KitPlus | Articles

4k - is it really worth it

by Beth Zarkosh Issue 108 - December 2015 4K; the holy grail of modern digital filmmaking. Weve all heard of it, but perhaps not all of us are ready for the change. Here we look at the perceptions versus the realities of shooting in 4K. Ultra High Definition is something that has derived from 4K, but now it seems most filmmakers are pressured into...

Submitted by Beth Zarkhosh

Published 15 December 2015

Making remote production over IP a reality

by John Smith Issue 107 - November 2015 Live sports broadcasting is one of the most technically challenging tasks for any production team. Multiple signals in multiple formats need to be transmitted around the sports facility. In addition, signals need to be integrated with feeds from other locations to create a complete broadcast stream. As a resu...

Submitted by John Smith

Published 01 December 2015

Monitoring Q & A

Issue 107 - November 2015 What elements of modern console technology has made a large impact on your craft?Rob Wolifson: Historically, shows were set up differently, you had more time to prepare. For example, if a show was on at noon in one studio, the breakfast show would be done in a different studio, so transitioning from one show to the next wa...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 December 2015

Creating native looks in alien worlds: the making of The...

with Richard Baker Issue 107 - November 2015 Prime Focus Worlds Richard Baker explains how Mars was brought into stereo 3D with the help of Fusion Studio for Ridley Scotts new SciFi survival epic, The Martian Directed by SciFi master Ridley Scott, this years The Martian has all the makings of a space exploration epic to remember. The film stars Mat...

Submitted by Richard Baker

Published 01 December 2015

Budgeting and controlling costs

by Den Lennie Issue 106 - October 2015 This is a very important aspect of running a production, and one you have to keep a close eye on. Its very simple; you have your actual hard costs in one budget and you have what youre charging the client in another. Lets say you charge the client £450 per day for the camera package, but the rental house is on...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 November 2015

Ed Sheeran goes 4k live at Wembley

by Steffan Hewitt Issue 106 - October 2015 Ed Sheeran has had a phenomenal ride to music success world wide. In July 2015 as part of his x World Tour he played three sold out concerts at Londons Wembley Stadium, his biggest solo shows to date with combined show audiences of 240,000 plus. Paul Dugdale and Jim Parsons whilst working for JA Digital pl...

Submitted by Steffan Hewitt

Published 01 November 2015

Sony PXW-FS5 Review

by Alister Chapman Issue 106 - October 2015 I was lucky enough to get some hands on time with a prototype FS5 in Amsterdam at IBC. In case you havent heard about it, the PXW-FS5 is a compact interchangeable lens, super 35mm camcorder from Sony that can record in HD or UHD 4K. It shares many of the features of the already incredibly popular PXW-FS7...

Submitted by Alister Champman

Published 01 November 2015

Making multi-camera shooting faster & more affordable

by Datsa Gaile Issue 105 - September 2015 Multi-camera filming has been known for years. There was a time when shooting any production involving multiple-camera positions would require a very large studio budget. Today we have many solutions for live vision mixing and great editing platforms what offer multi-camera editing. As there are so many gre...

Submitted by Datsa Gaile

Published 01 October 2015

Talking Steadicam and Exovest

by David Crute Issue 105 - September 2015 Q: When did you first get into using Steadicam?There were only about 10 UK Steadicam operators when I started, and very few that owned a rig. It was a massive investment for me as a young cameraman. The reason I did it was very simply that I found myself in this unusual position of doing both film and video...

Submitted by David Crute

Published 01 October 2015

Wireless and satellite

by John Wastcoat Issue 105 - September 2015 Each day, clips and other promotional materials needed to be transferred from the shooting location in South Africa to Network Tens editors in Sydney, Australia. However, the shows distant and isolated filming location in the South African jungle posed some major challenges for the broadcaster. Editors we...

Submitted by John Wastcoat

Published 01 October 2015

Dealing with clients

by Den Lennie Issue 104 - August 2015 For many clients, the prospect of commissioning a video production leaves one key consideration in their minds and that is: how much is it all going to cost? Particularly for marketing departments or smaller businesses which may only spend a nominal amount of money on advertising. Video production by its very n...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 September 2015

Shoot safe, shoot dynamic

by Nick Allen-Miles Issue 104 - August 2015 Todays craze for shooting from a UAV or drone is not for the faint hearted. Unless used legally and in very limited situations, its a dangerous way of capturing dynamic shots. Wherever people are involved or height restrictions apply, there are more useful ways of filming safely that deliver a more intere...

Submitted by Nick Allen Miles

Published 01 September 2015

The Tour June 2015 review

Issue 103 - July 2015 The KitPlus Tour once again attracted record registrations and visitors at MediaCityUk and Shoreditch in June. The tour gives people the chance to see newly released kit from NAB (Las Vegas) for the first time but more importantly to spend quality time with manufacturers learning about new technologies. The event took a twist...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 August 2015

The business case for media asset management

by Kevin Usher Issue 103 - July 2015 You could argue that, so far, there have been two stages of commercial justification for asset management systems in broadcasting. First, it was a necessary evil: if broadcasters, production companies and other media organizations wanted to store content as filesat least some of the timethey needed a means of fi...

Submitted by Kevin Usher

Published 01 August 2015

Keep memories safe at RWF

by Martin Bennet Issue 103 - July 2015 RWF World founders Gwynne Roberts and Sadie Wykeham have embarked on a 30-plus year mission with a single purpose: to tell the world about human rights violations through the eyes of its survivors. Through the course of their journey, these truth-seekers have informed the world of late 20th-century injustices...

Submitted by Martin Bennett

Published 01 August 2015