KitPlus | Articles

Getting the best out of your LCD

Getting the best out of your LCDs?Many people who use CRT picture monitors have found the introduction of LCD displays disappointing. Getting the best out of your LCD may not be as simple as it may seem. With a wide choice of vendors and models all proclaiming broadcast quality, it can be difficult to determine which product is most suitable for yo...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 November 2008

Aston 7 your lucky number for Sports Graphics

Aston Broadcast has been supplying CG products for long enough to know that the world of live sports graphics presentation never stands still for long. Programme directors like to push the boundaries on visual effects in order to wow the viewer and to differentiate the presentation from that of rival channels or programmes. More often than not, Ast...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

Stryder TV Brick House Video User Report

Stryder TV is based in Oxfordshire and for decades we have provided both British and International broadcasters with a complete video production services. Our camera crews have operated in 45 countries from the Arctic to the Tropics and we produce anything from web content to beaming live pictures across the world with our satellite truck. We neede...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

Everything you ever wanted to know about TV lighting Part...

In my last article, I talked about some of the basic technical aspects that we need to think about when we start on the lighting trail. I covered light levels and intensities in relation to lens apertures before discussing colour temperature and its relevance to producing ‘nice’ pictures. Although I’d like to move on into lighting ‘proper’ there ar...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

London to Capetown, by bike part 1

South Africans are known for being to the point, so when I was told that I had done the whole thing ‘Arse Backwards’ I wasn’t unduly upset, but I did feel a need to justify the way I had approached this project. I had just arrived in Cape Town and was rather pleased with myself, having just completed a year long journey through some of Africa’s mos...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

Mixing with the wildlife on Springwatch

As the 5th series of ‘Springwatch’ draws to a close I’d like to share with you an insider view of one of my favourite vision mixing jobs. As a freelance vision mixer I work across the board on all sorts of programmes: quiz & chat shows, sports, drama, music & Light Entertainment, recorded & live, studio-based or Outside Broadcast. But for four week...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 October 2008

Selling your business Part 3. Gearing up for sale

In the final article in his series about preparing your business for sale, Peter Savage outlines the strategy that leads to success even in a slowing economy. Last month we were left with a conundrum: how do you sell a business when the company clearly has a value but the market, and consequently the performance of the business, is in reverse? This...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 September 2008

tv-bay interviews Malcolm Robinson

How long have you been with Sony?Just over 4 yearsAnd where were you before?I originally trainedat Ravensbourne before moving to CNN where I worked on stories such as the Russian Coup. I then worked for Cine Video where amongst others covered the West Indies cricket tours. After working for Visions I contracted for 4 years before moving to Sony. Wh...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 August 2008

Everything you ever wanted to know about lighting Part 1

Anyone starting on the long and winding road of lighting might well be baffled at the number of very different approaches that he or she might find in books and articles. I certainly did, and that was probably because my training in Television had been engineering based, where the very nature of engineering provides specific answers to specific pro...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 August 2008

CTV OB Truck

Responding to the growing demand for HD broadcasts and with a fleet of already overworked outside broadcast trucks, CTV Outside Broadcast’s newest addition to its fleet, OB 9, is a fully-equipped production facility with the latest in High Definition production, mixing and recording equipment. Targeted squarely at major entertainment and sporting e...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

OB HD and budget constraints

In a perfect world every OB would be built on a brand new chassis and filled with the latest state-of-the art equipment, all funded from a limitless budget. But, in the real world, where budgets and timescales are limited, often far tighter than might seem practical, more realistic solutions have to be found. One approach, for which E2E has already...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

One man and his boat

It all started when I decided to build a boat in the garage. A fifteen-foot gaff rigged pocket cruiser to be precise. I bought the plans from a naval architect in Wiltshire and had the hull planks computer cut by a specialist boat builder in Kirkcaldy. Then I searched the Internet for a DVD about boat building for beginners but found nothing. So I...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

Setting up in business: Le Christmas Crunch

Well, I just fancied having a break as we have been slogging away for almost six months – planning, starting, measuring and then employing. So, phew, it’s the Christmas break. Well haven’t we done well to get here? You certainly have. And now for a little topical help: the credit crunch that is currently the focus of so many media reports. What doe...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

Chromakey questions

What does a specialist paint give me that a DIY superstore (matt blue or green emulsion) doesn’t?VFX Bluescreen Solutions paints are pigment based, as opposed to DIY chains ‘stain’ based. Pigment based paints ensure consistency and intensity of colour, against the stain based paints because they are ‘pure’, instead of being made up of various other...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

Making Common Sense of Production Health and Safety

Programme preventionAs many of you may know the presenter of a well known motoring program has a bugbear with the subject of health and safety in programme making. In the past he has often attacked health and safety professionals for becoming far too wrapped up in an ‘absolute’ approach to risk management – focussing on minute detail at the expense...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008