AV Issue 34 by Alchemedia Publishing

HD-BASET: UTP WINS AGAIN! PAINTING THE TOWN: NEWCASTLE’S CITY EVOLUTIONS SCREEN IDOL: SAFC’S NEW STUDIOS

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BEST SELLERS’ PRODUCTS SUMMARY BRIEF PROFILE Become acquainted with our company, our brands, the products we conceive and manufacture as well as with our objectives, overall guidelines and intervention areas. ® JOCAVI was born in 1992 as a manufacturer of acoustic panels. We are a Portuguese company specialised in developing and manufacturing acoustic treatment panels for the professional audio industry. ® JOCAVI presents acoustic treatment panels that blend well with any decoration, easily mounted on ceilings or walls. The development and improvement of these panels were done with the help of computerised calculus and analysis, in order to determine their characteristics and optimise their practical application, thus ensuring the excellence of our products. We always look for originality, technological innovation, durability, cost and promptness. We have therefore generated a vast organisational wealth because we share Quality with those who are quality-oriented. The use of acoustic products in working environments, by taking into account the needs and the modern corporate images, is our passion... Our company has available a varied and thorough offer of high quality products, which enable a wide range of applications. Our models offer to the designer a large variety of solutions. Several types of absorption and diffusion models deliver an excellent performance in the diverse areas of application. Our products offer new aesthetics, a cutting-edge attitude, efficiency, quality and customised design. Our acoustic products are prepared to a high standard, with skills acquired from good taste, in order to serve the high-end corporate world. ® We are J O C AVI , an INT E R NAT IO NAL referenc e in the world of ac ous tic s .

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Editorial A Few Words About AV The AV industry is all about communication. Our origins in the production, replication and replay of informational films, film strips, 35mm slides, overhead projection transparencies, sound recordings, etc., have always been purely about the communication of information between people. Whether it was a 1940s 35mm film strip for Army signallers on joining telephone lines in the field; a 1960s 16mm film for high school physics students on the difference between fixed and relative frames of reference; an oughties training video for party scrutineers on tracking the preference flow during vote counting; or a contemporary YouTube clip (accompanied by the obligatory ukulele) on how to use an new app for tracking your sleep patterns; it has always been important that the information has been delivered both clearly and unambiguously. The development of content for our communications channels has engendered generations of AV producers, writers and editors equipped with highly-refined research, writing and production skills, many of whom fulfil multiple roles in the journey from the request for information or proposal, through to the delivery of the finished product. Those of us in the systems delivery sector of AV are also totally dependent on communication to allow us to deliver the means of communication between people in remote and local locations; between devices of all kinds scattered throughout our AV installations; and between the devices we install and the people who keep them operational. SEPARATED BY A SHARED LANGUAGE

All of our communications are built on a shared language and an agreed set of meanings for the words we use to describe objects (nouns) and processes (verbs). The assumption of a shared language is the source of so many of our non-communications. Even though English is currently the world’s major trading and technical language, there are an astounding number of mutually-barely-intelligible accents and dialects that make the process of English-to-English communication a fraught process. Take for instance the city of Aberdeen. The likelihood of a resident of Aberdeen, Scotland, being understood by a resident of Aberdeen, Idaho, a resident of Aberdeen, Jamaica, and a resident of, Aberdeen NSW (near Scone), is pretty slight. And even if we do manage to get a message across clearly between our residents of Aberdeen, what are the chances that the words will actually mean the same thing? Getting connected to a

utility in Aberdeen, Idaho, means having the mains connected to your premises; whereas it means hitching something to the towbar of an open-tray truck in Aberdeen, NSW. If you want something connected to your truck in Aberdeen, Idaho, you’d talk about your Pickup, which to a resident of Aberdeen, Scotland, would be to do with the device that fits on the end of the tonearm in a gramophone replay system, while to the resident of Aberdeen, NSW, it would probably be the unidentified person they discovered next to them in bed, the morning after a ‘really good night’ on the pull. The technologies we have embraced in AV are developing at a spectacularly exciting rate and so also is the requirement to, firstly, communicate between ourselves about what potential implications and applications may arise from these developments; and then communicate with our client constituency as to the impact of these developments to their way of thinking and working. GOT YOUR NUMBER

descriptions (also called ‘nouning’). Re-tasking, programming, prioritising, en-queuing, nouning and de-planing (disembarking from a Delta Airlines aircraft) are amongst my favourite verbifications. Finally there are the words that have an accepted and understood meaning in one dialect that are being dragged into other dialects to replace perfectly good existing words. The Americanisation of the other English dialects is the most obvious of these, and the one that raises so many hackles amongst those who value the uniqueness of our little cluster of Australian dialects. Despite our minor regional differences over the name of the garment you wear to the beach, and what you call that bland beef sausage that is used in sandwiches by Anglo-Celts, the Australian dialect has a pretty good set of words to describe most objects and activities. It also has a long history of selecting the British English variant of a word in preference to any alternatives, particularly one from the American cluster of dialects.

VIsIt us At stAND XX

With each development comes a new set of objects and processes – or at the very least a new set of numbers to be used describe existing ones. I knew what the extra 8kB of RAM meant to my 1982 Apple II for sound monitoring, but what does 80GB of RAM (costing about the same price) mean for my 2013 video server? Should we look at using cat8A twisted-pair cable in a 2015 project we’re designing, or will fibre do a 40Gbps network more competitively? How many hours of 4K lecture recordings can be stored in a 2PB (petabyte) disk array? However, there are many more complex things happening with the language than the mere increase in the size of numbers. There are brand new words and new meanings for old words. The 21st century has seen the rise of the synthesised product and company name. Boring 20th century names like Shure Brothers, Ningbo Zero Import & Export Company, or Digital Projection, have been surpassed with names plucked from tables of syllables or uncommon misspellings such as Skype, Tumblr, Xero and Edmodo. Then there are words with existing meanings that have been appended and extended to negate or modify a particular aspect of their original meaning, such as, lossless, uncompressed, un-aliased or even anti-aliased. Another contemporary change to the language is the re-tasking of object descriptions to become process names (also known as ‘verbification’) and the conversion of process names into object

YANKING THE WRENCH

I was recently taken to task by a learned reader who despaired at my use of a couple of American English alternative words in my editorial, pointing out that ‘wrench’ and ‘wiring closet’ were a couple of serious linguistic errors. Okay, ‘wiring closet’ was a deplorable oversight, but ‘wrench’ and ‘spanner’ were frequently-interchanged terms in the Melbourne household where I learned about tools from my Manchester-born father (who admittedly served as a liaison with the US Air Force during WWII) and my Liverpool-born grandfather. So perhaps my foundation in the Australian dialect was incomplete. As a technology writer, and as the Editor of this magazine, I have a role as a steward of our linguistic heritage – a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. But I don’t see that my role is to defend some idealised Australian English, set in stone the day my high school English teachers graduated from university in the late 1950s. The English language we learned at school is forever gone; and good riddance, as it didn’t have the vocabulary for the majority of the technologies I read and write about every day. AV determinedly walks the fine line between linguistic conservatism and blind adoption of the new. Don’t hesitate to take us to task if you notice us wavering on that path.  Andy Ciddor, Editor: andy@av.net.au

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Crew Robert is a composer in the film and TV industries and a freelance journalist fascinated by all things technical in the audiovisual world. His music can be heard accompanying every FoxSports and Channel Nine commercial promoting the ARU Wallabies’ matches in 2012, and his articles can also be found in FineMusic and AudioTechnology magazines. In 2010 Robert co-founded a post-production company called Aurigami, which has produced music and sound design for television commercials, documentaries, feature films and video games. Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086

Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353

Editor: Andy Ciddor (andy@av.net.au) Publication Director: Stewart Woodhill (stewart@av.net.au) Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@av.net.au) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@av.net.au)

Marcus has worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years. He has lit everything from TV to tours, corporate to circus, galleries to garages, and yet he’s still smiling and always up for a joke. He spends much of his time looking after a large client base for Melbourne lighting company Resolution X. He is currently a committee member of the Australian Lighting Industry Association, a member of the AVIAs judging panel, and has a continuing passion for lighting in all fields.

Art Director: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Graphic Design: Leigh Ericksen (leigh@alchemedia.com.au) News Editor: Graeme Hague (news@av.net.au) Accounts: Jaedd Asthana (jaedd@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Manager: Mim Mulcahy (subscriptions@av.net.au)

Paul is a freelance lighting designer based in Sydney. Struggling to find work in his homeland, Paul spends much of the year in far flung places in perpetual search for the perfect breakfast and good coffee. With a love of lights, gadgets and a good story, Paul makes an admirable effort to bring to AV reviews of products and events from around our small and wondrous globe.

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright © 2013 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title AV is a registered Trademark. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy. 10/9/2013

Derek is an audiovisual consultant with AVDEC, specialising in tertiary education projects. Starting in broadcast TV and radio at the ABC, he bounced between event AV and video production before settling for 12 years at the University of Queensland. He is past president of the Association of Educational Technology Managers and has been a regular judge of the AVIA awards. He now divides his time between consulting, writing and the occasional video production assignment.

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Issue 34 REGULARS NEWS AV Industry news.

INFOCOMM ASSOCIATION NEWS News and important dates from the Oceania region.

TERMINATION Words you’ll never hear spoken

FEATURES

CREATING A PREMIER PROJECT SA Film Corporation’s new Adelaide Studios.

CREATIVE CORNUCOPIA JMC Academy’s new Ultimo campus for the creative industries.

THE BIRTH OF THE BEAM The true history of the modern, lightning-fast, pencil-thin moving beamlight

TUTORIALS HDBASET: STANDARDS VS THROUGHPUT Getting your head around HDBaseT

ASSURING NETWORK SECURITY Network Risk Analysis and Mitigation.

REVIEWS

STEINBERG WAVELAB 8 Recording, editing and mastering software.

TELY HD Tely Labs stand-alone video conferencing device.

012

NEWS

Industry Response The procurement and installation of the ANZ Stadium’s new PA broke with tradition [see Issue 33]. The consultant, Scott Willsallen (Auditoria) bypassed the usual reseller channel, with the client, the ANZ Stadium, purchasing the d&b PA directly from the wholesaler, National Audio Systems. The system integrator, The P.A. People, was effectively only engaged for its installation and ‘mechanical engineering expertise’. The P.A. People has a long-standing relationship with the stadium that dates back to its initial build in the late ’90s, including a long-term service agreement. The P.A. People’s MD, Chris Dodds, collected his thoughts on the development and the possible ramifications.

VALUE IN THE CHANNEL? Recently there have been discussions in the Australian market questioning the value added by systems integrators, in the supply of equipment for largerscale systems, and that a manufacturer/distributor direct-approach is more appropriate. Perhaps if an end user has invested time and money in staffing themselves with an experienced and capable team to operate their systems, and that if their requirements do not include a high level of design expertise, then there may be a case for the end-user to manage their own systems integration activities or at the very least take responsibility for their own equipment selection and procurement. This approach may be appropriate in a well-funded public performance space with a large, full-time staffing complement. But would that approach make sense for other categories of endusers such as a football stadium, with limited system operational capacity and little commercial incentive to make a commitment to such a specialised skill-set? So the question is, does the channel add value to the distribution of professional equipment? We believe the answer is yes. Case-in-point — Royal Randwick Racecourse: For a job like Royal Randwick Racecourse, the client needed to lock in a contract (and costs) way before a design was able to be completed. Nominating a product outright restricts design/performance options. This doesn’t encourage competition at a vendor/distributor level — and a client is locked into premature arrangements.

Product selection: The P.A. People has a long commitment to matching the best product for the job, and our strong view is that this must include a ‘whole of life’ perspective. This includes ‘rig-ability’ and weather protection, as well as parts availability and performance. We have alliances with preferred suppliers, however in the last five years we have supplied and installed product and systems from Jands (JBL), Hills SVL (Renkus Heinz), Meyer Australia (Meyer), Bose Australia (Bose), APG (Tannoy), NAS (d&b), Bosch (EV), CMI (Adamson) and Production Audio (EAW). Design capability — electro-acoustic, electronic, mechanical: When the rubber hits the road often The Channel has the runs on the board. For example, how many corporate facilities has a company like Rutledge got under its belt? How many stadiums have The P.A. People delivered in the last 15 years? Design and Installation of systems of the complexity of an ANZ Stadium or a Randwick Racecourse is truly a multi-faceted exercise. While traditionally the focus of audio system designers is on the electro-acoustic performance of the systems (a particular, focussed skill-set), the challenges of control systems, electrical and mechanical design, are the areas which make the difference between a successful and maintainable design and one with ongoing challenges or unexpected costs. Design responsibility — who pays when it doesn’t work (insurance, compliance etc)?: This is an important challenge. In a design/construct environment where the contractor has accepted

design responsibility as part of the overall deliverable — then this is reasonably clear. It is the system integrator’s job to get it right. Unfortunately when the job is carved up into separate sections and margins are eroded, lines can become blurred. We have seen several projects in recent times where the client has been left paying for omissions or errors, well after the designer has assured them that all is well with the project. Whole of life: The P.A. People takes this aspect very seriously. As the only pro audio company in Australia capable of delivering a whole-of-life solution to our customers, we see the value in design and supply of systems that answer the needs of the end-user. On a daily operational basis, as well as from a maintenance perspective, we are often the installer, user and service (provider). Our practice of closed-loop delivery ensures our designs are put together in the best interests of the customer from the outset, and that there is no incentive to load the back-end maintenance contract; it simply would not be awarded to us if we were outside of the market’s expectation on price or service. We pride ourselves on the longevity of our relationships with our customerpartners, some for as long as 30 years. All the above aspects add value to the products, systems and delivered outcome we sell — in a way that collectively, cannot be provided by a direct relationship.  Chris Dodds, Managing Director of The P.A. People

All The AV Industry Employment News Delivered to your IN box with AV Newswire Any time you want it at www.av.net.au

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NEWS

UNLIMITED DIGITAL SIGNAGE

BARCO WIDENS ITS VIEW

OUTLINE COLOURS IN CONTROL

Marshall Electronics has developed what it calls E-Screen Digital Signage. E-Screen is like an e-reader that hangs on the wall and the E-Screen room sign only uses power when the display changes. Otherwise a static schedule or calendar can remain on the E-Screen for an unlimited amount of time. Its low power consumption and ability to integrate with enterprise IP networks make it a practical choice for any company interested in digital signage. Marshall Electronics will offer E-Screen Room Signs in sizes from 7.75 to 10 inches (197mm to 254mm). The signs may be standalone or integrated with enterprise systems. The E-Screen line will include three types of signs: fully wireless, wired power with wireless network, or full power over Ethernet. E-Screen Room Signs are designed to fulfil the needs of corporate, healthcare, hospitality, education, and government entities. The signs can be updated from a central computer, designed to eliminate the time and effort of updating static signage. Quinto Communications: (03) 9558 9377 or www.quinto.com

Barco has announced the release of two new rearprojection video wall cubes in the OverView M series. The OverView MVL-621 and OverView MVL-721 are industry-standard modules with full HD resolution and screen diameters of 60-inch (1524mm) and 70-inch (1778mm) respectively. These 16:9 models complete the OverView M series, which already features three 4:3 models and focuses on reducing both the initial purchase price and runtime costs. Using six-fold redundant LEDs as a light source, the OverView M series offers many advantages including long lifetime, low maintenance due to the absence of consumable components, reduced power consumption and long uptime. The latest LED technology ensures that power consumption is 30% lower than that of comparable products. And the Sense5 automatic white-point and full-colour calibration system ensures uniform colour and brightness levels over the entire video wall. Barco’s OverView M series is designed to fit the requirements of medium-sized industry-standard control rooms. Barco: (03) 9646 5833 or sales.au@barco.com

The Outline loudspeaker company has developed its iMode loudspeaker system control. Devices using this technology have a single on-board DSP that optimises the response of Outline enclosures and enables users to control a bunch of parameters. The processor can be divided logically into two parts: ‘Factory’ settings, and ‘User’. The ‘User’ part means you can select the input (digital or analogue), adjust sensitivity and regulate both groups of speakers and individual enclosures. Control parameters such as: level, delay (up to two seconds), polarity inversion, equalisation, crossover, 64-bit IIR filters and FIR filters and mute. ‘Factory’ settings are not generally accessible, but includes all that's necessary for ensuring enclosures operate at maximum efficiency. A proprietary double compressor/limiter stage on each channel protects the transducers and amps from excessively high signals. Once a wireless network has been created, enclosures can be controlled via iPad, iPhone or iPod touch devices. Further, thanks to the on-board processing, the operating status of individual components is easily monitored, enabling diagnostic work to be carried out remotely, thus cutting maintenance costs. Ambient Technology: (03) 9731 7242 or sales@ambienttechnology.com.au

NEWS IN BRIEF:

Quinto Communications has announced the appointment of James Moody as a Technical Sales & Solution Architect based in the Quinto Communications Sydney office. Prior to joining Quinto Communications, James was Engineering Manager at Globecast Australia where he was responsible for the design and successful implementation of many significant upgrades to Globecast’s Teleport facilities. Prior to Globecast, James was employed in the UK by Snell, Tandberg and NDS. Quinto Communications: (03) 9558 9377 or www.quinto.com

The HDBaseT Alliance has released the specifications for the latest version of HDBaseT 2.0. The new HDBaseT HomePlay feature set, based on the HDBaseT 5Play capabilities, will make it simpler and more costeffective for consumers to turn their entire homes into multimedia entertainment centres. HomePlay, as defined in the new HDBaseT 2.0 specification, features an elegant, affordable plug-and-play solution. [The feature on HDBaseT on page 40 of this issue takes a close look at this transmission technology and where it's headed - Ed.] HDBaseT 2.0: www.hdbaset.org

The Hawke’s Bay Opera House situated in Hastings in New Zealand has been undertaking a refurbishment plan that included the replacement of their lighting console with a new LSC LX600. The main stage and house lighting dimming, wall plates and DMX distribution are all already LSC products. Originally known as The Hastings Municipal Theatre, Hawke’s Bay Opera House was built in 1915 for £12,000 — a considerable sum for the day. Plainly, today’s budgets are a little different. LSC Light Systems: (03) 9702 8000 or www.lsclighting.com

Coolux has released its new Pandoras Box Version 5.5 at the IBC show in Amsterdam and has announced the forthcoming release of Widget Designer Version 4.5 in a few weeks time at the PLASA show in the UK. In addition to Coolux’s latest software developments, a powerful new 3G Quad Broadcast Server system is also being released in Amsterdam. Show Technology: (02) 9748 1122 or www.showtech.com.au

Apantac, which provides multiviewers, video walls, and signal processing solutions, is expanding its Micro platform with the addition of MicroQ-S, Micro-Single, and Micro-UDX. The MicroQ-S is a simplified quadsplit multiviewer that lowers the cost of entry for facilities requiring a 3G multiviewer. The Micro-Single scaler/converter turns an inexpensive LCD display into a broadcast monitor. The Micro-UDX is an up/down/cross converter. Techtel: (02) 99061488 or www.techtel.tv

ZYLIGHT FOLDS UP Zylight has developed the new F8 LED Fresnel. Available in tungsten (3200K) or daylight (5600K) versions, the compact F8 folds flat for easy transport and storage. With a CRI of 97 or better, the fully dimmable F8 offers an adjustable beam spread (16-70°) and maintains single shadow traditional Fresnel beam shaping through an eight-inch (200mm) Schott glass lens with a patented focusing system for spot and flood operations. The F8’s LED engine with quantum dot technology provides a cooler, more energy efficient light than traditional Fresnel instruments, drawing only 100W to provide the light output of a traditional 1000W Fresnel. It is also water resistant (IP54) and can be powered by a worldwide AC adapter or standard 14.4V camera battery. The F8 is also equipped with ZyLink wireless technology for remote control, or the F8 can also be controlled via DMX. The F8 ships with barn doors and yoke mount. John Barry Group: (02) 9355 2300 or www.johnbarry.com.au

Jands new Aurora Multimedia programming introduction course is the rst course to be offered for the Aurora range of products. The course is designed to give you an idea of how Aurora’s control products are programmed and to introduce programmers to the software used. The course will start with explaining digital media and the distribution side of Digital Media Content. Then dive into the WACI world of Aurora’s IP Control Systems, outlining the range and their capabilities. Hands on programming is the only way to truly understand how a control system is programmed, therefore attendees will get the opportunity to program Aurora Multimedia products in a working environment. This course is recommended for those who are just starting out in the Vision and Control world and/or have used other systems that are using or integrating Aurora Control products.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will house the largest vision boards at an Australian sports stadium when two new, state-of-the-art screens are scheduled for installation in time for the 2013 Boxing Day Test. The new vision boards will be more than double the size of the existing screens. A tender process saw Daktronics Australia selected as the supplier for the two vision boards. Daktronics Australia: (02) 9453 4600 or www.daktronics.com.au

Traxon Technologies has introduced its Lighting Application Suite 6.1 (LAS 6.1) and two new high performance lighting control servers — Lighting Control Engine 2 (LCE2) and Lighting Control Engine 2 fx (LCE2-fx) — together with a new Butler Pro output engine for running large numbers of DMX512/RDM or e:pix universes. These additions to e:cue’s lighting control engine and software portfolio will enhance the flexibility, reliability, scalability and performance of LAS lighting, media and show control programming. Traxon: (02) 9980 0761 or info@traxontechnologies.com

The Abtus AMP-S040/AP1 is a new Eco Amplifier System designed to deliver stereo amplification with an output power of 2 x 40W. The amplifier promises energy savings with its auto power on/off based on input signal detection and digital amplification circuit consuming as low as 4.5W in a typical usage. External volume and RS-232 control is integrated so that volume could be controlled by an external volume control or a thirdparty central control system. Screencom: (03) 9794 6102 or www.screencom.net.au

Classes are intimate, so spaces are limited. Register now to ensure your place! www.jands.com.au/events/training

Session Dates

Sydney: 25 September 2013 (Level 1) Melbourne: 15 October 2013 (Level 1) Brisbane: 20 November 2013 (Level 1) Charge

Free! For more information, contact:

40 Kent Road • Mascot NSW 2020 Ph: (02) 9582 0909 • Fax: (02) 9582 0999 www.jands.com.au • info@jands.com.au

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NEWS

FIX IT IN THE AUTO-MIX

GEFEN PUTS HDMI IN THE FRAME

A DREAM APP FOR LIGHTING

Shure has added to its SCM automatic mixer range with the new SCM820 Digital Intellimix automatic mixer. Working from the same Intellimix principles of the original SCM series, the Shure SCM820 provides DSP resources to provide complete control for all eight microphone channels available. The mixer has five mix modes that include three factory presets (Classic, Smooth and Extreme) as a starting point which can provide settings for most applications. Along with these presets, a custom user-defined preset can be set as well as the manual mode which deactivates the Intellimix function, turning the SCM820 into a standard mixer. Each microphone channel and mix bus provides additional functions such as parametric EQ, high and low cut filters and limiters all of which are available to access via a browser-based GUI or front panel encoders. There are also a few choices of connector types, depending on the application, as well as the option to include a Dante network card for operation with other Dante enabled devices. Jands: (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au

Gefen announced its newest modular matrix card frame with built-in signal extension: the 32x32 HDFST (High Definition Fast Switching Technology) Modular Matrix for HDMI with HDCP. This new system supports up to 32 high definition sources and 32 displays using HDMI. Each source can be integrated and cross-point routed in any configuration. The modular approach offers HDMI extension over Cat-5 cable using Gefen ELR (Extra Long Range) technology based on HDBaseT for added flexibility. The 32x32 HDFST Modular Matrix routes any 32 sources to any 32 displays in an HDMI in/out configuration. A second configuration allows for HDMI in with HDBaseT out for displays located anywhere within a 100m cable run of the matrix frame. Users can tailor their outputs to enable different configurations. The 8x HDMI output board connects to eight displays using standard HDMI cable. The 8x ELR (Extra Long Range) output board extends HDMI and bi-directional IR to a small receiver unit using one cat5 cable per display. This matrix can accommodate any combination of output boards. Amber Technology: 1800 251 367 or www.ambertech.com.au

Dream Solutions has released the latest version of its LFRemote for iOS devices. Following the launch of the lighting remote for iPad the company has followed up with a new version supporting both iPhone and iPod touch devices. The new remote app is not just a screen replication of LightFactory, but a purposebuilt control surface. It goes beyond being a rigger’s remote or a cue playback device — this app also allows the user to be a second real-time programmer. LFRemote takes command line programming to a new level with dynamic selection options in context of what you are doing. This includes access to all command line functions of LightFactory, automatic lookup of groups, palettes, cue lists and macros when entering commands, colour picker and pan/tilt control, dedicated shortcut page, multi-touch submaster page and cue playback page, plus it will automatically discover your LightFactory system. The LFRemote for iOS devices is a free app available from the AppStore. Dream Solutions: www.lightfactory.net

NEWS IN BRIEF:

Behringer’s new FCA1616 audio interface is now shipping. The FCA1616 offers a choice of either USB or Firewire connectivity and the four front-panel preamps are Midas designed. Inside you’ll find Cirrus Logic converters. Another four TRS line inputs on the rear, plus compatibility with Behringer’s own ADA8200 make up the 16 I/Os that the name FCA1616 suggests. Galactic Music: (08) 9204 7555 or www.galacticmusic.com.au

The Ampetronic MLD9 is a professional audio induction loop systems. The single 19-inch rackmount MLD9 provides a high output in a dual channel loop driver system and is capable of driving a wide variety of multiple loop configurations from multiple simple loops to phase shifted array systems for the most challenging requirements. The MLD9 is capable of up to 3300sqm MultiLoop area coverage, has Automatic Gain Control, Active loop error monitoring and dual loop fault metal loss correction. Hills SVL: (02) 9647 1411 or nsw@hillssvl.com.au

The Axys Intellivox ADC MarkII range of column speakers is intended for use in 70V/100V public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) systems. As with other Intellivox products the ADC range has been designed to maximise listening comfort and provide highly-intelligible speech reproduction, even within difficult reverberant spaces. The speakers are EN54:24 certified for both indoor and outdoor use (EN54:24 - Type B) and can be driven by the Axys IndustryAmp range of DSP controlled 70V/100V multichannel amplifiers. CMI Music & Audio: (03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

Sony has announced the PXW-Z100, a professional 4K handheld XDCAM camcorder featuring a 1/2.3-inch Exmor R CMOS sensor. The sensor has a total of 16M pixels, allowing the camcorder to capture 4K content (4096x2160) at 50p or 60p. The PXW-Z100, together with its fixed 4K-compatible high-performance G Lens, weighs less than 3kg and uses the XAVC recording format. Another key feature is Remote control with wi-fi. Focus, zoom, aperture settings and ‘record start/stop’ can be remote controlled using a smartphone or tablet. Available November. Sony Australia: 1300 720 071 or www.sony.com.au

Blackmagic Design has announced a new lower price for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera: $2475 (Inc GST). Available in two models, customers can choose from either the EF or passive MFT lens mount, compatible with popular lens from suppliers such as such as Canon, Zeiss and more. For high-end work, filmmakers can shoot in uncompressed 12-bit CinemaDNG Raw. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera comes with the DaVinci Resolve software. New Magic Australia: 03) 9722 9700 or www.newmagic.com.au

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THE FULL PICTURE FROM LEADER Leader Instruments launched its LV5490 SD-to-4K multi-standard multi-waveform monitor at the IBC Show in Amsterdam. Leader’s LV5490 waveform monitor supports the full range of standard video production and transmission resolutions from 525 and 625 standard definition up to 3840x2160 and 4096x2160 4K. Equipped with four 3G-SDI/HD-SDI/ SD-SDI input channels plus a high-quality wideviewing-angle 1920x1080 nine-inch flat-panel display, it allows precise matching of studio or outsidebroadcast cameras. The instrument also doubles as a picture monitor for production crews working on location. The LV5490 can be used in a wide selection of test and measurement roles. Waveform, vector and picture display can be viewed simultaneously, as can multiple SDI inputs. Size and location of individual channel displays can be adjusted using a USBconnected pointing device. Additional features of the LV5490 include video frame capture, instrumentation screen capture, timecode display, tally light and ID display. Eye pattern display, jitter waveform display and Dolby decoding can be ordered as optional facilities. A rackmounting adapter is also be available.

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HD-BASET: UTP WINS AGAIN! PAINTING THE TOWN: NEWCASTLE’S CITY EVOLUTIONS

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Correction Due to a clerical error in preparing the list of AV Industry Awards finalists, the entry for the Technical Direction Company’s work on the Delectable Brisbane event was incorrectly listed as being in the Best application of AV in a Production with a budget exceeding $500,000. It should have been listed in the category for productions with a budget under $500,000. The error had no impact on the judging process.

AVIAs 2013 Best Commercial or Government Installation $500k+ Rutledge AV for Perth Arena’s Digital Signage Feature Piece Best Commercial or Government Installation up to $500k Acoustic Directions for Willoughby City Council’s Urban Screen at The Concourse, Chatswood Best application of AV in a Museum or Display Pro AV Solutions Queensland for Queensland University of Technology’s The Cube

Best application of AV in Education Pro AV Solutions Queensland for Queensland University of Technology’s The Cube Best application of AV in a Production $500k+ Auditoria for London 2012 — Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies Best application of AV in a Production up to $500k The Electric Canvas for City of Melbourne’s Melbourne Town Hall: The Nights Before Christmas

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NEWS

PANASONIC LIGHTS UP BLACKTOWN SPORTSPARK Blacktown City Council has invested in a Panasonic LED Video Scoreboard at its flagship sports venue – Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney, which has been impressing spectators with stunningly sharp images of all the sporting action at the Sportspark’s AFL/Cricket Centre. Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney, formerly Blacktown Olympic Park, was developed as a major playing and training venue for athletics, baseball and softball for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. AFL, cricket, football and the International Goalkeepers Academy have joined the venue since and the facilities now attract half a million visitors each year. Blacktown City Council selected Panasonic through an open tender process with the aim to provide a first class scoreboard and screen at the 10,000 capacity AFL/Cricket Stadium. Blacktown International Sportspark had previously used a scoreboard without any video capabilities. The screen is an affordable solution for stadium operators such as Blacktown to install, as it does not require a dedicated operator or technical staff on hand to reconfigure it for each sporting event. Panasonic and the system integrator have created a template for modes such as AFL, Cricket and Concert. Selection of this is a one-click process, allowing administration staff to simply switch the screen on and select the correct mode to operate in. Blacktown Venue Management Ltd, Council’s Managing Agent for the Sportspark, are very happy with the new scoreboard. “The most important feature of the LED Video Scoreboard to Blacktown International Sportspark, for us, is functionality. The Scoreboard has added greatly to the all-round venue experience through its ability to run video, images and configurations for both requirements of AFL and Cricket score keeping,” said Chairman of Blacktown Venue Management, Len Robinson. At 77.4sqm, the immense space afforded by this screen makes it possible for live action to be displayed at the same time as advertising, sponsorship information, scores and player statistics, without disrupting the viewer’s experience of the game. Mark Wong, National Projects Manager — AV&IT, Panasonic Australia said: “The screen offers the same capabilities as international stadiums in terms of the level of scoring that can be displayed. All the scorer has to do on the day — for example, a cricket match — is to enter the scores into templates and the software ensures the information appears in the correct place on the screen.” “The technology in these screens ensures good quality outdoor viewing, thanks to the high-brightness LED display and the 140° viewing angle that covers every seat in the stadium .” The screen is outdoor IP65-rated with an operating temperature range of -10 to 45°C and is suitable for bright outdoor conditions and changeable weather. The LED technology employed uses 16-bit per channel colour processing and a 7.68kHz refresh rate for flicker-free display of broadcast footage.  Panasonic: 132 600 or www.panasonic.com.au

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NEWS

Newcastle’s Lightbulb Moment A hi-tech urban activation with an eye for the past. Text:/ Christopher Holder

Newcastle City Council had a bright idea. The buzz term is ‘urban activation’ – taking a part of town that’s a bit down at the mouth and give people a reason to stroll it, dine in it, and enjoy it. Watt St. is Newcastle’s oldest. In fact, before it was a thoroughfare for coal to go from mine to wharf, it was an important track for the local indigenous people. In the 1950s and ’60s the area was buzzing. The Great Northern Hotel had a ballroom that was heaving on the weekends and it was a community hub. In more recent times it had less and less going for it. Newcastle was attracting funding from a variety of sources to draw tourism and bring more life into the city, and it took one bright spark to suggest the Council pool all the pots of cash to do something extra special. And so it was: City Evolutions… a Vivid Festival of sorts where the neighbourhood’s history would be writ large on the walls and buildings of Watt St. with projectors. WRITING ON THE WALL

The project went out to tender with two organisations sharing the spoils – Esem Projects and University of Newcastle. Esem Projects had runs on the board. Michael Killalea and his creative partner Sarah Barns have been pivotal in Sydney’s Art & About public art experience for the last two years. Esem Projects’ forté is historically focussed public artworks – precisely what Newcastle City Council was after. But not in a staid, stodgy way – the council wanted something live, interactive, and contemporary as well as historically significant. The uni team put its mind to

creating interactive works that would, again, focus on the history of the area, while Esem Projects created a number of archival pieces that were drawn from the National Film & Sound Archive, Film Australia etc. As well as moving collage pieces from photographic records. AV spoke with Esem Projects’ Michael Killalea about the technical challenges of pulling together a project such as this. Michael Killalea: There are 10 installations – four from Esem Projects and six from the university. City Evolutions is tipped to be long running – two years is the outlook at the moment – and it’s running around four hours a night. We needed very robust technology solutions that didn’t require someone to check on it or turn it off and on every day. Personally, I don’t trust wi-fi controls, especially not for such a long stretch of street and over such a long period of time – it’s not the answer in my opinion. I did a lot of my own investigations and, based on previous experience, I wanted projectors that would turn themselves off and on without misfiring, and with timing that was rock solid. After a lot of research I ended up finding this great G Series range of Epson projector and I’ve specifiied Epson for the whole project. RELIABLE & PRACTICAL

AV: Epson is better known for its small- and medium-format projectors and not for ultra-high brightness outdoor projectors. MK: And the Epson G Series maxes out at about 6000 lumen. But we didn’t need a Barco or Christie monster because the ambient lighting is low, in fact, the council turns off the street lamps during the period the

projectors are on. What’s more, we couldn’t afford the upkeep of massive projectors over a long period. AV: You mentioned not wanting to use wi-fi. How did you configure the hardware? MK: It was a fairly intense installation process. We had to have high-quality, well-made cases that would keep the temperature stable, keep the bad guys out and keep the public safe. We also had all the DA hoops to jump through when fixing projects to the exterior of buildings, some of which were heritage listed. But I’ve always found these types of jobs bring out the best in a local community. I always seem to end up with a pocketful of keys to people’s houses or businesses, and everyone is very accommodating and trusting. It’s great working with a council and gaining an insight into the city. Whatever city it is. REAL TURN ON

AV: So how did you program the content and ensure that it’s working day in/day out? MK: Okay, I’ll fess up: I load the loop of my content onto a Brightsign media player, which talks to the Epson projector via HDMI. The media player is always on, looping 24/7. Then I simply program the projector to power up at 5.30pm and power down at 10pm. While the projector is on, it’s playing the content. I concede that it’s not the ‘smartest’ tech solution but my first priority is reliability. If I was relying on wi-fi to turn hardware on and then schedule content, I’d be worried that one night it’d drop out and fall over. It’s called risk mitigation! AV: What happens in the event of a power outage?

NEWS

MK: Both the media player and the projector would power up when the electricity returned and automatically start looping again. The solid state Brightsign player is awesome – it’s a great product. Anything that you can turn on and it just goes on – with no menu to toggle through – is good. If there’s a blackout it can reset itself. Meanwhile, you can treat these Epson projectors quite mean. I could shut the projector off without any cool down. I could turn it on and they’d go on directly. They have built-in scheduling on the bigger models. The new G series is awesome. They go up to about 6000 lumen and when they’re as bright as the Z series they’ll be even better. You can shoot on curved walls, shoot into corners and make them square... this project demonstrates only the tip of the iceberg as to what they’re capable of. Really goodlooking projectors. ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL

June 21 saw the launch of City Evolutions and it was an instant hit. Council estimates 18,000 people flooded the Watt St. area. Locals have adopted the project as their own while City Evolutions is ticking tourism boxes as well. How will City Evolutions evolve? Already the council is asking for submissions from filmmakers and other content creators. The uni involvement means dozens of local students are already hard at work developing material. And, inevitably, Michael’s routines will make way for new artwork. And that’s okay, as the project finds its own rhythm and equilibrium, providing a stunning platform for emerging artists in a once no-go part of town. 

City Evolutions: cityevolutions.com Esem Projects: (02) 9698 8111 or www.esemprojects.com Epson: (02) 8899 3666 or www.epson.com.au IDT (Brightsign): 1300 666 099 or www.epson.com.au

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FEATURE

Creating a Premier Project SA Film Corporation’s new Adelaide Studios Text:/ Derek Powell Images:/ Courtesy of the SAFC Photography by Peter Barnes

Recently, the Adelaide Studios, new home of the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), opened for business. The entire project won plaudits and awards, but for the team involved in the creation of the mixing studios, there was one particularly satisfying moment. The film mixing studio was designed to meet the demanding Dolby Premier Studio Certification standards and the team won the coveted accreditation in a slamdunk at their first attempt. FIRST TIME FIRST TRY

The Dolby representative was stunned, conceding that this was the first time any facility had passed the ultrastringent test and measurement regime at the first visit. As a rule, there’ll be a list (and sometimes a very long list) of acoustic and electronic improvements to be made (and a return visit by the accreditor) before the rare and highly prized certificate can be hung on the wall. Not this time. While it surprised the man from Dolby, for two members of the engineering team, this was simply the culmination of a thirty-year journey to bring a world-class feature film mixing facility to the SAFC. Both acoustical consultant Dr. Peter Swift (from international technical consultancy AECOM) and studio consultant Mike Rowan have been involved with the SAFC since much humbler times. The first SAFC mixing studio, featuring a 12 channel Quad-8 console and Magna-Tech sprocketed-tape dubbers was created by walling-off the dress circle of a disused suburban cinema. Rowan noted that while it was put to good use on documentary and television projects, it wasn’t in the class of the next iteration, when in 1980, the corporation moved to a former munitions factory in the outer Adelaide suburb of Hendon. QUIET BEGINNINGS

There, Rowan created the first true film mixing console, accommodating three operators at once, who took care of dialogue, music and effects. As the years passed and projects became more ambitious, Peter Swift was called in from time to time to improve the acoustics. Meanwhile Rowan supervised the upgrade of the console to a Harrison Series 12 with the faithful Magna-Techs

The Dolby Premier mixing theatre with the Harrison console at 'centre stage'.

FEATURE

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“this was simply the culmination of a thirty-year journey to bring a worldclass feature film mixing facility to the SAFC”

supplanted by synchronized Tascam DA-88 eight-track digital tape transports. Finally, after 30 years in Hendon, the SAFC and the studios have been given a new home as part of the redevelopment of the historic Glenside Hospital site, a former mental health facility. Along with the Dolby Premier studio, the magnificent new Adelaide Studios facility comprises two sound stages, a full suite of production offices, ADR/Foley studios, and 96-seat screening theatre. I spoke with Architect Steve Grieve, who led the design team, about the constraints of working on the heritage-listed Glenside Hospital site. “We decided early on that to tailor the original building to come up to spec would compromise their heritage value,” he told me. “Our intervention in the building to get it to perform acoustically would have pushed the limits on what’s acceptable. So we decided to put all the technical facilities in a new building”. DOING IT ON THE QUIET

After previous incarnations in adapted and refurbished spaces, the new build provided the opportunity for the architectural and acoustical team to finally apply a rigorous approach to two vital objectives for the Premier theatre – keeping out extraneous noise and building-in perfectly-tailored acoustics. Very low levels of external noise in the studio are crucial to the Dolby Premier specification, so SAFC engaged Swift to assess the level of noise from aircraft, passing trains and ground-borne vibrations at a number of potential sites before Glenside was chosen. However, from a noise point of view, a quiet location is just the start. Peter Swift explained that the mixing studio itself is essentially a separate structure within the studio building. “…there are actually structural breaks all around,” he noted. “So where services cross, there are flexible connections”. Making certain of the structural separation was a key challenge, as he described. “Whenever the slabs were poured, with the appropriate isolating material between them, you’ve got to make sure that pieces don’t fall down the cracks and cause little transmission bridges. Because once you start

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building walls up inside – if you haven’t found them, then it’s too late. You’ll never find them.” ‘Hold points’ were built into the construction schedule to allow the AECOM team to measure the relative vibration levels between the isolated slabs to make sure nothing was amiss. It was exacting work, but the pay-off was extremely low levels of airborne and structure-borne noise in the mixing theatre. THEN KEEPING IT HUSH HUSH

Designing the frequency response of the space was a step-by-step process, relying heavily on physics and mathematics, but also on some simple geometry, Swift explained – launching into what was virtually a master-class in studio acoustics. The first stage, once the volume and the basic proportions of the theatre were established by the Architect, was for Swift to use the raw dimensions to calculate the ‘modes’ or standing-wave frequencies that would exist in the space. He then set to smoothing out the potential resonances by tweaking the dimensions of the walls slightly and running all the calculations again until he had the proper distribution of modes across the audio spectrum. Next, using some simple ray-tracing diagrams, he adjusted the angles of the walls, ensuring that the first reflections from each speaker would be directed away from the mixing position. “Any reflections that you do get need to be a little bit late and at least 10 and preferably 20 dB down which means you’ve got to really look at the relationship of the side walls and the absorption on them,” Swift pointed out. From there, a key part of the process is designing the right mix of absorption in each frequency band to meet the crucial reverb time versus frequency parameters. “You can’t just put soft, wide-band absorption across the whole theatre – it gets too one-sided, so you’ve got to mix wide-band and low frequency with a bit of reflective stuff”, he said. There’s heaps of maths involved so that the right absorption gets installed, but at the end of the build Swift still allowed for time to do the crucial final measurement and tuning of the absorbers by hand. STRUCTURALLY SOUND

The architects worked closely with Swift, adjusting their structural design to each iteration of his calculations. I asked architect Steve Grieve if he found the process unduly constraining. “Not at all”, he replied. “If you understand the Dolby specifications well enough from the point of view of performance requirements, then you can work with the acoustic engineers to develop the identity of the space itself. In the case of the screening theatre and the mixing theatres in particular – often the absorption panels have a particular pattern and texture. The actual materials have to be exposed so they work acoustically, so if you work with them, you can use them as a design feature.” The end result, highlighted by well-placed lighting, is simply stunning and the theatre looks every bit as spectacular as it sounds.

FEATURE

Project Team Architects: Steve Grieve – Grieve Gillett (SA) in association with Joe Agius – Cox Richardson Architects and Planners (Sydney). Consultants: Dr Peter Swift (AECOM) acoustic engineer Mike Comiskey (AECOM) audiovisual consultant Mike Rowan Studio Consultant Web References: Adelaide Studios: www.adelaidestudios.com.au Dolby Premier Certification: www.dolby. com/gb/en/professional/service/cinema/ dolby-premier-studio-certification.html A brief history of the Glenside Site prior to construction: www.abc.net.au/local/ photos/2011/05/11/3213910.htm

EQUIPMENT LIST MIXING THEATRE Harrison MPC4-D console Harrison X-Range digital engines ProTools D-Command 16 channel console CB Electronics SR24 synchroniser/controller CB Electronics timecode/footage display below screen Rosendahl NanosyncsHD DDS audio clock and video sync generator NEC NC1200 (9300 lm) 2K projector SCREENING THEATRE NEC NC3200S (33,000 lm) 2K projector Kinoton FP 30 E 35mm film projector with digitally-controlled sprocket drive BOTH THEATRES (per room) Harkness Perlux 140 MP screen and masking Theatre Supplies ports Dolby CP650 digital cinema sound processor QSC DCM 30D amplifier controller QSC DCA 1622 amps to surrounds QSC DCA 3422 amps to L, C & R low QSC DCA 1644 amps to L, C & R high & mid QSC DCA 2422 amps to L & R subwoofers Krix Speakers 3 x KX-5920 L, C, R 2 x KX-4610 subwoofers 12 x KX-1870 surround

FEATURE

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;from a noise point of view, a quiet location is just the startâ&#x20AC;?

Above: The control room and Below: the Foley studio itself, with its range of sand and gravel pits and all that weird stuff that Foley artists accumulate to make their effects sound 'real'.

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Meanwhile, working with AECOM AV consultant Mike Comiskey, Mike Rowan set about assembling the equipment side of the equation. For speakers, Rowan turned to their established supplier Krix, whose SAmanufactured and THX-certified cinema speakers are exported around the world. He settled on three identical KX-5920 3-way boxes from their commercial cinema range for left, centre and right, with each driver powered by one QSC 3422 or QSC 1644 amplifier channel. Subs were a pair of massive twin-18inch KX4610s, while 12 KX-1870 two-way boxes, each driven by a QSC 1622 channel, took care of surround. To minimize losses across the speaker cables, the QSC amps driving the front speakers were located adjacent to the enclosures, behind the micro-perforated screen. An upgrade to the existing Harrison console was next on the agenda. Rowan chose the Harrison MPC4-D console, optionally working in concert with a ProTools D-Command 16-channel control surface. The Harrison console is attractive because it is in wide use for film, enabling interstate and overseas mixers to familiarise themselves with the room easily. For different projects, a sound engineer may to elect to mix from the Harrison console or from the ProTools interface. This would be an issue in most facilities as only one control surface could be positioned in the “sweet spot” at the centre of the room. However Mike Rowan devised an ingenious solution that allows the console to be reconfigured in less than ten minutes, so that either the ProTools or the Harrison can assume “centre stage”. He built an extended metal framework that spans the full width of the combined consoles. When required, the ProTools surface can be lifted out, then using a system of slides, the Harrison left console can simply move across making space for the ProTools to be placed in the centre As befits a team with such impeccable local credentials (and the patience to spend 30 years perfecting their ideas), the Premier Studio is an absolute triumph. It looks spectacular, operates immaculately and has now been certified by Dolby as sounding absolutely flawless. 

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Above : The screening theatre, while not submitted for Dolby certification, has virtually identical acoustics and sound system as the mixing theatre. Below: For more than a century the collection of buildings now known as Glenside were Adelaide's home for the abandoned, sick and insane. In its new incarnation as the Adelaide Studios some may suggest that not a lot has changed.

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Creative Cornucopia JMC’s new Ultimo campus provides a formidable proving ground for the creative industries. Text:/ Robert Clark Images:/ Daniel Sievert

JMC Academy has been a wellknown fixture in the leafy suburb of Surry Hills since 1982. This year, however, it was time to branch out, and it has expanded its campus to a multilevel complex in bustling Ultimo. The large new premises, which opened its doors in February, has presented many opportunities for the popular creative industries college, but it has also thrown up some interesting challenges. Jostling through the corridors of this brightly coloured yet minimalistchic campus are students with a wide array of interests. Some spend their days sculpting 3D animated figures, others huddle over mixing consoles crunching bass lines and some squint at green screens through HD cameras. They may come from far and wide, but students from every discipline all share a large auditorium space on Level Two. With such a diverse range of inhabitants and possible functions, this venue has undergone a few changes already. THEATRE OF DREAMS

The PA People was hired to lead the fitout of the auditorium. The brief was broad: the space needed to function as a lecture theatre and a performance space for anything from drama to bands — but within those loose confines… the school was happy to be led. Brett Steele, Manager of Installed Systems at The PA People explains, “the college itself didn’t have any particular choices of equipment so they left it up to us to suggest some options. The only two criteria they mentioned was they wanted a self-powered speaker system to keep the clutter down on the ground level in terms of amp racks and processing, and they wanted a digital console.” The chosen console was a Yamaha LS9-32, largely due to the fact JMC has been using one at its Victorian campus

with reliable results. To keep the floor clean, 18-inch subs are flown and sit nestled behind two JBL VRX900 line arrays. The subs don’t form part of the array simply because they don’t have the ceiling height (what’s more, 40Hz in the face may not be that conducive to positive learning outcomes). ACOUSTIC CHALLENGES

At just over 17 metres long and a little under 12 metres wide, with a flat timber floor and Hebel block walls, the auditorium remains an acoustic work in progress. Presently, large squares of PrimeAcoustic ‘Broadway’ panels are installed around the sides and back of the space, with thick curtaining behind the stage. This has provided some dampening but there is still more to be done, and indeed, the very form and function of the auditorium is still evolving. Possibilities for the future include tiered seating and a carpeted floor. For lighting, Brett Steele and his team provided a traditional setup with room for expansion. A Smartfade 2496 console helms a 24-channel dimming system through a Jands WM Patch and WMX dimmers, and DMX distribution is supplied to the bars and control points to allow for smart LED and/or moving lights in the future. A smattering of PAR cans are currently occupying the rig, but these will be joined by a more diverse array of luminaires as the need arises. The data system down to the AV plates and patching points were all prespec’d before The PA People entered the building, so their job was to tie it together in a way that lecturers and visiting speakers/artists could easily manage. To achieve this, an AMX control system is employed. Steele explains that various ‘states’ have been pre-programmed to cover different scenarios. “In simple mode,” he says, “it provides the ability to plug a couple

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“It’s all about having the opportunity to create; to generate your own kind of work and generate your own income.”

Above and far left: The very impressive SSL Duality mixing console with its DAW integration was chosen for the main recording studio. Centre: The auditorium is an acoustic work-in-progress with heavy drapes behind the stage and acoustic panels on the walls to deaden reflections. Left: The main music recording studio.

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The all-analogue Toft ATB24 recording console, with its clearly delineated functions and signal paths, is the first step for all students training in the craft of recording.

of mics and a computer in and, pretty well with a onebutton touch, get up and going. And then they can drop the screen and turn the projector on. For the performance modes you can break open the Yamaha digital mixer.” A BSS Blu100 signal processor with a Blu10 in-wall controller adds preset audio setups to a user-friendly AV configuration overall. As yet, however, few lecturers have utilised the space for teaching – it is mostly used for performances and workshops. SMART OR BORED?

The balance between providing tech tools that are user-friendly yet advanced enough to offer maximum effectiveness is a delicate one. CEO George Markakis was keen to explore his options, and when it came to deciding upon technology to be installed in each lecture room, he weighed up the pros and cons of ‘smart boards’ versus interactive projectors. “We tried to look at value for money,” he reflects, “and we thought, to fit out 15 rooms or thereabouts with $12,000 smart boards as opposed to $3000 projectors, we need to be sure our guys will use smart boards to full effect. And ultimately we couldn’t really justify the price difference, because we looked at what our lecturers used them for and some just wanted a traditional projector and a white board. The interactive projector allows them to have that functionality as well.” Lecturers who fall into the ‘early adopter’ category, however, have embraced the Epson EB range of short throw interactive projectors. Markakis cites examples of

teachers who project video content, freeze-frame scenes of interest, draw on the image to indicate features such as the direction of light, then save that image and either upload it to a shared folder or email it directly to students. Markakis says this is the kind of use he’s encouraging all his staff to embrace, but admits there remain some teachers who say, “I just want to show a YouTube clip.” It’s a work in progress. SINGULAR DESIRE FOR DUALITY

One piece of kit that Markakis had no doubts about acquiring is the SSL Duality mixing console in the school’s main recording studio. It’s certainly a sight to behold, but his reasons extend beyond the superficial. “We try to instil in the students a thorough understanding of basic analogue signal flow as well as modern DAW workflow, and the Duality makes both available at the push of a button.” He adds, “as far as I’m concerned, the Duality is the best you can get in terms of modern mixing consoles.” Interestingly, students don’t start out on the SSL, they actually cut their teeth on a Toft ATB24 console, which is entirely analogue and specifically built for audio recording. Moreover, its colour-coded knobs and intuitive layout make it well suited for students grappling with the basics of gain structure and signal flow. SDI PLUMBING

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the big advantages for these students is that their main production studio is much larger than the old Surry Hills space. The head of film and television at JMC, David Bell, likes the fact they now have the ability to work in multiple angles and incorporate a green screen when they shoot lengthways across the space. Through a campuswide SDI connection, film and TV students can also play out a number of broadcast scenarios within the building itself. Bell explains, “we can have a multi-cam setup in the auditorium feeding back to our control room, or a camera downstairs in the student lounge for instance. We can also be on the roof for a simulated live cross scenario and once again back to the control room. So the students have this sort of flexibility and can experiment further with location cameras during a broadcast.” JMC’s longstanding relationship with JVC continues, and the new studio boasts three JVC GY-HM790 E cameras. Beginner and documentary students handle JVC HM 600U units, which they use for multi-cam scenarios as well. Complementing these are Sony FS700 and Panasonic AF100 cameras for short films, music videos and television commercials. In addition to the sizeable investment in production technology and facilities, pre- and post-production

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disciplines are a key focus for film and TV students as well. Bell describes this approach as a ‘holistic’ one, explaining that “the students also need to be operating as the key creative practitioners: producers, directors, cinematographers and editors – those career paths where they’re coming up with the creative concepts.” George Markakis adds that this emphasis on diversity is in response to the vicissitudes of the industry: “We don’t want students’ opportunities to be limited; not just waiting for that production to happen. It’s all about having the opportunity to create; to generate your own kind of work and generate your own income.” CONSTANTLY EVOLVING

Preparing students for a career in the ever-evolving creative industry must be a constant challenge for higher education providers. And JMC is clearly aware that facilities alone will never do the whole job. But as David Bell notes, “it’s interesting how AV now is really part of education. You can’t do without it.” It will be fascinating to see how audiovisual technologies continue to evolve at the Ultimo campus as it responds both to the needs of students and advancements in the industry. 

Top left: The new and more spacious television studio features an area configured for greenscreen recording. Top right: All classrooms are fitted with interactive projectors in preference to smart boards. Above: A music composition and production lab.

Links JMC Academy: www.jmcacademy.edu.au The PA People: www.papeople.com.au

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The Birth of the Beam The true history of the modern, lightning-fast, pencil-thin moving beamlight. Text: Marcus Pugh Images:/ Courtesy of Clay Paky

In the past few years there has been one dominant image in all the ‘big lighting’ shows: beams. While dominant beams of light have been around since long before the first use of aircraft landing lights (ACLs) on a stage show (rumour has it that it was a Little Feat tour around 1973, but like most things from that period, details are foggy), recent times have seen beams taken to a new level of brightness and versatility. This trend in lighting design has primarily been driven through the development of a new class of fixture, and by one company in particular that introduced this new breed of beamlight into its range, to be followed swiftly afterward by many others. According to Davide Barbetta, Clay Paky’s marketing production manager, the Italian luminaire manufacturer, was hoping there might be a market among contemporary

lighting designers for this classic rock ’n’ roll effect and, decided to rethink the ACL and recast it in a modern role. This was how the modern Beam was born. You only need to look at the gear list from events like Eurovision or any of the large, televised award ceremonies or arena and stadium touring acts, to get an idea of just how popular these luminaires have become. We have seen moving lights in the past that were designed to shine as a moving beam fixture, but none that combined the bright near-parallel beam output with the effects like gobos, prisms and frost. The main advantage of these fixtures is their concentrated ray of light through atmospheric effects such as haze and fog coupled with the ability to move it rapidly in mid-air to create ‘aerial effects’. These beam lights have further highlighted

the need for good haze coverage throughout a venue, but that’s a topic for another day. FIRST GLIMPSES OF THE BEAM

In 2007, off the back of the popularity of their Alpha range of moving heads, Clay Paky started to develop a new type of moving head: the Beam. This meant Clay Paky had to rethink optics which needed to be fundamentally different from any previously conceived for spots or wash lights — while still using the same light source. The team at Clay Paky knew that to achieve this ‘ACL’ type of beam they had to concentrate as much light into creating a thick, ‘almost solid’ shaft of light coming off the lens. The first fixture of this type to be developed was the Alpha 300 Beam, which first saw the light of day at the Italian ShoW-Way production technology

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show in June 2008. While the 300 beam didn’t take off here in Australia, it certainly had industry tongues wagging with its 8° beam angle producing a tube of light that rivalled the intensity of 1200W profile or spot movers. Clay Paky obviously knew that they were onto a winning formula because they were already five months into the development of the Alpha Beam 1500 which launched in September 2008 at the PLASA show in the UK. If people thought the 300 put out a powerful beam, the 1500 was in a whole new league, blowing away 4kW fixtures in shootouts. By the time PLASA 2008 had wrapped up, the other lighting manufacturers were certainly paying attention to what the Italians were up to. The 1500 Beam was followed up with the launch of the Alpha Beam 700 in Germany at Prolight & Sound in April 2009.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the best was still to come. While designers and production companies were still getting used to these new weapons in their design arsenal, the boffins at Clay Paky had meanwhile started work in January 2010 with the new 189W MSD Platinum 5R from Philips, an extremely short arc lamp with an integrated reflector. This development was to become one the biggest leaps forward in lighting technology since LEDs, and turned out to be the next ‘musthave’ fixture. THE BEAM GOES PLATINUM

Clay Paky wasn’t the first to use the MSD Platinum 5R, that was American DJ with its Vizi Beam 5R which was put out to compete with the Alpha Beam 300. When Philips first released the Platinum 5R they suggested it

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would be used with a special optical device called an ‘Integration Tunnel’ which is essentially a tube with reflective interior walls designed to intensify and direct the light, and this was adopted by American DJ. The team at Clay Paky were not content with just following the ‘instructions’ that came with the lamp, and given their well-deserved reputation over 35 years for quality optics, thought they would be able to get more out of this little 189W lamp. Barbetta explains: “We designed a completely different optical system, featuring high quality ‘corrected’ lenses placed at the focal point, instead of Philips’ Integration Tunnel. These special optics, in combination with the Philips integrated lamp and reflector assembly, generates a homogeneous, lowaberration, parallel beam with an astonishing brightness.”

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Clay Paky's Sharpy and the Philips MSD Platinum 5R lamp that makes it all possible.

THE BIRTH OF THE SHARPY AND ALL ITS NEW-FOUND FRIENDS

This new optical system became the Sharpy: the fixture which has been featured on more gear spec lists than any other since its release at PLASA 2012. The Sharpy has a solid beam, which looks like you could reach out and hold onto it, and outperforms profile and spot movers with 1500W lamps. Clay Paky was also able to keep the fixture compact and lightweight, which means that it’s super-fast too. The Sharpy’s optical system has a beam angle of just over one degree, meaning that even over long throws it stays tight and ‘solid’. If you look closely at the beam, it actually crosses itself after the front lens (hence the big warning sticker on the Sharpy’s arm). Clay Paky immediately filed a patent application for this new optical system. Barbetta again: “The overall superiority of the Sharpy in terms of light-output and beam clarity when compared to other fixtures using the same light source is the result of two factors: the very short-arc of the Philips lamp, and the highperformance optical system designed by Clay Paky.” Along with all this output, feature set and speed Clay Paky have also managed to produce a fixture that is also robust and stand up to rigours of a life on the road. Due to the Sharpy’s popularity we have seen a positive blooming in the field of lower-wattage, light-weight beam fixtures, such as the Robe Pointe, the Elation Beam 5R, Acme XP-5R Sabre. And then of course there have been the usual crop of blatant copies — the true acknowledgement of a fixture’s success. 

What Lighting Designers and users have said about Clay Paky Beam Lights: The Alpha Beams allow me to use 50% of the number of regular spot fixtures. So if I had 100 spot fixtures I would aim for 50 Beams. The Beam has become a light that I cannot design a show without. Baz Halpin, lighting designer We’re having a lot of fun with the Sharpys. Sometimes we use no colour, sometimes deep colour and sometimes ballyhoo. We feel we’ve found the right balance. The Sharpys are proving to be rugged and reliable on the long tour schedule. The crews tell me they‘re pretty bulletproof and are working great every day.” Jeff Ravitz, lighting designer for Bruce Springsteen Tour

The Alpha Beam 1500 blew away the 4K unit we were testing it against at the shoot-out. Optically, the 1500W beam turned out to be more visible than the 4000W beam!” Koert Vermuelen, LD for Singapore Youth Olympic Games We never see them in the shop — they’re always out. Sharpy is a very robust special effects unit, and we’ve loved them since we bought them. Richard Lachance – Director Solotech (Canada) I had used Sharpys for the first time in England and was really impressed with them, so it was natural to bring them in on these four shows. With Sharpys, the light goes on forever. These shows were very much about beams: that oldschool Genesis look from the early ’80s with the green beams. Nick Whitehouse, LD for Beyonce World Tour

The Clay Paky Beams were tremendous, adding brilliant punches of colour big enough for one of the biggest landmark events in one of the most famous locations in the world. Jerry Appelt, LD for Victory Day Parade in Moscow & Eurovision Song Contest 2011/12

I am a big fan of the Alpha Beam; it has brought the ACL feel back into shows with colour, beams and movement thrown in for good measure — a lighting designers dream! Dave Hill, lighting designer

The Sharpys seem to be ideally suited to projects where power, brightness and optical efficiency is required. Al Gurdon, lighting designer for Madonna (Halftime Superbowl Show 2012)

The Clay Paky Alpha Beam range has brought a unique new tool to long-throw applications and has re-energised the air and atmosphere around many TV and live events. Durham Marenghi, lighting designer

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REVIEW

Steinberg Wavelab Recording, editing and mastering software. Text:/ Graeme Hague

Steinberg’s Wavelab software is often overlooked when you’re considering day-to-day recording and editing tasks. That’s because Wavelab is mostly thought of as a mastering application, for applying the final touches – the last bit of spit and polish after all the real work has been done. Wavelab certainly isn’t only about mastering and has a lot more to offer than you might realise when it comes to cutting and squashing your AV audio during the creative phase – and it can achieve results with much greater precision than a digital audio workstation (DAW). Wavelab is really an audio recording and editing application (rather than recording and arranging like its sibling Cubase) and, for sure, it has a heap of mastering effects and tools, but it’s those strong editing features that will help you crunch all your disparate audio files into a more cohesive whole than a DAW might do. Therein lays one of the problems with many AV projects like film documentaries, training videos and sales presentations. A lot of the various audio tracks come from a wide range of sources and not just the comfortable, controlled environment of a recording studio. You’ll need dedicated audio tools to chop files up, stretch them and remove noise, hiss, clunking and clicking… and finally create continuity in tone and volume that unfortunately the audience will take for granted – never mind, we know what you’ve been doing. The latest incarnation of the program, Wavelab 8, gives you all these tools and more. However, will you survive the learning curve?

FILES & MONTAGES

There are two methods of working with Wavelab. You can open an individual file in an Edit window to begin editing and manipulating it to an nth degree or you can open multiple files to create a Montage, then edit those files within the Montage framework. A Montage can be the basis of something like a CD compilation, or an extended dialogue track made from dozens of takes, a VO track – anything that requires pulling a collection of files together or any regular workflow that will benefit from having an overall template. The Edit window can save Workspaces, Templates and individual presets in the plugins, but it doesn’t really lend itself to applying your favourite setups, such as plug-in chains, across different files in the same session. So creating a Montage for frequent tasks and dropping files in and out as required is a good idea. For example you might start a ‘Voice Over’ Montage for regular work on VO tasks, even if you’ll never produce the entire Montage as one specific project. EDITING CHOP SHOP

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

That learning curve is pretty steep even for an old DAW hand like yours truly, but everything starts to fall into place quickly once you understand the basics. Wavelab is crammed with features and functions, and to put most of them at your fingertips the GUI is surrounded by unhappily small icons (my screen resolution is 1680 x 1050) that will mean little to you for a while. Fortunately, Wavelab supports a Tooltips system and hovering your mouse over anything prompts a text-box explanation. Typically, you’ll start opening and playing files, and experimenting with the different views and metering, which will keep you amused for a while… okay, stop fooling around, you need to get serious about figuring out what the hell is going on.

The Editing window is the audio chop shop where you can fine-tune the individual files in preparation for your Montage. Here you can make up for any recording’s short-comings with precision tools like Gain, Normalise, Loudness Normaliser and many more, including a Pitch Quantize, which is Wavelab’s pitch correction plug-in. These are all plug-ins we’ve seen for years and nothing especially unique in what they do, except that Wavelab takes the parameters of these a number of steps further to provide more accurate and predictable results. For instance, often you’ll have options to reference the entire file when you’re trying to fix only a section to avoid disjointed moments of audio. In the Edit window you find all the standard Split, Delete and Time or Pitch shifting functions to wrangle an audio file into the right shape. Again, these are way more detailed in application than you’ll find in many DAWs.

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If you want to apply effects and processing such as reverb, compression and the like – the usual suspects – in the Edit window you’ll need to use the Master Section where plug-in slots allow this as a chain. This is where you’ll discover that starting a Montage might have been a better idea (yes, all right – it happened to me), because while you can open multiple files inside the Edit GUI and switch between them, the signal for all of them will be routed through the Master Section and trying to swap your plug-ins’ setting in that Master Section to suit different files just gets too tricky. By the way, the Master Section is the place in the Edit window where you need to apply the onboard Sonnox Noise Reduction, DeBuzzer and De-Clicker features – since these are provided as plug-ins in Wavelab and not applied directly to the wave file under the Process menu along with things like Normalise or Reverse. The ultimate aim is to render your edited file into a new, clean version for inclusion in a Montage. However, you do get a second chance for re-opening files in the editor from the Montage window, if needs be. THE BIGGER PICTURE

The Montage window is just as crowded and festooned with icons and you’ll need to look closely to find what you want. You can customise these views, but initially you won’t know exactly what’s needed and what isn’t. The big difference in Montage mode is that individual clips or files can have their own plug-in chains by assigning them to separate tracks. By employing tracks rather than using individual plug-in chains for each clip (which is still an option) you don’t have unnecessary duplication. For example, dozens of voice-over clips recorded in the studio during the same session can share a track and plug-in chain, while an OB voice-over might be given a separate track to allow for noise reduction. By now Wavelab is probably starting to sound suspiciously like a DAW, but again the emphasis is more on precision and accuracy. Mixing material like dialogue and voice-overs into a seamless presentation requires the extra edge that dedicated audio editors like Wavelab provide. METERING MATTERS

A strong suit for Wavelab is its metering capabilities. There’s a Level Meter, Loudness Meter, Spectrometer, Bit Meter, in fact, metering scopes of all persuasions… just about every means of visually inspecting audio is included. If you haven’t been an aficionado of metering before and just avoided the nasty, red bits at the top, Wavelab’s metering might change your mind. The large displays with clear and detailed information encourage you to indulge in a little finesse when you’re using EQ and compressors. The interaction between different plug-ins and their order in the signal chain becomes more obvious. Very soon you’ll learn to appreciate what all that metering fuss has been about and to squeeze every last bit and sample into place. Seeing audio properly for the first time can be quite the revelation.

NEW TRICKS

Wavelab 8 has been released with more than a few new features including a Speaker Configuration facility that lets you set up different outputs to suit a variety of monitoring situations. Also of special note are three new plug-ins. The Tube Compressor can add some audio colour and character. A Brickwall Limiter can be a final, handy bastion, ensuring all your hard work won’t inadvertently clip in the red. And the Voxengo Curve EQ has, aside from the expected EQ facilities, a Spectrum Match feature that in theory will allow you to imprint the tonal characteristics of one track onto another. It’s not an exact science, because it’s dependent to some extent on the complexity of the audio you’re trying to EQ, but in many instances it can come darn close. What's more, Wavelab allows you to work accurately with numerous audio files of different sample rates within a Montage. DEVIL IN THE DATA DETAIL

This may be a blatantly obvious thing to say, but when you’re using a program like Wavelab you’ll need very good monitoring, very good hearing, and at least a pretty good idea of what you’re hoping to hear. The alternative is owning crap speakers, you’ve listened to far too much thrash metal music, and you’re hoping that Wavelab will magically do the job for you anyway thanks to clever presets and one-button-fixes-everything plug-ins. Sorry if you’re in the latter category, but Wavelab is not software for novices to achieve mastering studio-like results without having a clue what they’re doing. To be fair, a lot of what Wavelab does can be accomplished in a top-notch DAW like ProTools, Logic, Sonar, Studio One or, of course, Steinberg’s Cubase 7. No one’s arguing those DAWs haven’t come a long way. Also, Wavelab has no mixer window and a lot of the more esoteric plug-ins like amp simulators aren’t there (unless you have third-party plug-ins installed, which Wavelab can find and recognise). Wavelab allows you to approach that mixing task from a different, more calculating perspective. It’s when your sound editing requires a scalpel rather than a sharp knife — Wavelab will let you deal with the finer details a lot better. It’s a different workflow and mindset, but it gets great results – and it will let you do that final mastering spit and polish, too.  Yamaha Australia: www.yamahamusic.com.au or mick_hughes@gmx.yamaha.com

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HDBaseT: Standards vs Throughput You may well be ‘soaking’ in it right now. Know your chalk from your cheese. Text:/ Andy Ciddor Although open standards from a range of internationally-recognised standards-setting bodies lie at the core of the interoperability of some aspects of AV as we know it today, they’re far from being the only way of achieving innovation and interoperability. Indeed, many of our current ‘standards’ are actually the result of groups of companies getting together to develop a product to fill a perceived need and then releasing it into the marketplace. Examples of such apparent standards in common use include, IT’s DVI and its AV cousin HDMI, both of which are the result of industry groups banding together to provide signal interfaces between video devices and display devices. OPEN SECRET

One disadvantage of the international open standards process is the fact that it is open and requires a number of relatively-prolonged steps to take a proposal for a new standard or a change to an existing standard to finally become ratified. Sometimes this takes so long that the standard is outmoded by the time it’s ratified, or in the case of the most recent updates to the IEEE-802.11 (WLAN/wi-fi) standard, the market decided it couldn’t wait and manufacturers start rolling out products that conform only to an incomplete specification. These ‘draft standard’-compliant products may turn out to be incompatible with the final ratified version of the standard or at the very least need to be upgraded in the field to become compliant. This is the case for millions of ‘draft 802.11n’ wi-fi devices floating about in the world right now and with the new 802.11ac standard likely to be ratified in the next few months, devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers have been shipping with only draft version compliance for a while now. AVB: WORK IN PROGRESS

In the matter of moving uncompressed highbandwidth video across our TCP/IP-overEthernet networks, there is no standard yet available. While the open AVB (Audio Video Bridging) standard has got to the point where the transmission of low-latency synchronised HD (1080p) audio and video are now possible on a fast Ethernet network, this developing standard is still a long way from the ideal of transporting today’s high resolution formats over cheap Ethernet infrastructure. On the other hand, AVB’s adoption as a high-quality, nonproprietary digital audio transport mechanism, to replace the existing Tower of Babel of

HDBaseT vs AVB There is some concern expressed that HDBaseT will obviate the need for AVB or that the carefully-crafted interoperable standard is being undermined by the HDBaseT technology. In reality they are quite different technologies with very different purposes. AVB is about achieving low-latency audio and video transmission across a standard TCP/IP network that also handles everything from monitoring the air conditioning, to viewing email, Twittering about the quality of your latté, running the lighting, and videoconferencing with the Barcelona office. It’s about diverse families of devices and protocols interconnecting over standard networks without tripping over one another. HDBaseT is about getting a huge amount of data, most of it unidirectional, from one place to another, as quickly and as cheaply as possible. It’s even possible to move AVB data over the 100Mbps Ethernet channel that’s embedded in an HDBaseT link. Think: ‘chalk and cheese’ (preferably a nice Wensleydale).

competing and incompatible formats is already well under way. HDMI: GOOD FOUNDATION

After a decade of rapid uptake, and with an reported three billion devices in use, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) can indeed transport just about everything needed for high quality, audio, video, data and control. Originating as a group of seven companies who banded together to set up their own proprietary standard for connecting audiovisual devices, the recently-formed HDMI Foundation is a group of some 1300 companies which each pay US$15,000 per year to develop and maintain their standard and use it in their products. While this makes HDMI a de facto standard, there is none of the burden of the processes required by being an open standard when the consortium decides to update any aspect of its technology. HDBaseT: SOMETHING ELSE AGAIN

HDBaseT is another example of a group of technologists which took an idea and ran with it, without consulting anyone except their venture partners, and then put their idea into a marketplace that didn’t even know that it needed the technology. Although HDBaseT resembles some of the technologies that went before it (it uses familiar cables and includes an Ethernet channel), much of its implementation makes no

real attempt to fit within existing standards. HDBaseT originates from Valens Semiconductor, an Israeli startup formed in 2006 for the express purpose of developing technologies that push a lot of data down inexpensive cable using some clever asymmetrical digital signal processing. Once Valens had developed the transmitter and receiver chips that are its core product, in 2010 it set about finding partner companies that could take advantage of the technology in their own products, whilst helping to create a market for HDBaseT. Determined to start out with a big splash, the original partners in the HDBaseT Alliance were LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Since then Atlona, Crestron Electronics, Epson, Extron Electronics, Microsemi Corporation, Pulse-Eight, Quantum Data, Silver Telecom, SnapAV and Transformative Engineering have joined the Alliance as technology contributors. Another 50 or so companies, including such familiar faces as AMX, Belden, Gefen, Hitachi, Kramer Electronics, Projectiondesign and TV One, are now Adopter members of the Alliance, incorporating HDBaseT technology into their own offerings. CANING UTP

HDBaseT sets out to wring every last bit of signal throughput from common or garden category 5e or category 6 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable terminated with bog-standard, unshielded, plastic RJ-45 (8P8C) connectors. In its original incarnation the HDBaseT chipset merely took the output of an HDMI chipset (which is usually run over short lengths of 19-core cable with much shielding), and by using a great deal of signal conditioning and cross-talk cancellation, delivered it reliably to the receiver chip over a 100m run of cat5e/6 UTP. At first glance, it’s a bit like fitting a pint of beer in a half-pint pot. HDBaseT introduced this to the market under the catchy title of 5Play to indicate it carried five families of signals: Video, Audio, Ethernet, Control and Power. Video: By implementing the HDMI 1.4 signal suite, HDBaseT delivers uncompressed lowlatency video including 120Hz 3D, at up to 4K, along with all the usual control signals such as EPG (Electronic Program Guide), CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) and HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) encryption.

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Audio: Audio formats carried include, 8-channel LPCM (Linear Pulse-Code Modulation), Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS HD-Master Audio. Ethernet: The format includes a full 100Mbps Ethernet channel, plus Ethernet Fallback Mode for situations where an Ethernet link is required without any other HDMI signals. Control: Other low-speed data channels available include RS-232, USB, and IR control extension. In conjunction with TCP/IP control protocols over the Ethernet link, this provides a pretty extensive array of control capabilities. Power: As a bonus, HDBaseT delivers 100W of DC power over the twisted pair cables, which is impressive considering the copper losses of the 24 gauge (0.51mm) wire generally used in cat5e cable. This power feed, although quite modest in what it delivers, has been critical in the success of HDBaseT because it brings with it the potential for devices to receive everything they need down a single run of inexpensive UTP cable. When I first met HDBaseT on demo at InfoComm 2010 there was just one prototype LCD monitor that could run on a 100W power supply, but it hadn’t yet been fitted out to run off a single cat5e cable. Today, there are a wide variety of LED backlit LCD panels that can run on that power budget. However, I imagine that it may still be a little while before we see real projectors running off a single HDBaseT cable. CHEAP AS CHIPSETS

HDBaseT has been picked up in a huge number of applications, both commercial and domestic; sometimes because it provides an economical means of transporting high-definition video and multichannel audio over long distances; sometimes because it is a very cheap way of getting data from place to place; sometimes because it can use existing cable infrastructure; and other times because it’s a convenient and

was released in mid-August to specifically address Alliance members’ requests for a more consumer-oriented technology. Labelled as HomePlay this version extends the capabilities of HDBaseT in several directions. Rather than simply providing all the capabilities of the raw HDMI data for manufacturers to access as part of their product design, this version gives specific simplified access to each of the data streams. This enables products to be implemented that directly access the USB, audio and video channels without any additional interface design or any outboard electronics. Such products are much easier to engineer and quicker, simpler and cheaper to bring to market. The video streams are now capable of being directly addressed, making it very much simpler to build pointto-multipoint media replay and distribution systems with few additional circuit elements and little additional engineering. simple way of getting power and a multitude of AV signals down a single cable. In some products, such as the recent spate of HDMI-over-Ethernet extender devices that have appeared on the market, the HDBaseT chipset inside the box is not even mentioned. In others, such as the amazing variety of HDBaseT matrix switchers now available, the presence of RJ-45 connectors on multimedia distribution equipment is clear acknowledgement of its presence. CONSUMER-FRIENDLY V2

Of course having a successful product that’s rapidly gaining wide acceptance across the AV and digital signage industries is never enough to keep the R&D department from finding even more things to do with its brainchildren. Even more importantly, it doesn’t stop the product development teams working for the Alliance members from demanding more capabilities from the HDBaseT technology. The result, inevitably, was HDBaseT version Two which

BEYOND THE HOME

The view of the HDBaseT alliance is that the new chipset will result in the development of a wide variety of media centre appliances based around the chipset acting as a media switch and router to consolidate and distribute all the various classes of media and data connectivity found in a modern home. Despite all the interest in home media applications, when I look at these functions I see a whole bunch of applications in small AV presentation and production spaces, classrooms and tutorial spaces, retail applications and digital signage. It’s going to be fun to see where this all goes.  MORE INFORMATION HDBaset Alliance: www.hdbaset.org Valens Semiconductor: www.valens.com HDMI: www.hdmi.org AVB: www.avnu.org

All The AV Industry Employment News Delivered to your IN box with AV Newswire Any time you want it at www.av.net.au

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REVIEW

TelyHD Tely Labs stand-alone video conferencing device. Text:/ Andy Ciddor

Alchemedia Publishing, the publishers of AV, AudioTechnology, Venue, Digital Signage and Video & Filmmaker magazines and The Guerrilla Guide to Recording is similar to an increasing number of small enterprises in Australia, in having a number of offices scattered about the country, all working on different aspects of the same projects. Primarily for lifestyle reasons, our sales, accounts, administration and subscription office is in Sydney, our editorial and design office is in regional Victoria, and we have editors working from offices in the suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, and from south-western WA. Clearly we need a mesh of communications systems to allow us to co-ordinate our activities. For moment-to-moment quick casual connections we depend heavily on instant messaging, using various clients for AOL’s messaging platform, mostly in the guise of Apple’s iChat for our Mac desktops. For normal voice communications and, up to four-way conference conversations between desks, we use our VoIP virtual PABX which is scattered far and wide. When the conferences reach outside our VoIP network we’ve taken a leaf from InfoComm’s book and use GoToMeeting (GTM) from Citrix, a hosted system with clients for everything from a dumb touch-tone telephone, to a desktop computer and the current generations of handheld devices. In addition to vanilla voice conferencing, GTM has the capability for smallimage video conferencing and screen sharing on suitably-capable endpoint devices.

While we don’t have the budget to own or operate an enterprise-level videoconferencing system with dedicated conference rooms, life-size screens, movement-tracking PTZ cameras and the like, we do see quite a few such systems in our travels around the AV universe, and realise that a facility of that ilk would suit the face-to-face communications style preferred by some people in the company. This means we’re always on the lookout for cost-effective solutions that may somehow fulfil our high conferencing aspirations and also meet our budgetary goal of spending very little. PROBLEM SOLVER

As the person on staff least ignorant about IT and communications, I’m responsible for these areas of our activities, so after spotting the Tely Labs folk at the recent InfoComm show in Orlando, I leapt at the opportunity to try out its TelyHD device for the purposes of both a product review and the field trial of a candidate for our dream teleconferencing system. The TelyHD unit is most of a conferencing system in a single compact device that resembles an oversized web cam. The only components required to complete the conferencing system are a screen and loudspeakers, the very components usually found in the television set that it’s designed to mount on. So in the world of Tely Labs, a fully-functional HD video conferencing station consists of a standard HD-capable television with an HDMI input connector, plus a $299 TelyHD.

The TelyHD unit is based on the Android operating system which was developed by Google for devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, TVs, PVRs, media players and smart fridges. It features a video camera (complete with essential privacy shutter), a four-microphone directional sound array, a USB port, an RJ-45 style Ethernet port, a mini-HDMI connector, an SD card slot and an input socket for the DC power supply. There’s a well-designed non-slip bracket device that enables the TelyHD to sit stably atop a wide range of sizes of monitor and television set. This design should be immediately adopted by the entire webcam industry to replace the clumsy and unstable brackets found on so many products. The hardest part of setting up a Tely HD system is locating an HDMI port on your monitor or television and a spare socket on a power board for the plug pack. I connected the unit to one of the several Ethernet feeds that float about on my desk, but we found the on-board Wi-Fi transceiver works just as well in a clean RF environment. As soon as the unit was powered up, it phoned home to the Tely Labs mothership and performed a firmware update before getting down to business, which is a reassuring feature in a device that’s quite probably going to live away from regular technical care and maintenance. And just a note about powering the unit up: this requires the small seven-button TelyHD infrared remote and appears to be the only function that can’t be accessed via an external keyboard, so the

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REVIEW

diminutive remote, which is a prime candidate for being pocketed or lost in the upholstery, does need to be kept on hand. TV-LIKE INTERFACING

The user interface is big and bold and TV-like and can be driven entirely from the remote control, or if you prefer, from an external keyboard connected to the USB socket on the back of the TelyHD. As the remote with its fourway directional rocker is way too confusing for a dyslexic like me, I grabbed one of the stray USB keyboards languishing in the tech cupboard, but I imagine that most people will want the freedom of movement offered by a wireless keyboard and plug its miniature transceiver dongle into the USB port. In the end, entering your connection details and login information using the remote’s directional rocker to select the characters oneat-a-time from an on-screen keyboard is a bit clunky, and reminded me of the grief of entering the name of the highest scorer in ancient arcade games. (Not that I have any direct experience of this, as dyslexics never get high scores in arcade games.) The interface is quite simple to follow with adequate prompting, although I have the feeling the design was adapted from a device with much lower screen resolution. As there is little-to-nolikelihood of finding a monitor or a television set with an HDMI connector that can’t handle at least 720p, it seems a bit of a waste to have an interface that looks a bit like it came from an early 320 x

240-pixel phone or an Atari TV games platform. This doesn’t reduce the functionality of the system but it does unnecessarily limit the amount of information displayed on each screen and thus makes some tasks such as finding a contact from a list much slower and more tedious. COMMON AS SKYPE

The communications engine on the base models of the TelyHD is the well-tested and almost universally-known Skype. If you already have a Skype login you can be up and teleconferencing in no time flat, and if you don’t have an account, the TelyHD’s Skype client will lead you quickly through the process of acquiring one. Whilst Skype may have its moments as videoconferencing platform, it’s very well known and for point-topoint calls between Skype members, you can hardly complain about the price of nothing at all. With Skype running through TelyHD on a big screen television and a not too ratty connection, you can imagine you’re playing at the top end of town with their systems costing hundreds of times as much. If you want to up the ante in your conferencing to professional SIP-based networks, the TelyHD has an built-in SIP client. If you don’t have access to such a network you can subscribe to Tely Labs’ TelyCloud service which is a packaged version of Skype’s business client that enables up to six-way conferencing between Skype subscribers. If you want to connect your TelyHD system to people who are on other teleconferencing

systems or who have no existing teleconferencing facilities at all, Tely Labs has a partnership arrangement with the client-agnostic, cloudbased conferencing service, BlueJeans. Through the BlueJeans gateway your TelyHD can join a virtual conference of attendees on any platform from Cisco TelePresence, LifeSize, or PolyCom to a web browser on a notebook, a SIP client, a smart phone or a tablet. If you need to share the screen contents of a computer with a TelyHD conference, Tely Labs has a Windows application that allows a machine on the same network as the TelyHD to make its screen available for display. And on the subject of software, there's also a built-in, fully-functional web browser as part of the system. There’s also an audio extension device that can be placed between multiple meeting participants to provide better mic and speaker levels for all participants. Unfortunately, we didn’t have one of these to test. TELY KINETIC

For our trial we installed a TelyHD unit on top of one of the 27-inch HDMI-capable monitors on my desk in Hobart and the other on an HDMIcapable 24-inch monitor on my other desk, in our Editorial office in regional Victoria. We made calls between these TelyHD endpoints and I also called the TelyHD sales people in the home office of IPTV Australasia, which loaned me the evaluation units. We were generally very pleased with the

REVIEW

Magazine congratulates the winners of the fourth annual Audio Visual Industry Awards

Best Commercial or Government Installation $500k+ Rutledge AV for Perth Arena’s Digital Signage Feature Piece Best Commercial or Government Installation up to $500k Acoustic Directions for Willoughby City Council’s Urban Screen at The Concourse, Chatswood Best application of AV in a Museum or Display Pro AV Solutions Queensland for Queensland University of Technology’s The Cube Best application of AV in Education Pro AV Solutions Queensland for Queensland University of Technology’s The Cube Best application of AV in a Production $500k+ Auditoria for London 2012 — Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies Best application of AV in a Production up to $500k The Electric Canvas for City of Melbourne’s Melbourne Town Hall: The Nights Before Christmas

operation of the units under the field conditions that we would be using if we adopt the technology. With the exception of the threecontacts-per-screen Skype directory which is pretty clumsy to navigate when you have dozens of people on your contact list, we managed to get the system to do what we wanted most of the time. Almost all the calling and connection issues we encountered were familiar Skype problems rather than anything originating with the TelyHD devices. The only disappointment we had was with the audio gating and echo-cancellation in our conversations. The Editorial office has a bit of an acoustic problem when it comes to conferencing, as we already knew from using the mics in the iMac desktop systems for our GoToMeeting sessions. With two, large, connected offices, each with sweeping 1940s-style bay windows and acoustically-bright wall and floor treatments, it’s quite common to find that the person across the central Editorial desk or in the adjacent Design office comes through the iMac’s microphone at least as clearly and as loudly as the person actually making the call. As everyone in the office listens to their own music or video on isolating headphones, and most people use telephone headsets with tight-pattern boom microphones the situation is generally manageable, but like the iMacs, the mic array on the TelyHD did an inadequate job of cancelling the extraneous noise, even when the caller was sitting was sitting quite close to the monitor and TelyHD unit. However, the biggest disappointment was the inadequate echo cancellation in the TelyHD. In every conversation the speakers were gated out the moment somebody else spoke (or somebody’s phone in the adjacent office rang). We’ve come to acknowledge that you can’t do better than half-duplex conversations with cheap speaker phones, but teleconferencing phones have been reliably handling active echo cancellation for a couple of decades, albeit at a high price in the beginning, but DSP processing power is now dirt cheap and the echocancelling algorithms to drive them are generations old. Fortunately this is essentially a software problem, and I’m aware that the TelyHD is in constant development, so I feel confident that very soon when TelyHD units call home to Mum they’ll be given some improved echocancelling features to rid them of this flaw. HD FOR UNDER A GRAND

All up the TelyHD is a piece of disruptive technology in the videoconferencing space. By introducing the sub-$1000 full-HD conferencing endpoint, a whole new range of applications become available and will no doubt democratise videoconferencing even further than we have ever imagined.  Price: TelyHD $328.90 (inc GST) TelyHD Pro $768.90 (inc GST) Enquiries: IPTV Australasia des@iptvaustralasia.com 0431 395 585

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InfoComm News

InfoComm, AMX Team to Train 100 Oceania AV/IT Professionals

InfoComm International is partnering with AMX Australia to provide networked audiovisual systems training to AV professionals in Australia and New Zealand. Thanks to the generosity of AMX Australia, 100 Oceania professionals will be able to take InfoComm's popular Networked AV Systems class at a discounted rate in Sydney, the Gold Coast, Auckland and Melbourne, increasing the number of trained professionals in the region. Classes will begin to be offered in Feb. 2014. Classes will be offered at AMX Training Centres on the following dates and locations: 5-7 Feb 2014 – Gold Coast 10-12 Feb 2014 – Sydney 2-4 April 2014 – Auckland 7-9 April 2014 – Melbourne 28-30 May 2014 – Gold Coast 2-4 June 2014 – Sydney 23-25 July 2014 – Melbourne 28-30 July 2014 – Sydney 24-26 Sept 2014 – Auckland 29 Sept - 1 Oct 2014 – Sydney 12-14 Nov 2014 – Melbourne 17-19 Nov 2014 – Gold Coast

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InfoComm applauds AMX’s generosity and commitment to providing the industry with quality network education. InfoComm’s AV Networking Online class is a pre-requisite for Networked AV Systems. AMX is offering this class free of charge to all who register for the NAVS sessions at their training centres. Looking for more information? Visit infocomm.org/amx. INFOCOMM THANKS ALL WHO ATTENDED INTEGRATE 2013

Thank you to all who visited us at Integrate 2013 in Sydney, Whether you attended an InfoComm University course, the keynote address on exceptional AV experiences from InfoComm CEO David Labuskes, or at the AVIA Awards drinks reception, we enjoyed seeing you and look forward to getting together next year 26-28 August at the Sydney Showground. InfoComm thanks the volunteers who taught at the show. Because of your commitment we have a more educated industry. INFOCOMM IN OCEANIA

InfoComm is going to be doing more activities in Australia and New Zealand in the years to come. Look for changes in the coming years as we strive to serve you better.

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TUTORIAL

Assuring Network Security Components and transmission systems. The following is an excerpt from InfoComm Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Networking Online class. To register contact Jonathan Seller at jseller@infocomm.org Risk Analysis

As any network is created or expanded security is a top concern. A network creates exposure. It gives users the ability to access one device from another, or to tap into organisational resources from the outside world. Increased availability and efficiency has a price: potential exposure. Throughout the network design process, network and security engineers analyse potential risks. Typically, they use a risk management framework (RMF) to determine which risks are acceptable and which must be guarded against.

Mitigation

Once you've identified the risks your system presents you're faced with the problem of how to address them. The next step is to research best practices for mitigating the vulnerabilities in the system.

Risk

ig Mit

atio

analysis process should reveal which risks you should prioritise. Risk analysis is a cost-benefit analysis. A risk will have an impact if it occurs. The mitigation which prevents that risk should cost less than the impact. Therefore, you want to prioritise risks with high probability of occurrence and cost of impact. Risk analysis is the process of setting these priorities. There are many methods to analyse risk. Start by creating a document which records all the risks facing a project or system. There are many names for this type of document; such as risk register, risk roster, or risk matrix. Some matrices are simple best estimates, while some are complex computer models. If your customer has a method of risk analysis, or any other guidelines, use them. Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability

There are risks to every system and project. Every jobsite has security measures to mitigate risks. Failure to identify risks and security measures will cost you time, money, and frustration. Glossary: Risk A risk is the potential for a problem. A risk exists when there is a probability that a threat will exploit a vulnerability in your system or project. Your first step in conducting a risk analysis is identifying what risks the system presents. A risk is made up of three parts: vulnerability, threat and likelihood. Glossary: Vulnerability A vulnerability is a specific weakness in a system Glossary: Threat A threat is an entity which might exploit a vulnerability Any risk can be described as "there is X likelihood that Y threat may take advantage of Z vulnerabilityâ&#x20AC;?. The likelihood of a risk must be balanced against its associated cost, or consequence, if it does happen. Risk Management Frameworks

There are many available RMFs, several of which are free. The American National Institute of Standards (NIST) publishes a free suite of computer security guidelines, the special publication 800 series (SP 800). SP 800-37 specifically deals with RMFs. The commercially available Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) is another popular RMF. You should always use whichever RMF your customer prefers.

Glossary: Mitigation Mitigation is an action taken to lessen or eliminate the impact of a risk For networked systems common security mitigations include: Changing the default passwords on equipment so unauthorised users canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t access them Turning off unused functionalities on servers Setting switches and routers to only allow traffic from specific ports or protocols Unexpected risks will require unexpected mitigation. Set aside a contingency reserve of funds to protect your schedule and final deliverables.

Your customers' tolerance for risk always depends on what kind of data is on the network. Some data must be kept securely away from prying eyes, even if that makes it difficult to access. Other data should always be accessible, even if that means potentially exposing it to outsiders. During the network design phase network engineers work with stakeholders to discover the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) requirements of each type of network traffic. The CIA requirements form the foundation of the network security requirements.

Impact Analysis

No matter how much time and money you put into it, a system will always have residual risks and vulnerabilities. When faced with a risk, there are three things you can do: (1) Mitigate it (2) Accept it and do nothing (3) Obtain a formal exception when the mitigation is too costly You'll probably have to use all three in dealing with all the risks associated with any project. You know you can't fix everything. All mitigations have some cost to implement, and all projects have a finite budget. The risk

When you consider how important data is to your customer you must also consider what form that importance takes. Is it important that the data be kept confidential? Is it important that your customer always has access to the data? Is it important that the data be preserved without errors? Your customers want to be able to use their data. Three potential problems stand in the way: (1) Information might be seen by unauthorised parties (2) Data might be corrupted or deleted, either by accident or malice (3) Information may be unavailable due to a denial of service The balance of these three concerns is known as the CIA triad.

050

Termination Phrases you just wouldn’t hear on a show. Text:/ Paul Collison

No matter what corner of the industry you live in, it seems that some disciplines are just (possibly unjustly) typecast. The same comments seem to crop up about the same departments, but the strange thing about it is, there is a certain element of truth to them all. We thought it would be fun to list some of things you would rarely, if ever, hear on a production.

Lighting designer: I think i have enough lights to make this look amazing. Audio: Let’s wait until the lighting guys are out of the truss before we tune the P.A. Video: It’s okay, we brought our own truss and motors to do that job. Production manager: That’s okay, we left some money in the budget for that. Lighting tech: That problem couldn’t possibly be in the console, it must be at our end. Venue: Would you guys like some water, tea or coffee? Anyone: LinkedIn is so useful, I hire people from there all the time. Lighting designer: I think we have enough haze. Cameraman: The lighting was perfect. Pyro: We nailed that cue. It was really on time.

Producer: Here is all the info you need for this job.

CAD person: Well the drawings could be wrong.

Truck driver: Sorry for being early.

CAD person: It fits in the drawing.

Rigger: We’d be happy to move the point that we hung in the wrong place.

Technical director: That sounds like a fair hourly rate.

Audio: That hum must be a problem in our system, dimmers don’t create hum like that.

Mechanist: You want to move that border? No problem.

Safety officer: Of course a cable tray doesn’t make sense to cover that Ethernet cable, taping it down is much more sensible.

Choreographer: Look, our piece is only a small part of the larger show. Dancer: I know my call time, where we're a going and where I left my shoes.

Audio tech: That FOH guy is doing a great job. It sounds fantastic.

String section: These music stand lights are bright enough thanks.

Stage door attendant: Good morning, how are you today?

Venue: We have killed more than enough seats in the right location for your small tech area.

Pyro: We’ll be back to clean up our mess of confetti and cables off your truss after the show. Tech support: The manual is quite clear about your problem. Tech support: I know you’ve already turned it off and back on again, however have you tried…? Choreographer to LD: You won’t have to do anything special with the lights here, these dancers are amazing. Showcaller: I have my own reading lamp thanks.

Systems tech: I’ve already taped down those leads. Technical director: No problem. Technical director: These designers are a fantastic addition to the team. Anyone: My shout Anyone: No thanks, I don’t drink. 

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Availablie in black or white enclosures

IDT takes you beyond HD

The Planar 4K Ultra HD 84” display is now in stock at IDT 84”, 3840 x 2160 Ultra HD LED edge-lit commercial display series Designed for resolution-rich commercial applications Landscape, dual-orientation, 3D and interactive touch models available UR8450-LX landscape model now in stock A 2x2 42” video-wall alternative without bezel interruption 4 x HDMI 1.4a inputs allowing simultaneous display of 4 x 1080P inputs (4K @ 60Hz) Planar mounting system available (mounts 3 inches from wall, pivots open and locks to allow ease of access)

Contact our sales team now to receive the latest Planar Ultra HD case studies and news

1300 666 099

Or visit www.idt.com.au to find out more.

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