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Following the Ravensbourne 3 - part 3

Since the last issue, I've had a busy first term back at Ravensbourne. Our Enterprise and Entrepreneurship unit is designed for us to gain business skills and launch us into the industry. We were given the task to come up with a product or service and make money from it. The unit worked towards exhibiting at Penrose Market, which takes place at our...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 January 2013

3D filmmaking

Stereographers are in demand, they have little time and the time they do have is highly valued. I first met Demetri at IBC this year during the showing of HUGO (see page XX) and we were fortunate enough to catch up with him again during a flight to LA where he was heading for the first stage of 3D post for 47 RONIN. His opinions on 3D filmmaking ar...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

Ask the Experts - 3d with BSkyB

This month we had an exclusive opportunity to talk to Cara Cheeseman, Post Production Supervisor for all 3D content, both internally and externally, at BSkyB. The 21 questions are gathered from a variety of industry professionals with an interest, some sceptical and some fanatical, in 3DWhen it comes to 3D conversion... creating 3D images from 2D s...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2013

Ask the Experts Monitoring sound in the stdio

1. Why do I need monitors? And why can't I just use my Hifi speakers?It may sound like the most obvious thing in the world, and it is, but along with your headphones your monitoring system is the only thing in your mix room that actually makes sound. All the decisions you make in relation to mixing, mic placement, balancing and more are coloured by...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 December 2012

Monitoring: Cutting the Wires

Teradek began the wireless monitoring revolution at last year's NAB show. Its Cube wireless encoders are no bigger than a pack of playing cards. They compress a camcorder's video feed into an H.264 signal for transmission to either a WiFi-enabled laptop, iPad or tablet or to a Cube decoder. Straight-away live, remote and affordable monitoring was b...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2012

Part 2 following the Ravensbourne 3

Last month in the intro issue I described what I did in the past as a hobby and a hopeful branch of my career. Time-lapse is an integral part of what I do and I am eager to develop my skills in it. I had such a chance at the end of October when I got my hands on a ‘Dynamic Perception Stage Zero’ 6ft Dolly track with MX2 Controller. I felt this was...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 December 2012

4k The New Gunslinger in Town

Just when you thought it was sufficient to declare yourself ‘HD Ready’, along comes 4k. But don’t panic. Here’s the lowdown on what it all means and what tools are currently available. By Will Strauss. As someone that works in (or near) the town named broadcasting I probably don’t need to tell you this but technology advances pretty quickly around...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 December 2012

Why a new range of cases?

The team here at Ianiro International worked with Luggy for many years - they made wonderful bags with a real Italian quality and an eye for style. Sadly, last year the owner passed away, drawing their business to an abrupt close. For Ianiro International and its customers, this left a real gap. But it gave us an opportunity to reflect on our portf...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2012

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

Protecting the archive

Over the last 20 years or so we have all become accustomed to the expression “asset management” and, as ever, familiarity has bred contempt. In this case, the expression has become a loose descriptor for almost anything with a bit of a database in it. We need to stop and think about what we are trying to achieve. In any media enterprise, the conten...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 November 2012

Addressing SAN Allocation and Permission Challenges

Facilities today face a number of management complexities when allocating storage resources, especially as frame-based and 3D workflows increase in popularity and the amount of multi-format media that professionals are managing continues to grow. Camera acquisition formats are various, many workflows employ proxy generation to save space and bandwi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 October 2012

Mastering a tough business

I recently had a great day out, visiting a company which is enjoying a massive boom in business, has customers prepared to wait as much as a year for its products, and is trying to recruit dedicated staff to increase output. Yet its chairman says “manufacturing is a tough business to be in”. In 1892 a remarkable picture was taken, on a 5” x 7” plat...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 September 2012

An Olympian Effort

For obvious reasons, the broadcasting world does not generally hold mass-murdering dictators in high esteem. But, in a small way, and despite his many, many faults, the world of television has one such tyrant to thank for the connection between technological innovation and the Olympic Games. And no, this is not a joke. The first handful of modern d...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 September 2012

Automating intelligence across the signal flow

Back when broadcasters maintained small channel lineups, monitoring was a simple task that could be performed cost-effectively by station staff. The manual system-wide monitoring of critical audio and video parameters required dedicated staff all along the broadcast chain, but the investment typically could be justified. However, even with dedicate...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 August 2012

Here is the news

Here is the newsIn mid-May the EBU and SMPTE brought together many of the great and the good of the television industry – and me – to a forum on emerging media technologies. Held in Geneva, in a hotel expensive even by Swiss standards, it was supposed to set the agenda for the future, to share solutions so the future will be bright. As is always th...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 July 2012