KitPlus | Articles

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

Putting the Realism into Reality Television

“Reality television’ as a category of programming emerged in the late 1990s with the introduction of shows that attempted to portray real people responding to real challenges under more or less continual public gaze. Unlike sport, where the focus is primarily on physical skills and endurance, reality television shows place their participants in a w...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

Without training will there be future for the TV Industry...

It might come as a surprise to you but do you know that there in the UK 80,000 people working in the TV industry. That's 10% of the work force. And some more facts:The UK has overseas programme sales of £980 million. Non-terrestrial TV spends £193 millions on content whilst terrestrial TV spends £2.6 billion on content. Independent producers in the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2012

3D Five years on

For me, IBC2006 was the beginning of the modern 3D era. At an invitation-only presentation, 3ality’s CEO Steve Schklair described what his company was achieving with S3D. Suddenly it all made sense. With the accuracy of digital shoots and computer technology replacing difficulties and expense of working with film, 3D could now be viable. Unlike the...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

Building an HD MCR for The Associated Press

The Associated Press delivers fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, it has grown into a large and trusted source of independent news and information. AP’s activity in the broadcast market centres on the supply of live and edited video to over 500 broadcasting operations and 200 news...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 December 2011

TV Bay Questions

Name & Title?James Willett, Freelance ColouristWho are you? (about yourself and who you work for)?Freelance Colourist living and working in LondonWhat do you do? What does your company do?I'm the guy that has the brilliant job of doing everything from lining up and visually matching shots to creatively stylising and achieving the Directors look for...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 November 2011

Ask the Experts - Integrating Social Media

Why should I care about integrating social media into my broadcast operations?Viewers are the lifeblood of any broadcaster, whether public service or commercial, major national broadcaster or special interest, free-to-air or pay TV, RF or IP delivery, fundamentally it's all about getting, and keeping, as many viewers as possible. Social media provi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 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

September. My new year

September. My new year. The new year in January is just logistics. The new financial year in April is just maths. But September, September is a new beginning. Its ironic how when everything begins to die, school starts up again. Symbolic you might say. But autumn is my favourite season. Going back to school meant new pencils, new shoes, and having...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2011

Keeping both eyes on the ball

It goes without saying that spectator sports are made for television; of course they are, as can easily be proved by trying to follow a football match on radio. A skilled radio commentator can describe key aspects of the action fairly well but television actually gives viewers the impression that they are sitting in the stadium. Widescreen high def...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

tv-bay questions

Name & Title?Barrie Williams, owner and founder of Pixelfantastic, a boutique post production facility 13 miles east of SohoWho are you? (about yourself and who you work for)?I started my career in front of the lens as a musician, touring Europe for several years playing Jazz violin. We did a lot of TV work, so I became very familiar with the insid...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Focus on camera remote control systems

Bradley Engineering is a customer led, Innovation Company specialising in camera remote control systems. They have a strong and clearly defined company culture which, together with their technical expertise, has enabled the company to achieve steady and sustainable growth even throughout the recession years. A large part of their external philosoph...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

How do you prepare for a curved ball

Peter Savage looks at the effect of the Japanese tsunami and considers whether it has changed our perception of acquisition formats and how we could have planned for itI was sitting with a client in Camden having a quiet lunch in a small Spanish caf. Very nice, very authentic and, as with all good cafs, Sky news was rolling (because no one was play...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2011

Game, Set and Match

It was only three months ago that this column hailed featured the new DVB-3DTV standard. But already there’s talk of a second version, or rather ‘phase’, as described by David Wood of the EBU in the new 3D Roundabout newsletter. In a way this is healthy. It shows just how fast 3DTV is moving and, whereas phase 1 is designed to work with existing 2D...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011

THE RISE AND FALL AND RISE AND FALL OF POST PRODUCTION

I was sitting in the pub the other day and met an old editor mate of mine. We started chewing the cud about post-production and, inevitably, the glory days. When I first met him, in the early 80s, I hadn’t even started my career in broadcast leasing. He, meanwhile, had a money clip full of £50 notes and was the talk of the town. He didn’t have enou...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2011