera crane operator has been in demand for so many high-profile jobs? In a word: 3...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Ten Top Tips For OB Operators Fuel Economy

As fuel prices around the world hit a record high, every driver is looking for ways to squeeze as many miles as possible from every precious gallon or litre. If you are a broadcaster with a fleet of Outside Broadcast vehicles, how do you stop fuel overheads from rocketing and eating in to your hard earned profits?Recognising that fuel is not a disc...

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

Avid solutions create a stellar workflow for Mwnci Post P...

The ChallengeTo ensure that the thousands of hours of HD footage which pass through busy Welsh post-production house, Mwnci, each year are efficiently managed, stored and archived. The SolutionTo implement Avid ISIS 5000, a scalable shared storage system that collaborates with third-party applications, as the backbone of the facility to manage digi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Colourist and Online Editor

Who are you? (about yourself and who you work for)?I run East London Post based in Shoreditch, which is currently a single suite Colour Grading and Online Editing business based around DaVinci Resolve and Apple FCS3. What do you do? What does your company do?East London Post provides colour grading and online editing for a wide range of projects. W...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011