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#TVFUTURES

by Dylan Ellcome Issue 100 - April 2015 The end of my third year of BSc Television and Broadcasting at the University of Portsmouth is drawing closer, meaning the end of my time at University. Several deadlines have come and gone, and my CCI management of Script Editing has slowed down. But I still can\'t comprehend this ending, as there is still m...

Submitted by Dylan Ellcome

Published 01 May 2015

Big rush with little fuss at new Birmingham broadcaster

by Neil Hutchins Issue 99 - March 2015 Big Centre TV is the latest of the new wave of UK Local TV stations, having launched on 28th February. But behind the calm and successful appearance was a frenzied period of activity, as Ofcom had only confirmed their licence just three months earlier. To get from nothing to on-air in such a short timescale wa...

Submitted by Neil Hutchins#

Published 01 April 2015

Loudness normalisation for podcast streaming

by Jon Schorah Issue 99 - March 2015 For media companies steeped in traditional workflows, the exploding demand for over-the-top (OTT) content on many different devices is offering up significant new opportunities as well as challenges. If content owners can re-purpose their assets effectively, they can reach existing and new audiences through chan...

Submitted by Jon Schorah

Published 01 April 2015

How to charge premium prices

by Den Lennie Issue 98 - February 2015 How much should I charge? Is probably the most commonly asked question I receive here at F-Stop Academy. And the answer? As much as you can and your client is willing to pay. In business it is your duty to maximise your profit. If you are offering a premier boutique video production service then charge accordi...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 March 2015

Open Source for Film and TV Production

by Dan Mulligan Issue 98 - February 2015 There\'s nothing like a new project to make you feel excited about life, and excited is definitely how I\'ve been feeling since I adopted an Open Source policy to my companies\' camera and workflow divisions. My background is in cameras. I started out assisting and focus pulling before moving up the ranks to...

Submitted by Dan Mulligan

Published 01 March 2015

A stitch in time

by Thomas Dove Issue 98 - February 2015 "A stitch in time saves nine\" is an old saying: essentially it is saying fix a small problem now and it will save fixing a much bigger problem later. This applies in many areas - including broadcast. Kicking the error can down the road costs a lot more to fix the problem, particularly for audio and video fil...

Submitted by Thomas Dove

Published 01 March 2015

The fast-moving business of providing pop-up editing suit...

by Danny Carri Issue 97 - January 2015 Video editing is moving at a fast pace, with video, software and server specifications all changing with the seasons. For production companies who know what they want, hiring an editing system for the duration of a production is an efficient alternative to hiring the services of a post production facility. We...

Submitted by Danny Carri

Published 01 February 2015

Fixing it in parallel

by Daniele Siragusano Issue 97 - January 2015 Whenever something went wrong in television production, the cry was always "We\'ll fix it in post". Except that there was rarely enough time, in a broadcast schedule, to fix anything. Today we expect every programme - even routine television programmes like daily dramas - to look and sound perfect. But...

Submitted by Daniele Siragusano

Published 01 February 2015

Eye to Eye: Video Post-production

Video post-production has long been one of the fastest developing subsets of the broadcast business. It was among the first to lead the shift from hardware into software, bringing huge advantages in terms of affordability and ease of use. I can still remember the high cost, heavy weight and low quality of the early analogue tape to tape video editi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

4k Streaming: a Key OTT Differentiator

by Keith Wymbs Issue 96 - December 2014 OTT streaming providers are amongst the first to offer 4K UHD TV services. In fact, 4K UHD may be seen as a key differentiator for OTT services such as Netflix and M-GO as they compete with pay TV operators according to a recent report from ABI Research. Netflix has launched 4K video streaming of shows such a...

Submitted by Keith Wymbs

Published 01 January 2015

Emphasising Television in streaming television

by James Gilbert Issue 96 - December 2014 There have been all sorts of doom and gloom stories, over a decade or more, about how television is changing. Budgets are being slashed, workflows are becoming automated, and standard IT hardware is taking over from bespoke broadcast kit. But despite all this, television still looks good. If you watch telev...

Submitted by James Gilbert

Published 01 January 2015

Hearing is believing - but Testing Helps

We live in the age of measurement and all too often the results are prejudiced by the methods employed and the ease of digitally processing data. As Per Bruel, the founder of B&K, arguably the foremost measurement company in audio history put so succinctly,‘The development of standards is not always based on true science but more often a consensus...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

File-based QC systems for small and mid-sized media organ...

by Vikas Singhal Issue 95 - November 2014 Companies across the media value chain have departed the tape-based realm and migrated to file-based workflows. In making this transition, they left behind common, well-established technologies that had ensured the smooth flow of content from creation through to delivery. In their place, companies implement...

Submitted by Vikas Singhal

Published 01 December 2014

Capture and Produce

Issue 94 - October 2014One of the hot topics at this year’s IBC was undoubtedly the growing adoption of end-to-end IP production and the imminent death of SDI. During a panel session, hosted by Mediasmiths and Cognizant, and including representatives from BBC, Sony and more, the key point made was that the adoption of IP production technology and w...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014

Manipulate and Edit

Issue 94 - October 2014It will come as no surprise to many but the results of a survey unveiled at IBC have shown once again that some European broadcasters are struggling to keep up with the speed of technology change. Faced with new ways of working and constantly shifting goalposts, not to mention reduced budgets, many technology decision makers...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014