Definition - IBC 2019 Digital Interactive Special

IBC SHOW GEAR PREVIEW

ALL THE GREAT NEW LAUNCHES INSIDE P30

September 2019

LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION TA K E A S N E A K PEEK AT EU RO PE’ S B IGG EST FI LM PRO DUC TI O N E V ENT!

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BRIGHT PUBLISHING LTD, BRIGHT HOUSE, 82 HIGH STREET, SAWSTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE CB22 3HJ UK

S E T- U P

04 TITLE SEQUENCE

EDITORIAL Editor Julian Mitchell 01223 492246 julianmitchell@bright-publishing.com Staff writer Chelsea Fearnley Contributors Adam Duckworth, Adam Garstone, Phil Rhodes, Robert Takata Chief sub editor Beth Fletcher Senior sub editor Siobhan Godwood Sub editor Felicity Evans Junior sub editor Elisha Young ADVERTISING Sales director Matt Snow 01223 499453 mattsnow@bright-publishing.com Sales manager Krishan Parmar 01223 499462 krishanparmar@bright-publishing.com Key accounts Nicki Mills 01223 499457 nickimills@bright-publishing.com DESIGN Design director Andy Jennings Designer Bruce Richardson Ad production Man-Wai Wong

CONTENTS A dame and a knight on Slough train station – from The Good Liar, out in November.

30 IBC 2019 PREVIEW

Our selected preview gives you a head start in your gear lust journey in Amsterdam.

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FE ATU RE S

07 A HIGHER POWER

We look at LED technology’s attempt at replacing the high-wattage behemoths.

15 BATTERY POLARISATION

Battery markets are being polarised to become ultra smart or ultra cheap.

22 LF FOR LENSES

More techniques and examples of large format lenses flooding the market.

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PUBLISHING Managing directors Andy Brogden & Matt Pluck SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram @definitionmags Twitter @definitionmags Facebook @definitionmagazine MEDIA PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS OF

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Definition is published monthly by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Definition is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Definition that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Prices quoted in sterling, euros and US dollars are street prices, without tax, where available or converted using the exchange rate on the day the magazine went to press.

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LIARS ON A TRAIN

Š 2019 Warner Bros

A Dame and a Knight on a Slough train station platform; Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen get ready for a scene from The Good Liar with director Bill Condon, surrounded by Panavision cameras and lenses with support from Chapman/ Leonard UK. The two theatre and screen legends play a swindler (McKellen) and his mark (Mirren) – but nothing is as it seems.

Cinematography by Tobias A Schliessler, Alexa Mini and G Series anamorphics from Panavision, aerials from Jeremy Braben at HFS, music by Carter Burwell; and the supervising colourist was Stefan Sonnenfeld.

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I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

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A HIGHER POWER AS LED LIGHTING MATURES AND SPREADS ITS INFLUENCE IN THE INDUSTRY, THE LATEST MARKET SECTOR TO CONQUER IS HIGH-OUTPUT LIGHTING. WE LOOK AT THE LATEST INNOVATION WORDS PHIL RHODES

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echnological progress is often slow enough to miss while it’s happening, but looking back, it’s clear that LED lighting is no longer a completely new field. Since the first tentative steps perhaps a decade ago, the colour quality problem largely has been solved, at least for plain white light, and power levels have risen high enough, at a few hundred watts, to handle most of the lighting that’s actually done for media production. A 200W LED is probably as bright as an 800W redhead, and a set of those was once sold for more or less every Betacam on the planet.

In 2019, the subject is ever higher power, and the potential to bring the efficiency and convenience of LED to bigger set-ups. Jon Miller is founder and chief product officer at Hive Lighting, a company specialising in colour-mixing LED hard lights, who says that LED users are hungry for more. “The question for most people on set is: ‘Look, I get it, this tech is great, I understand why we’re moving there, I

A trade-off between efficiency and colour quality. It’s a bit like fast, cheap and good.

Usually you get two out of three understand why the controls are there, but I need a certain amount of output. Where’s my 10K, my M40, my M90?’”

Miller’s perspective is informed by Hive’s background in point-source lighting; the company recently unveiled the 500W Super Hornet, with market-leading powerto-size ratio. He describes the engineerng challenges as “a trade-off between efficiency and colour quality”, adding: “It’s a bit like fast, cheap and good. Usually you get two out of three. If you want good colour quality and good efficiency, you can do it.

IMAGES (Top) Creamsource’s 1200W SpaceX. (Right) Hive’s new 500W Super Hornet

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The question is not does it have a fan, it’s can I hear it, for the high end users. Indie operators are way more open LEFT The Stella Pro from California-based Light & Motion

BELOW Aputure’s 300D COB light at a trade show

If you want high efficiency and high output, you can do it. But you tend to be giving up colour quality. If you want good colour quality and high output, the trade-off is actually efficiency, and there’s a fear about that because, fundamentally, the basic promise of LEDs was efficiency.”

NEWLY ACQUIRED CINEO

Lighting manufacturer Cineo was recently acquired by NBCUniversal, a vote of confidence in the increasing relevance of LED lighting for companies involved in seriously upscale productions. Rich Pierceall, ex-Cineo CEO, is vice-president of LED operations at NBCUniversal and echoes Miller’s thoughts. “If you were to lower the quality of the white light coming out, you can get greater efficiency out of the LED. In our industry, that’s not a trade-off we choose. In the residential, commercial lighting industry, we’re seeing far greater efficiency out of LEDs, but at the sacrifice of the spectral quality.”

Pierceall has long been involved in pushing LEDs towards higher power. “We’ve built things at 1200W – we’ve had years of experience building kilowatt-style fixtures.

The latest high-powered fixture we have, which is the LB800, is about 900W. The numbers that we use in Cineo products are the target power usage – we’ve actually been able to tune it so that we get a little bit more power density out of it. Here’s the secret, and this is no secret, but it’s the thing that we all deal with: it’s called physics. Most people in our industry realise that although they’re efficient, at best, 75 or 80% of the power put into LEDs comes out as heat.”

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If any one issue defines the LED lighting market, it’s thermal management.

Many of the cleverest designs would have been much less involved had LEDs not been so sensitive to overheating. California-based Light & Motion builds LEDs for a variety of markets, and therefore has experience optimising for various combinations of colour quality, power density and efficiency.

Engineer David Tolan states simply: “Thermals dictate how hard you can drive the LED.” Without good thermal design, Tolan continues, the outcome is inevitable: “Either it’ll burn up or it’ll reduce its lifetime.

We have some passive cooled ones, then we have some active cooled ones with fans. Under 5000 lumens, we generally do passive, and above that we do active cooling. And that’s somewhat dictated by the size. We have a pretty compact product.

If you had a much larger heat sink, you might not have to do active cooling.”

Light & Motion’s products top out at 10,000 lumens, with the Stella Pro CL 10,000c, a fairly compact light by modern standards, but Tolan is optimistic that fundamental improvements in the basic LED emitter will reap rewards: “As more efficient LEDs come out, we get better cooling. I’m not thinking we’re going to massively increase it.”

THE FAN DEBATE

Ted Sim, president of Aputure USA, feels the industry’s acceptance of fan cooling has changed over time. “The challenges of making more and more powerful lights are, first: the LED packaging technology, and

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second: heat dissipation. The question is not ‘does it have a fan?’ anymore. For the highend users, it’s: ‘can I hear it?’ I would say for the indie owner-operator market, they’re way more open with fans.” Aputure has seen great success with its COB 120 and COB 300 series of hard lights; both are, quietly, fan-cooled.

While Sim suggests the 120D is the company’s biggest seller, he adds: “There’s more enthusiasm for the 300D. The reason for that is – the high-end cinema world doesn’t realise this, I think – the owner-operator world will always be something like five or ten times bigger.”

Perhaps because of the allure of bigger numbers, Sim confirms: “You will see higher-powered fixtures coming out of Aputure. We want to be able to service the best cinematographers. Those people need features that are entirely different. They need lumen radio, they need a bombproof housing design.”

NBCUniversal’s Pierceall suggests that, while a soft light panel has more area for heat sinking, the desire for more power tends to offset the advantage. “You build a four-by-four foot fixture, then you have sixteen square feet of heat sink. You find the lumen density you can get as far as output is concerned. Five, six years ago, fans were taboo – you couldn’t put a fan on a fixture and get it on a set. By getting some air motion going, it changes the equation significantly. We’ve found ways to work with thermal densities in a 200, 250 watt-per-square-foot scenario that we

F E AT U R E | H I G H - P OW E R E D L E DS

At best, 75 or 80% of the power put into LEDs comes out as heat

ABOVE High output is usually not associated with a fully tuneable LED fixture, but the SkyPanel Arri has been able to accomplish both. The SkyPanel has tremendous light output across the entire CCT range

can passively cool. The challenge, for Cineo at least, when we start looking at power densities that are greater than that, is that there needs to be supplementary air.”

Discussing Light & Motion’s higherpower options, Tolan describes the desire to create ever smaller light sources – a concern common to several manufacturers – as exacerbating the problem. “The move to the chip-on-board arrays, where you have many LED dies in one package, is definitely something we embraced, and it’s beneficial from an optics standpoint. It’s detrimental from a cooling standpoint and we’re still pushing towards smaller source sizes. On our newer products, we’re trying to get that source size even smaller. The smaller the light-emitting surface, the more optical options you have.”

BIGGER LIGHTS To date, LEDs have mainly been small enough to battery power, and therefore that efficiency has allowed for greater convenience, smaller lights that are easier to place and batteries that last longer. To make a dent in power budgets on large-scale dramas, much bigger lights are required – and big LED lights are expensive.

It’s a problem that Creamsource hit early. Tama Berkeljon, managing director at Outsight, recalls: “Our first system was 320W, the Doppio, and the biggest LED you could find for our market at that time was under 10W. At that time people saw our price tag and said, ‘That’s crazy!’ The price acceptance was not there – people were not used to paying that kind of money for LEDs. LEDs were something you’d put on the camera or put where you didn’t need a lot of light. The exciting thing for high power is that the marketplace has changed so much – that acceptance has been driving up

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really well. It makes it possible for us to keep investing in building bigger solutions.”

Creamsource released the Sky – designed to drive spacelights, among other things – in 2012. A 1200W LED light, even a clustered design, is unusual in 2019; it was exceptional at launch, especially given the completely passive cooling design. Berkeljon remembers “a lot of pushback from the market because of its size and weight”. He adds: “Before some other manufacturers released some equally large, or larger and heavier fixtures, we were the biggest beast in the room for a while. Because of that, we decided there’d be a great market for something that was similar power, but lighter weight.” The result was the SpaceX, a lighter option doing broadly the same job and at a keen price: the company likes to talk about price per watt, and emphasises that £4.50 per watt is a very modest price for an LED. If there’s a general problem with highpower LED, it’s price, though any reasonable

calculation will factor in other changes.

LED costs more than tungsten-halogen.

Certainly, it consumes less power, but LEDs are also lighter, faster to rig and require much lighter-weight mains distribution, all of which leads to lower crewing and transportation costs. Rigging a large studio with a grid full of spacelights might even require fewer days and fewer crew members as a whole. Berkeljon puts it thus: “These kind of numbers are going to be critical as to how producers, rigging crew and electrics, and everyone else who’s making decisions, can figure out what the best decision is going to be for them.”

It seems likely that many LEDs of the imminent future will be scaled-up versions of existing devices – bigger panels with higher output, and higher-power hard lights to compete with mediumsize HMIs. In some cases, not much will change: HMIs are about as efficient as many LEDs, though it may be cheaper to buy, more flexible, dimmable and even colourmixing. Compared to big tungsten lights, though, the saving not only in electricity consumption, but in crewing and trucking might be huge. If we’re to expect big changes, that’s where they’ll be – and the higher LED power levels climb, the more savings will be possible.

But should we expect to see an LED 18K at IBC this year? It’s a longed-for product, but probably not – though anyone arriving with an LED at even 10% of that power might struggle to keep them on the shelves.

ABOVE NBCUniversal’s LightBlade LB800, which offers about 900W power output

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A DV E R T I S E M E N T F E AT U R E | C A N O N

COLOUR ME CANON

Discover the world of the Canon EOS cinema system with founder of Korro Films, Ollie Kenchington, and be in with a chance of winning a superb Canon EOS C200, worth more than £6490!

AS AN AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER, colourist and highly respected postproduction trainer, Ollie Kenchington knows the importance of good kit. He’s an assured practitioner across all areas of filmmaking, but, by his own admission, he’s not an engineer. And that’s fine, because filmmakers using Canon EOS cinema cameras don’t need to be. Canon knows filmmakers simply want a tool that helps them turn creative ideas into striking footage, not a camera that gets in the way.

The Canon EOS C200 is Kenchington’s preferred weapon of choice, as he explains: “I’m more interested in the technical aspects than most people, but your average person doesn’t want to know what’s going on inside the camera, they just want a tool that allows them to do their job. The C200 is a perfect example of that.”

Kenchington set up Korro Films in 2008, with the UK-based film production agency now producing brand films, commercials and documentaries for global clients. He is also the founder of Korro Academy, where he is lead tutor, teaching thousands of aspiring filmmakers.

He’s been using the C200 for about two years, because of how it deals with colour and contrast.

“I was blown away by how easy it was to get accurate skin tones. With very little effort, I can get beautiful results every time,” he says.

Colour consistency and image quality are vital for many reasons. Not least because it means a colourist like Kenchington can concentrate on the creative aspects of their job, instead of wasting time fixing footage that’s noisy or unbalanced. “What some cameras give you,” he explains, is “a plasticky or lifeless look”. It then takes a lot of skill to grade it back to an acceptable image. “You can struggle like hell with other cameras just to get to the kind of starting point that the C200 provides. It’s actually very difficult to get bad results from the camera, whereas some cameras can give even experienced operators bad results.”

Several features on the C200 align to improve image quality, but the camera’s heat management is one thing many don’t consider, according to Kenchington.

“The little fan was one of the first things I noticed when I moved to the C200. All higher-end cinema cameras have this kind of ventilation, and those below do not.

Heat management is an important part of controlling colour and noise in an image, so you need metal housings and good cooling systems. On top of that, Canon develops its own sensors, which allows them to take complete control of the image.”

Although the C200 shoots 12-bit Raw internally, for a recent campaign Kenchington did for Byron, the burger restaurant chain, he shot in UHD at 50p in MP4, with the C200’s neutral colour matrix Ungraded

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ABOVE The C200 was tested on a recent shoot, but even when Kenchington shot into the sun and in low light, all the models’ skin tones looked great

BELOW Kenchington proves how important grading is in a campaign he shot for Byron using the Canon EOS C200 Graded

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“You can struggle like hell with other cameras just to get to the kind of starting point that the C200 provides. It’s actually very difficult to get bad results from the camera”

and C-Log 3. He’s thrilled with the results.

“We tend to shoot compressed MP4 for our work, because the camera’s 14-bit internal processing is so good, even though it encodes it to a 4:2:0 8-bit codec, it somehow ends up more than the sum of its parts,” he explains. “We used MP4 even in bright sunshine, pointing the camera straight into the sun, and for the low-light sequences – all the things that are pushing it to its limits – the stuff we got is amazing. All the six models had different skin tones and all look great. It’s excellent that the C200 can shoot this way, as it saves time, keeps costs down and increases profit, which is vital when you’re shooting commercially.”

COMPACT WITHOUT COMPROMISE: EOS C200

If Kenchington is saving time in grading, what does that allow him to do instead? “Any colourist will say their main goal is to create depth and use contrast to guide the viewer’s eye,” he answers. “So in the same way a DOP would light an image, the colourist develops it to create layers and add colour to control the mood. There’s so much creative power in grading that to waste time trying to get accurate colour, or noise-free images, is dispiriting, because you know you could’ve spent that time creatively. With the C200, you can spend minimal time on the primary grade and maximise developing colour and depth.”

He adds: “I went away from Canon for a few years, but it was the image quality and colour of the C200 that brought me back.

“I know I can rely on Canon to develop products that prioritise image quality over gimmicks in spec. We also use the EOS R, and because it has been engineered by Canon to match precisely with the rest of the EOS cinema system, it’s easy to match up the footage in post. It’s this approach to image quality and colour reproduction that make us stay within Canon’s EOS ecosystem.”

MORE INFORMATION:

The Canon EOS C200 packs pro-level features into a small, light and mobile body and, as it’s compatible with the full range of Canon EF and EF cinema lenses, it’s ready to open up all sorts of creative possibilities for your production. Harnessing its dual DIGIC DV6 processors, recording options are impressive with internal 4K recording at 10-bit 50p and 12-bit 25p using the Cinema Raw Light codec, which offers the flexibility of Cinema Raw, but at smaller file sizes. You can also shoot Full HD 120p without crop for dramatic slow motion so, when combined with its wide built-in NDs, 100-102,400 ISO range and Dual Pixel CMOS AF, it’s ready for whatever you’re shooting.

COMPETITION TIME! Canon is offering you the chance to experience the EOS cinema system by winning your very own camera – an EOS C200, worth £6499.99 RRP! The closing date is 31 October. To enter and for full terms and conditions, visit canoneveryanglecovered.co.uk

Visit canon.co.uk/pro

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POLARISING POWER INCREASINGLY, BUYING BATTERIES DEMAND THAT YOU CHOOSE BETWEEN SMARTER OR CHEAPER MODELS, BUT YOU CAN HAVE BOTH W O R D S J U L I A N M I TC H E L L / P I C T U R E S VA R I O U S

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attery manufacturers are facing a fork in the road as far as their research and development plans are concerned. Due to the huge amount of cheap battery solutions available online, manufacturers that need to build-in client loyalty, are now making their products as smart as possible and, in some cases, lowering prices.

Ross Kanarek, CEO of CoreSWX, sums up the current situation: “If you’re not careful, it becomes a race to the bottom.

Our industry at the moment is flooded with a lot of low-cost products. There are a few manufacturers producing more premium

products, then all the factories from China are packaging battery cells. There are ten to 15 different companies with just their name on the same basic battery product.”

CoreSWX is, therefore, looking at a more feature-packed and ‘smarter’ battery product to potentially polarise the market in its favour, separating itself instantly from the ‘cheap and cheerful’ products.

“Anyone can compete on watt-hours and on price, but what we’ve done on our NEO packs that we’re showing at IBC2019 is more of a modular design, so there’s much less cabling,” explains Kanarek. “Everything interlocks together, which also allows us to

bring down our labour costs. In addition, we’ve managed to program the packs and are working with camera manufacturers to make a bespoke firmware package, where people can actually take the packs, connect them to their PC or Mac through USB and just drag a camera package on to the pack. The pack will then communicate with the camera on various settings, based on what the camera manufacturer requires.”

ABOVE Hawk-Woods has launched a super-efficient DC-to-DC converter that’s capable of delivering 48v to 500w

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With lithium-ion, you have a steep discharge curve once you get towards about 15% capacity left BROWN OUT Newer and ever greater demands are being made on battery products, as Kanarek explains: “What we’re finding is that camera manufacturers are getting concerned as larger sensors and more auxiliary equipment gets connected. The user might think that if you have, for instance, ten D-Taps available, that they could use every one. It’s browning out the cameras; shorting the power supply – so we’re working with camera manufacturers to show the loading of the battery pack for example.

“Our packs monitor that and can communicate, rather than simply providing some kind of indication on the battery itself through the LCD. We will be communicating that on the camera’s EVF or LCD monitor” As a premium brand, CoreSWX needs to differentiate itself as much as possible.

“We have other stuff on our technology roadmap that we’re going to be working on to make the user experience even better,” reveals Kanarek, who believes the battery market is ‘kind of’ turning into what the on-camera LED lighting market was a few

years ago. “B&H probably has 15 different packs and they’re all the same, just labelled differently,” he adds.

FOR AND AGAINST GOING LOW However, CoreSWX would never try to persuade anyone from buying the lower-end products. “If you’re a hobbyist and want to go on Amazon and pay £116 ($140) for a V-Mount pack as you need something to power your gear, it’ll function. There are protections involved to keep the pack, we hope, safe. Obviously if it wasn’t safe to use, then it produces a whole load of problems regarding transport,” says Kanarek. “But longevity isn’t something you’re going to receive. Let’s say they are protected on cell balances; each cell pack is a series of parallel packs and it won’t allow any one of those packs to over-charge. But if there’s an imbalance, the pack will only charge up to the highest pack’s capacity. So if one cell pack in a series is 20% less, then you will receive 5% less runtime. That will further deteriorate the pack over a very short time.”

With NEO, CoreSWX is streamlining its manufacturing process.

IMAGES Anton/ Bauer’s new Titon range (above) and CoreSWX’s Helix battery on a Red camera (left)

“We’ve been working on this for the past three years – to bring the cost down.

Recommended retail price is around £209, maybe €225 and approx US$239, so we’re trying to bridge the gap, as there’s a large amount of OEM packs from China at around US$200,” says Kanarek.

He feels there is enough technology in its pack to justify the $40 difference. “You’re getting a longer warranty and better global support. It also has many more features.

Most of the other $200 packs are 10 amps at best, we’re offering 16-12 amps. You’re getting RFID, you’re getting an intuitive LCD and upgradeable firmware makes the pack sustainable for much longer,” says Kanarek. “We’re also trying to make the battery packs more intuitive and build an ecosystem around the pack. That’s what the Helix batteries for the high voltage or dual voltage and the NEO are.

There are also other features CoreSWX is going to unlock. “We’re working on new systems to better alert the user to a dead battery or near-dead battery. These are more cinematic and high-end features that we’re offering to the broader market. With nonintelligent packs, all you’re getting is voltage; the smart battery protocol constantly monitors previous charge capacity,” explains Kanarek. “We’re also able to see how the battery is ageing, so with lithiumion you have a steep discharge curve once you get towards about 15% capacity left.

With our battery packs, and other smart products, you can get hours and minutes, so a much truer run time estimation versus ‘I’m at 13v and I know the battery dies at 11v’. That 13 to 11 drop-off could be about 25 minutes on a new pack and it could be six minutes on an old pack. So it’s premium features in the lower budget market.”

ANTON/BAUER At IBC, Anton/Bauer is launching an addition to its Titon line of batteries called SL. It’s a reduced package size, so you might say it’s ‘slimline’. It’s 150Wh battery in a 90Wh case, so a smaller package and higher energy density. There’s also going to be a

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F E AT U R E | P OW E R R A N G E S

Anton/Bauer is launching a Titon SL range. It’s a reduced package so you might say it’s slimline

Titon SL 240 – so 240Wh but in a very slim case.

Titon batteries are available in V-Mount or Gold Mount and use Anton/Bauer’s mobile power technology, regardless of battery mounting or charge choice.

With the on-board LCD or through your camera’s viewfinder, you can know exactly how much runtime remains, down to the minute. Titon smart technology considers and calculates everything being powered, even devices powered by the high-speed USB and P-TAP ports, leaving crews free to focus on their shoots.

HAWK-WOODS After a lot of in-house testing, Hawk-Woods has launched a super-efficient DC-to-DC converter, capable of delivering 48v to 500w.

It’s aimed at providing lightweight, portable solutions for lighting operators in the field.

The converter is housed within the Hawk-Woods Atom-style casing, which

has the benefit of being well ventilated, sleek and robust. From this design, Hawk-Woods has been able to offer three separate battery solutions, capable of powering LED panels.

First, there is the 48V-VL, which allows users to run 48v equipment from their V-Lok batteries. The unit relies on the use of four V-Lok batteries being connected before the 48v XLR output is activated. LEDs will illuminate once the output is ready – a safety measure due to the current draw given the high wattages.

The second unit in the Hawk-Woods 48-volt family is the Reel-Power 48V-RP, which is identical in looks to the 48V-VL but uses the Hawk-Woods 26-volt ReelPower fittings. This unit is ideal for any user who has a selection of Reel-Power batteries who may be already using them with 24v Arri film cameras, but would like to also power SkyPanel lighting.

PAG

The Mini PAGlink MPL50G has the benefits of PAG’s established battery linking technology in a more compact, lightweight format. In addition, it is thought to be the first broadcast battery to have a user-changeable output unit.

The 50Wh lithium-ion battery is compatible with full-sized Gold Mount

IMAGES Clockwise from top: IDX iMicro battery; CoreSWX Helix battery and PAG’s Mini PAGlink MPL50G

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plates and PAG’s new MPLG mount, which is better suited to smaller cameras.

Weighing just 350g, the MPL50G battery is ideal for powering cameras, such as the Panasonic EVA1, or the Sony FS5.

The battery has the outputs to power the accessories broadcasters require, providing a single power source for the entire set-up.

It incorporates a fixed 12v D-Tap and a 5v two-amp USB that can be swapped by the user for a Hirose, Lemo or another D-Tap. The MPL50G is just as suitable for larger cameras, where it reduces weight for news camera operators. It is also a low-profile option for a range of production equipment.

Unlike other ‘mini’ format batteries, the MPL50G offers intelligent linking for charge or discharge. Patented PAGlink digital technology allows the linking of up to eight batteries, in any state-of-charge; four provide 200Wh for your camera set-up.

IDX After focusing on high-capacity, long runtime batteries, IDX is acknowledging the demand for compact V-Mount batteries with its launch of the iMicro range.

Available in two capacities, the iMicro-98 weighs in at only 550g, while the higher capacity iMicro-150 is still light at 750g.

Digital data is available in two modes and two D-Taps are standard with one of them being the advanced D-Tap, which permits charging by the compact VL-DT1.

The iMicro-98 and the VL-DT1 are a good solution for those who need to travel light and if lack of light is a problem, the V-Torch on the battery is a standard feature.

F E AT U R E | I S L A R G E F O R M AT F O R R E A L? PA R T 2

IS LARGE FORMAT FOR REAL? PART 2 WE ASKED PREVIOUSLY IF THERE WAS A PLACE FOR LARGE FORMAT GLASS. NOW WE LOOK AT THE RECEPTION NEW LARGE FORMAT GLASS HAS RECEIVED FROM THE INDUSTRY W O R D S J U L I A N M I TC H E L L / P I C T U R E S VA R I O U S

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or lovers of technique, the new large format or full-frame lenses are subtly changing work practices. We spoke with Ian Jackson, commercial director of VMI in the UK, who explains some basic advantages or effects of the new glass in day-to-day shooting: “There are a lot of differences, but you need to know your options. For instance, if you have a shot of two people with a door behind them and you’re shooting 20mm Super 35 and 40mm LF, that door is physically closer on the full-frame lens than it is on the Super 35.

As the Super 35 is a 20mm, the field of view on the lens has thrown that door away – whereas on the 40mm, that door

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is perspectively closer in, but it’s going to be softer.”

Another example Jackson gives is that if you shoot someone in a car, then “obviously you’re going to be very close to them. If you’ve got a very wide-angle lens, like an 18mm or even a 14mm, you will have a certain amount of perspective distortion”. He adds: “But if you shoot with the equivalent full-frame lens, you’ll be able to shoot with a ‘kinder’ lens like a 25mm, a cosmetically kinder lens.”

The feeling is that LF glass will be great for TV, but it comes with a caveat.

Jackson explains why: “There’s no longer a perception difference when shooting for

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TV or for the movies. Everyone now has a big TV and Netflix want people to have that widescreen movie experience. The same kit will get used, but there is a focus issue.

There are quite a lot of midrange lenses that can achieve full-frame, such as the new Canon Sumire primes. They are pitched at a midrange, vintage crossover market.

But people are going to struggle with focus working full-frame in that environment.”

The large format market will literally gear-up with new FF cameras early next year and then productions will turn to the format to give them new looks and differentiate themselves from others.

Jackson agrees: “We have full-frame work

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But people are going to struggle with focus working in full frame in the TV environment IMAGES The new Fujinon Premista zooms on the movie short Rhinestone Blue, shot by Tobias Schliessler, ASC. Below is Arri’s Signature LF lens range

coming up for the TV world as an option to anamorphic. Of course, that itself was not acceptable for TV until recently.”

The lens market is on the edge of a growth in large format zooms, too, particularly with the Fujinon Premista Series about to come on to the market, the Zeiss zooms already on productions and the Leitz zooms on their way. Companies like Movietech are complimentary with what they are seeing. John Venables, Movietech’s technical director, comments: “Fujinon Premistas look good and sharp across the frame. Like all the manufacturers, they are selling two or more full-frame zooms. By

doing this, it is keeping them quite small and reasonably light. We also have the full range of the Zeiss zooms, which are now on productions. The Fujinon zooms should be with us soon and then later on the Leica or Leitz zooms, which look really good. The Zeiss zooms, again, have good illumination across the frame and, like the Fujinon ones, have good contrast. The Zeiss zooms match very well with the Supreme prime lenses of which we now have four sets all working.”

ARRI SIGNATURE LENSES Arri got in early with its Signature lenses and timed the launch with the worldwide

launch of its first large format camera, the LF. Arri Signature Prime lenses are equipped with the LPL (Large Positive Locking) lens mount, a key element of Arri’s large format camera system. The wider diameter and shorter flange focal depth allow LPL lenses to be small and lightweight, with a fast T stop and nice bokeh—a combination that would not be possible with the old PL lens mount. Arri LPL lens mounts are available for Alexa 65, Alexa LF, Alexa Mini LF, Alexa Classic/XT/ SXT, Alexa Mini and Amira cameras.

The Signatures are already getting plaudits from the market. Director Paul

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Mignon says: “Thanks to the Signature Prime lenses, I had my first encounter with large format. I discovered a new approach in my camera work, a new distance with the people I was filming. We can be closer to the action; a physical step that makes all the difference with the classical format I was used to.”

Cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, agrees: “With the 25 mm Signature Prime lens, you feel like you are there in the scene with the actors. The lenses are lightweight and are not too sharp, but with a certain softness.

PANAVISION ARTISTE The Panavision Primo Artiste lenses have been out for a year or so now and are a full series of T/1.8 prime lenses, making them potentially the fastest optics available for large format cinematography. The Artiste Series is the second lenses from Panavision to include a fully internalised motor and complete metadata compatibility. The series incorporates modern features, such as focus breathing control, even field illumination and optimised close focus performance.

Pawel Pogorzelski shot Ari Aster’s Midsommar with the lenses and has this to say about them: “The new Artiste lenses took away the sharpness of the digital, but also lifted the blacks. In post, we could make sure the blacks weren’t crushed by the digital, but retain a little creaminess.

These lenses are factory detuned Primo 70s, which have softer blacks and gave me that little glow.”

Dan Sasaki, Panavision VP of Optical Engineering and Lens Strategy, believes the primary goal of the Primo Artiste line

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IMAGES New LF glass from Fujinon, Panavision, Sigma and Xeen

With the Signature Prime lens, you feel like you are there in the scene with the actors is to “balance the intricacies of aberration control and the art of lens design to create a lens that produces images that resonate with our instinct to relate to painterly images that are identified by smooth transitions between surrounding objects”.

SIGMA FF Sigma was relatively late to the large or full-frame market, but its Sigma Cine lens series will soon include LPL mount, the new lens mount optimised for the large format sensor, released by Arri last year.

Compatible with full-frame image sensors, the FF Zoom Line offers great optical performance that’s required for high-resolution shooting in 6K and 8K. The lens is compatible with image sensors

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larger than Super 35, so the new large format market. Again, as is the trend following feedback from users, this cinema zoom lens combines the image quality with a compact design.

Sigma’s high-end prime lens line-up ranges from 14mm to 135mm, and covers T1.5 to T2. Sigma suggests that with the seven prime lenses from FF High Speed Prime Line, there is no need to change the lighting to shoot a variety of cuts.

Companies like VMI Rental loves these lenses and has gone from no sets to five within 18 months.

XEEN

Xeen is the cinema lens side of Samyang and has been able to cover large format sensors for a while. Its prime lens range is from 35mm to 135mm with 50mm and 85mm in the middle; everyone has a maximum T stop of 1.5 except for the 135mm, which is T2.2. The lenses are available in five mounts. These are: PL, EF, F, E and MFT. DOP, Harvey Glen, sums these lenses up: “Impressive engineering. I didn’t notice barrel distortion or change of frame size when pulling focus – this is remarkable.”

And DOP, Shane Hurlbut, comments: “I really like the way the lens looks.”

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MAN IN THE MIRROR UK colourist Alex Gascoigne has risen quickly to the top of the grading tree and sees the depth of innovation within FilmLight’s Baselight as a huge driving factor

ALEX GASCOIGNE MOVED UP THE RANKS in the colour grading world after studying fine art, painting and graphic design at university. He then went on to study film and completed a Masters.

“At that point I was thinking of moving into cinematography. It felt like a natural progression from photography,” he says.

Alex’s graduation project was shot on 16mm film and he remembers that there was just a one-light transfer on it coming back from the lab. “You really got whatever you shot; there wasn’t a lot of colour manipulation happening when we got the transfer back on Betacam SP. Then in Avid, I learned how to manipulate colour with the controls inside the software.”

Gascoigne learned his grading trade at Pepper Post in London. “There were great colourists there like Jet Omoshebi and Chris Beeton, and high-end TV drama like Spooks and Life on Mars still shot on film.”

The company, luckily for Alex, had invested in some early digital grading equipment, which he quickly learned how to use. “I essentially set about learning that kit as best as I could, really just to make myself as useful as possible to the colourists that were already established there,” he explains.

BLACK MIRROR For a while, Gascoigne enjoyed working on independent films and some inherited TV dramas until he reached his current home at Technicolor, where he has been for five years. Now he works on major TV dramas, such as Black Mirror, and more recently he has worked on The Two Popes, in tandem with Jean-Clément Soret, which is a new Netflix film shot by César Charlone, the cinematographer behind the film City of God.

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“I love the system, but perhaps what I like most is the colour management in the software” “Black Mirror has been an interesting show to work on. Every episode is a standalone film with a different director and DOP so you’re starting from scratch each time. The move to Netflix from Season 3 led to increased budgets and attracted more feature directors, like Jodie Foster and John Hillcoat. The Bandersnatch episode took this idea to another level being interactive. This required us to build whole new workflows within Baselight,” says Gascoigne.

“When it comes to the look, it’s really different for each episode and is very much driven by the storyline. I have done two episodes now with Lukas Strebel who shot the Hated in the Nation and Smithereens episodes and we approached each one

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slightly differently. It’s really a case of sitting down with the DOP early in the process and discussing what they’re trying to achieve.

Smithereens, for instance, has locations in the UK, California and Utah (actually Spain) so you’ve got these pretty distinct different looks defined by the landscape.”

More and more with TV now, colourists are getting involved earlier in the process.

“When I started, you would come in on a Monday morning and start working on something and it might be the first time you’ve seen the show,” says Gascoigne.

“These days, we’re involved around a month or two before production starts with discussions on look development and maybe camera tests that need to be done or

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IMAGES Alex Gascoigne worked on Black Mirror Smithereens using the Baselight Grid Warp. Right: Base Grade Dark and Bright tools

to create an LUT that can be then fed out to VFX – it really develops from there.”

From Season 4 of Black Mirror, the Dolby HDR grade was done first, so this early involvement within the production was even more necessary: “Everyone’s got to be on the same page in terms of the look.

In the case of Smithereens, the director wasn’t available for the grade itself so it was only me and the DOP. HDR opens up many creative possibilities, but you’ve got to make sure that everyone’s happy early on in the process, so you don’t go off on a tangent.”

BASELIGHT BENEFITS Gascoigne has been using Baselight colour grading for about seven years, and has seen some major innovations and developments in the system. “I love it, but perhaps what I like most as a general feature is the colour management within the software. That has only continued to grow and improve for

each new version,” he enthuses. “The way it handles multiple input colour spaces and its flexibility for creating multiple deliverables is incredibly intuitive, particularly on the large-scale broadcast and feature productions we’re doing.

“For Smithereens, Lukas decided to shoot spherical lenses but wanted to introduce some anamorphic-style flavours – particularly for the car interiors. Rather than just vignetting everything, we chose to distort the edges of frame using a couple of tools. One of these is Grid Warp, which puts a load of control points on screen allowing you to create very detailed levels of barrel distortion. Further to this, we used another plug-in to create chromatic aberrations at the edges of frame to further ‘dirty-up’ the image around the actors.”

Gascoigne adds: “The Base Grade operator is one of the most interesting new additions and acts like a hybrid of different features. It’s a very intuitive tool to work with and operates fairly differently to your traditional lift, gamma and gain adjustments. It allows you to control

highlight and shadow regions in a very elegant fashion. For example, in an HDR grade session, you will often find highlights can be really ‘zinging’ to a degree that sometimes is distracting; you often want to drop down the top-end highlights without softening the contrast overall or introducing artefacts if using a keyer. Using the Dark and Bright tools within Base Grade allows you to make far more targeted and refined adjustments to parts of the image while maintaining the overall contrast ratio.”

Want to find out more? You can see Gascoigne speaking at IBC2019, where FilmLight (stand 7.A45) is also hosting a free two-day seminar, Colour on Stage.

The event is an opportunity to participate in live presentations and discussions with colourists and other creative professionals.

MORE INFORMATION:

filmlight.ltd.uk

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IBC SHOW O N E S TO WATC H

PREVIEW 2019

Europe’s biggest event showcasing the latest gear in film is upon us once again. Here’s our exclusive show preview

STAND: MP6 BETWEEN HALL 7 & 8

ANTON/BAUER antonbauer.com New to IBC and on stand 12.E65, Anton/Bauer’s range of Titon lithium-ion batteries are a great choice for filmmakers on the move, powering a wide range of gear on set or out in the field. Titon batteries are available in V-Mount or Gold Mount and 90Wh and 150Wh models.

They use Anton/Bauer’s mobile power technology, regardless of battery mounting or charge choice.

With the on-board LCD or through your camera’s viewfinder, you will know exactly how much runtime remains, down to the minute. Titon smart technology considers and calculates everything being powered, even devices powered by the high-speed USB and P-Tap ports, leaving crews free to focus on the shoot.

The batteries are lightweight, reliable and travelsafe. And high-quality cells in a tough and rugged case deliver consistent power to even the most demanding users in temperatures from -20°C to 60°C.

SONY pro.sony/ibc Sony’s IP Live Production showcase will include a range of IP, 4K/HD and HDR-capable products, from servers and XVS series switchers, to system cameras, including the HDC-5500 – the 2/3-inch 4K CMOS global shutter sensors system camera launched at NAB. Content creators are increasingly investing in solutions that provide them with the flexibility and creative tools needed to capture incredible images that engage their audiences.

At IBC 2019, Sony will showcase its portfolio of solutions that support every step of the content creation workflow, including the globally recognised PXW-FS5M2, PXW-FS7M2 and PXW-Z280 camcorders. The CineAlta Venice, with its recently announced version 5.0 firmware and currently available version 4.0, will also be on display at IBC. Sony will be exhibiting at stand A10, Hall 13 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre.

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P R E V I E W : I B C S H OW | S E T- U P

GFM g-f-m.net GFM has worked hard to become one of the leading manufacturers of high-end camera support equipment, catering to the needs of the international production community.

With great passion, GFM produces its products in its own factory based in Munich.

This year, GFM returns to IBC to showcase its simple, yet elegant strap-bracing kit. On its booth (12.

A37) you will see the GF-Multi Jib, GFM dollies, the popular GF-Slider System, shock absorbers and many more of its state-of-the-art products.

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN blackmagicdesign.com Blackmagic Design will showcase the latest updates to its collection of digital film cameras on its booth (7.B45). This includes the new Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and the Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K, which offers 15 stops of dynamic range and can shoot at up to 300fps.

Visitors can also get hands-on with the DaVinci Resolve 16 and play around with new features, including a cut page designed for speed and fast turnaround work such as television commercials and news. This will be demonstrated on the main booth, but visitors can also register for free training at the Blackmagic training booth (5.B23).

Blackmagic Design will be covering all aspects of the DaVinci Resolve 16, so the training sessions will be useful for novices and seasoned professionals alike. Registration begins at the start of each day on the main booth and is on a first come, first served basis.

ASPECTRA aspectra.nl Aspectra offers a varied range of professional camera accessories by combining distribution brands with a number of products developed inhouse. Brands featured on its booth (12.B30) at IBC include Camgear, camRade, PAG and TVLogic.

Camgear is in the business of creating high-quality fluid heads and tripod systems and Aspectra will be showcasing its ‘hit series’ products, including the new Elite series with 3S-Fix Quick Lock tripods.

For camRade, Aspectra will introduce new rain covers for Arri, Sony and JVC, and an innovative collection of versatile camera bags called travelMates.

TVLogic, manufacturer of high-performance monitors, will be represented with a nice selection of its latest and best field production and multi-format monitors. PAG is the manufacturer of extremely safe broadcast battery ranges. Noteworthy is the new MPL50G Mini PAGlink battery and the introduction of 2A USB modules for PowerHubs (V-Mount and Gold Mount).

Finally, two new robust (on-camera) LED lights from the Tristar brand will be showcased on the Aspectra booth.

CANON canon.co.uk Canon’s IBC booth (12.

D60) will feature its latest broadcasting products, including the recently announced Sumire Prime cine lenses – the company’s first prime cine lenses with a PL mount – offering a delicate, velvety nuance when the aperture is wide open – subtly modifying the textural renderings of the human face close up.

Visitors will also be able to get their hands on the UHDgc series of portable zoom 4K UHD broadcast lenses, the CJ18ex28B and CJ15ex8.5B; and highly compact 4K camcorders, the XA55/ XA50 and XA40. As always, experts will be on hand to answer any questions about all the exciting products on show at the Canon booth.

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FILMLIGHT filmlight.ltd.uk FilmLight will showcase its complete colour pipeline on stand 7.A45 – including Baselight One and Two, Baselight Editions for Avid, Nuke and Flame, Daylight and the new Blackboard Classic control panel.

FilmLight is also hosting a free two-day seminar – Colour On Stage – on 14 and 15 September in Room D201. Attendees can participate in demonstrations and discussions with creative professionals at the peak of their craft.

To date, the programme highlights confirmed are: • Real-time collaboration on the world’s longest running drama, ITV Studios’ Coronation Street with colourist Stephen Edwards, finishing editor Tom Chittenden and head of post-production David Williams.

• Looking to the future: creating colour for Netflix series Black Mirror, including interactive episode, Bandersnatch, with Technicolor’s Alex Gascoigne.

• Bollywood: A World of Colour – CV Rao, technical general manager at Hyderabad’s Annapurna Studios, will discuss grading and colour in his local industry.

• Joining forces: strengthening VFX and finishing with the BLG workflow – Mathieu Leclercq, head of post-production at Paris’s Mikros Image, joined by colourist Sébastien Mingam and VFX Supervisor Franck Lambertz.

• Maintaining the DOP’s creative looks from set to post with French digital imaging technician Karine Feuillard – who worked on the latest Luc Besson film Anna – and FilmLight workflow specialist, Matthieu Straub. www.filmlight.ltd.uk/ibc2019colouronstage

G-TECHNOLOGY g-technology.com Founded in Santa Monica in 2004 to cater for the needs of the Hollywood community of audio/ video creatives moving from analogue to the fledgling digital world, G-Technology launched its iconic first product – a robust, high-speed, two-drive RAID storage system. An agreement with Apple in 2006 to place G-Technology products in Apple stores led to the start-up brand becoming synonymous with a global creative industry. G-Technology can be found on stand 7.D02 at IBC. Since then, G-Technology has continued to demonstrate its technological leadership, from the world’s first 500GB and 1TB portable hard drives, through to 112TB transportable RAID solutions and some of the fastest portable and desktop SSDs on the market used in the most extreme conditions, from Aaron Lieber’s surf movie Unstoppable, to filming Deadliest Catch.

Classic design is timeless, and 15 years later, G-RAID, with its aircraft-grade aluminium casing and instantly recognisable front grille, still retains its clean, premium visual signature. But when it comes to performance, it is unrecognisable. From the 800GB FireWire version of 2004 to the latest 28TB Thunderbolt 3/USB-C version of today, the G-RAID has continued to evolve to match the demands of the creative industry.

MARSHALL ELECTRONICS marshall-usa.com On its booth (12.D20) at IBC, Marshall Electronics will spotlight the new CV380-CS compact camera, delivering stunning video up to 4K in a remarkably small and lightweight frame.

The CV380’s 8.5-megapixel 1/2.5-inch sensor captures true colour video up to 4096x2160p, with support for all HD resolutions. It contains a single full-size 6G (BNC) output with 6G/3G/ HD-SDI capability and a simultaneous HDMI output. Its flexible CS/C lens mount also offers a wide variety of lens options with DC Auto Iris.

Remote control is delivered via RS485 (Visca) or built-in OSD menu joystick. And a wide range of convenient settings allows for easy adjustment and matching, including paint (red/blue), white balance, gain control, pedestal (blacks), exposure, gamma and more.

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LITEPANELS litepanels.com Making its European debut at IBC on stand 12.E65, Litepanels’ new Gemini 1x1 Soft RGBWW panel is an all-inone, cine-quality LED light that is easy to transport and quick to rig in the studio or on location. Just like its bigger counterpart, the Gemini 2x1, the new 1x1 is a full RGBWW soft panel, able to produce over 16 million colours in addition to true daylight, with full-spectrum colour adjustment in an incredibly versatile, easy-to-control package.

Gemini 1x1 Soft is ideal for lighting talent with accurate colour rendition perfect for all skin tones, and users are able to match a broad range of ambient lighting conditions quickly and easily. Gemini 1x1 Soft also provides an extensive choice of control options, with intuitive on-board controls as well as remote control through wired, wireless DMX or Bluetooth. In an instant, users can switch the light from AC power to battery operation, and the small, lightweight power supply makes the LED fast and easy to rig.

Weighing just 5.31kg, with a maximum draw of just 200W and flicker-free performance at any frame rate, shutter angle or intensity, the Gemini 1x1 Soft is one of the industry’s most agile lights.

S E T- U P | P R E V I E W : I B C S H OW ARRI arri.com Arri will be showcasing its latest camera systems and lighting products at a combined stand at Cine Gear (12.F21).

The must-see Alexa Mini LF has been making its way around the world and will be on site at the show. The DNA LF lenses, in combination with the Alexa Mini LF, will be another stand highlight.

The DNA LF lenses can be customised or tuned to a filmmaker’s personal taste.

Winner of the iF Design Award 2019 and also on display, the Signature Prime lenses offer state-of-the-art precision with an organic and emotional quality. Arri Lighting will be presenting Stellar, an intelligent lighting control app for a new level of control.

Of course, members of the SkyPanel family will be on display, along with some Daylight fixtures and ballasts. The newest additions to Arri’s Electronic Control System range and Pro Camera Accessories range will be on site, along with the Camera Stabiliser Systems Trinity and Artemis.

COOKE OPTICS cookeoptics.com Cooke Optics (12.D10) invites visitors at IBC to see just what is meant by the ‘Cooke Look’ as it showcases – for the first time in Europe – the new S7/i Full Frame Plus T2 21mm, 65mm and 180mm prime lenses, as well as the new Anamorphic/i SF (Special Flair) zoom lens.

Cooke has also announced that it has begun shipping of the Anamorphic/i Full Frame Plus T2.3 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm, which will be joined by the 32mm, 135mm and 180mm later this year.

The S7/i Full Frame Plus lens range is designed from the ground up to cover the emergent full-frame camera sensors up to the full sensor area (46.31mm image circle). It is an ideal partner for the Red Weapon 8K, Sony Venice and Arri Alexa LF – all three will be featured on the booth with lenses for testing.

For those unfamiliar with the Cooke Look, Cooke has curated an online motion gallery at shotoncooke.com (#ShotOnCooke) highlighting the use of Cooke’s acclaimed lens ranges across a variety of production genres from around the world.

SAMYANG OPTICS samyanglensglobal.com Samyang is exhibiting its full range of XEEN fast prime cinema lenses, as well as launching some exciting new products at this year’s show (12.C71).

XEEN professional cinema lenses were launched by Samyang in 2015, guided by feedback from professional directors of photography. Since then, they have achieved worldwide acclaim, being cited by many leading directors and cinematographers such as Joseph Kahn, Harvey Glen and Shane Hurlbut.

For IBC, the range has been extended to include eight fast aperture primes, ranging from 14mm to 135mm.

MOTION IMPOSSIBLE motion-impossible.com Motion Impossible will be showcasing its Agito Modular Dolly System, demonstrating it’s versatility and adaptability. It’s the world’s first modular dolly system. Building on the success of the M-Series, Agito offers multiple configurations to suit filming needs, it’s a Swiss army knife for filmmakers. As a free-roaming dolly system, the Agito can create smooth camera movements up to two metres in height.

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QUASAR SCIENCE quasarscience.com Quasar Science is a company seeking to replace high-watt, high-amperage HMI and incandescent lighting fixtures with more efficient technology.

Building off a singular low-profile 200W modular LED engine, the Hammer Series has two models: the four-engine Hammer 800 and the nine-engine Hammer 1800.

The tessellated airflow system draws air past each engine, keeping everything cool. Hammers also have individual control of each LED engine for pixelated operation via remote wireless, wired data control or through the onboard control interface, which Quasar has kept intuitive and simple.

Working with advanced optical technology, both versions of the light produce high output, with the Hammer 800 clocking in at over 450FC at 3m with the included 60°-wide beam angle lenses.

S E T- U P | P R E V I E W : I B C S H OW LCA lcauk.com

JVC uk.jvc.com/pro JVCKENWOOD has announced its new Connected Cam Studio compact live production and streaming suites, designed for live events.

The self-contained control rooms feature a production switcher with four or six IP inputs, which support HD-SDI and HDMI sources. The systems support for NDI and the SRT streaming protocol.

With a built-in H.264 encoder, the Connected Cam Studio supports 1080p streaming at up to 10Mbps, with RTMP and MPEGTS simultaneous output and direct streamlining integration to Facebook Live and more.

Output choices include dedicated HD-SDI and HDMI ports, plus an HDMI display port for multi-view or programme monitoring.

The system also includes simultaneous ISO recording of all camera, plus users can record the programme output and streaming output.

You can visit JVC on booth 12.F31 at IBC.

LCA is your one-stop shop for all your film and broadcast lighting and accessories needs, stocking products from a variety of leading brands (12.D39).

LiteGear will be showcasing the new LiteMat Spectrum, with an expanded Kelvin range and the ability to add accent colour through a patented colour mixing process. In keeping with the LiteMat series, the LiteMat Spectrum is thin, lightweight and easy-to-rig, while providing TrueHybrid white light that follows the Planckian locus exactly.

The winner of the Cine Gear Lighting Technology for Production Lighting award, the Creamsource SpaceX, will be demonstrated with a number of accessories, including its optic lenses that double the intensity of the light. Plus, the IP65 rated Creamsource Micro Colour will be proving its weather durability.

DoPchoice is maintaining its reputation for providing light-shaping tools for the newest fixtures with a Snapgrid for the new Astera Hyperion and Snapbag for LED fresnels and hard lights. Chroma-Q will spotlight the new Space Force onebytwo LED soft light; the Brute Force 6 powerful LED Wendy-light alternative powered by Studio Force II LED battens; and the Vista 3 lighting and media control system.

SHOTOVER shotover.com The Shotover B1 is a six-axis, gyrostabilised gimbal platform that delivers an unprecedented level of stability, control and versatility in an ultracompact package that accommodates some of the world’s most advanced cameras and lenses. The system was developed from the ground up, with input from several of the top aerial cinematographers and broadcasters around the world. The imagery from the system does not require any post stabilisation, so it retains the native high resolution it was captured in.

Designed to meet the needs of a wide range of markets, including industrial survey, live broadcast, production and surveillance, the B1 offers unmatched control for capturing intense action in fast-moving and high-pressure environments. Weighing under 18kg with a camera and lens, the system is the most compact aerial camera system developed by Shotover. The lightweight design enables it to be utilised on an extensive range of helicopters, including the Guimbal Cabri G2, Robinson R44 and R66, Bell 206 and 505, Eurocopter AS350 and Cessna fixed-wing aircraft. The B1 can also be mounted on watercraft and ground-based platforms such as cable cams, tracks and rails. Head to stand 11.B49 to find out more.

NBCUNIVERSAL nbcuniversal.com Cineo Lighting, a NBCUniversal company, is expanding its presence in the UK and Europe to broaden availability of its digital lighting solutions for the motion picture, television and broadcast industries. Cineo is showing its digital lighting solutions at IBC in Hall 12 Stand C64. The full-gamut product line includes the Standard 410, LB800 and Lightblade Edge fixtures. The Standard 410 is a 1x2 soft light with a custom-formulated spectrum, variable from 2700-6500K, as well as a Rec.2020 saturated colour engine. The LB800 is a patented, multi-zone soft light, offering the same spectrum and saturated colour options as the Standard 410 in a 2x4in size, weighing under 25kg. The LightBlade Edge is a modular fixture that delivers the features of larger Cineo fixtures in a low-profile footprint, delivering more output per linear inch than any comparable solution.

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M P B | A DV E R T I S E M E N T F E AT U R E

SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH MPB Take the strain out of trading up with used equipment specialist, MPB TO A WORKING FILMMAKER, time is always money. And when you’re ready to invest in some new kit, quickly getting rid of your unwanted gear for a reasonable price is what everyone wants. A fuss-free and worry-free way of disposing your equipment – without the hassle and risk of private buyers eating up your time – means you can quickly have the cash in your bank account, ready to use for something else. That could be a new camera, lens or drone, for example.

CHOOSE USED The majority of camera retailers focus solely on selling new gear, rather than used kit, so are unlikely to have the expertise to give an accurate valuation. They’d really rather not take part exchanges – and many don’t. So they are unlikely to offer a reasonable tradein for your old gear, if at all.

Selling privately can be fraught with worry and hassle, in terms of photographing then advertising the kit, then dealing with enquiries and potential buyers wanting to knock down your price and argue over the gear. It takes time, stress and could cost money in hidden fees. All things a filmmaker could do without.

But there is a far easier and faster option, such as selling or buying used gear through second-hand specialist, MPB. With a base in the UK and US, MPB sells used kit with a six-month guarantee at around 30% cheaper than the cost of buying new. It specialises in camera equipment only, and the team is made up of camera experts, who inspect and check all the kit.

With one of the biggest inventories of used photo and video equipment, MPB has around four times as many models as are available to buy new from retailers. From Red, Blackmagic, Canon and bestselling cinema cameras to the legendary but hardto-find Sony FS700, plus lots of cinema lenses and all the latest mirrorless kit, MPB has a huge amount of stock to choose from.

Everything is individually photographed, with lots of photos of the actual kit for sale and a detailed and honest description of its condition and what it includes.

Buying used gear is the ultimate in recycling, giving a new lease of life to

IMAGES From Red to Sony, MPB has a huge amount of stock to choose from

equipment that would otherwise be left unused and replaced by new kit. And trading in products to MPB is a hassle-free process. This means the value of your used gear can be used against a purchase from MPB, or you can simply have the money.

SIMPLE SELLING, EASY EXCHANGES The process of selling kit to MPB is simple, with a slick, easy-to-use new website that makes sure you get your money fast.

Sellers can manage the whole transaction online, from getting a quote to booking in a collection and providing payment details.

Sellers fill in a simple form, listing the gear they have to sell and its condition, then receive an instant quote. MPB then arranges tracked and insured collection of the items free from a local drop-off point, or collection from home or business on a suitable day for a small fee.

MPB’s team of product specialists check the items based on 40 different criteria, making sure it’s in reliable, working condition. In some cases, quotes are adjusted up or down if items are in better or worse condition than described. The seller is always asked to confirm they are happy with the final price before finalising the sale. If they change their mind, the items are returned free of charge. The money is then paid directly into sellers banks.

MPB CEO, Matt Barker, says: “Our purpose is to provide market-leading valuations on gear for sellers and the real price benefits of used for buyers, with complete safety, security and convenience.”

I SOLD MY OLD KIT TO MPB

BY VIDEOGRAPHER, ADAM DUCKWORTH In recent years, the focus of my work has moved away from largely stills to a combination of filmmaking, as well as stills, so I have invested in lot of new equipment. I had a significant quantity of Phase One medium format photo equipment, plus cameras and lenses from Leica, Nikon, Panasonic and Olympus I was no longer using. I didn’t want the hassle of selling privately and already owned the new kit I needed. So I went to MPB for a cash sale.

I filled in the online form on a Monday, and received an instant quote I was more than happy with.

A courier picked up the gear on Tuesday from my home, and I got an email on Wednesday from MPB saying it had been safely received and was about to be checked.

A day later I got confirmation everything was as described, and I emailed back agreeing to the sale. The money was in my bank account by the weekend.

It was totally stress-free and incredibly easy and quick. I have used MPB several times now to buy used equipment from and also to sell to, and the process just gets easier and quicker.

MORE INFORMATION:

mpb.com

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PUSHING THE SIX APPEAL

Helicopter Film Services launches the Typhon2 – a multi-camera array that combines six Red Helium 8K cameras to push the boundaries of what’s possible for VFX departments HELICOPTER FILM SERVICES (HFS) has launched the Typhon2 six-camera array, which incorporates six Red Helium cameras mounted onto a Shotover K1 6-Axis stabilised gimbal. This new aerial array is designed to shoot plates that can be stitched together in post-production to create large format shots. The Typhon2 enables both aerial and ground-based filming of sequences where a particularly wide field of view is required – a fully useable 165°.

Aerial DOP Jeremy Braben and his team of engineers at HFS collaborated with Pinewood-based Brownian Motion to design the Typhon2 as an alternative to HFS’s original Typhon array (launched in 2017), which combined six Alexa Mini cameras in a toe-out array. This new Typhon2 has a toe-in configuration for reduced parallax and uses the Red DSMC2 Helium 8K sensor or Arri Alexa Mini. Each of its six cameras are fitted with the new Zeiss CP.3 Prime lenses with eXtended Data and shading mapping. Alternative lenses are available. Jeremy Braben, aerial DOP and CEO at Helicopter Film Services comments: “We’re launching the Typhon2 based on the success of our original Typhon array, which was designed to help VFX by providing maximum stability, minimal set-up and

“The new array has been designed for minimal set-up and a large area overlap” a large area overlap. The Typhon2 offers toe-in capability, and no need for lens grid calibration in post-production.”

Jeff Brown, CEO at Brownian Motion, explains: “Unlike the other older aerial array systems, which use the Red Epic Dragon sensors and stills camera lenses, HFS’s Typhon2 system employs the very latest sensor technology from Red with increased 8K resolution, plus the latest lens optical and metadata technology from Zeiss recorded directly to the Raw camera files.

This eXtended metadata offers a faster, easier workflow for post-production teams, negating the need for lens grid calibration.”

Braben notes: “Following the success of our original Typhon array, we have already had VFX supervisors take advantage of the Typhon2 for use on some major studio productions, which gives them a full 16K x 8K resolution plate area.”

VFX POST PLUG-INS A plug-in, offered by Zeiss for all the major post-delivery software, will enable the use

IMAGES Six Red Helium cameras aboard the new Typhon2 offer a massive 165° of view

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of lens distortion and shading data based on each individual lens having factory calibration recorded to a continuous file, and reflecting iris or focus manipulation.

The Helium 8K sensor allows a stitched plate yielding a massive 16K x 8K – as well as the latest IPP2 colour science from Red. Complete remote camera control by the operator in the helicopter allows for in-air camera changes and single-frame trigger for photogrammetry. In-cabin monitoring is also recorded to easily ingestible ProRes files with full overlay for quick editorial use.

HELICOPTER FILM SERVICES Recent HFS projects include superhero movies such as Wonder Woman, Captain America: Civil War, Justice League, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game, as well as family-friendly titles like Peter Rabbit, Paddington and Paddington 2, Aladdin, Dumbo, The Kid Who Would Be King, Johnny English 3, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Ready Player One. Other projects include Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Entebbe, Darkest Hour, Spectre, Ex Machina, The Crown and Yesterday.

MORE INFORMATION:

helicopterfilmservices.com @HelicopterFilms @HelicopterFilmS @HelicopterFilms