Content+Technology ANZ March-April 2016

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MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

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28 NEP Australia Launches HD12 Supertruck REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 04 NEWS TDC Unveils First Outside Broadcast

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Vehicle, UHD for 2018 Commonwealth Games, SBS Australia to Develop Asian Eurovision Contest, Solomon Islands to Roll Out National Public TV Service, Seven Appoints Ai-Media for Captioning, ACMA Finalises TV Captioning Review, ABC Women in Broadcast Technology Scholarships

11 TAKING STOCK Q&A with Snell Advanced Media CEO Tim Thorsteinson, Silver Trak Buys Motionlink

12 TECHNICAL STANDARDS Bluefish444 Embraces TICO compression, NewTek Ships NDI Open Protocol for IP Production Workflows

60 INDUSTRY FOCUS 62,64 CLASSIFIEDS

FEATURES 14 NAB 2016 PREVIEW Just some of the highlights of the world’s biggest content technology show

26 SPORTSCASTING NEP Australia

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Launches HD12 Supertruck, Olympic Broadcast Rights for Sky NZ, Big Summer for The P.A. People, Sporty New Technologies

32 NEWS OPERATIONS Changing the Game Again with Cellular Bonding Systems, Newsroom Production Ecosystem from ChyronHego, New Newsgathering Solutions

36 POST-PRODUCTION SolidAnim Previz in Epic Fantasy Gods of Egypt, LEGO Batman Unmasked, Post Solutions at NAB

PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel +61 (0)2 4368 4569 Mob +61 (0)414 671 811 papers@broadcastpapers.com

Digistor Embraces Consultation, Photographer Ken Duncan Enters the File-based Landscape, How VOD Services Use Cloud Transcoding to Stay Ahead, New MAM and Cloud Solutions

46 AUDIO Angus Robertson Returns to Spectrum Films, SAE Celebrates 40 years, VIC Police Forensic Unit Chooses JBL Monitors, plus product updates

51 RADIO Dissent Over Community Broadcasting Funding, Cars Drive Up Digital Radio Listening, LG Unveils Smartphone with Built-In DAB+, UK Extends ‘SmallScale’ DAB Trial

54 CONTENT DELIVERY Lumina Takes Off at Satellite Forum, Freeview Oz Unveils Innovation Program and Mobile App, Last-Mile Content Localisation and Monetisation for DTT Networks, plus product updates

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

Charity Event Scaling New Heights to Honour Industry Giant

By Phil Sandberg

In 2008, the company was acquired by Open TV Inc, part of the Nagra Group.

In 2012, Robert established a consultancy, undertaking work for Telstra’s Digital Media & Content Solutions team.

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“In August last year, the television community lost a great mind and friend,” says Tuendemann. “Robert Rutherford worked for many years as an innovator of broadcast software at companies such as Seven, Sydney Olympics, RuzzTV, Foxtel and Telstra. He was probably one of the smartest and yet most downto-earth gentlemen that I have known. Sadly, he passed away 14 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

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One of those making the climb to raise money in the fight against brain cancer is Jason Tuendemann, Chief Technology Officer with Network Ten.

“I was recently given the opportunity to participate in Professor Charlie Teo’s Million$Mission to try and raise $100,000 for brain cancer research.

Million$Mission is a unique fund raising event, and a physical and mental challenge.

“Together with Charlie, in July this year, we are going to walk and hopefully reach the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. At 5,895 metres, Mt Kiliminjaro is Africa’s highest peak and the largest free-standing mountain in the world. This is an oxygen-free walk and not a challenge to take lightly.

“Network Ten has already supported me with a generous donation of

Rutherford.

“My father passed away from brain cancer in 2005, age 68. A close colleague is currently battling the disease. Cancer touches us all in some way and I want to help change this,” says Sparke. “I know this challenge is something I can do to move the needle. I’m looking forward to the mental and physical challenge of the eight-day climb - but importantly representing the Nine Network in something that can make a difference through sponsoring research. Get behind us financially as we prepare for our Million$Mission.”

Money raised on the climb will fund much-needed research to help achieve the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s goal of increasing the five-year survival rate of brain cancer victims to 50% by 2023. According to Jason Tuendemann, the statistics from the Foundation are “frightening”.

Around 1600 people are diagnosed with the disease in Australia annually and approximately 1200 die from it every year. Brain cancer kills more children in Australia than any other disease and more people under 40 than any other cancer.

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Ruzz TV grew from the spare room of Rutherford’s house in the Sydney suburb of Ermington to become a leading provider of Workflow Automation and Content Management solutions for the Australian broadcast industry with 16 employees and customers including SBS, Seven, Southern Cross, Foxtel, Fox Sports and Sky News.

One of those executives also on the climb will be Geoff Sparke, the Nine Network’s Director of Pioneering Australian media technologist, the late Robert Broadcast Operations.

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After graduating from the University of Sydney, where he earned a BSc and a BE with 1st class honours and University Medal, Robert Rutherford worked at Scitec Communications, the Seven Network and Alamar before starting his own company – Ruzz Technology (later to be renamed Ruzz TV).

$10,000. Together with nine other Australian executives, we are aiming to raise a total of $1 million.”

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technologist Robert Rutherford who died after a battle with brain cancer. This year, members of the Australian broadcasting industry are joining together to honour Robert’s memory by undertaking a climb for charity of Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

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AUGUST 2015 SAW THE UNTIMELY PASSING of pioneering Australasian

Brain cancer survival rates are low and have hardly changed for 30 years, despite significant increases in survival for Australians diagnosed with other types of cancer, such as prostate and breast cancer.

If you wish to support this worthy event, you can sponsor Jason Tuendemann via https://www.curebraincancer.org.au/my-fundraising/9894/ jason-tuendemann-millionmission and Geoff Sparke via http://www. curebraincancer.org.au/my-fundraising/9934/geoff-sparke-millionmission Thanks for Reading Phil Sandberg - Editor/Publisherpapers@broadcastpapers.com T: +61-(0)414671811

ersburg Moscow

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NEWS + PEOPLE For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com

TDC Unveils First Outside Broadcast Vehicle TDC – TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY recently announced completion of its first full, multi-purpose mobile outside broadcast (OB) vehicle offering full HD broadcast and production facilities.

“For the past 35 years we have been a pioneer in entertainment technology solutions and we know what works for live audiences, on stage as well as on camera. We have integrated camera systems into projects for many years so it was a natural progression to extend our existing fly-pack solutions to the new HD01 outside broadcast vehicle,” says Michael Hassett, CEO at TDC. In collaboration with TDC, the teams from Sony Professional Solutions Asia Pacific, Imagine Communications, Riedel, Fujinon, Miller, and Yamaha assisted to produce TDC HD01.

A full complement of HD multi-format production equipment includes a 256×256 Platinum router with in-built multi-viewers from Imagine Communications. TDC HD01 uses Riedel communications equipment and the truck is wired to support both eight- and the latest 12-channel EVS systems. Utilising DANTE audio networking and routing, main mixing is performed by the Yamaha CL5, with the Yamaha QL1 serving as sub-mix and backup.

The Sony 3ME MVS-6530 vision switcher is at the core of the truck, with Sony also providing OLED monitors throughout. With a full range of Fujinon lenses, and tripod support from Miller, complement the HDC-1700 cameras and 4K/Super Slomo HDC-4300 cameras. TDC HD01 can also incorporate a range of triax, wireless, PTZ, and specialty cameras, providing versatility for production demands.

“Ensuring TDC is at the forefront of delivering new technologies to the market is a major focus for us and TDC HD01 does just that,” says Michael Hassett. “Our leadership is defined by consistent quality and a passionate team of long-term staff and engineers who have the experience to deliver technically complex events of any size.”

Visit www.tdc.com.au

UHD in the Mix for NEP Australia at 2018 Commonwealth Games COVERAGE OF THE GOLD COAST 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES will see Host Broadcaster NEP Australia broadcast the Opening Ceremony in Ultra High Definition (UHD) – four times the resolution of current High Definition.

For the bulk of the Games action, going out to an estimated audience of 1.5 billion, NEP Australia will beam high-definition television coverage to Channel Seven in Australia and all the rights holding broadcasters around the world for the Games’ ceremonies and 11 days of sporting competition.

NEP Australia will lay over 100 kilometres of cable, deploy 350 cameras, and use over 25 outside broadcast vehicles and control rooms to produce over 1100 hours of live television, radio and digital coverage during the Games.

It is expected the broadcast will deliver more than 1200 jobs, and hundreds of training opportunities for students in Queensland. NEP Australia will provide training for 200 local college and university students in the lead up to the Games and give them real-life exposure to a major international event.

The company is in the process of establishing an office in Bundall on the

Gold Coast and will also manage the design, installation and operation of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“Faultless capture and international distribution of television, radio and internet-delivered material by the Host Broadcaster is essential to a successful Games,” said NEP Australia President, Soames Treffry. “We will strive to ensure this is the Games’ best-ever coverage across all platforms.”

Gold Coast 2018 will be NEP Australia’s fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games with the Australian-based company having successfully delivered the broadcast for the Glasgow 2014, Delhi 2010 and the Melbourne 2006 Games. They will be supported by the GC2018 Australian Rights Holder the Seven Network and UK production company Sunset+Vine.

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held from April 4th –15th, 2018.

Visit www.commonwealthgames.com.au and www.nepinc.com/welcome/nep_australia

NEWS + PEOPLE

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SBS Australia Signs with EBU to Develop Asian Eurovision Contest THE EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION (EBU) has announced it has signed an exclusive option with Australian Associate SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) to establish an Asian version of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Under the agreement, SBS and production partners Blink TV are exploring the opportunity to establish the Eurovision Song Contest concept in the Asia Pacific region, offering broadcasters and sponsors the opportunity to be a part of this amazing event.

“SBS Australia has been broadcasting Eurovision for over 30 years, so we feel they are a perfect partner to build an alliance of networks with, and give Asian songwriters and artists the opportunity to perform on the Eurovision stage,” said Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest.

song writing and performing talent to the world.

“We are excited by the fact that Eurovision’s appeal is crossing continental borders to Asian countries,” added Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling, Chairman of the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group and Senior Vice President of International Affairs at ZDF.

SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid welcomed the agreement, saying “As the official broadcaster of Eurovision for over 30 years, SBS are pleased to explore the opportunity to bring an event of this calibre more closely to our shores, strengthening the multicultural ties in our own backyard. Asia Pacific has a spectacular music culture and the perfect next step to extend the Eurovision brand, bringing its hugely popular appeal beyond Australian audiences and to the wider region.”

The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in 1956 with the aim of uniting nations and exploring new television technology. Since then, over 50 nations have taken part in this unique competition which reaches nearly 200 million viewers in Europe and beyond every year.

Over the next few months SBS’s Eurovision production partners Blink TV will lead discussions with potential sponsors, commercial partners and regional broadcasters with hopes to bring the event to fruition in 2017.

Director of Blink TV, Paul Clarke says the project could be huge.

Capitalising on the success, production values and scale of the Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision Asia would encompass Asia Pacific nations, bringing together up to 20 countries to compete in one live annual Grand Final.

“Now we have been granted an opportunity to grow the Eurovision brand from an audience of 200 million, to a potential Asian audience of more than a billion viewers. We are pleased with the very early discussions across the region and look forward to working with our neighbouring broadcasters to realise this vision.”

The inaugural event is planned to be hosted in Australia in 2017 and thereafter in other regional cities. The broadcast rights will be licensed on a global basis and the event will offer the chance for Asia Pacific countries to showcase their

Visit www.ebu.ch and www.sbs.com.au

ACMA Finalises TV Captioning Review THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY has completed its review of the TV Captioning Quality Standard (the Standard) and published its final report.

After extensive consultation and consideration of international approaches, the ACMA has decided to maintain the current Standard approach to assessing the quality of captions.

Since 2013, free-to-air television broadcasters and subscription television licensees have been required to comply with the Standard, which sets out quality requirements relating to the readability, accuracy, and comprehensibility of captions.

The Standard currently considers the quality of captions in the context of a program as a whole, including the circumstances of the broadcast and the nature of the program being broadcast.

The review required the ACMA to consider the differences between live, ‘part-live’ (programs including live and pre-recorded material) and pre-recorded programs, and how these affect the quality of television captions.

The ACMA has made a minor variation to the Standard to reflect its decision. The variation instrument and accompanying explanatory statement are available on the ACMA’s website.

Visit www.acma.gov.au

ABC Launches 2016 Women in Broadcast Technology Scholarships THE AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION has launched the 2016 Women in Broadcast Technology (WIBT) Scholarships.

Aimed at attracting the very best talent and provide greater opportunities in a technical workplace, the ABC is offering eight women across Australia studying a technology-related discipline an invaluable hands-on opportunity to experience the fast paced and rapidly evolving broadcast media environment.

ABC Technology employs technologists based in all eight states and territory capital cities and provides scholarship opportunities at all of these locations.

This unique opportunity includes an AUD $1000 book allowance and four weeks paid work experience alongside leading technical engineers in our nation at the ABC.

As well as ambition and a passion for the industry, the other essential prerequisite the national broadcaster seeks is that female applicants are currently enrolled in an electrical or communications engineering, electro-technology or computer systems/shared technology related course at TAFE, university or registered training organisation.

Deputy Director of Technology, Margaret Cassidy said, “Women are underrepresented in technology teams across Australia. As an equal opportunity employer, the ABC aspires to nurture a diverse and people-focused culture.”

Entries for the 2013 Women in Broadcast Technology Scholarships close on May the 6th, 2016.

For more information, contact Melika Shahroodi on 02 8333 3029 or wibtscholarships@abc.net.au

NEWS + PEOPLE

Anderson Joins Studiotech Australia

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STUDIOTECH AUSTRALIA HAS ANNOUNCED that Chris Anderson has joined the

“I am very pleased that Chris has decided to join us, as he is a

company. According to Michael Bentsen, Managing Director, “Chris is well known

perfect fit into our customer focused culture,” stated Bentsen.

and respected by many in the industry. He will be a key team member, providing

“Chris will be an integral part of the IP-transported, file-based

Studiotech Australia and its customers with strong IT and Broadcast expertise, in

and workflow-driven technologies we offer in our solutions.”

both Support and Project activities.

Visit www.studiotechau.com

TVT Manages Assets for BBC TVT RECENTLY ANNOUNCED it has extended its contract with BBC Worldwide ANZ to manage and co-ordinate all of the broadcaster’s media assets for playout in Australia and New Zealand. This includes delivery of programming across channel brands BBC First, UKTV, BBC Knowledge and CBeebies.

The two companies have been working together to streamline operations for ingest, compliance editing, quality control and delivery to play-out and asset archiving. TVT’s cloud-based ContentSelect platform, which will roll-out further functionality during 2016, is designed to give the company continued confidence its content will be delivered to playout with the correct specifications and in a timely way. The broadcaster will also be afforded a greater degree of control over its assets with real-time updates of its content along the workflow chain.

Ian Brotherston, CEO of TVT commented, “The reliability and agile capability of our ContentSelect platform coupled together with TVT’s media preparation services enables BBC Worldwide ANZ to direct its energy into the core area of its business; providing compelling programming for the enjoyment of its viewers.”

Fiona Lang, Chief Operating Officer, BBC Worldwide ANZ said, “With the large amount of content being delivered for our channels in Australia and New Zealand it’s critical for us to streamline our workflows in order to optimise our performance and services. We have been working with TVT to custom-fit our business requirements, allowing us to track materials at every stage of the workflow and act faster to identify any potential delays.”

Visitwww.tvt.biz

AVW Partners with Mediaproxy THE AVW GROUP (AVW BROADCAST) has announced its appointment as an authorised Australian reseller for all Mediaproxy products.

Mediaproxy, a pioneer in compliance logging and content monitoring solutions for broadcasting, government, enterprise, corporate and health, has joined forces with AVW Broadcast to bring its monitoring platform to a wider audience.

The partnership agreement leverages AVW’s long established experience in the IP/RF, broadcasting and transmission markets.

AVW Sales Manager Stefan Hunt says, “Whilst continuing to support Mediaproxy solutions in traditional television and radio broadcast markets, AVW will also be promoting Mediaproxy into growing market verticals including Education, government and the medical space, where we see strong opportunities for Mediaproxy’s versatile and flexible offering.”

Visit www.avwbroadcast.com.au

Seven Appoints Ai-Media for Captioning SEVEN WEST MEDIA AND AI-MEDIA have confirmed that Ai-Media has been appointed as the exclusive provider of broadcast captioning for the Seven Network in a five-year deal commencing in August 2016. Ai-Media will supply all offline and live captioning for Seven West Media’s channels which include Seven, 7Two, 7Mate and 7Flix, reaching an average weekly audience of 14.9 million viewers.

Seven awarded the contract to Ai-Media following a competitive tender process involving international and local captioning companies. The contract commences ahead of Seven’s broadcast of the Olympic Games which commences on 5 August.

Andrew Anderson, Head of Broadcast Operations for Seven West Media, said: “High quality captioning is an essential service for many of our viewers. Ai-Media is an impressive and energetic Australian company that has proven quality of delivery, world-leading technology innovation, and competitive pricing and we are pleased to have them as our partner.”

Ai-Media CEO, Tony Abrahams said: “Seven’s content is watched by millions of Australians every day. As the pioneer of captioning in Australia, Seven knows what it takes to deliver a quality service. We are delighted to partner with Seven, during this period of digital media transformation, to continue to make its content accessible.”

Visit www.ai-media.tv and www.ai-live.com

TVSN Installs Evertz Master Clock SYDNEY’S TVSN CHANNEL STUDIOS has selected Quinto Communications to supply its new master clock system that will provide all reference, test and time synchronisation signals required throughout the facility.

Located in Frenchs Forest, TVSN’s Studios operates live TV production studios and a full service broadcast play-out facility, currently responsible for channel delivery to both major Australian Pay TV and Digital Free to Air TV Broadcasters.

The new master clock system will be manufactured by Evertz Microsystems and comprises main and backup Evertz 5601MSC Master Generators together with an Evertz 5601ACO2 auto-changeover unit.

Each Evertz 5601MSC will not only provides both standard and high definition video reference signals for the facility but also both standard definition and high definition video test patterns and audio test tones.

The system will also act as a master time source generator for the facility generating both linear timecode (LTC) and network time protocol (NTP), all locked to a Global Positioning System satellite time, positioning System time and frequency references.

Visit www.quinto.com.au

Solomon Islands to Roll Out National Public TV Service

According to SIBC Chairman Mr. Loyley Ngira OBE, Directors had discussed the desirability of a national TV service in late 2013 and an Australian Media Assistance Project funded a Feasibility Study in early 2015.

The SIBC Board accepted the study and forwarded it to the Prime Minister with a recommendation that a project be formulated to design and fund the service. The Prime Minister – who is also Minister for Broadcasting – provided funds to hire a television consultant to start work on the project plan.

The Consultant is Mr. Gregory Drummond of Telemedia Consulting Ltd, formerly Director of Broadcast and Media with Sky Television New Zealand who has also worked for Television New Zealand.

The SIBC Directors also approved a plan to commence with a pilot television service as soon as possible to establish a presence in the TV

market and also enable staff to be prepared for the main project.

If plans proceed as expected the pilot service will be operational before June. In the meantime, when the Project plan is completed, it will be taken forward by the Prime Minister for funding in the 2017 budget.

SIBC expects that around 50 percent of the population will be served within the first five years of the TV service and other population centres will be provided access soon afterwards.

SIBC has proposed to Telekom Television Ltd that they collaborate to provide the television service – including the pilot phase – since TTL has the TV transmitters and infrastructure and SIBC would concentrate on providing content. Discussions will be held with Telekom Television Ltd directors. A subsidiary of telco provider Our Telekom, Telekom Television provides free-to-air Television services in the capital, Honiara, and other regional centres. The country is also serviced by pay TV/Internet provider SATSOL. Visit www.sibconline.com.sb

NEWS + PEOPLE

THE DIRECTORS OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS’ National Broadcaster, SIBC, have appointed a New Zealand company to develop a plan for a national public television service. The SIBC currently operates a number of radio services throughout the country.

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NEWS + PEOPLE

Peter Tonagh Replaces Richard Freudenstein as Foxtel CEO FOXTEL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, Richard Freudenstein, has announced he will stand down from the company after four-and-a-half years to pursue other interests, with News Corp Australia Chief Executive Officer, Peter Tonagh, taking the reins Mr Freudenstein said he was proud of the Foxtel team’s achievements, and that Foxtel had played a big part in his professional life.

“So much has happened in the past four-and-a-half years. Highlights include the 2012 London Olympics where we revolutionised coverage with eight channels and every gold medal live, the launch of Foxtel Go, the re-packaging of Foxtel content to reduce prices and drive record growth, the

finalisation of major sporting deals, and the launch of an exciting array of Australian programs, many of which have won major awards. We have been at the forefront of the revolution in the way Australians view television.”

Mr Freudenstein will leave Foxtel at the end of April, but will remain in his position as a News Corp nominee on the board of REA Group Limited.

Mr Tonagh, who held the joint roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Foxtel for nine years, said it was an honour to return to a business he knew and loved.

Visit www.foxtel.com.au

New GM at Vizrt Australia

New ACMA Executive Appointments

FOLLOWING EIGHT YEARS at Vizrt Australia, Nigel Streatfield has

THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY’S Deputy Chairman, Richard Bean, will take on the role

decided to step down from his role as General Manager and move to a consulting position. He won’t be leaving Vizrt, but will continue to work with the team to provide help to offices across the Asia Pacific region.

He will remain in touch with Vizrt’s broadcast clients and partners across Australia and New Zealand.

of Acting Chairman, effective Saturday the 27th of February, while fulltime Authority Member, James Cameron, will become Acting Deputy Chair.

Richard Hewitt joins Vizrt Australia to take on the GM role. He has a well-established background in broadcast based solution sales and professional services.

The changes, confirmed by the Minister for Communications Senator

Prior to accepting the GM role with Vizrt, Richard held the role of Regional Sales Manager for Imagine Communications He has worked for over 18 years in the broadcast industry with the first five years in the UK running training operations for Encoda Systems. Moving to Australia in 2003, he worked with Asian broadcasters scoping and selling automated playout systems.

five-year appointments).

Visit http://www.vizrt.com

Visit http://www.acma.gov.au

the Hon Mitch Fifield, follow the retirement tomorrow of Chris Chapman at the conclusion of his 10-year tenure at the ACMA (consisting of two “I am delighted to be leading an agency at the top of its game and want to thank Chris for his 10 years of outstanding leadership,” said Richard Bean, who joined the ACMA in October 2010 for five years and was reappointed for a further two years in October 2015.

Pukeko Appoints Lisa Chatfield Head of Scripted Development PUKEKO PICTURES HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Lisa Chatfield as Head of Scripted Development strengthening its content creation team.

Lisa will work closely with Pukeko Pictures’ Chief Creative Officer, Martin Baynton, and Head of Production, Angela Littlejohn, on the company’s development slate.

Most recently Lisa was the Head of Development and Production at the New Zealand Film Commission. With a 25 year career in both television and film, and experience on short films, TV commercials and feature films, Lisa has worked across both development and production on the domestic and international slates of Working Title Australia, NHNZ and Eyeworks NZ. At 25 she produced the New Zealand feature film, Scarfies, and was the youngest producer at the time to receive production investment from the New Zealand Film Commission.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lisa to the role of Head of Scripted Development at Pukeko Pictures.

Lisa brings to her role a strong development and production background with experience in both film and television content for adults and children. Lisa will work closely with our talented development and production team led by Martin Baynton and Angela Littlejohn on our future television slate as well as our current line-up to continue to produce world-class internationally rich content,” said Pukeko Pictures’ CEO, Clive Spink.

Visit www.pukekopictures.com

Vale to NEP Australia’s Michael Eveleigh THE NEP AUSTRALIA TEAM and the wider television production community are mourning the loss of their talented colleague and friend, Michael Eveleigh.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Michael, a technical manager at NEP, passed away recently, in Albany, WA, where he’d been working with the NEP team facilitating the NAB Cup match at Mt Barker.

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He was a TV industry veteran, starting as a telecine operator at Brisbane’s BTQ7 in 1976, later moving into videotape. Michael relocated to Melbourne in the early ‘80s, working at AAV for a few years before returning to BTQ7 to work in master control and, subsequently, the outside broadcast department. He joined Global Television (now NEP) in 2002 and worked on a range of outside broadcast events including international

cricket, the AFL finals and Big Brother. In 2006 Michael moved to Cutting Edge, and became technical manager at Global Television with the merger of Global and Cutting Edge’s outside broadcast divisions in 2011.

Michael loved and lived for his family, and excelled in building and creating things.

NEP Australia President, Soames Treffry, describes Michael as, “a real industry pro who was dedicated to his craft. One of the truly nice guys in television. Everyone loved working with Michael. He will be greatly missed.”

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NEWS + PEOPLE Trevor Boal New Head of Telstra Broadcast Services DAVID KEENAN, HEAD OF GLOBAL INDUSTRIES for Telstra’s Global Enterprise and Services, has announced Trevor Boal as the new Head of Telstra Broadcast Services.

Trevor joined Telstra three years ago as the Managing Director of NorthShore Communications Group, a company Telstra acquired in 2013.

Broadcast Services, based in Sydney. Andreas will be replacing Christine Holman, who is leaving Telstra at the end of March.

“I would like to thank Christine for her leadership of the TBS commercial team and wish her all the best for the future,” said Mr Keenan.

According to David Keenan, “Trevor was a crucial part of the NSC integration, leading the NSC team of 230 staff supporting over 600 customers across the Asia Pacific region at the time of acquisition. He has since made a very valuable contribution to our Solution Sales team as the Director of Sales for Unified Communications, Fixed Voice, and Digital Media. With Trevor’s leadership credentials in the media and communications portfolio, his previous experience managing integrations and his strong international orientation, I am confident he will be very successful as the leader of the TBS business.”

“Andreas brings a wealth of international media services experience to Telstra Broadcast Services. Prior to joining Telstra, Andreas held the position of Managing Director of Piero, the Sports Graphics business in the Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services division in London. Andreas has also held positions including VP and Head of Strategy and Portfolio Management for Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services in Stockholm, and Senior Director of Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services in APAC, based out of Sydney. Andreas also spent several years in the Ericsson Hosting Services business, where he led the Sales management department and was the Head of TV and Video Services business.”

In addition, Andreas Eriksson has joined as the new Head of Sales at Telstra

Visit www.telstra.com

SBS Appoints John Beohm as SBS 2 Channel Manager JOHN BEOHM JOINS SBS from Stan, where he was Senior Programming and Editorial Manager.

John has become the editorial and strategic lead for SBS 2, ensuring the channel continues with its distinctive positioning as the home of adventurous, provocative, and diverse content from across the globe.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Mr Beohm said, “I’m honoured to be joining such a unique network and to be leading SBS 2 to deliver even higher quality and more distinctive content and ensure we maintain SBS 2’s clear sense of identity in an ever

10

changing media landscape.”

John brings to SBS an impressive track record in programming and content strategy, with six years at BBC Worldwide Australia, with multiple roles including programmer for BBC HD, CBeebies, BBC Knowledge, and BBC iPlayer. John joined Stan in 2014 and was responsible for programming and editorial strategy and leading the day-to-day management of the scheduling, operations and social media teams.

Visit http://www.sbs.com.au

TAKING STOCK Moves in the business of content + technology

Having combined Snell and Quantel under the SAM banner (Snell Advanced Media), CEO Tim Thorsteinson, whose 20-year track record includes Leitch, Miranda, and Grass Valley, outlines his vision for the company’s future.

How was the launch of SAM received by customers – both existing and potential?

The launch of SAM – bringing together Quantel and Snell, creating a unified company – was met with excitement. Of course, I would say that, but it genuinely was. I’ve been in this industry for 20 years and I’ve never seen the level of turmoil we’ve all experienced recently. Our customers need help and fresh ideas. There’s the fractured nature of the consumer marketplace, with changing monetisation patterns, and then huge technological shifts. Combined with the pressures on revenues we’ve seen, with some manufacturers experiencing falls in revenue of 20-25 per cent, there are challenges for everybody.

We’ve taken care in defining our product strategy, putting the right people in the right places globally and creating a company architecture that allows us to push forward into technology like IP, while also supporting more traditional methodologies.

What is SAM’s position with IP? There’s uncertainty in the marketplace around IP on the production/playout side. The supplier base needs to educate its customers. I’ve been through the move from analogue to digital, SD to HD, and now the move to IP is beginning.

This is a fundamental architecture shift.

The recently launched AIMS initiative is important in this regard. AIMS is beginning the process of de-risking some key issues for customers, because what we’re seeing with uncertainty around IP, there’s deferral of capital expenditure. Secondly, some vendors are offering IP-based solutions but the customer doesn’t know which vendor to choose, because they may invest in dead-end technology. With vendors working together in AIMS there’s a level of buy-in to interoperate over. It will provide customers with confidence. It also indicates major suppliers believe the time is right to push forwards with IP.

after-sales support. We’ll be more of a software provider than previously, and that will become clearer over the next few years.

Most of our engineers are now software engineers. That’s a different business than Snell and Quantel were involved in.

Not to say we’ve thrown out our hardware capabilities, but times are changing. We’ll still be selling distribution amplifiers and converters, and hardware production switchers.

Tim Thorsteinson, CEO, SAM.

If you look at our CiAB range as a prime example, we started years ago with ICE, and now we are pushing forwards with ICE-IP, ICE SDC, while still offering the entry-level ICE LE. You can also look at our Media Biometrics monitoring technology as an example of our pioneering thinking.

What steps have you taken in terms of ensuring high-quality, responsive regional support?

We’ve expanded and reorganised geographically to support our international reach. We’ve expanded in North America, we’ve put a strong structure into Latin America and the Middle East, and reorganised across Asia so we have the right people in the right places.

Technologically, what are the advantages of uniting Quantel and Snell as SAM? We now have a joined-up technology strategy. We’ve carried out a lot of IP work on our connectivity products and that’s being rolled out across our editing products. In the sports market in particular, 4K is important. The fact we offer high-end post products with Quantel means we have experience with 4K, 8K, and HDR. To filter those technologies across the portfolio is now easier and more cost-effective.

What are your key challenges as SAM? I think we have a strong portfolio, but some of that hasn’t been monetised.

As Snell we were so engineering-focused that some technologies were never realised. Now we’re more market-focused and are looking at ‘productising’ our technology. We’re focusing on what the market needs and how that intersects with our technology.

What roles do software solutions play using as we move forward?

The most important part of what remains for us to do is complete this leveraging of technology across our portfolio. We have some more work to do.

Media Biometrics – a technology unique to SAM, is one key area where we are extending technology across our products. We’re doing the same with our Momentum workflow/MAM technology.

The business model is changing – more licensing, less physical product, more

Visit www.s-a-m.com

Fundamentally, the buying principals for customers don’t change with IP. Is it interoperable? Is it upgradeable? Is the company behind it strong? I think we’ll know more about IP in the next 12-18 months, including how far our customers want to go.

Silver Trak Acquires Motionlink MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT, broadcast duplication, QC, technical assessment, content management, disc duplication and replication services specialist Silver Trak has acquired high-end Blu-ray, DVD authoring and production, DCP delivery and storage and archiving house Motionlink, creating Australia’s largest authoring house.

Silver Trak co-owner Tim Creswell said, “By acquiring and integrating Motionlink into Silver Trak not only do we become the largest authoring house in Australia but our roster of clients and the services we offer them also grows so we can now provide traditional and cutting edge Silver Trak services such as Media Room media asset management and delivery to industry giants including Foxtel, Netflix, Google and Sony Playstation.”

Motionlink founder Grant Salinger said, “This is a great day for Motionlink, our

clients and the entire Australian broadcast, TV and film industries as it brings two great companies together in a way that provides nothing but benefits to the market. Tim, Christian and the entire team at Silver Trak are eminently qualified to not only provide Motionlink clients with the services they know but the quality they expect.”

Along with Silver Trak’s Media Room MAM solution, and the two companies’ combined authoring services, Silver Trak now offers 3D-capable Blu-ray systems, advanced compression and conversion, QC and mastering for Digital Cinema. The company also archives all DCPs and manages distribution to cinema through physical drives or digitally via satellite, with full tracking of clients' content and library maintenance.

The latest Media Room technology will be demonstrated on the Aspera booth SL4910 at NAB 2016.

Visit www.silvertrak.com.au/media-room/

TAKING STOCK

SAM, SAM but Different!

www.content-technology.com/mediabusiness

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TECHNICAL STANDARDS www.content-technology.com/standards

Bluefish444 Joins Tico Alliance to Enable 4K Over 3G SDI AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPER BLUEFISH444 has announced it has become a member of the TICO Alliance, the organisation established to promote the use of the TICO lightweight 4:1, mezzanine video compression scheme (also known as SMPTE RDD35) developed by Belgian company IntoPIX. Aimed at broadcasters, content distributors and anyone who needs to move large amounts of content and high resolution content from point to point, the compression scheme will allow Bluefish444 customers to access uncompressed quality video at one quarter of the bandwidth, to be transported over existing SDI infrastructure and emerging IP technologies.

TICO also features a small footprint in both FPGA resources and in software encode/decode operations.

The company says its Epoch 4K Neutron, Epoch 4K Supernova, and Epoch 4K Supernova S+ cards will all benefit from the TICO alliance membership, with Bluefish444 aiming to provide a number of new opportunities throughout 2016.

According to Tom Lithgow, Bluefish444 Product Manager, “With TICO lightweight compression our customers will be able to provide products capable of delivering 4K 60fps video over a single 3G SDI cable, infrastructure which is already well established globally.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

Visit www.bluefish444.com and www.tico-alliance.org

NewTek Announces NDI Open Protocol for IP Production Workflow NEWTEK HAS ANNOUNCED Network Device Interface (NDI), an open standard for live production IP workflows over Ethernet networks. NDI allows multiple video systems to identify and communicate with one another over IP, and to encode, transmit and

“We’re looking at a 4:1 compression scheme with TICO,” says Lithgow, “so it’s really just a mezzanine compression standard which can be used in all sorts of different ways, either through transport and potentially through storage, but there’s not been much of a push in that direction at the moment.

receive many streams of high quality, low latency, frame-accurate

“We’ve now joined the TICO Alliance with IntoPIX and we’re working with them to qualify the use cases for our customers. Some of those use cases would be transport of high resolution and high frame rate media over existing infrastructure. A good example of that is you could transport UHD or 4K high frame rate video over a single 3G-SDI cable and, as long as your source and destination understands the TICO format, then you’re reducing the transport cost.

connectivity will be available as a royalty free software developer kit

“That can also be applied to network-based media which is something that is obviously a hot topic for everyone at the moment. Effectively, you could transport multiple 4K streams over a 10 gigabyte Ethernet network, for example, using TICO as your mezzanine transport compression.”

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“In the interim, we are assessing how the TICO compression system could be used in our current generation of products and that would not be through adopting the IP core, so that wouldn’t be hardware based compression, that would be utilising the software encoding and decoding to allow our customers to access that.”

video and audio in real-time. The new protocol can benefit any network-connected video device, including video mixers, graphics systems, capture cards, and many other production devices. NDI (SDK) for anyone wanting to enable IP workflows in their facilities, or in production devices and systems they manufacture.

Launching in Q4 this year, NDI is a bi-directional standard that can operate over a gigabit local area network, with many video streams on a shared connection.Its encoding algorithm is resolution and framerate independent, supporting 4K along with 16 channels (and more) of floating-point audio. The protocol also includes tools that implement video access rights, grouping, bi-direction metadata and IP commands.

NDI makes it possible to transition facilities to an IP video production

Lithgow says Bluefish444 is currently undertaking testing of the compression scheme with a view to announcing compatible products later this year.

pipeline without negating existing investments in SDI cameras and

“It is a visually lossless codec, but it does also support mathematically lossless,” says Lithgow. “Intopix have demonstrated, and we’ve qualified over here, compressing 4K frames on standard Intel i7 machines at up to 60 frames per second. So, it’s something that can be done in software as well as in hardware and for a very small footprint or very little resource usage.

CharacterWorks, ChyronHego, ClassX, Compix, EasyWorship, Gnural

“We have some new hardware under development and that should leverage the TICO compression scheme in hardware which will allow transport of 4K frames over standard 3G-SDI infrastructure and it’s fully switchable so you can essentially route the signal around the building and not have any problems with that. You can’t view it unless you have a valid decoder to understand the TICO signal, but for a point to point transmission through switching, you could use Bluefish to transport 4K frames through standard infrastructure and IP is also something we are looking at.

support for Blackmagic Design cards will also be provided. Boland,

infrastructure, or costly new high-speed network infrastructures.

Along with NewTek, products and systems from Brainstorm, CasparCG, Net, Graphics Outfitters, LiveXpert, Media 5, PlayBox Technology, Teradek, Vizrt, Wasp3D and more will be NDI-enabled on the day of launch. NewTek has also collaborated with AJA, DELTACAST and Matrox to enable their capture cards to act as NDI senders or receivers; JVC, LiveU, NewsMaker, Panasonic, PESA, Sienna and Wowza are also working on providing NDI-based solutions.

Interested parties are encouraged to contact NewTek directly via email at ndi@newtek.com.

Visit www.newtek.com

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2016 PREVIEW Video Over IP Coming of Age at NAB IT IS IRONIC THAT INTERNET technology, previously touted as a harbinger of doom for traditional media, is shaping up to bring new efficiencies and capabilities to both content production and delivery companies.

IP technology in the broadcast facility will be tackled as part of the Broadcast Plant Facilities Design stream of the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference. Stand-out sessions include: • Tue. Apr. 19, 2:00-2:30 pm - Top Ten Topics and Tips for Live IP Production Centres. Presented by Mike Ellis, Head of Production Architecture, BBC • 2:30-3:00 pm - VSF TR-03: IP Elementary Flows for Live Production. Presented by Thomas Edwards, VP Engineering & Development, Fox.

Also worth a visit is the Connected Media|IP pavilion, located in the South Upper Hall of the LVCC, where visitors can explore IP-focused technology including IPTV, OTT, mobile, social and cloud. Major sponsor, Cisco, will also present on Mon. Apr. 18, 12:30-1:30pm, on Architecting the IP Replacement for SDI, and again on Tue. Apr. 19, 10:00-10:30am on A Stateless Virtualised Broadcasting Facility. Meanwhile, on Wed. Apr. 20, 10:00-11:00am, Cisco will present a keynote: Live Video Production and Next Generation Broadcast Video with IP.

• Mon. Apr. 18, 4:45-5:15pm - Four Practical Steps for Content Providers to Optimise Video Delivery • Tue. Apr. 19, 1:45-2:15pm -Staying Ahead of the Media Revolution - How Transport Drives the Content Eco-System • Tue. Apr. 19, 2:45-3:30pm - Connected Media|IP Panel Debate 4: How can Software Defined and Nextgen Datacentre Technologies Improve TV Workflows?

• Wed. Apr. 20, 12:15-12:45pm - The CTO’s Guide to Producing Smooth Media Workflows

Other notable sessions in the Connected Media|IP pavilion include:

• Wed. Apr. 20, 2:15-2:45pm - TV CDNs: A CDN

• Mon. Apr. 18, 1:30-2:00pm - Making a Success of Video Over IP Delivery into the Enterprise

Visit www.nabshow.com

Architecture for Delivering TV Services

ATSC Pushes On WITH THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION of South Korea,

platform at the upcoming NAB Show,” said ATSC

“ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience,” located near

adoption of the U.S. digital TV standard, ATSC, has

President Mark Richer.

the entrance to the upper level of the LVCC’s

been confined to North and Central America.

Key technologies for broadcasters will be

South Hall, will be new receiving devices

Showcasing the next step in the standard, live

part of the ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Pavilion as a

transmissions originating from the 2016 NAB

highlight of the Futures Park exhibition in the

for next-generation television broadcasts,

Show show floor will be screen on prototype

east end of South Hall, Upper Level. In addition

receivers designed to demonstrate the myriad

to a live transmission from a small studio in the

new capabilities of ATSC 3.0.

Futures Park, the Pavilion will feature a variety

signals, captivating next-generation TV audio

“The monumental effort underway to standardize

of new broadcast equipment options from

demonstrations, and examples of how ATSC

ATSC 3.0 is nearing completion, with more

various companies, including signal analyzers,

3.0’s advanced emergency alerting will deliver

than 20 elements of the new standard in play.

multiplexers, transmission equipment for HDR

Hundreds of volunteer experts have been

(High Dynamic Range) content, encoders for SFN

working to develop the world’s first broadcast

(Single Frequency Network) transmissions, audio

standard built with an IP (Internet Protocol)

encoders, watermarking software, Interactive TV

backbone, and we’re excited to see the many

applications and more.

displayed.

capabilities of this next-generation broadcasting

Among the demonstrations planned for the

Visit www.nabshow.com

ATSC 3.0 “gateway” receivers that will feed existing tablets and mobile devices with Wi-Fi

more information to viewers during times of crisis. Reception of live ATSC 3.0 transmissions originating from the Futures Park will also be

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

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SMPTE and NAB to Stage the Future of Cinema THE SOCIETY OF Motion Picture and Television Engineers, has announced that the NAB Show’s ‘The Future of Cinema Conference: The Immortal Movie’, produced in partnership with SMPTE, will explore how content creators and storytellers combine artistry with motion-imaging technology to thrive today and into the future.

Scheduled for April the 16th-17th during the NAB 2016, the ‘Future of Cinema Conference’ will gather the brightest industry minds and talents to discuss the changing nature of storytelling today and into the future as technology evolves, and how the industry will ensure that creative work is preserved in its highest form for generations to come. The two-day conference will feature sessions on forward-looking techniques and challenges related to making content for theatrical release – and beyond.

“With this conference, we’ll investigate the limits of what is possible within the cinema environment, look at the new directions being taken by creatives,

both established and those early in their careers, and consider how these filmmakers are interfacing with technology to expand their storytelling capabilities,” said Conference Program Chair, Richard Welsh, CEO at Sundog Media Toolkit. “Our aim is that when the conference has concluded, we’ll have provided attendees – both the creative and technically oriented – with inspiration to consider how they are working now, and whether they can push the boundaries of the art and technology of the motion picture. We want to energise our audience with the new possibilities the science and craft of moviemaking is bringing us.”

diversity will engage panelists and attendees in a discussion of how to build a richer, more expansive, and more dynamic filmmaking community.

The conference will include sessions on the creative use of high dynamic range (HDR), utilising content captured on 35mm film to feed into high-end digital exhibition formats, the filmmakers and projects testing the limits of cinema, and the next-generation filmmaking efforts of students and recently graduated filmmakers.

In addition to Chairperson Welsh, the program committee includes Abi Corbin, Writer and Director, Christy King, Consultant, Pat Griffis, Executive Director, Technology Strategy, at Dolby Laboratories, Bill Hogan, Motion Picture Consultant, Pete Ludé, Senior Vice President at RealD, Cynthia Slavens, Director of Post-Production at Pixar Animation Studios, Jim Whittlesey, Digital Cinema Consultant, and Chris Witham, Director of Digital Cinema at The Walt Disney Studios.

Further sessions will address questions related to next-generation distribution, HDR mastering and delivery to the home, and the impact of advanced technologies on event cinema. A session focused on

“We’re very excited about the new brand and focus for the annual cinema summit, produced in partnership with SMPTE,” said Chris Brown, Executive Vice President, Conventions and Business Operations, NAB. “Our aim is to produce a future-oriented, visionpacked event, and ‘The Future of Cinema Conference’ committee has so far met this goal with an extensive program agenda that delves into topics that are top-of-mind for today’s creative and technology professionals.”

Visit www.smpte.org

What Industry Pundits are Looking for in Las Vegas infrastructure to power (virtualised) media applications and production workflows! IT + Broadcast = Media.”

- Charles Sevior, EMC “ADVANCED IP workflows for me - really looking forward to seeing the range of products and software based on the open NDI platform.”

- Eamon Drew, Blonde Robot

“HDR, 4K, 8K, IP.” - Andy Liell, Videocraft “IP PLAYOUT SOLUTIONS and how to solve the transition challenges that no doubt will arise!”

- Domenic Pupo, TekInsite “I THINK IP IS THE BIG ONE and the integration into existing workflows.”

- Adrian Chespy, AV Group Technologies

“HDR, HFR, 4K ingest & playout, HEVC Headend, ATSC 3.0, SDI over IP, quality monitoring.”

- Nils Ahrens, Rohde & Schwarz “I AM LOOKING FORWORD TO learning IP workflow and Immersive experience and using immersive capturing equipment.”

- Oonagh Chan, The Hong Kong Jockey Club

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

“IT'S ALL ABOUT storage and converged

15

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Smart Production from Ross at NAB 2016 ROSS VIDEO HAS ANNOUNCED it is planning its biggest NAB in the company’s history. Following the theme of Smart Production, Ross (Booth #N3705) will be showing complete systems and workflows for Virtual Sets, Automated Production, Graphics Creation and Playout, News Editorial, Stadium Display Production, Legislative Systems and more.

In the area of production switchers, new Carbonite Black control panels are now available on all models as well as a host of new features with version 12.0 software.

Feature additions include Multi-Panel operation which enables users to operate their Carbonite ME, MiniMEs or MultiScreen outputs from multiple control panels and DashBoard control points. This configuration is suitable for Live Event and House of Worship applications.

The largest Ross Production Switcher Series, Acuity, is being shown with integrated IP 10Gb/s I/O capabilities. This solution provides a direct connection into the Evertz IP routing environment without requiring a top of the rack gateway. Acuity IP I/O is compatible with the Evertz ASPEN and SMPTE 2022-6 encapsulation standards for media integration within IP networks and is plug-and-play with the Evertz Magnum control system. Acuity with ASPEN I/O will be showing in the ASPEN Community booth.

Acuity is now shipping with a MultiProcessing input card which adds new production features, including: frame syncs, multi-viewers, proc amps, colour correctors, format conversion and virtual set input delay adjustment.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

In graphics systems, XPression now has added features to extend its functionality to address new applications and workflows. XPression has added new user interface enhancements for 3D design, easier clip looping, and faster animation control.

16

The XPression MOS Plug-in works with all common news editorial systems and makes it easy for journalists to prepare graphics and clips for news programs. It has been upgraded, adding a number of new features making it easier and faster to build graphics for a news show.

Improved thumbnail viewing, more user input controls, storing of templates as favourites, and project notifications to make journalists aware of template updates are just a few of the new features. XPression Clips content is now visible

in the MOS Plug-in for browsing and recall to full-screen or inclusion in XPression templates, and the Ross Streamline media asset manager browser is now embedded right inside the XPression MOS Plug-in.

Adobe XMP Metadata is now available for use inside XPression. Available for entry in every Adobe software tool, XMP metadata can be used to automatically populate text, or make scene changes like colour changes and image replacements.

Ross’ Creative Services Team, Rocket Surgery, will show its latest design work for XPression. Rocket Surgery produces custom graphics packages for news, elections, sports stadiums and virtual sets, as well as having off the shelf packages available for purchase from the Ross website.

Meanwhile, Version 3.1 of the Streamline media asset management application introduces workflow integration with XPression Clips for playback operation and automatic transcoding into the XPression codec, as well as a integration with OverDrive automated production control systems. Streamline’s other improvements for graphics asset management include folder structures, implicit metadata profiles and support for Adobe XMP based metadata in assets.

XPression Trackless Studio, launched at IBC, is making its North American debut at NAB. XPression Trackless is a solution for virtual production without requiring camera tracking.

Trackless Studio permits users to perform virtual camera moves, utilise multiple cameras, perform transitions, add live inputs, trigger real-time 3D graphics, recall clips or still images, and create macros for complex events. XPression Trackless Studio uses stationary physical cameras instead of encoded camera heads or optical tracking systems, and with camera movement handled by virtual cameras inside of the XPression scene.

On the infrastructure front, the openGear SPG8260 Sync Pulse Generator is now available with a true AES Word Clock output with a new version, the SPG-8260-W. As a GPI input/output processor, the new openGear GPI-8941 permits general purpose interfaces to be integrated via Serial, TCP/IP and DashBoard CustomPanel interfaces. Suitable for a wide variety of system interfacing and control tasks, this card comes with up to 32 fully

isolated interfaces that support both wet and dry GPI types.

The new Ultrix Routing System will also make its NAB debut. Supporting 12G SDI for single link UHD routing and incorporating software upgradable features including Ultriscape multiviewers and the Ultrimix embedded audio routing and processing matrix, Ultrix brings highend router capabilities to cost-effective compact routing systems.

Version 6.0 of the MC1 Master Control Switcher is also being shown. This software upgrade adds support for Ultrix Routing systems and an array of third-party routers through industry-standard control protocols.

In camera robotics, Ross Robotics’ Furio RC can now be purchased as a Pan/Tilt head only system, without the dolly. The SmartShell 4 Robotic Control and Management application has expanded functionality with added support for Grass Valley Ignite and Sony ELC automated production systems, in addition to Ross OverDrive and Viz Mosart. The number of video routing protocols has been greatly expanded, XY floor limits for the CamBot 700XY have been implemented, and robotic control and camera control of Hitachi and Panasonic box cameras is integrated through DashBoard. A number of new usability features have been added including drag-and-drop in the matrix, the use of hard panel buttons for triggering presets or moves, and a new Time knob for adjusting the duration of presets.

Meanwhile, SolidTrack is a visual camera tracking system for use on handheld, Steadicam and other types of camera systems where mechanical tracking solutions aren’t practical or available. SolidTrack opens up an array of opportunities for adding virtual and augmented reality to broadcast and live event productions.

In the news room, Inception News, the newsroom computer system from Ross, is launching with version 10 at NAB. This release includes full localisation and language packs, and new ways to create and share content.

In version 10, the Inception API and SDK are being released. The API enables developers, partners, customers, and resellers the ability to add new core features and integrate other systems into Inception.

Visit www.rossvideo.com

NAB SHOW 2016 TAKING PREVIEW STOCK

Switch Turns to North America AUSTRALIAN DEVELOPER SWITCH MEDIA

gets around the ad blockers.

will exhibit at NAB 2016, showcasing its Media Manager OTT platform and AdEase ad insertion solution. C+T spoke with Chief Executive Christopher Stenhouse.

With your experience here with the likes of Foxtel, do you see the workflows and the integration in this market translating into North America?

Christopher Stenhouse: First time ever. After having shared booths in the past, we thought this was the time to take the plunge and set up our own booth. Things go very well for us here in Australia, but there really are opportunities elsewhere in the world, in particular with our product, AdEase, which is the server side ad insertion product that we offer for both live and VOD video. Already we’re rolling that out into SBS On-Demand.

The level of interest in monetising now is phenomenal and just to be able to do that, to get around the ad blocking problem, as well as just to be able to provide that almost broadcast-like experience. So, you get out of the clunkiness of the ad video player loading, buffering, playing, going black, original video taking a while to buffer again. It’s just this seamless video straight to mid-roll, straight back to video, so a great broadcast experience and it

Christopher Stenhouse: Our experience, certainly talking to others around the world, is that our broadcasters here are actually some of the more demanding around the world and I think if we can look after them here, as we’ve been able to, I think we’ll be more than capable of doing that.

With AdEase, one of the strengths we see is that it is a module that doesn’t require somebody to have our full video platform in order to be able to use it. So, they can have a legacy system, they can be using a BrightCove, whatever, and if they want to just be able to monetise quickly and effectively, we can slot that in and it will work with the existing platforms, the reason being is we don’t need to fully ingest our whole inventory. We basically just can point to the spots, the markers, the cue points in a video and insert the ads there, so it’s a much easier implementation than if they have to buy the whole box and dice from us.

Switch Media can be found at NABShow2016 on Booth number SU12207CM. Switch Media Broadcast Director, Bruce Hume, will present ‘Multi-screen online video - How to optimise monetisation, delivery and user experience’ at the CM|IP Seminar Theatre in South Hall Upper, Tuesday 19 April, 1.15pm1.45pm.

Switch Media Head of Product, Mark Wilson, will be part of Panel Discussion 5: ‘How do we monetise the connected subscriber?’ in the CM|IP Seminar Theatre, Wednesday 20 April, 11.30am-12.15pm.

Visit www.switch.tv

ARCHIMEDIA

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

C+T: So, Switch Media will have its own booth at NAB this year?

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NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Ben Sherwood to Keynote NAB BEN SHERWOOD, CO-CHAIRMAN of Disney Media Networks and President, Disney|ABC Television Group, will deliver opening remarks at the 2016 NAB Show. The opening session will take place on Monday, the 18th of April, following NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith's ‘State of the Broadcast Industry’ address. The opening event is sponsored by Blackmagic Design.

journalist, producer, writer and media executive,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “He is a respected executive and a creative thinker with keen business sense. We look forward to hearing about his approaches to today’s rapidly evolving media business at this year’s NAB Show.”

Sherwood oversees ABC Studios, the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, and the ABC Television Network. He also oversees Disney Channels Worldwide, a portfolio of more than 100 kid-driven, family-inclusive entertainment channels or channel feeds available in 163 countries in 34 languages.

Mr. Sherwood began his career in journalism in 1989 when he joined ABC News as an investigative associate producer and then producer for ABC News’ ‘PrimeTime Live’. In 1997, he joined NBC’s ‘Nightly News with Tom Brokaw’, first as broadcast producer, then senior producer, and ultimately senior broadcast producer. Mr. Sherwood returned to ABC News in April 2004 as executive producer of ‘Good Morning America’.

“Mr. Sherwood has achieved great success throughout his career as a

Visit www.nabshow.com

New Digital Futures Exchange to Launch at 2016 NAB NAB recently announced the launch of the Digital Futures Exchange (DFX), a new NAB Show Conference to be held on April 17th. The conference will showcase emerging trends and best practices for broadcasters to leverage successful digital content strategies and drive new revenue.

“We developed DFX especially for those responsible for driving digital revenue for their companies,” said NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny. “Our goal is to present a fast-paced program and networking event that will be of immediate value to participants.”

Visit www.kaleidovr.com

NAB to Host Kaleidoscope Virtual Reality Showcase THE KALEIDOSCOPE VR SHOWCASE at NAB Show will feature virtual reality films and immersive experiences which hail from North and South America, and Europe. NAB Show attendees will have the opportunity to travel to virtual worlds and experience the most innovative narrative, environmental and interactive content.

“With the rapid evolution of media and entertainment, it’s clear that virtual reality will play a prominent role in the future of film and broadcasting,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Conventions and Business Operations Chris Brown. “Kaleidoscope will be a major highlight of our virtual reality educational programming – we can’t wait to see what this next generation of artists brings to the NAB Show floor.”

Founded by René Pinnell and Michael Breymann, Kaleidoscope empowers independent VR artists and works to promote the visibility of VR as the new frontier of film and entertainment.

Visit www.kaleidovr.com

SPROCKIT Unveils StartUps in Fourth Annual Program at NAB SPROCKIT AND NAB SHOW have announced the first and second rounds of startups selected to participate in SPROCKIT’s 2016 program. Up to 30 emerging companies will be selected by to participate based on their potential to offer solutions to challenges in today’s evolving market.

The startups invited to participate at the 2016 NAB Show represent a variety of sectors with specific solutions for applications in areas such as advertising, analytics, mobile content production and content delivery. The first 20 companies in this year’s SPROCKIT program are: AmpLive helps content creators and marketers, using live video, to build better audiences by tracking user attention and using that data to retarget and engage later.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Appiness provides solutions for video commerce. Appiness offers time-stamped products and brands for shopping via any smart device.

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Crowdynews is the largest social media curation platform, delivering social content to the news media worldwide.

Stre.am is a mobile live streaming platform with enterprise video player capabilities that is platform-agnostic and can consume live video from mobile devices, GoPros.

KlowdTV is a live streaming subscription platform compatible with desktop computers and mobile devices, along with Roku, Google Chromecast, and AppleTV.

System73 is the ‘Google Maps’ for OTT broadcast video. Simple codes added to the video stream guarantee delivery of high quality video to viewers with no blocking.

MegaphoneTV enhances viewer experience through features such as interactive on-air graphics, nationwide real-time audience polling, contests and gaming, and actionable ads.

trueAnthem is a data-driven social publishing solution that enables media companies to maximise profitability from social media.

TVision Insights leverages computer vision technology to collect viewers’ demographics, emotions, actual viewing habits, and content engagement using sensors in the living room.

Vigour empowers media companies and operators to revolutionise online video services using Vigour Video.

Blue Frame Technology’s Production Truck software, streaming platform and first-class support enables individuals, groups, and organisations to stream and monetise video content.

Nervve helps industry leaders to target, measure and monetise media.

Easy Live is a cloud-based editing tool for distributing content on all platforms with one click.

OwnLocal builds a bridge between small and medium businesses and local media companies by automating digital marketing.

Hearken is an audience-driven platform enabling journalists to partner with the public to create relevant stories.

Streamstar designs and manufactures live production tools to enable users to produce and stream professional multi-camera video productions.

Switchboard Live allows live content creators to syndicate live streams to more than one platform and leverage the subscriber base of multiple channels.

TVadSync helps advertisers improve return on online advertising.

Viviso is a live TV ad-injection platform for TV channels that offers the opportunity to monetise live streaming ad-breaks on any device.

VizSense’s platform tracks content and measures its social movement to provide interactive visuals for identifying and engaging fans, credible voices and key influencers.

Visit www.sprockitglory.com

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

NAB SHOW 2016 TAKING PREVIEW STOCK

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NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Brainstorm Changes the Rules of Virtual Studios AT NAB2016 BRAINSTORM MULTIMEDIA is set to announce its 24 ft. virtual studio theatre.

The company will be showcasing a virtual presentation called ‘From Leonardo to Ricardo’.

This is a short history of the virtual world from its origins in the 15th Century to the present day.

The Spanish company will demonstrate the new features of Brainstorm’s virtual set application, the Infinity Set, that are included in the patented TrackFree Technology.

Infinity Set’s hands tracking feature – which enables presenters to trigger animations and graphics with the simple movement of their hands – is part of the TrackFree Technology which is unique to Brainstorm and offers tracking capabilities without any external hardware required. Top of the list of ‘must see’ features available is the TeleTransporter, Brainstorm’s ‘virtual traveler’ feature that already made a big splash during last year’s NAB show. The

3D Presenter is another TrackFreebased feature that generates a true 3D representation of the live presenter. This enables him or her to cast virtual shadows and reflections over other real and 3D objects within the virtual environment.

Visitors will be able to enter the theatre themselves in order to experience the virtual world first-hand thanks to the Laboratory Space that will be set up in the Brainstorm green screen presentation area.

Another product to will be showcased at NAB is Aston Elections. With over 20 years of experience in elections projects, Brainstorm has created an

application that offers an elections graphics solution.

Aston Elections users will be able to have a fully functional elections project ready to go on-air after just one day of preparation. Of course, broadcasters in need for high-end elections solutions will also be able to hire Brainstorm’s production services.

Brainstorm’s family range of products will be completed with the demonstration of eStudio V14, the latest version of its render engine, and also Aston 3D, Brainstorm’s real-time 3D graphics creation, CG and playout solution.

Visit www.brainstorm.es

Every Frame Counts with Rohde and Schwarz ROHDE AND SCHWARZ (Booth SL1205) will showcase its product portfolio under the heading ‘Every Frame Counts’ at this year’s NAB. The new generation of the Clipster mastering station has been optimised as an all-in-one solution for mastering and deliverables of premium content. The efficiency of the Clipster mastering station now allows playout of uncompressed 4K content with 120p (HFR). In conjunction with enhanced IMF J2K profiles for HDR, the Clipster provides content creators with higher resolutions, frame rates and larger colour space.

The Venice ingest and playout platform meets the requirements of modern live and studio productions and TV operators. The 4K version (Venice 4K) also features the same flexibility in operation and integration, offering production and TV studios enhanced 4K and UHD-1 efficiency and highest picture quality. At the same time, the interoperability is maintained and the HD workflows continue to remain simple. Rohde and Schwarz storage solutions offer storage density of 60Tb.

The energy efficient R&S Tx9 transmitter family has been expanded with a UHF low-power transmitter for DVB-T, DVB-T2 and ISDB-TB digital standards.

Premium components and an architecture that improves signal quality and stability, offer reliability and long service intervals. The transmitter can be equipped with a backup battery and ensures that network interruptions of up to 10 seconds do not result in a reboot and downtimes remain low. The air-cooled TLU9 is available in output power levels from 1W to 200W. Visit www.rohde-schwarz.com/au

Imagine Heads for Next Phase of Media Industry Transformation

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

NAB SHOW 2016 (Booth N2502) will mark the debut of several products from Imagine Communications that bring generational advances to today’s media operations and practices.

Attendees will be the first to experience the latest solutions from Imagine Communications in hybrid infrastructure, compression and transcoding, monitoring and management, playout, cloud DVR and dynamic ad insertion, as well as ad management.

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The Imagine Communications booth will also be the venue for ImagineLIVE Power Sessions, a series of presentations and interactive discussions featuring prominent executives and subject matter experts from Imagine Communications and its partners and customers from across the IT and media and entertainment industries. Several times daily, for the duration of the show, attendees will have first-hand access to information and insight on the trends and events that are influencing the decisions of media industry professionals today and into the future.

Featured solutions from the company’s signal routing and processing portfolio include the Platinum IP3 and VX routers, Selenio MCP processing products and the Magellan SDN

Orchestrator. These solutions and others will showcase capabilities that align with the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) roadmap, including compatibility with SMPTE 2022, AES-67, and VSF TR-04/TR-03. Imagine Communications will be highlighting the power of this interoperability roadmap by conducting demonstrations of readyto-deploy integrations with other members of AIMS, an industry trade associated formed in December 2015 to advance the widespread adoption of open standards for the transport of video and audio over IP. Imagine Communications will also showcase Versio, the integrated channel playout solution powered

by Zenium that is deployable as an appliance or in a fully virtualised environment. The cloudenabled solution is playing an instrumental role in assisting some of the world’s leading broadcasters to virtualise their playout operations. Also demonstrated will be the company’s Nexio AMP video server and storage solution suite with NASas-a-SAN functionality to easily handle SD-to-UHD content encode and playback.

In addition, Imagine Communications will demonstrate the integration of 4K/UHD and

High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities across the company’s entire networking and playout platforms. The company will showcase its advanced support for HEVC/H.265 compression in its Selenio platform. Imagine Communications will also be demonstrating support for UHD signals over IP using intoPIX TICO and Sony IP Live mezzanine compression for live production.

NAB Show attendees will also have access to demonstrations of the Landmark family of flexible ad management tools. The portfolio includes nextgen systems that streamline omniplatform sales and scheduling with robust analytics, open APIs for programmatic trading, unique live log capabilities, unified billing and integrated workflows for linear, digital and advanced advertising.

The company’s market-proven CloudXtream platform will also be showcased. CloudXtream delivers a portfolio of software-based, fully integrated multiscreen distribution and live ABR encoding solutions for delivering live, linear, on-demand and cloud DVR (cDVR) solutions – all supported by Dynamic Ad Insertion capabilities.

Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

NAB SHOW 2016 TAKING PREVIEW STOCK

DECENTRALIZED...

See the solution at Visit us Booth C7233

www.riedel.net

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

...wouldn‘t it be nice?

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NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

IPV Focuses on MAM System Functions ON ITS NAB BOOTH (#N4519), IPV, will demonstrate the latest advances in its Curator Media Asset Management (MAM) system. IPV will showcase how Curator responds to industry trends such as the drive towards IP-based operations and the emergence of Ultra High Definition (UHD) broadcasts. In particular, IPV will showcase developments in Curator’s User Interface (UI) that are designed to enhance the system’s simplicity of operation and its ability to configure the UI to the specific requirements of an individual user organisation.

Curator is the product of an eight-year development initiative at IPV. From day one it has been configured as a software-only product running on standard IT servers. IP-based operations have been a cornerstone of its proposition throughout its development, so at NAB, IPV will demonstrate how this MAM system is positioned to help broadcasters and facilities that are looking to migrate to IP-based operations.

Curator’s codecs are format agnostic, so 4K

support is straightforward for this system. At NAB, IPV will demonstrate the sophistication of its 4K proposition, as well as revealing its strategic UHD roadmap to 4K, 8K and beyond.

IPV Curator is a real-time Media Asset Management solution which makes it easy for users to achieve collaborative workflows in a fast paced, live production environment.

Curator assures immediate access to all incoming media and archive content on a standard IT infrastructure. Modular, highly scalable and affordable, Curator provides unprecedented video and audio handling at the desktop, and incorporates IPV’s proven SpectreView technology.

System features include: frame-accurate, timecode-aware at all times, access and use of proxy media during ingest, populates production proxy media library from both SDI and file-based media, includes multi-user annotation and logging, rough-cut editing and archive, multi-track audio with language tagging for identifying tracks

IPV’s Curator MAM system.

in standard players, dynamic stream adaption on a pre-client basis ensures efficient server-toclient network usage, sub-clip and book-marking with descriptive metadata, automated or user defined storyboarding utilising embedded scene change matrix, timecode and extraction with optional overlay, simple and advanced (boolean and facet) search, and full integration with leading platforms including FCP, Avid, Adobe Premiere Pro and the IPV Process Engine.

Visit www.ipv.com

Signiant Takes Flight with Demo Cloud-Native SaaS Signiant will present the company’s SaaS solutions on Booth SL6605 at NAB 2016. The Signiant team will be on hand to demonstrate the latest enhancements to both Media Shuttle and Flight. With built-in capabilities for integration with Flight, Signiant’s flagship Manager+Agents offering completes the company’s cloud-ready portfolio.

Signiant continues to enhance Media Shuttle and Flight to address emerging use cases and provide deployment flexibility. The most recent updates

include the addition of a cloud deployment option for Media Shuttle, which allows customers to use Microsoft Azure blob storage or Amazon S3 in addition to (or instead of) on-premises storage. Additional enhancements focused on making the solutions even more secure, and even easier to use and deploy, will be demonstrated at NAB. Visit www.signiant.com/nab

4K, IP, HDR and more from SAM AT STAND SL1805, SAM will show a host of technologies that explore the company’s expertise in 4K, IP, HDR, software/virtualisation, and solutions for monitoring and workflow.

SAM’s Kula switcher range will make its debut at NAB 2016. Kula is capable of 4K/1080p/HD and SD in 1M/E and 2M/E versions, and can handle multiple formats making it both futureproof and adaptable for today’s production environment.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Also on show will be the Kahuna range of switchers, suited for larger scale HD, 4K and now IP environments. SAM has been used at events including the UK’s Moto GP at Silverstone and the recent El Clásico soccer match. SAM will be making a big 4K sports announcement in the run up to the show.

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SAM will also be demonstrating its LiveTouch sports highlights solution, built on the company’s latest generation of 4K production servers, offering replay, slow-motion and powerful editing with no media movements.

SAM’s Quantel Rio colour, editing, and finishing tool, is already deployed for 8K finishing. At NAB, SAM will be showing its HDR and Wide Colour Gamut features, its new interface, enhanced Avid integration and super accurate cloud tracker, ideal for long-form grading

sessions in both the TV finishing and high-end post markets.

SAM’s Alchemist XF will be on show, offering support for 4K and HDR material and several times faster than realtime processing for HD content. For real-time 4K conversion SAM is also introducing the UHD1000, the latest addition to the popular KudosPro signal processing range.

SAM is introducing an edit timeline to the Go! remote production suite. Desktop, laptop and tablet users will have access to live and recorded content to build stories, with timeline editing and voiceover. Finished sequences are ready for immediate publishing to social media, web and TV. Projects can be opened and repurposed by any other users.

SAM’s new IP-Edge takes complexity away from hybrid and pure IP rollouts. Products that are IP-Edge enabled include routers, switchers, IQ processing, servers and playout systems, and customers can buy with confidence knowing that IP-Edge closely follows the interoperability goals of AIMS. SAM offers software-driven platforms and going forward it will transition to a datacenter model for many product offerings. SAM’s CiaB solutions – ICE, ICE IP, and ICE SDC – coupled with Morpheus, Momentum and SAM’s xFile

The new cooler, Kula switcher from Snell Advanced Media.

framework form a pathway to the future. In response to the growing market demand for adjusting content duration, SAM is introducing Alchemist Kronos which brings Alchemist’s image quality to the application of duration adjustment.

SAM’s Media Biometrics will be on show bringing unique capabilities to monitoring.

For the first time, automated monitoring can not only understand the quality of media, but that it’s the right media. It’s now shipping in products across SAM’s portfolio including the new Sirius 800 integrated multi-viewer that brings sophisticated monitoring capabilities.

Visit https://s-a-m.com

NAB SHOW 2016 TAKING PREVIEW STOCK

NETWORK. AUDIO. VIDEO. CONTROL. smart IP live production infrastructure.

Look at IP video core infrastructure with a whole new perspective.

www.lawo.com

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Flip your mind. Monday, April 18, 11:00 am, NAB booth N1822.

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ACQUISITION www.content-technology.com/acquisition

High Performance in LowRange for Sony F55 Showcasing iconic locations across Australia, LowRange is hosted by John ‘Roothy’ Rooth, Australia’s best known four wheel driver, bush mechanic and camp fire cook. The series is produced by Melanie Galea and lead cameraman Gavin Rawlings of Sydney production company Venture Films.

FOR THIS UNIQUE TRAVEL SHOW, Rawlings decided to exclusively use the Sony PMW-F55 CineAlta 4K camera.

“I decided to go with the F55 on this show because I was very familiar with the camera and extremely happy with the image quality it produces. I’d ordered the F55 as soon as I heard about it. At the time I was looking around for a new camera system to replace my Sony EX1 setup. Talk about a huge step. I wanted to move into the 35mm sensor field and have access to high frame rates. The F55 gave me access to these features and so much more.

The fact that the camera was very modular as well was a bonus as it meant I could strip it down and run a small prime lens on it for particular shooting scenarios as well as build the camera up with large PL zooms.”

Rawlings has used his F55 in many locations across the world and its wide and varied functionality is something he still quotes as the most exciting thing about the camera and in particular how it can be used to shoot 4K. Rawlings continued, “One of the main features that I have always been excited about with the F55 was the ability to record at 4K. 4K resolution works perfectly for a HD project and delivery. The ability to crop, zoom, and stabilise in post without any loss of resolution is a massive plus for my work.

That and the fact that I travel to some of the most remote places in Australia which I love being able to capture in 4K.” For an owner operator like Rawlings keeping up with the latest technology is as important as keeping his clients happy. The F55, according to Rawlings helps him do both.

“My clients are always blown away by the quality of the image that I’m able to capture with the F55,” he says. “Audiences of LowRange have been very vocal in their enthusiasm. They love being able to see Australia in such clarity.”

Typical shots on LowRange include scenic shots, especially at sunrise and sunset. When Rawlings and the crew are on the move they will shoot a lot of convoy style shots in whatever terrain they happen to find themselves in including desert, rainforest, sand and mud.

Rawlings added, “The 4WDs often get stuck and need to be recovered.

This is usually when it turns into a ‘run and gun’-style shooting from the shoulder. Then there’s the night-time camping scenes where I have time to set up lighting and overall spend a little more time on perfecting the frame.

Australia is such a diverse land. We have deserts, snow, tropics and each one of these environments brings its own challenges. I’ve taken the F55 through all of these and it’s performed extremely well. Typically I find I spend most of my time in dusty dry places. The first time I took the F55 to the Simpson Desert we were hit by 50+ degree heat day after day. I was sure the camera would overheat or I’d have at least some type of issue but to my surprise I had none. That’s when I realised this is one tough camera.”

ACQUISITION

With a body of F55 work under his belt and most of it shot in 4K, Rawlings has become very familiar with how to get the best results from his camera.

Shooting in remote locations isn’t always easy and the importance of being flexible and nimble is ever present.

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He added, “With LowRange I tend to use the F55 mainly on a tripod and handheld. I also use it on a Cine Slider to get some nice sliding shots out in the field. When you’re living and working out of a 4WD space becomes limited. Sometimes I’ll see a shot and think a big jib would be perfect, but we really have to be careful not to carry too much gear.”

Rawlings is clearly very happy with his F55 and very much sees it as his camera of choice for the future concluding, “I’ve noticed a trend in the broadcast world, especially with reality TV with the F5 and F55 getting very popular. Also having the ability to capture 4K RAW/XAVC in S-LOG as well as capture up to 240fps in HD has been a huge advantage for me with LowRange. S-LOG gives me so much freedom to play with the image in post and achieve the look I’m after. Having access to higher frame-rates has really helped with having an edge on other 4WD travel shows as they’re only just starting to dive into that territory now in Australia. The F55 has performed flawlessly on these shoots and produced an image quality that has surpassed my clients’ expectations again and again. I plan to stick with the F55 for a long time to come.”

Visit www.venturefilms.com.au and www.sony.com.au

ACQUISITION

HDTV Box Camera from Hitachi HITACHI HAS ANNOUNCED THE IMMEDIATE availability of the DK-H200, Hitachi’s first box camera to feature native, full frame rate 1080p acquisition.

ABE2016

The DK-H200’s new 2.6 million pixel, 2/3-inch, progressive MOS sensors deliver sharp, clear images. These sensors combine with Hitachi’s digital signal processing technology and the camera’s natively progressive signal flow to provide superior picture quality with low noise, faithful colour reproduction and high dynamic range. The camera’s 60dB signal-to-noise ratio enables clear images with minimal noise even at high gain, and is complemented by sensitivity of F12 at 59.94Hz and F13 at 50Hz.

the camera to be controlled from within a studio, across a campus or around the world through a TCP/IP network or the internet.

Fully automatic features including the built-in Automatic Exposure System (AES), Automatic Gain Control (AGC), automatic iris, and Full-time Automatic White Balance (FAW) further bolster unmanned operation.

The DK-H200 also other image adjustment and user-friendly features Empowering Content Production & includes Delivery Technology

The flexible, multi-format DK-H200 offers selectable 1080p, 1080i and 720p outputs at 60Hz, 59.94Hz or 50Hz. The camera’s ability to simultaneously deliver a different format on each of the camera’s dual, 3Gbps-capable HD-SDI outputs eliminates the need for external converters in mixed-format applications, saving both cost and equipment footprint. Optional single-mode fiber interconnectivity is also available, enabling video transmission from the camera over long distances.

The DK-H200’s compact size and light 1.3kg weight are suitable for robotic camera applications, enabling the use of less-expensive robotics systems. Providing versatility for remote acquisition, the DK-H200’s direct TCP/IP networking enables

from Hitachi’s SK Series cameras, including advanced colour correction, skin tone detail processing, Ultra-Gamma response, focus assist, recallable scene and lens files, a motorized filter wheel and more.

The DK-H200 utilises the same high-end remote control and setup control units as the SK Series, including the RU-1000VR and RU-1500JY remote operation panels and SU-1000 setup control unit. It supports 2/3” B4-mount, bayonet-style lenses, with Hitachi Real-time Lens Aberration Correction (RLAC) technology compensating for the optical distortions that can occur in even the best HDTV lenses.

Visit www.hitachikokusai.us

SAVE DATES RED dsmc2THE Cameras Support Avid Codecs

AUGUST 9 –11

RED DIGITAL CINEMA AND AVID have announced that Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD recording formats will be coming to RED’s DSMC2 line of professional cameras – WEAPON, SCARLET-W and RED RAVEN. The addition brings another workflow option to professionals shooting on this latest generation of RED cameras.

The ABESHOW is moving from Manly to the Harbour.

Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD are designed to reduce storage and bandwidth This year’s Exhibition, Conference requirements, and Avid DNxHD has been accepted by the Society of and Workshops willEngineers be held from Motion Picture and Television as the foundation format for the VC-3 standard. Additionally, the formats offer direct-to-edit experiences August 9 –11 at a new venue, Doltone for professionals looking to keep the highest image quality possible, while House,the Darling Island, Pyrmont. leveraging any investments they’ve made in Avid in-house production systems.

2016 ABESHOW Exhibitors include

“We give shooters yet another extremely popular format option by getting Avid natively part of our camera workflow,” says Jarred Land, President of 4 Amber Technology RED Digital Cinema. “With the ability to shoot REDCODE RAW simultaneously alongside Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD, they are getting the best of two 4 Ericsson worlds from both the acquisition and post perspectives. This collaboration between RED and Avid is going be musicValley to the ears for a lot of the industry, 4 to Grass and I could not be happier.”

4 Imagine The Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD formats willCommunications be added to RED’s DSMC2 cameras currently offer via REDCODE RAW and Apple ProRes formats. Avid Systems & Engineering DNxHR and Avid DNxHD will4 be Magna made available via a free firmware upgrade in mid-2016.

4 Panasonic

Visit www.red.com and www.avid.com

Hear from industry experts on hot

4 Quinto

topics such as IP production and

4 Ross Video

delivery, 4K, HDR, HEVC, OTT, cloud

4 Sony

broadcasting and more.

4 Techtel

See the latest solutions to empower

4 Tekinsite

production and delivery of your content.

4 VizRT

To register, visit www.abeshow.tv

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ACQUISITION

Panasonic Announces 4K Super 35 VariCam LT Cinema Camcorder PANASONIC HAS UNVEILED the VariCam LT camcorder, representing its next generation of 4K cinema cameras. The VariCam LT inherits the same super 35mm sensor and superb imaging capabilities that characterised the VariCam 35, but with significant reductions in size and weight.

Mathew Alexander, Product Marketing Manager, Broadcast, Panasonic Australia, said, “The VariCam LT camcorder incorporates the imaging ‘DNA’ of the VariCam 35 in a more compact rendition. Its size and design facilitate a wide array of shooting styles from comfortable shoulder-mounted operation, to use on gimbals and drones.”

The VariCam LT (model AU-V35LT1G) delivers 14+ stops of dynamic range with V-Log, and the cinematic VariCam image quality and colour science, as well as the VariCam 35’s breakout innovation, dual native ISOs of 800/5000.

Weighing just under 2.7kg, the VariCam LT is suitable for handheld, SteadiCam, jib, crane, drone, gimbal and overall cinema verité work. The VariCam LT is likewise suited to owner/operators, independent filmmakers, documentary makers and corporate production creators. The VariCam LT and accessories are available in Australia from April 2016.

Accessories include: OLED Viewfinder; Low Profile Shoulder Mount; LT Grip Module; and PL Mount Module.

The VariCam LT delivers image handling in multiple formats ranging from 4K, UHD, 2K and HD, and like the VariCam 35, is fully capable of High Dynamic Range (HDR) field capture.

The new 4K camcorder offers Apple ProRes 4444 (up to 30p) and ProRes 422 HQ (up to 60p) support for HD recording, as well as Panasonic’s AVCULTRA family of advanced video codecs. New codecs introduced in the VariCam LT include AVC-Intra LT and AVC-Intra 2K-LT, both designed to offer capture rates up to 240fps in imager crop mode, ideal for sports and other fast motion footage.

Colour management capabilities, combined with VariCam’s extended colour gamut and support for the Academy Colour Encoding System (ACES) workflow, allow for full fidelity mastering of original source material. The VariCam LT offers in-camera colour grading, with the ability to record an ungraded 4K master along with all on-set grading metadata. A new colour processing feature is “V-LOOK,” which acts as a blend of V-Log and video, and allows filmic documentary acquisition without the same need for intense colour grading.

While the VariCam LT does not feature parallel sub-recording, it does have an SD slot for high-resolution proxy recording. Proxy files can be wirelessly uploaded via FTP, which facilitates wireless colour grading.

Variable frame rates are available with LongG6 recording. There is one

expressP2 card for all formats including high frame rate and HD/2K/ UHD and 4K recording (the 256Gbyte expressP2 card can record up to 90 minutes of 4K/4:2:2/23.98p content). RAW output from SDI is planned to be supported by a firmware upgrade in mid 2016.

The VariCam LT features an EF mount (vs. the VariCam 35’s PL mount), suitable for the wide array of lenses available for smaller cameras. The EF mount can be switched out to a robust standard PL mount, expanding the range of compatible lenses that can be used.

The control panel can be separated from the camera body to facilitate realtime control and easy menu access. The camcorder has a production-tough magnesium body to assure durability and reliability in challenging shooting locations.

Other features new to the VariCam LT are power hot swap, IR shooting (further enhancing the camcorder’s extreme low-light capture at ISO 5000), 23.98 PsF output, and image presets as scene files.

Among the camcorder’s top-level production assets are ND filters (CLEAR, 0.6, 1.2, 1.8), an optional OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) with optical zoom functionality, 24-bit LPCM audio for in-camera audio master recording, Focus Assist, anamorphic lens de-squeeze, special REC functions (PreRec, interval, one-shot), IP control via Panasonic’s AK-HRP200 camera remote controller, and built-in GPS. Professional interfaces include: 3G-HD-SDI x 3 (SDI-OUT X 2 and VF), LAN, genlock in, timecode in/out, USB2.0 Host and USB2.0 Device (mini B), and three XLR inputs (one 5-pin, two 3-pin) to record four channels of 24-bit, 48KHz audio.

Visit www.panasonic-broadcast.com.au.

ACQUISITION

Entry-Level HD Camera from Grass Valley

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GRASS VALLEY, A BELDEN BRAND, is introducing the Focus 75 Live, an affordable 720p/1080i switchable HD system camera.

the camera base station.

Featuring three fully digital Xensium-FT CMOS imagers with global shutter operation, the Focus 75 Live camera boasts a high level of sensitivity for productions where less lighting is available and can be used with a smaller iris setting to deliver an increased depth of field while allowing operators to hold a tighter focus. With a standard B4 2/3-inch lens mount, the Focus 75 Live can accommodate HD lenses already in customers’ inventory.

applications, including regional broadcast stations, SNG vans, small

Focus 75 Live offers strong image performance by always capturing the image in full progressive 1920x1080 HD resolution and downconverting to either 1080i50/59.94 or 720p50/59.94 (user switchable). In addition, the highest quality SD signals are available at

The Focus 75 Live camera is suitable for smaller live studio and field outside-broadcast (OB) vans, university sports productions, staging and houses of worship. To fully support the Focus 75 Live camera, Grass Valley offers a line of dedicated Focus transmission solutions including adapters and base stations in all versions of triax connections available on the market, and a SMPTE hybrid fiber transmission system based on the Lemo SMPTE fiber connector.

The Focus 75 Live camera will be on display at the Grass Valley booth SL106 at NAB 2016.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

ACQUISITION

Fujifilm to Highlight Full Range of Lens Offerings

The UA80X9 has an 80x zoom and optical image stabilisation, making it suited to coverage of large-scale live events. In addition to its optical performance, the lens covers focal lengths ranging from 9mm in wideangle, to 720mm in telephoto. The UA80x9 size and weight is similar to the popular XA99x8.4 field lens.

The Premier PL 4K+ zooms are available from 14.5 to 400mm. All four PL Mount zooms are similar in size and weight, and uniform gear placement and front barrel diameters enable quick lens changes. Premier PL lenses are available in 14.5-45mm T2.0, 18-85mm T2.0, 24-180mm T2.6, and 75-400 mm T2.8-T3.8.

The Fujinon Premier PL 25-300mm Cabrio zoom will be featured. All Cabrio lenses feature detachable servo drive units for electric zooming, focusing and iris. Mounting the unit enables remote control of zoom, focus, and iris adjustment. The PL 25-300 servo is optional making them suitable for use as a standard PL lens or as an ENG-style lens. And they can be controlled using cinema industry standard wireless controllers as well as existing Fujinon wired units.

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Launch New SmartPed SHOTOKU BROADCAST SYSTEMS will be introducing SmartPed, the most recent addition to its robotic camera range, to the US market during NAB 2016. A fully robotic XY pedestal, SmartPed addresses creative and commercial demands of on-air environments with a cost-efficient and high-performance solution. It will be demonstrated alongside the company’s full range of pedestals, tripods, pan/tilt heads and control systems in booth C8008.

The three wheel smooth-steer pedestal features a new height column without the need for pneumatic balancing, along with multi-zone collision avoidance, detection systems, and an electro-mechanical steer/drive system.

“Shotoku has been supplying leading broadcasters around the world with high-performance remote camera systems for many years,” says James Eddershaw, Sales Director, Shotoku. “SmartPed is a result of that deep experience and marks the next phase in the technical and operational developments of robotic systems.”

SmartPed offers instant switchover between local/remote operation. No re-reference or calibration is required when switching between these modes, and a pan-bar mounted local joystick enables control from the studio floor as necessary. SmartPed is compatible with all Shotoku studio PT heads and integrates with the well-established TR-XT touch control system.

Also making its debut, is Shotoku’s latest solution in its range of VR/AR tracking systems. The company’s Free-d2 represents a new generation of tracking systems that don’t require physical encoder devices attached to the camera support’s moving axes.

The Free-d2 system, which is aimed at VR/AR news, sports and current affairs live studio productions, uses video processing algorithms and ceiling markers to determine the exact position and orientation of the studio camera. No home or reference point exists for Free-d2 – wherever the camera is positioned is immediately known – therefore tracking data never drifts. The low-cost markers are simple reflective material and can be placed anywhere within the studio lighting grid or ceiling area. Once an initial studio map is created, the system will never require calibration again.

Visit www.shotoku.tv

Field lenses on hand in the NAB booth will include the Fujinon XA55x9.5BESM 2/3-inch zoom and the XA99x8.4 ultra-wide field production lens.

The XA99x8.4 combines highperformance imaging, a long zoom reach, and an ultra-wide angle. It offers a zoom range of 99x, a focal length of 8.4 to 832mm, and MOD of 2.9m. It features Fujinon’s image stabilisation – critical for long-distance HD shots.

The XA55x9.5 HDTV telephoto box-style lens is available with a built-in lens support bracket for mounting on an ENG-style camera. Also built-in to the XA55x is optical image stabilisation.

The company will exhibit in booth C7125 during the show.

Visit www.fujifilmusa.com

Cooke Optics Launching Wide Angle Zoom COOKE OPTICS WILL UNVEIL the first of two planned zoom lenses at NAB 2016. The new Cooke 35-140mm Anamorphic/i zoom is a true, front anamorphic with oval bokeh throughout zoom and focus. The optical design allows shooting from very wide angle through to telephoto with a 4x zoom ratio. The colour and depth of field characteristics are matched to the Anamorphic/I primes and the lens includes /i Technology for metadata capture. A second front-anamorphic zoom will also be announced.

Cooke will also present the 300mm Anamorphic/i lens, marking the completion of the original 10 lens prime Anamorphic/i set with focal lengths from 25mm to 300mm. The new wide angle zoom-lens will be available to view on booth C8344. Additionally, lenses from the 5/i, S4/i and miniS4/i lens ranges will be showcased.

Visit www.cookeoptics.tv

Transvideo’s Wireless StarliteRF Ready AFTER ATTRACTING ATTENTION at InterBEE, BSCexpo, and Microsalon, Transvideo’s StarliteRF is available for demo at NAB 2016.

Focus-pullers and DOPs will find the solution suitable for mounting on ARRI’s WCU-4 or Preston Hand units. With a range of 200m (LOS), StarliteRF can be used for monitoring and recording shots from drones, gyro-stabilised remote systems, Steadicams and gimbals. The five-inch 3G-SDI touch screen with OLED monitor/recorder and wireless receiver built-in offers high visibility and versatility. The unit will also record in H264 onto SD cards.

Visit www.transvideo.eu

ACQUISITION

AT THE UPCOMING NAB SHOW, the optical devices division of Fujifilm North America will showcase its range of 4K Ultra HD Series, Cabrio PL cine/ENG-style lenses, Premier PL 4K+ cine lenses, as well as the XA55x9.5BESM 2/3-inch zoom and XA99x8.4 ultra-wide field production lens.

27

SPORTSCASTING NEP Australia / HD 12 Australia HD Production Trucks Floor Plans Last Updated 2016-03-30

Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

HD 12 Floor Plan

NEP Australia Launches HD12 Supertruck NEP Australia has launched its newest 4K super truck – HD12 – from Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium – with the new vehicle immediately put to work on AFL coverage for the Seven Network and FOX SPORTS.

Floorplan of NEP Australia’s HD12.

HD12’S CAPABILITIES INCLUDE: • Along with sister truck HD11, HD12 is the largest OB unit in Australia: maximum-length trailer with full-length double expanding sides, creating more than 65m2 of interior space • Ultra-fast physical turnaround with one-touch deployment • 90kw of cooling designed for the extreme Australian climate • 34-seat capacity with generous egress and enhanced operator work spaces • 13 production gallery seats • 9 EVS operators • 7 CCU operators • Seating for technical director and broadcast engineer • 3 audio control positions NEP Australia’s HD12 pictured at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

• Large egress areas plus standing room for a client lobby • Adjustable mood lighting

HD12 IS THE COMPANY’S SECOND purpose-built 4K outside broadcast vehicle and the first to launch from the active Victorian market.

It is equal in size, technical capabilities and work environment to HD11, which NEP launched in August of last year.

Both HD11 and HD12 are equipped with Sony’s HDC4300 4K and highspeed camera technology, bringing to 50 the number of these camera units in NEP’s fleet.

Initially based in Melbourne, HD12 will service productions around Australia including major live sport and outside studio broadcasts.

NEP Australia President Soames Treffry says, “HD12 and HD11 reflect NEP’s investment in the Australian market and determination to provide our clients with unrivalled production capabilities.

SPORTSCASTING

“HD13 and HD14 will launch early next year, ready for the 2017 AFL and NRL seasons, and further enhancing the NEP Australia fleet.”

28

NEP Australia Project Director Milan Milenkovic says, “While HD12 has all the capabilities of HD11, our Systems Integration Team has made some additional refinements. “HD12’s enhanced technical power, along with the Sony 4K high speed camera systems, make HD12 a ‘best of’ proposition for both clients and broadcast operators.”

• NEP’s single centre-rack design for technical areas to minimise cabling and support workplace health and safety • Virtual studio manager (VSM) fully integrated with every truck system • New NEP-designed touch screen with completely configurable control panels • Imagine Communications hybrid router with 502 inputs, 824 outputs and 22 multi-viewers • Up to 28 x Sony HDC4300 4K and high-speed cameras and 10 point-ofview (POV) or specialty cameras • Up to 10, 12-channel EVS machines with 10Gbs networking • Sony’s MVS8000X vision switcher with second-generation control panel • Lawo Mc56 MK2 audio mixer with 64-fader panel featuring in PAT-supplied audio console • Reidel 192 x 192 communications system HD12 was designed and developed by NEP Australia’s engineering team and constructed at A Smith Great Bentley (ASGB), the UK’s leading coachbuilder.

It arrived in Australia in late 2015 for technical fit-out, commissioning and testing. Sister trucks, HD13 and HD14, are now in the coach build stage at Smiths in the UK. Visit www.nepinc.com/welcome/nep_australia

SPORTSCASTING

Olympic Broadcast Rights for Sky NZ THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) has awarded New

Another Big Summer for The P.A. People

Zealand’s SKY Network Television the right to broadcast the XXIII Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020, the XXIV Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Olympic Games 2024, the host city of which has yet to be elected.

IT WAS ANOTHER BIG SUMMER of sports and events for The P.A.

IOC President Thomas Bach said, “The IOC looks forward to continuing its longterm partnership with SKY. Together we will ensure the best possible coverage of every Olympic Games, including on free-to-air television. The agreement is another clear demonstration of the enduring appeal of the Olympic Games and the values they represent. Long-term partnerships mean the IOC is able to redistribute revenue to support the Olympic Movement, to support the development of sport at all levels around the world and ultimately support the athletes themselves.”

For the KFC Big Bash League, The P.A. People provided the venue comms

IOC Vice-President John Coates, delegate IOC Member for broadcast rights in Oceania, said, “We have worked closely with SKY since the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010 in order to deliver extensive coverage on SKY’s platforms in New Zealand. This includes a commitment of at least 200 hours of Olympic Games and 100 hours of Olympic Winter Games on free-to-air, whilst also ensuring that comprehensive coverage is available throughout the Pacific Islands.”

systems, control and site-wide paging.

Richard Last, SKY’s Director of Sport said, “The Olympic Games are hugely anticipated events, and we look forward to following all the New Zealanders striving for success on the world stage. We are delighted to be working with the IOC through to 2024, and committed to delivering the very best coverage of the next two Winter and next two Summer Olympic Games on SKY, Prime and digital platforms.”

Stadium. It supplied on-field support including presentation tasks. This

SKY has acquired the broadcast rights for 2018-2024 on all media platforms in the following territories: New Zealand; Cook Islands; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Federated States of Micronesia; Nauru; Niue; Palau; Independent State of Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The agreement continues the IOC’s current partnership with SKY. Visit www.olympic.org

People with the company helping to deliver cricket, rugby, tennis and soccer, among others. requirements at two major Sydney venues – Sydney Cricket Ground and Spotless Stadium, involving two local teams – Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers.

At the APIA International Sydney Tennis Tournament, The P.A. People provided comms support for the series. Thiis year included court PA For Hyundai A-League soccer, The P.A. People provided continuing audio support at A-League home games for Sydney FC at Allianz and ANZ stadiums.

The company also recently supported the Sydney 7s Rugby at Allianz included two-way radio and comms equipment (in addition to existing Stadium comms), and PA systems for artists, The Veronica’s and Hoodoo Gurus.

Finally, it was another early-morning set-up for The P.A. People crew working on the Sun Run and Cole Classic. This is the latest of several years it has supplied the Start, Finish, and Band stage PA’s for this Northern Beaches event, run and managed by the Fairfax Events Team.

Visit www.papeople.com.au

Production Technology Experts

SPORTSCASTING

fiber optic solutions

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SPORTSCASTING

Vitec to Demonstrate IPTV Sports Venue QUINTO COMMUNICATIONS HAS ANNOUNCED that Vitec will demonstrate its IPTV sports venue solution with digital signage capabilities at this year’s NAB. This streaming technology allows stadiums and arenas to stream high quality, live on-demand or recorded video over IP. With its integrated EZ TV platform, it optimises displays and IP infrastructures, boosts fan engagement and generates revenue opportunities. The IPTV sports venue solution features low latency across all displays, synchronised playback, efficient scalability, and web-based admin capabilities.

Also on display will be Vitec’s MGW Ace appliance, a completely hardwarebased HEVC (H.265) portable device for encoding and streaming video. It features HEVC bandwidth-efficient compression, legacy H.264 capabilities, and Zixi stream protection.

Vitec will also show MGW Pico Tough, a MIL-STD certified MPEG-4 H.264 HD/ SD video encoder that encodes and streams real-time video with frameaccurate metadata from any video source. Its fan-less, pocket-size enclosure can be used on unmanned and manned vehicles, in fly-packs and on-person in extreme conditions.

Visit www.quinto.com.au and www.vitec.com

EVS Reveals Future of Connected Sports AS PART OF ITS LIVE SOLUTION demonstrations at its booth (SL3816),

Multicam engine software. Allowing a heightened audience-viewing

EVS is inviting visitors to become players at the centre of the action at the #EVSlamDunk Experience. At a purpose-built basketball court featuring a Daktronics scoreboard and referee’s table, visitors attempting either a free throw or a slam dunk, will be filmed no less than by eight cameras. Feeds from the cameras will be sent to EVS servers at the court-side control room, where an LSM operator will create instant replay clips with integrate data such as shot clock information. Once the replay has been created and enriched with data, a FIBA referee will review the multi-camera clips using EVS’ new referee solution, Xeebra.

experience, visitors will see the latest generation live tools from EVS

Other solutions being demonstrated in the live experience include the latest Live Slow Motion (LSM) tools for on-air presentation, including EPSIO FX, which enables graphics and data from scoreboard and shot clock details to be added to the live- and slow-motion replays.

customers’ needs. NAB will also see EVS’ introduction of the XS3 media

FanCast, the recording, production and multi-screen distribution solution for enhanced fan engagement and EVS’ IT-based production switcher, DYVI, will also be part of the demonstration. Using EVS technology exclusively, this demonstration will show how both broadcasters and stadium/arena operators can use the latest in live tools to connect with today’s sports fans. The setup shows how a highly connected and vibrant fan experience leads to greater engagement, deeper loyalties and new revenue opportunities.

Introduced for the first time, EVS’ booth will feature its own OB truck set up. Here, visitors will see integrated live solutions enabled by EVS’

for live virtual effects, fast multi-angle creation and more productive operations.

EVS will also extend the XT3’s 6RU ChannelMAX mode with a new 4RU offering enabling customers to double the channel density of their live production server to eight or 12 channels respectively. ChannelMAXenabled systems will continue to expand through Multicam engine software updates, allowing the flexible server to grow alongside production server. Providing improved content management and greater production integration, the XS3 expands from two to 12 channels as required – with the widest native codec and format support available for HD and UHD operations and key and fill functions.

NAB attendees will also be able to see EVS’ new contribution platform C-Next. This tool enables production crews to benefit from a more collaborative, bi-directional workflow and sharing of content between multiple venues.

See EVS and the #EVSlamDunk Experience basketball court on booth SL3816.

Visit www.evs.com

SPORTSCASTING

Graphics Solution for Euro 2016 and Copa America to Debut at NAB

30

REALITY CHECK SYSTEMS (RCS) is teaming up with Vizrt to offer a specialised version of LaunchPad. This version will facilitate plug-andplay full screen graphics, and highlight analysis for studio programming surrounding soccer competitions. The technology, which fuses Opta data with dynamic RCS templates, the Viz Engine and Viz Libero 3D analysis toolset, will be on display in 4K at NAB 2016 in Vizrt booth SL2417.

LaunchPad enables integration of full screen graphics directly into broadcasts via switcher or on-set via a touchscreen controlled by talent.

Using this solution, a range of graphics for Euro 2016 and Copa America – such as results, standings, fixtures, touch, pass and shot maps, and player

or team profiles – are available on-air. The turnkey offering includes the graphics hardware and software, Opta data and a 65-inch touchscreen.

“Viz Engine is an extremely powerful rendering engine and real-time video and graphics compositor, making it the perfect fit to power LaunchPad’s data-driven graphics and video replays. We’re excited to team up with RCS to bring broadcast clients an ideal solution for delivering graphics and analysis tools for these two tournaments,” said Stephan Würmlin Stadler, EVP of Sports, Vizrt.

Visit www.vizrt.com and www.realitychecksystems.com

SPORTSCASTING

To become bigger, better and more relevant, The Sportscasting Expo is evolving in 2016.

The Sportscasting Conference + Expo has evolved to incorporate News & Live Production, which are key areas of focus that play a vital role in the future of broadcasting. This targeted niche event is perfectly located at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne for convenience and to maximize networking opportunities for visitors and exhibitors.

A dedicated exhibition for these fast growing market segments of the broadcast market will provide a platform for decision makers who are looking for ideas and solutions, to meet with the industry leaders in broadcasting, technology and sporting bodies.

The Sportscasting, News & Live Production Conference & Expo is a must attend with innovations, upgrades and improvements in technology that you will only find at this event. Where will you be?

Conference Organiser:

OCTOBER 26 – 27, 2016

Etihad Stadium, Docklands

www.sportscasting.com.au

Exhibition Organiser:

events

SPORTSCASTING

For more information please contact: Rod Hodgins Ph: 02 9452 7520 or E: rod.hodgins@expertiseevents.com.au

31

NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

Network diagram of Dejero’s LIVE+Multipoint Suite.

Changing the Game Again

By Bogdan Frusina

WHEN CELLULAR BONDING SYSTEMS were first introduced to

As network connections continue to improve, IP newsgathering technology

newsgathering, it was a bigger game-changer than when John Montagu asked

will continue to improve along with them. However, the real innovations

for his meat between two pieces of bread. It provided a method of sending a

going forward will be in the management and sharing capabilities for the

live shot back to the station from almost anywhere – at a fraction of the cost of

content as it is collected.

traditional uplink solutions.

Cellular bonding equipment providers figured out how to take advantage of 3G and 4G wireless data signals from multiple cellular carriers and bond them together to increase the throughput required for live video. By combining

sharing content. It enables simultaneous distribution of live content from any location, to any location, at any time – quickly, easily, and cost-effectively –

suddenly became possible to broadcast from places that were off limits before

using public internet infrastructure.

– and even to transmit while moving.

This means that you can instantly share live content simultaneously across

Much like the name stuck for the Earl of Sandwich’s snack of choice, the

stations in your organisation or to third parties without the use of satellite

term ‘cellular bonding’ is still in popular usage despite the evolution of the

or fibre networks. Sharing live feeds allows for the pooling of content

the equation, but a more accurate description would be ‘network bonding’ because the most cutting-edge transmitters are able to bond all available IP

NEWS OPERATIONS

nutshell, LIVE+ Multipoint is a cloud-based IP video distribution network for

modems with encoders and antennas in small, portable transmitters, it

technology for aggregating bandwidth. Cellular bonding is still a big part of

32

At the leading edge of that innovation is Dejero’s LIVE+ Multipoint. In a

acquisition resources, achieving workflow efficiencies that effectively allow you to broadcast from more places at once.

networks, from cellular, to Ka-band and BGAN satellite, to Wi-Fi and ethernet.

All of your content is managed in the cloud and accessed from a web

Each of these network connections may not always be available, so managing

browser. An operator can use advanced filtering and search to easily find and

the available connections becomes critical. Dejero accomplishes this with

preview the desired content, then simply drag-and-drop to send it live.

Intelligent Connection Management technology that adapts the bonding

Cellular and network bonding changed the game for acquisition of content,

according to the strength and reliability of the available network connections,

and IP video is continuing to evolve – but it’s just the beginning. With the

and your needs.

For example, in breaking news where immediacy is paramount, latency is important if it’s a two-way feed, regardless of picture quality. Meanwhile, when covering live sports, picture quality and reliability are more important. With

exponential increase in the amount of content generated, the ability to manage and share it with other stations, anywhere in the world, will change the game again.

technology that automatically produces the best results based on the priorities

Bogdan Frusina is founder and Chief Technology Officer at Dejero.

for the particular broadcast, the crew can focus on capturing the content.

Visit www.dejero.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

Seven Signs Partnership with TVU and Magna AUSTRALIA’S SEVEN NETWORK has signed a multi-year partnership and support agreement with IP-based live video and mobile broadcasting solutions provider, TVU Networks, and local systems integrator Magna Systems and Engineering.

support agreement as he said, “Our TVUPacks are a very efficient, flexible

The deal covers Seven’s existing TM8100 mobile backpacks which will be upgraded to the latest TM8200 model and their fleet of TM3200 transceivers which number 23 in total. The deal also guarantees the Seven Network the very latest technology and upgrades from TVU Networks and a comprehensive support package from Magna Systems and Engineering.

further cements what is already a great working relationship and guarantees

Seven Network Telecommunications and IT Infrastructure Manager Dave Watts explained, “it’s the flexibility of TVUPacks that’s the main reason the network has again expanded its fleet of units and taken on this multi-year

and cost effective way of getting a story back from even the trickiest of locations. The TVUPacks are quick to boot up and very effective in the way they transmit the footage. This new partnership and support agreement us that we will always be well covered and taken care of in terms technology and support from TVU Networks and Magna Systems and Engineering. We have a good relationship with Magna Systems and TVU as both companies are good at understanding our requirements and delivering them quickly without fuss.”

Visit www.tvunetworks.com and www.magnasys.tv

HD Mini Kit for ENG Trucks portable MPEG-4 COFDM HD wireless camera transmission link capable of providing high-quality video at distances over 3.2km, line-of-sight.

Developed for the next generation of HD capable compact cameras, the 58microLite system is available in either licensed or unlicensed bands.

The 58microLite is available à la carte or in preconfigured application specific kits. The kits are designed to give the operator the ability to set up quickly and to cover a wide area with long-range wireless transmission.

Its size, weight and performance makes it suitable for UAV, sports, live newsgathering, reality-based programs, EFP/OB, point-of-view and any type of live event coverage. The 58microLite HD Mini Kit comes in three camera mounting versions: the standard hot-shoe and optional Anton/Bauer Gold Mount, or V-Mount. It also features an interface with 12 presets, making it simple to change channels and other operating parameters on the fly.

According to John Payne IV, President of IMT, “With the addition of the 58microLite HD Mini Kit, all the camera operator needs to do to control the system is dial into the microLite receiver on the video router within the truck, grab the camera and attach the microLite. Within minutes of hitting the scene, they can be off capturing the story.”

The 58microLite kit features a dual-diversity COFDM receiver that uses maximal-ratio combining technology to enable the system to support LOS as well as non-line-of-sight (NLOS) applications. It comes in a selfcontained package for discrete installations.. It features MPEG-4/MPEG-2 auto-detect video and embedded audio decoding.

At the heart of the 58microLite HD Mini Kit is the microLite HD transmitter.

Visit www.imt-solutions.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

AIMED AT ENG TRUCK applications, the 58microLite HD Mini Kit is a

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NEWS OPERATIONS

Video Contribution and Distribution via Cloud with Aviwest AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW, Aviwest will demonstrate enhancements to its

such as SIM card consumption and bandwidth statistics.

Digital Mobile News Gathering (DMNG) system, with a focus on hybrid video contribution and video distribution via the cloud.

Aviwest’s DMNG laptop is now available for purchase. The DMNG laptop is a newsgathering tool that combines an H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC encoder in an Apple MacBook Pro. Using the DMNG Laptop, broadcasters can receive video content from a range of video sources, including webcams and external SDI/HDMI cameras. The laptop application includes a GUI that makes it easy to manage various content delivery profiles (e.g. BGAN, cellular, ADSL, etc.), providing support for a variety of broadcast use cases, including live streaming, file transfer via various networks and storage.

Aviwest will introduce two new products, as well as announce strategic technology partnerships. Attendees can stop by the booth for a peek at the company’s DMNG 220-HE ultra-portable HEVC video contribution encoder for cellular, Wi-Fi, satellite, and ethernet networks, and the DMNG HE4000 HEVC 4K rack-mounted contribution encoder.

Aviwest’s live video contribution platform enables broadcasters to capture and broadcast live 4K, HD, or SD video over multiple unmanaged IP networks, including bonded 4G/3G cellular, Wi-Fi, ethernet, and satellite links.

Aviwest will also showcase two evolutions of the DMNG Manager: video grid, and statistics capabilities. Aviwest’s DMNG Manager is an application that enables broadcasters and video professionals to monitor and manage an entire fleet of DMNG equipment.

The DMNG Manager provides broadcasters with a video thumbnail of each feed coming from the field units or from any standard IP video sources.

When arranged in a grid-view, these thumbnails ease system resource allocation by helping operators route the video streams to one or multiple receiver outputs or CDNs, with simple drag and drop. A new statistics feature for the DMNG Manager supplies broadcasters with essential information

Other demonstrations will include Aviwest’s v2.6 of its DMNG PRO video uplink system at the 2016 NAB. The software upgrade provides broadcasters with a range of benefits, including the ability to deliver higher bit rate, lower latency, webcast-resolution video. A new ‘Gateway’ mode will also be introduced to the DMNG PRO system, allowing operators to use the unit as a high-speed Internet access point by aggregating together cellular connections.

Featuring a lightweight and portable design, the DMNG PRO Series is a 3G/4G video uplink family designed for newsgathering applications. Using the pocket-sized systems, broadcasters can stream live HD video down to the receiver with minimal delay. The DMNG PRO systems include multiple cellular connections, a built-in Wi-Fi modem, and H.264 video encoders that speed up newsgathering operations while enabling live news coverage.

Visit www.aviwest.com

TVU Networks to Showcase Video-Over-IP Solutions TVU NETWORKS will unveil its latest offerings and showcase the

marketplace, and the TVU Anywhere app that turns an iPhone or Android

company’s full range of transmission, management, and distribution

device into a live video transmitter.

solutions at NAB this year at booth SU4405.

TVU provides a portfolio of video-over-IP solutions designed to provide broadcasters with tools to acquire live video content from anywhere and distribute it to anywhere. As the industry moves from a hardware-based, SDI environment toward a cloud-enabled model, TVU Networks stands poised to meet a receptive crowd this year.

Solutions from TVU include: TVU Grid, an IP-based switching, routing and distribution video solution, the TVU One cellular live video transmitter, the fixed-mounted TVU MLink for ENG vans, the TVUMe online video content

Additionally, the official daily video program, ‘NAB Show LIVE’, will utilise TVU transmitters for live streaming from the halls of the convention, and the show’s video decoding and distribution will be done with a TVU Transceiver. The NAB Show LIVE will be broadcast online at nabshow.com, broadcastbeat.com, the NAB Show YouTube Channel, and the Broadcast Beat YouTube Channel. It will feature live streaming of select conference sessions as well as interviews with industry experts and vendors.

Visit www.tvunetworks.com

LiveU NAB 2016 Preview LIVEU WILL FEATURE an exclusive live studio at this year’s NAB in

LiveU will also be demonstrating its new plug-and-play live streaming

collaboration with TWiT.tv, NewTek and Panasonic. The live studio offers a

bonded solution for the online media market, LiveU Solo. LiveU Solo

broadcast technology showcase, integrating three broadcast brands: LiveU,

allows users to live-stream into any web streaming workflow by

NewTek, and Panasonic. Three Panasonic AWHE130 PTZ robotic cameras

connecting automatically to content delivery networks such as YouTube

and two AGPX270 cameras, along with a roaming camera connected to LiveU’s LU500 lightweight backpacks will stream directly into a NewTek TriCaster multi-camera production system. The TriCaster will be connected to LiveU’s LU700 hybrid rack-mount encoder, which will in turn stream live to TWiT.tv.

Leo Laporte, the founder and owner of the TWiT Netcast Network, will host

NEWS OPERATIONS

‘Triangulation’ and ‘iOS Today’ from the LiveU booth. Additionally, TWiT’s

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Megan Morrone and Jason Howell will present ‘Tech News Today’, Monday through to Wednesday, and Scott Wilkinson will record an episode of

Live and Wowza Streaming Cloud. Solo is simple to manage and control remotely via a web interface or smart device. Alongside, LiveU will present its range of live video acquisition, management and distribution solutions over IP. LiveU’s COO and co-founder, Avi Cohen will be speaking at the 2016 NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference (BEC) on ‘The IP Revolution: Retooling Broadcast Technology for the Future’.

LiveU studio production will partner: ‘Learn more about NewTek TriCaster’ at NAB booth SL5817 and Panasonic at booth C3607.

TWiT’s ‘Home Theater Geeks’. Father Robert Ballecer will also be recording

Full product demonstrations will be available at booth C1717 and LiveU’s

TWiT Live Specials from the NAB show floor, including interviews with

hybrid vehicle will also be on display.

marquee guests.

Visit www.liveu.tv

NEWS OPERATIONS

Newsroom Production Ecosystem from ChyronHego CHYRONHEGO HAS INTRODUCED the CAMIO Universe, a comprehensive

and they can preserve their capital budgets by moving to an OPEX business

software-based newsroom production ecosystem designed to empower

model that enables them to run more efficiently and cost-effectively."

producers and journalists to create compelling news stories and deliver

As the engine for the CAMIO Universe, CAMIO 4.3 manages and distributes

new release of ChyronHego’s CAMIO graphic management server.

all content and assets and interfaces with any MOS-compliant newsroom computer system — all in a single cost-effective server. Sharing of both

With release 4.3, CAMIO not only controls ChyronHego’s Lyric graphics

ground- and cloud-based content enables unprecedented collaboration

creation environment but also offers powerful template-based tools within

between users at one or several locations, as well as with field producers

a significantly expanded production ecosystem, including the company’s

and editors who are able to access cloud-based content storage anytime and

Hybrid virtual graphics solution, the Metacast weather graphics solution,

from anywhere through lightweight remote client software.

the PowerClips multiformat production clip server, and GS2 Multi-Touch touchscreen-generation platform, as well as the VidiGo Live Compositor video switching solution.

CAMIO’s LUCI user interface gives producers, journalists, and video editors instant desktop access to all of these tools. Users can generate news and weather graphics for live playout or editing using nonlinear editors (NLEs), control compelling and visually stunning broadcast touchscreens, set up camera shots and control robotic cameras, and even generate replaceable virtual graphics to accompany the station’s virtual studio design. The entire ecosystem is automated by the VidiGo automation and multicamera TV production solution.

"Many of our broadcast customers are migrating away from proprietary hardware-based workflows and towards all-IT software-based production environments, and the resultant efficiencies and cost savings mean they can focus more on storytelling." said Johan Apel, president and CEO, ChyronHego. "With the CAMIO Universe, we've placed content creation at the heart of a comprehensive and integrated software suite that producers

With LUCI’s simple and clear workflow connecting the newsroom, the art department, and the control room, users can focus on writing the news and breaking it first. Enhancing the story with virtual studio elements is no more difficult than generating a simple “lower third.” Through Axis World Graphics, the cloud-facing part of the CAMIO Universe, users can access third-party image libraries, create and access still or animated maps, and create datadriven financial quotes. In addition, they can easily bind graphics to data feeds, supplied through ChyronHego’s NewsTicker solution, for stories such as election and sports results.

CAMIO’s new image compositor tool gives producers a simple but powerful content editing capability with seamless access to cloud- and groundbased assets. The CAMIO Universe further ties in the art department though a seamlessly integrated order management component that enables producers to order content without leaving their familiar production environment. Producers can work continuously while orders are delivered in the background, and the LUCI user interface provides notifications and status

can use to address every aspect of news production. News organizations are

indicators that help them stay on top of their shows from a single screen.

able to invest in storytelling by making content generation quick and easy,

Visit www.chyronhego.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

them rapidly to air. The CAMIO Universe is driven by CAMIO 4.3, a significant

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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

SolidAnim Previz in Epic Fantasy Gods of Egypt

Spectrum Films Relocates SPECTRUM FILMS HAS MOVED into its new purpose designed

SOLIDANIM HAS ANNOUNCED that Alex Proyas’ film, Gods of Egypt, utilised

creative home on the second floor of the Frank Hurley Building in the

SolidAnim’s SolidTrack system for its visfx pre-viz. The film opened February 26, 2016 and has grossed $74.6million worldwide as of March 11, 2016.

heart of Fox Studios Australia – with the new facility already in full flight.

Gods of Egypt is a fantasy film featuring ancient Egyptian deities. The United States-Australia production was directed by Alex Proyas and stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Elodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Rufus Sewell, Gerard Butler, and Geoffrey Rush. Butler plays the god of darkness Set who takes over the Egyptian empire, and Thwaites plays the mortal hero Bek who partners with the god Horus, played by Coster-Waldau, to save the world and rescue his love. Filming took place in Australia under the American studio Summit Entertainment and distributed by Lionsgate.

Josh Pomeranz, Spectrum Films 3.0 offers refined technical services

The setting of Anubis’ temple was filmed at Centennial Park in Sydney, and visual effects were laid over the scene. In the film, the gods in humanoid form are 2.7m tall and in ‘battle beast’ form are over 3.7m tall. Proyas used forced perspective and motion control photography to portray the difference in height between the actors portraying the gods and the humans. For the Sphinx, actor Kenneth Ransom portrayed the giant creature via motion capture. For the god Thoth, who can appear as many copies, actor Chadwick Boseman was filmed hundreds of times from different angles. For a scene with many copies of Thoth, other actors took a day to film the scene, where Boseman filmed the scene for three days.

With Adam Scott now a partner in the business working in tandem with including purpose built edit suites, online picture finishing, colour grading and a custom built sound mixing theatre, as well as sound design, editing and post sound management. All is overseen by the newly appointed Post Producer, Catherine Armstrong, and Head of Sound, Angus Robertson.

“Spectrum Films’ rich history gives us the foundation to consistently strive to be ahead of the curve” said Spectrum Films Managing Director, Josh Pomeranz. “We have designed this new creative hub to honour my father’s legacy of a community for filmmakers, whilst catering for the evolving needs of the industry both domestically and internationally,” he continued.

Visit www.spectrumfilms.com.au

The SolidTrack system was utilised for previz of these scenes while shooting them real-time. Visualising in live VFX gives the director the exact final result, which is recorded real-time and sent to post-production, resulting in a significant amount of time and financial savings.

Youenn Denis, SolidTrack Operator, was on-set with SolidTrack Operator, Neil Jouanjean, supervised by Supervisor of SolidTrack Operations, Isaac Patrouche, during five months of filming. Youenn Denis notes, “I worked directly with Phil Sullivan, proof/MoBu Operator, Executive Producer, Topher Dow, video split operator, Michael Taylor, VFX Producer, Jack Geist, and VFX Supervisor, Eric Durst. They used SolidTrack on-set as it allowed them to accomplish things they were unable to do previously.”

Topher Dow, Executive Producer, states, “We utilised SolidTrack to pre-visualise the actors’ performance in set with context of designed-but-not-yet-realised CG sets or environments. SolidTrack helped us all onset to get our bearings in an otherwise disorienting expanse of green screen.”

POST PRODUCTION

SolidTrack is a real time camera tracking solution for recording camera moves and data logging of camera moves on the virtual set. This simple marker-less camera tracking system for the film and broadcast industries addresses virtual production needs. SolidTrack allows filmmakers to shoot both indoors and outdoors with the same high quality results.

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Sneak Peek from Animal Logic and The LEGO Batman Movie THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE has released first look images and two teaser trailers about the caped crusader’s animated adventure. The animated feature being produced entirely at Animal Logic’s Sydney studio is directed

by Chris McKay who was Co-Director on The LEGO Movie.

Part of the film will be in “the ho-hum day-to-day of being Batman and

SolidTrack new version includes a box that gathers all tracking and other data in a single wire, which makes the organisation of data and global information significantly easier. In addition a new Genlock feature to genlock SolidTrack tracking data and the film camera has been implemented. This two-way synchronisation ensures there are no frame delays.

what it’s like to fight crime each day.” Said, Director Chris McKay - “Batman

In addition to Gods of Egypt, SolidAnim’s SolidTrack system was utilised on Robert Zemekis’ critically acclaimed film, The Walk, Emmy-nominated and Visual Effects Society winner Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, the upcoming Alice in Wonderland 2: Through The Looking Glass, Warcraft, and Ghostbusters 3 films, and been selected by Lightstorm and Weta Digital for the next two Avatar sequels.

of Batman filmmaking.

Visit www.solid-track.com

is an island onto himself, the only thing he doesn’t have is relationships.

We’re making About a Boy as directed by (action director) Michael Mann.”

Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller also say that the film will address if Batman can ever be happy, and that the spin-off will acknowledge every era The LEGO Batman Movie opens February 10, 2017, and also features the voices of Michael Cera as Robin,Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, and Mariah Carey as Gotham City’s mayor.

Visit www.legobatman.com and www.animallogic.com

POST PRODUCTION

Forscene Boosts Editing and Collaborative Capabilities A NEW ITERATION OF FORBIDDEN'S professional video editing software, Forscene, has been released which enables new Avid workflows and increases efficiencies on multitrack productions.

during playback — and to easily toggle between this multidisplay grid view and the usual top-down view of video layers • The option to publish audio-only clips in a variety of formats

The ability to import Avid AAF files — and autoconform timelines based on this data — is one of the release's new features. Long-form broadcast clients often log and create rough cuts in Forscene and then move to Avid to complete their edits. This new feature means that clients can now move seamlessly between Avid and Forscene at any point during the offline edit.

• Faster publishing for video content with added graphics and overlays Visit www.forscene.com

Proven, real-time collaboration for post production New Core Algorithm for V-Ray 3.3 for 3ds Max

CHAOS GROUP HAS RELEASED A FREE UPGRADE to V-Ray for 3ds Max. The update is said to feature 20-50% faster rendering for most scenes and introduces a new variance-based adaptive sampler (VBAS) for more uniform noise distribution, faster setup, and improved imagery for VR, VFX, and arch-viz workflows.

In one scenario, clients can use the feature to make Avid sequences available for review by parties in different locations. Rather than exporting a QuickTime clip from Avid and then importing it into Forscene, clients can now make the actual Avid timeline available in Forscene.

Variance-Based Adaptive Sampling provides:

In another example, the feature allows production and post teams to collaborate on cuts. Once an editor has refined a sequence created in Forscene, he or she can recreate the Avid timeline in Forscene for the production team to continue working on it.

• Improved alpha channel sampling – especially in scenes with depth of field and motion blur

• Better sampling of dark areas and faster sampling of overbright areas • More consistent noise detection • Final image quality is less dependent on materials and lights settings

• Works in bucket and progressive rendering modes In addition, V-Ray 3.3 for 3ds Max includes over 25 new features and updates. New features include:

Other additions to Forscene's feature list include:

ISIS | 1000

• Support for up to 12 active video tracks and 24 audio tracks on the timeline

• New Global Defaults – Variance-based adaptive sampler enabled by default; Automatic sampling of lights and materials – removing the need to set subdivisions manually.

• The unique ability to concurrently see all video tracks in a sequence

Accelerate editorial efficiency with powerful • yet affordable shared storage Ray Traced Rounded Corners – Perfectly smooth edges at render

time with no additional modeling (based on licensed technology

from NVIDIA); Advanced edge detection with support for concave Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Extension 2 Post production can be extremely challenging. You need the flexibility to move at lightning speed, deliver

AUTODESK HAS LAUNCHED Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Extension 2 for simultaneous collaboration with all contributors, and

New features in 3ds Max 2016: Extension 2, include:

• New Sky Model and Aerial Perspective – Hosek sky model to simulate more natural looking skies; Ground color option for VRaySun and VRaySky; Aerial perspective for efficient and realistic atmospheric depth.

• Triplanar Mapping – Fast, seamless textures without UVs; Control over edge blending and texture parameters, including randomization; scalability in an affordable, easy-to-use system Works on procedural geometry.

• Get performance, reliability, and • Max Creation Graphproven Enhancements: Create, manipulate and use ® bitmaps and simulation shapes and splines with new nodes; import • Integrate with Avid and third-party editing data like CSV or Open VDB files; and more.

Clipper with Render-Time • Improved and assetV-Ray management tools Booleans – Supports

cutaways using any arbitrary mesh.

• One-Click Studio Access: Launch Autodesk Print Studio and export • Print Experience predictable performance under all load conditions • Stochastic Flakes – Ultra-realistic materials with sparkle effects like 3ds Max files for 3D printing in one swift click. snow, sand, andto caraccess paints.

• Speed up production by enabling up to 24 contributors and share assets • Simple Simulation Data Import: Import and animate accurate Updated Features include: simulation and visualize how itloss changes over rock-solid time with 3ds Max • data, Prevent media with data protection technology • Global Illumination – More robust handling of reflective GI caustics, lighting and rendering tools. better light propagation, and more natural illumination of interior • Text and Shape Map: Use objects as a mask to create custom decals, scenes; Distributed light cache for faster calculations with distributed graffiti text -based graphics on the fly without leaving 3ds Find and outother what 3,000 of the world’s top broadcast and post-production studios already know— rendering.

Max. • GPU Rendering – More texture nodes – MultiTexture, explore Avid ISIS | 1000 today.

• Text Tool Improvements: Font names are now displayed in the font VRayMultiSubTex, ColorCorrection, etc.; Proxy objects with hair and type, making it faster to find fonts when using Text Tool to apply particles; VRayFur and VRayPlane objects; Light include/exclude lists. textures, animations and effects to text.

• Progressive Sampler – Dynamic noise threshold leads to more Contact sales@ambertech.com.au or call 1800 251 367 for further • Texture Object Mask: Easily and accurately create, place and animate uniform noise distribution; Improved sub-pixel filtering; Improved multiple materials, and use any shape to control the application of ® information about ISIS | 1000 CPU andutilisation. the complete range of Avid solutions. materials to an object.

• Volume Rendering – Faster volume rendering with probabilistic Autodesk is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of 3ds Max. Artists sampling. are encouraged to share their 3ds Max memories and celebrate 25 Geometry – Faster rendering of proxy objects and instances.

• years of great work created with the software. Visit area.autodesk. © 2015 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, com/25yearsofmax.

V-Ray 3.3 for 3ds Max is a free update for all V-Ray 3.0 customers. and ISIS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein arewww.autodesk.com/products/3dsmax the property of their respective owners.

Visit

Visit www.chaosgroup.com

POST PRODUCTION

3D modelling, animation and rendering. Building on 3ds Max 2016 and demand.

Extension 1 releases unveiled earlier in 2015, Extension 2 expands the software’s capabilities with new tools and workflow improvements that simplify and accelerate the creation of 3D assets for design visualization ® andOnly content creation professionals. | 1000 shared storage lets you: ISIS

and convex surfaces simultaneously; Works with separate objects, VRayProxy objects, displaced objects, etc. produce the high-quality content that audiences

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POST PRODUCTION

Red Giant Announces PluralEyes Update RED GIANT RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the release of Shooter Suite v13.0, which features the new PluralEyes v4.0, compatible with any non-linear editor. Topping the list of new features is the ability to sync with PluralEyes directly in Premiere Pro without having to leave the host application, Smart Start capabilities, automatic drift correction, vertical track scaling, and integration with Red Giant Offload.

Syncing audio and video clips in PluralEyes is now easier thanks to enhancements allowing PluralEyes to analyse footage and automatically choose the best possible options.

Sync in PluralEyes without leaving Adobe Premiere Pro – just hit the sync button. PluralEyes in Premiere Pro offers the same colour coding capabilities as it does in the standalone version, so editors will know which clips require attention.

stop matching up perfectly. PluralEyes can account for this and export a perfect sync with Automatic Drift Correction. Now when drift is detected, PluralEyes will automatically fix it, then offer editors the option to toggle between the drift-corrected sync and the original audio for comparison Colour Coding for Unsynced Clips – Colour coded visuals show editors the progress of the sync, making it easy to make adjustments. Now export from PluralEyes to Premiere Pro features a colour coding option for clips that don’t sync properly.

Red Giant Offload Integration – Red Giant Offload performs a checksum during media transfer from camera card to hard drive, giving filmmakers the peace of mind that footage was backed up.

Smart Start – Importing media is easier with PluralEyes’ Smart Start feature.

You can drag and drop an entire folder of media into PluralEyes, and during a sync it will automatically detect which device the media came from. Your files will be sorted so media from the same device is on the same track.

Shooter Suite 13.0 – The Red Giant Shooter Suite is a set of purpose-built applications that give DOPs, videographers, shooters and filmmakers the ability to bring footage from set to post. With powerful automation and workflow capabilities, creatives can offload, analyse, touch up and synchronise digital media destined for post with confidence.

Automatic Drift Correction – When syncing long clips, sound and video can

Visit www.redgiant.com

Fabric Software Launches Fabric Engine 2.1 FABRIC ENGINE 2.1 arrives with a raft of presets, samples and UI improvements aimed at making the development framework easier to use.

Highlights of the release include: • DFGBindings for treating Canvas graphs as objects.

• Attribute Presets – Geometry attributes are a critical part of most geometry pipelines and are used to handle distribution of instances, deformations, and UV mapping.

• Controlling geometry attributes in an efficient and simple way can

improve workflow and significantly improve productivity.

• Fabric Engine 2.1 ships with a series of new Canvas presets that focus on geometry attributes.

• High Level Alembic Presets – Fabric Engine has supported Alembic for a long time but developers had to be pretty comfortable with coding in Fabric’s ‘Kernel Language’ to take advantage of it. Now, developers can access this functionality through presets in Canvas.

Visit www.fabricengine.com

SGO Announces Partnership with AJA SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, SGO, and video hardware developer, AJA Video Systems, recently announced an integration partnership. SGO’s colour grading and finishing post-production system, Mistika, is now compatible with AJA’s line of KONA and Corvid video capture and playback cards. The combination of the new Mistika version with the AJA hardware boosts support for new extreme video formats including 4K Stereo 3D dual-link – even at HFR frame-rates up to 60p.

AJA’s KONA capture, display and mastering products for SD, HD, 3G, Dual Link HD, 2K and 4K are a perfect match with Mistika, which provides a complete post-production feature-set for projects of any practical resolution and frame-rate, even beyond 8K. Stereo 3D output in 4K using the Corvid 88 I/O card is already available, along with viable future 8K capabilities for Mistika Ultima 8K systems.

CEO of SGO, Miguel Angel Doncel, stated, “There is positive synergy between SGO and AJA. Our combined expertise will achieve even greater results that our customers have come to expect. We both have teams of proficient staff that are passionately focused on providing unique and dependable high-quality technology for creative professionals. We look forward to working with AJA for many years to come.”

President Nick Rashby at AJA Video Systems confirmed, “Our KONA and Corvid families of professional video and audio capture and playback cards have long been the solutions of choice for top filmmakers and broadcasters because of their reliability and scalability. SGO delivers on that same promise to customers with their advanced Mistika software that supports future-proof workflows. We’re pleased to be working together to offer a best-of-breed post-production solution.”

Visit www.sgo.es and www.aja.com

POST PRODUCTION

Short-Term Licenses for Cinema 4D Studio

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MAXON RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the availability of short-term licenses

mind. However, we also understand that offering subscription models for

for its Cinema 4D Studio application. Licenses are valid for three or six months and are available as single workstation or floating multi-licenses.

Plugins that require the use of serial numbers can also be used with the short-term licenses. Perpetual licenses for Cinema 4D Studio and all other packages, such as Visualize, Broadcast, and Prime, as well as BodyPaint 3D will continue to be available.

software make it easier for both individual users and large companies to

As Maxon CFO and Co-Founder Uwe Bärtels reported in the company blog in January, “Maxon continues to believe strongly that perpetual licenses offer owners of these licenses a high degree of security and peace of

quickly adapt their license requirements to their individual production needs.”

Short-term licenses for Cinema 4D Studio are available as download only and can be purchased at any authorised reseller, or directly from Maxon and its branch offices. The licenses can also be extended for three or six months.

Visit www.maxon.net

POST PRODUCTION

DFT’s Scanity HDR Upgraded DIGITAL FILM TECHNOLOGY counts major archives worldwide among its customers, including the British Film Institute, The Korean Film Archive, The Film Archive of Thailand, National Library of Norway, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Library and Archives Canada, The Slovak Film Institute, Film Institute Netherlands, National Audio-visual Archive of Finland and The Royal Thai Archive.

At this year’s NAB, the company is announcing new technology developments for its latest Scanity HDR film scanner. A full wet-gate system will be demonstrated at the DFT’s stand. Specifically designed for Scanity HDR, it provides a real-time solution for ingest and management of difficult-to-solve historical film transfer issues – such as dust and scratch removal – at the same time surpassing prior transfer standards. The wet-gate is ideal for archive owners that require a scanner that’s able to handle a range of problematic and historically-aged film issues.

New 16/8mm small gauge film gate: DFT will also demonstrate its new small gauge film gate strategy, showing the optional ‘16plus’ LGA for its Scanity and new Scanity HDR models.

New software release: DFT’s Scanity HDR, developed in response to the demands of both the post production and the film archive and restoration industries, will be demonstrated with the latest Scanity software release. Scanity HDR offers a host of user friendly features that serve a variety of film scanning applications, including – but not limited to: film archive scanning for mass digitisation, EDL/conform scanning, low resolution browsing for archive and restoration, short-form commercials, and 4K UHD ready and digital intermediate scanning.

Scanity HDR has a number of advantages over other scanner solutions, namely its touch-less patented capstan drive Lens Gate Assembly (LGA) system. This provides both automatic shrinkage compensation and gentle film handling, whilst delivering image stability.

Key features include a black and white HDR function, a new triple exposure (executed once) in realtime 2K or 4K data ingest. This means the scanner speed remains constant, creating time and cost benefits and allowing access to previously unseen details from the high- and low-lights of the film.

Visit www.dft-film.com

New Avid Media Composer AVID HAS ANNOUNCED a new version of Avid Media Composer which enables video editing professionals to work faster and more easily, is now available.

The new version of Media Composer enables video professionals to take on HDR projects. Along with Avid Resolution Independence and high-resolution workflows, Media Composer’s support for HDR workflows enables editors to overcome today, and tomorrow’s technology challenges. This version of Media Composer also enables editors to work up to 64 audio tracks – 250% more than previously available.

Visit www.avid.com

Edit Bridge to Interface with Multi-Vendor Systems Marquis Broadcast has recently announced Edit Bridge, its integration application for Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Avid Interplay, has been developed to interface with multi-vendor systems such as Apple Final Cut Pro X or Grass Valley’s Edius. The application will be shown at NAB for the first time, on booth SL8730.

“Edit Bridge was awarded the IABM’s Design and Innovation Award in the Post Production category at the prestigious IABM awards ceremony held at IBC last year,” confirmed Chris Steele, Managing

PreRoll Post from Imagine Products is aimed at making LTO tape archiving easier and more efficient. The system automates indexing of camera originals, complete with thumbs, proxies, and metadata, while backing up full-resolution media to local disk, long-term LTO tapes, or optical disc.

Apple or Windows users can now use PreRoll Post to create nonproprietary backups of any file or folder using the open-source Linear Tape File System (LTFS). The archiving application streamlines the process of placing any file type onto an LTO-7, LTO-6, or LTO-5 tape, or onto Sony’s Optical Disc Archive.

Edit Bridge offers a solution to enable competing manufacturers’ products to work together, allowing users to search Avid Interplay from within the Premiere Pro or After Effects interface, view thumbnails, find media and select it for editing. Content is either streamed directly, or copied and re-wrapped to Premiere Pro or After Effects for immediate editing. Delivery of the completed story and associated metadata back to Avid ISIS is achieved with Avid interplay check-in.

“The new Edit Bridge Client now provides the same connection into Avid Interplay for non-Adobe specific workflows.” confirmed

PreRoll Post takes advantage of LTFS, which is supported by many tape drive manufacturers. LTFS mounts a tape as a volume within the operating system. This makes it possible to read and write from the tape as if it were a hard disk – without proprietary software formatting.

It also makes PreRoll Post hardware-independent, enabling use with any LTFS-compliant tape drive or Sony ODA.

Steele. “Users can now source content from Interplay by browsing

Visit www.imagineproducts.com

Visit http://www.marquisbroadcast.com

and searching within the panel before triggering a drag and drop import into the chosen application. The Edit Bridge Client has been designed to support both Windows and Mac platforms.

POST PRODUCTION

Imagine Products’ PreRoll Post Upgraded

Director, Marquis Broadcast.

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM Digistor – Media’s Maze Runners With the dwindling of in-house resources, the rise of outsourcing and the growing demands of delivery channels, technology is more of a labyrinth than ever before. To help guide media companies through this maze, Digistor has launched a new consultation service.

ACCORDING TO DIGISTOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, Andrew Mooney, the new service is part of the company’s push to offer not only integrated solutions, but to also enter into a consulting partnership with its customers.

“It’s about us being able to offer services to help our customers work their way through the technology maze,” says Mooney, “because they’re faced with all sorts of challenges and they need to do things faster and more cost effectively and they’re not necessarily sure what technology they need to use.

“That’s where we come in in terms of our consulting services and we can go in there and talk to them about what they’re doing at the moment, what they want to do in the future, what’s coming down the track that they may not necessarily be aware of, and what sort of direction or workflows they need to start looking at in order to improve their efficiencies and enable them to deliver whatever they need to deliver.

“Initially, it is about having a conversation about what they need to do within their business. It’s becoming more about the actual workflow as opposed to saying ‘Oh, I want to buy ‘X’. I need to transcode this piece of media.’

Well, you may need to transcode the media but you may also need an asset management system so you can track it, so you can archive it, so you can deliver it, so you can automate all that. So, it’s really just about expanding that conversation so that we’re covering the whole pipeline, because if you’re going in there purely to just talk about transcoding, then you may not necessarily be addressing their needs because you’re not asking those other questions.”

The Digistor Managing Director says the need to take such an holistic approach arises from the seismic shifts in the industry over recent years.

“There’s an accelerating move to file based workflows and pipelines,” says Andrew Mooney. “All of that means that there is a huge increase in digitised material. It’s an explosion of content.

“People are unsure how to develop and control those workflows. They’re making it up on the fly. They’ve evolved over time when they’ve had an edit suite and then they’ve added another one and another one, so there are things that work but they’re not proper coherent workflows and they’re not controllable. So, they go out of control which effects productivity and quality.

“There’s a move to IP transmission, so rather than communicating things on tape or drives or from one place, it’s all moving to IP. People don’t really know

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

how to exploit that and how that integrates into your pipelines and workflows.

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“Then there’s automation, removing manual intervention. Budgets are not getting bigger but demand is increasing, so you not only have to produce a TV show, you have to produce snippets that are online and online immediately.

You have to put it on the website and you have to Tweet it and you have to put it on Facebook. So the production cycle is shorter for a broader range of material in different formats. So, there’s a demand for higher productivity

has been changed into graphics or editing or producers and they all need to collaborate and use the same materials.

“Some of that’s outsourced as well, so it’s not necessarily within the same facility. They’re outsourcing parts of a particular project based on where the skills are. If someone’s got some skills on the other side of Australia or the other side of the world to do particular tasks, high quality, faster, cheaper, then customers will outsource it to them and get them to do whatever that work is and bring it back into their project. From a cloud-based collaboration and editing point of view, that’s really becoming a big part of it, too, in terms of getting people’s costs down.”

While these changes have been playing out for a number of years now and there are a myriad of solutions available, Mooney says there are still problems and misunderstanding on the implementation side.

“I think the adoption of the asset management side of it hasn’t been very welladopted,” he says. “People have sort of tried to make do with what they’ve got but I think it’s getting to a pain point where they’re actually realising that they’re almost coming to a grinding halt because it’s so much media to manage.

“Up until 12 months ago, people were not in the asset management mindset, but now we are starting to make significant inroads and people are getting their head around that. They are sitting on all this content which they could quite easily reuse or repurpose and actually monetise. So, we’re having more and more conversations around media asset management and what efficiencies that can introduce into your workflow or your pipeline.

without compromising quality, demand for higher resolution which is

“The good thing is, at Digistor, we represent a number of different vendors, so

increased storage and everyone’s switched to HD but now they have to

while the vendors are always going to push their own agenda, we can really sit

consider 2k and 4k and 8k and whether their infrastructure and pipelines are

down and analyse what those requirements are, work out what the customer

in place to support that and how they can futureproof that.

would like to do and suggest the most appropriate solution. It’s unbiased

“Also, there’s the rise of collaborative production environments. It used to

advice on what’s going to work best for them.”

be people just working by themselves on little islands but now the workflow

Visit www.digistor.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

?

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NOW, WHERE DID YOU PARK THAT FILE?

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

You need a SatNav for your photo, graphic, and video files.

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

Ken Duncan – Still Life with Storage BASED AT HIS GALLERY on the New South Wales Central Coast, Ken Duncan has built a distinguished career as one of Australia’s best known stills photographers. With a recently released new book, Ken Duncan’s Australia, and a 4K video documentary collaboration with TV legend Ray Martin, the veteran lensman has been embracing not only digital image acquisition, but digitalisation and file management with the aid of technology from Seagate.

“My first introduction to backup and hard drives was having to use computers. Even when I was shooting film we'd digitise the images and then do post production on the images, but it was nothing like now, today, because we've got digital cameras and I was very reluctant to move to the digital format because I wanted to wait till the quality was definitely there. I still shoot film as well as digital because I love to keep that analogue version and digital version going, but ultimately everything is stored in the digital format.

“You start and then, all of a sudden, you'll realise you'll start to get larger and larger files. An average file size for me is about 1.5Gb. I started with different drive systems and different RAID set-ups. So, the next thing I'm ending up with all these drives and so it was just like a rabbit warren of drives and so whenever I had to go and access something I'd have to go and think, ‘Now, what drive is it on?’ and then every three months you'd have to pull all those drives out and I would've had at least 40 drives. I just thought, ‘This is a recipe for disaster, this is just getting out of control. I've got to deal with this’.

having a computer onsite. I use the little Seagate drive or the LaCie one.

Ken finally settled on a Seatgate/LaCie solution, including:

folders reflecting chronological order, shot location and camera model

transfer speed cards because otherwise you're sitting around waiting because you've got USB 3. USB 3 is faster than most cards can ever read, so get the highest speed cards you can get, so you're downloading things quickly onto your small drive.”

When downloading, Duncan sticks to a simple file structure creating used.

• NAS using enterprise-grade 6TB Seagate Enterprise NAS HDD’s with Seagate Rescue Data Recovery Services, stored in fireproof data safe

done it, onto another drive. So, I just carry those portable drives around

• 2 LaCie Rugged RAID 4TB drives “Seagate was my option because they were well-priced, they had all the specifications and I used the two different varieties. I used the Enterprise and the NAS system, but I have a combination of both.

“I have two backups of everything, so I want to make sure at least one is an Enterprise system, and then the other one is a NAS system, and basically I date my drives and, in four years, I'll replace them. I'm not going to wait for them to break down. It's just a strategy.”

Workflow Being a renowned landscape photographer, most of Duncan’s work takes place in the field and relies on a card-based workflow.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

What is the transfer speed with the cards? Make sure you have the highest

• DAS populated with 4TB Seagate NAS HDDs with capacity of 52 terabytes at RAID 6

• 2 Seagate Backup Plus Fast 4TB drives

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But basically, I have a high speed card reader. I'm shooting on the cards.

“My camera shoots 80 megapixel, so multiply that, so you're getting files, just standard, about 300, 400Mb, but the thing is then I start stitching and so you've got 12, 14 of those, so the next minute you've got – and then you start putting it into Photoshop, layering, so you can have 2.5Gb, 3Gb Photoshop documents and so you're starting off – one file you've started to do a stitch, so you've done your RAW files, then you've got your TIFFs, then you've got your stitch, your RAW stitch file, then you've got your layered file, so one image ends up creating quite a bit of information and I always store it all together “So, on a standard shoot without shooting video, I would shoot 300, 400Gb, just on one shoot and I'm about to get a 100 megapixel camera so it goes to even more.

“I always take the computer. I don't think there is any other solution than

“I do it like that because then I'll back it up again, that day's work, once I've with me, one terabyte drives, which are more than enough, really, for most shoots unless you start shooting video, or I have the LaCie drives which are four terabytes when you're doing video, but I always have two backups when I'm travelling.

When Duncan returns from an expedition, files are then loaded onto the Enterprise and NAS systems for further processing.

Simplicity is also front and centre for Ken Duncan when shooting video.

“We just shot our first documentary which is going to come out soon with Ray Martin. It's called Chasing the Light,” says Duncan. “We shot it with all stills cameras and the footage is amazing, and we were using drones. Video is a pain because there are so many formats. So I just shoot MP4s and sometimes 4K to allow for movement to get it back to 1920 x 1080.

“When I'm out in the field,” concludes Duncan, “I don't just shoot my head off. The other thing is get it right in the camera. One of the biggest problems that is happening now is people thinking you can fix everything up in Photoshop. I don't want to go to Photoshop, I want to get it right in my RAW file. I'm always looking at my histogram and making sure that I'm getting the histogram perfect, getting the maximum dynamic range in my shot and setting the peak at the right point, which was the same for film.

“For me, shooting on transparency, I had basically four stop latitude between the highlights and the shadows. Now with digital you've got 12 and people tend to think you can push it either way. You're still better off getting it right and if you get it right, very little Photoshop is ever needed.”

Visit www.seagate.com/au/en/ and www.kenduncan.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

How VOD Services Use Cloud Transcoding to Stay Ahead

By Mark Stanton “A three-hour movie, downloaded from a studio’s server, can be as much as 250 gigabytes at first. This one file must be transcoded up to 20 times to be compatible with different devices.”

CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES ARE FUNDAMENTALLY transforming the media and entertainment industry. They provide scalability, flexibility and agility to organisations large and small, and with varying degrees of operational sophistication.

to a growing list of options that

Offloading computing, storage — even complete applications — eliminates operational burdens, improves speed-to-market for new services, and removes bottlenecks from media workflows. The end result is a reduced total cost of ownership for media service deployment and much greater flexibility.

That means scaling operations to

Media encoding is well-suited for the cloud. In fact, transcoding is one of the fastest growing uses of cloud computing, according to technology analyst firm Frost and Sullivan. As online video continues to blossom, traditional, onpremises video encoding methods have struggled to keep up with scalability challenges, never mind the ever-changing standards required to publish video on the plethora of new devices. Accelerated file transfer technologies combined with parallel processing in the cloud have removed barriers to transcoding workflows, and offer huge scale and speed improvements.

Cloud-based services offer the unlimited power and flexibility to media companies dealing with professional, high-quality, large files, and to organisations with time-sensitive content, as well as user-generated content.

These cases differ in terms of their workflows and business models, but each is able to derive value from leveraging the cloud.

Video-on-demand services are perhaps one of the best use case examples to demonstrate the benefits of cloud-based transcoding. Services like Netflix, and Stan in Australia, have grown dramatically since their initial launches in early 2015, offering up hundreds of thousands of hours of television shows and movies, over the internet, to dozens of different devices.

Behind them sits a complex workflow that must work smoothly, and very quickly, to ensure that the latest Hollywood blockbuster or new Game of Thrones episode makes it to viewers’ screens when they expect it. For instance, a three-hour movie, downloaded from a studio’s server, can be as much as 250 gigabytes at first. This one file must be transcoded up to 20 times to be compatible with different devices — from TVs to different web browsers, iPads, iPhones and other devices – in multiple video formats.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

It’s no mean feat to accomplish, and requires the technology that can ensure the content served up does not skimp on quality. For an Australian video on demand service like Stan, which launched in January 2015, cloud-based transcoding was vital to ensuring that thousands of hours of content were available to their prospective customer base on launch day.

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broadcasters and content providers need to support in order to ensure wide compatibility across devices. handle the re-encoding of libraries, while still processing the day-to-day content.

Similarly, there is a significant need to support digital rights management (DRM) capabilities to ensure these videos cannot be downloaded and distributed illegally. The emergence of new DRM formats puts the onus on content providers and VOD services to ensure their content is compatible in order to be used across as many devices as possible.

Time-Sensitive Content and Large Files – Full Steam Ahead Lastly, the Internet provides an almost instantaneous distribution channel for today’s content providers, and speed-to-market is a critical factor. For Australian VOD providers particularly, much relies on their ability to provide new episodes of TV shows that air in the United States, to their Australian subscribers, as quickly as possible.

These episodes are often not made available to the VOD providers until the day of their US airing, meaning that services like Stan have a matter of hours between when a new TV episode is aired in the United States, and when it must be made available to Australian viewers. With traditional, on-premises transcoding, this would add hours onto the time it takes to download and make it available. With cloud-based transcoding it can be done in a matter of minutes, temporarily increasing transcoding capacity to deal with peak usage requirements.

The biggest drivers of cloud transcoding have been access to the scalability and agility of the cloud, reduced complexity associated with outsourcing non-core technologies, and the need to keep up with and future-proof for

Cloud-based transcoding could cut what would take six or more months with traditional approaches, down to mere weeks. This type of transcoding allows businesses to scale up or down when needed, according to fluctuating workloads. Content providers and media companies can also scale instantly for large spikes in demand, eliminating large, upfront investments into idle capacity.

the diverse multi-screen device world. The declining cost of bandwidth is

Powering Multi-Screen Video and OnDemand Content

fought market.

Cloud transcoding also allows VOD services to future-proof their content.

Today, audiences consume video on a growing range of platforms and devices. With the growth of mobile video and adoption of devices like Apple TV and Google Chromecast, support for video formats like HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and MPEG-DASH becomes crucial. These formats add

paying only for what they use, based on the duration of the video and the

also a key driver.

As online video continues to grow, cloud transcoding will become more critical to help media companies realise the monetary potential of this ecosystem, while remaining competitive and differentiated in a fiercely Whether it’s two or 200,000 hours, cloud-based transcoding is becoming a preferred solution for media publishers – with metered billing customers number of output streams.

Mark Stanton is Technical Director, ANZ at Brightcove.

Visit www.brightcove.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

Tedial Introduces Version Factory AT NAB 2016, TEDIAL will introduce Version Factory, its media factory workflow, and highlight its newly released Evolution BPM, a business process management workflow engine. Both solutions will be demonstrated in Booth N 5516 throughout the show.

Version Factory – a media factory workflow – is capable of supporting millions of file input to output configurations, and can be managed from a single operator screen. Designed to interface to content management/ rights management/traffic/work order systems for automated operations, the Version Factory stacks chosen media engines (transcoders, quality control, DRM, CDN, etc.), employs SMPTE standardised designs for future proof ’N-input to N-output’ operations and provides flexibility and scalability for OTT/VOD Platforms, Network Operations and media companies focused on managing their Brand across all distribution formats.

Evolution BPM, meanwhile, is a flexible Business Process Management (BPMN 2.0 compliant) Workflow engine.

Evolution BPM is a solution designed for when an operation is struggling to manage an ever-growing number of workflows per day, hour or second. Benchmarked against industry workflow engines such as Bonitasoft and Activity and already deployed in sites around the world, Evolution BPM is clocked 17x faster and scales linearly through platform additions, whether physical or virtual, with no limitations. Evolution BPM can process 50,000 workflows in only 2.9 minutes on an average sized platform.

Visit www.tedial.com

Marquis to Launch Remote Workflow Monitoring MARQUIS BROADCAST has announced it will launch Medway Monitoring at NAB this year. The solution provides the ability to monitor multiple Medway systems from anywhere with a live health check of Avid and Medway workflows through a web server, allowing monitoring to take place remotely. Marquis will demonstrate Medway Monitoring for the first time at NAB on booth SL8730.

Chris Steele, Managing Director, Marquis Broadcast explains, “Complex workflows are hampered by time consuming and repetitive operations brought on by a variety of formats. Medway is a flexible media and metadata workflow automation solution which eliminates file incompatibilities. By providing transfer and format conversion workflows

for video, audio, data and metadata, Medway allows for the exchange of media and metadata between broadcast systems in a fast, transparent and cost effective way, enabling its users to operate complete file based workflow in mixed format environments.

“The new Medway Monitoring application now eliminates the need for local software to ‘see what’s going on’ inside the workflow. This and our Medway Engine Web Services product, pave the way for cloud or data centre operation,” continues Steele. “The fresh design of the interface is intuitive and easy to navigate enabling users to focus on the business of media production while we take care of the technical know-how.”

Visit www.marquisbroadcast.com

Dynamic Media Management AT NAB 2016 (Booth SL10261), Primestream will demonstrate its Dynamic Media Management solution integrating workflow from capture, production, and management through to delivery of all types of assets. Primestream integrates wide ranging workflows, from traditional broadcast to New Media workflows delivering digital content for OTT or mobile clients. New at NAB are Virtual Reality/360 workflows, enhancements to 4K, MXF workflows, and enhanced integration with Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Apple Final Cut Pro X. Primestream will also showcase FORK v5.5 and Xchange v5.0, highlighting edit-while-capture workflows with XDCAM, ProRes and AVC-Intra, as well as archival workflows with object-based storage solutions to enable more efficient sports, news, entertainment, and corporate video operations.

Primestream’s metadata exchange comes standard with the latest version of FORK, enabling users to add optional metadata driven newsroom and realtime sports-data feed integration.

Dynamic Media Management virtualises media, enabling users to access, automate and manage content based on any definable criteria. FORK now offers broader support for third-party Traffic systems with solutions for metadata exchange between traffic, MAM and automation. Users can increase efficiency by making use of metadata generated by Traffic systems in the FORK acquisition, production, archive and playout modules.

Xchange v5.0 includes support for Equirectangular Virtual Reality/360 media playback and review, giving customers a path to managing New Media workflows. Also new in this release is direct API integration with Telestream’s Vantange for automated transcode workflows, including support for spanned camera assets – to manage assets from multiple memory cards.

Primestream is also introducing project centric workflows in Xchange v5.0 – enabling users and teams to create, share and collaborate post production projects inside Xchange, or using a built-in plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro. Users can now organise raw footage, or final edited programs with various languages within a single workspace, simplifying searching and automation.

Workflow actions can now be triggered for entire projects, for example sending them to archive or automating transcode deliverables when production is complete. Users can also consolidate a project’s entire asset library with a new project export feature.

TMD Expands Cloud-Enabled, Service-Oriented Platform TMD IS EXPANDING its range of media service solutions to be launched at NAB2016. These new solutions provide a tailored entry into the Mediaflex-UMS environment, providing packaged options for specific workgroups which can grow into a complete workflow solution.

The new Media Service packages to be launched at NAB meet the needs of individual business processes, and operational teams. They include Aperture, a new ingest tool for the digitisation, capture, and management of content for broadcast operations, content preservation, and media owners. Chameleon for DAM, allows staff throughout an organisation to manage their media, search for content, and raise works order to fulfil media needs.

These new packaged products join the existing packaged solutions

Paragon for archiving (now supporting LTO-7), OnPoint for post and Transform for OTT streaming delivery. Each can be used as a standalone solution, or they can be combined using the Mediaflex-UMS platform.

TMD’s UMS Client web interface provides a unified user experience across all products.

Mediaflex-UMS is virtualised, meaning it can run and scale flexibly on premise, in a data centre or in the cloud. TMD is an Amazon Web Services partner and can design system architectures to bridge on premise and cloud services to provide solutions matched to the precise needs of today’s media companies.

Visit www.tmd.tv

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

Visit www.primestream.com

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AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

VIC Police Forensic Unit Chooses JBL Monitors MELBOURNE’S NEW AUD$230 MILLION City West police station in

Docklands houses nearly 1500 staff, united from multiple locations and divisions. With over 240 rooms fitted out with audio visual equipment, the facility boasts everything from a simple screen with automated control in the lunch room to a 28 screen video wall in the main operation centre that can display 16 individual sources at once. The building is also the new home of the Forensic Audio Unit, which is tasked with analysis and enhancement of audio recordings to solve and prevent crimes.

Ry Wilton, Audio Visual Commissioning Technician at Programmed Electrical Technology headed up the installation team, making the Police’s AV design a reality. Part of that was delivering a reference-quality monitoring solution for their main forensic audio studio, which was built to exacting standards.

“Everything had to be soundproofed,” reports Ry. “The walls were up to 285mm thick with alternating layers of wood and metal so the studio was also immune to radio interference. We had to get all of our cabling and services in before the walls went up, or we wouldn’t have gotten through.

They’ve installed a mixing desk that routes all their sources: computers, DVD, CD and proprietary recorders. They can play any format of audio. For

monitoring, they needed something that could be both extremely loud but also crystal clear.”

The Forensic Audio Unit is tasked with enhancement and analysis of a wide variety of sources, including speech and ambient sound. Having used and loved 1980s era JBL 4430 studio monitors at the old facility in Macleod, the audio team had come to trust the JBL brand. In choosing new monitors for City West, the team decided on a pair of JBLs M2 Master Reference monitors, powered by a Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD power amp.

With five new patents in their 2216Nd Differential Drive Woofer, and one each for the D2 Dual HF driver, Image Control Waveguide, and bass reflex Port, the M2s are at the forefront of studio monitor technology. The M2s deliver a frequency response of 20 Hz to 40 kHz, and 123 dB maximum SPL. The M2s are run bi-amped by the Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD, which delivers 4000W per channel at 4 ohms (1 kHz 20 ms burst). Each channel features a complete compliment of OMNIDRIVEHD processing, including the LevelMAX Limiter Suite, and support for linear phase FIR filters.

Visit www.jands.com.au

Angus Robertson Returns to Spectrum Films WITH OVER 31 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE across all areas of sound post production, Angus Robertson has been involved in 147 feature films and over 300 hours of television. With credits in a range of roles from Dead Calm, The Year My Voice Broke, and Black Robe, to his more recent work as part of the 2016 Oscar winning sound team on Mad Max – Fury Road, as well as Truth, The Railway Man, Australia, Happy Feet, The Great Gatsby, The Sapphires, Lord of the Rings, Babe, The Adventures of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, and Little Fish.

A founding member of the Australia Screen Sound Guild as well as a host of other industry bodies, Angus has also been a guest lecturer at the Australian Film Television and Radio School for the past 20 years.

Commencing his career at Sound on Film, Angus managed and operated the ADR and foley stage for Spectrum Films from the mid-1980s. Since then he has both freelanced as a sound supervisor, editor, recording engineer and mixer. In 2007 Angus joined Deluxe Australia (formerly Atlab) establishing StageOne Sound and overseeing all the company’s sound requirements.

Now in its 51st year, Spectrum Films has established a new state of the art facility at Fox Studios. Continuing to provide world class service with purpose built editorial suites, 5.1 surround sound mix theatre, DI colour grading finishing – the Spectrum Films service offering provides a multitude of post services.

Spectrum Films’ General Manager Adam Scott said, “It’s great having Angus return home to Spectrum Films to continue the legacy of our Award Winning Sound department.”

Visit www.spectrumfilms.com.au

SAE Celebrates 40 years in 2016 SAE CREATIVE MEDIA INSTITUTE, the education provider of creative media courses, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016.

From humble beginnings as an audio engineering school launched by Tom Misner in Sydney in 1976, the Institute now spans 54 campuses in 28 countries.

SAE’s alumni lineup includes:

AUDIO

• Byron Bay graduate and Grammy award winner for his work on Gravity, Billy Butler • Brisbane graduate and FX Technical Director at Sony Pictures, Alex Halstead • Byron Bay graduate and keyboardist for Sydneybased indie dance trio RUFUS, Jonathan George • Melbourne graduate, filmmaker and Accolade Global Film Competition Award winner, Gii Ness

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• Brisbane graduate and programmer Kelsey Lee Stay, who joined the inaugural Startup Catalyst mission to Silicon Valley in 2014.

SAE acquired Qantm College in 2004 and became registered as a higher education provider in NSW in 2007. The Institute has opened colleges in Europe, the UK, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and New Zealand. The Institute was acquired by global education leader and ASX Top 100 company, Navitas, in 2011.

interact with on a daily basis.”

Its otherwise rapid trajectory was slowed recently with the announcement that operations in Singapore are set to close in October this year.

education and VET courses in audio, film, animation,

According to SAE Institute Global CEO, Scott Jones, "It's a privilege to work and lead SAE Institute, especially with the level of talented students and teachers I get to

“Our facilities, constant innovation and industry leading programs further enhance the SAE experience. With the pace of technology innovation for both creative and noncreative industries, I am really excited about what lies ahead for SAE Institute and the next 40 years."

SAE currently educates about 10,000 students worldwide. In Australia, the Institute delivers higher design, games, and web/mobile to about 3,000 students at campuses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Byron Bay andAdelaide.

Visit https://sae.edu.au

AUDIO

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Studer Infinity sets new standards for broadcast audio mixing power and system redundancy.

Big productions demand a lot of processing muscle. The new Studer Infinity core delivers an unprecedented 800+ audio channels with superb sonic quality and aviation-standard system redundancy. Studer A-Link fibre interfaces provide more than 5000 inputs and outputs. And intuitive control comes courtesy of the new Vista X surface, with comprehensive audio and loudness metering, powerful surround sound management, automated mic mixing for unscripted panel shows and Auto Touch Plus Dynamic Automation.

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AUDIO

Minnetonka Expands Surcode and Audiotools MINNETONKA AUDIO WILL BE featuring its latest digital audio software solutions at NAB 2016 (Booth SU11921). Demonstrated at the show will be the latest version of AudioTools Server, AudioTools CLOUD, SurCode Dolby Digital Plus for Avid and SurCode Dolby E for Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Version 4.1 AudioTools Server provides users with new features including the addition of Linear Acoustic APTOTM adaptive loudness processing. Linear Acoustic APTO (sold separately) is the next generation loudness processing solution designed for compliance in a real-time environment. Linear Acoustic APTO is available as an OEM module for direct integration, or can be used in AudioTools Server in a file-based mode. Available as a free upgrade to existing AudioCare subscribers, 4.1 now includes an operator application for simple workflow configuration, design and submission.

For facilities that need to keep pace with new audio technologies, Minnetonka will be demonstrating AudioTools CLOUD. From the occasional job, to expanding throughput for higher volume workloads, AudioTools CLOUD brings proven Minnetonka audio processing to the cloud, allowing on-demand, case-by-case use. Businesses only pay for the infrastructure

they need, when they need it, using Amazon AWS. Also on display will be the SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus Encoder and Decoder – the first solution to bring Dolby Digital Plus to the Avid platform.

SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus enables encoding and decoding of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital audio files. The plug-in is available as an iLok protected 32/64bit AAX Real-time or AudioSuite plug-in for Pro Tools 10.3.6 or higher and Media Composer Family 8.1 or higher.

Rounding out the company’s Dolby solutions for NAB 2016 is the SurCode Dolby E Encoder and Decoder, which works with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. SurCode allows for files to be encoded and decoded directly within Premiere Pro CC. The iLok protected VST decoder can be instantiated as a real-time confidence monitor, and used for faster than real-time export. The Encoder is available as a WIBU protected export plug-in in the Adobe Media Encoder export engine. SurCode for Dolby E Encoder and Decoder for Adobe Premiere Pro CC is included at no additional charge in the SurCode for Dolby E Bundle and Master Suite.

Visit www.minnetonkaaudio.com

Linear Acoustic Updates MT2000 Analyser LINEAR ACOUSTIC IS INTRODUCING the latest updates for its MT2000 Multichannel Bitstream Analyser at the 2016 NAB Show (Booth SU11921).

Featuring a suite of test capabilities in a handheld form factor, the MT2000 allows engineers to analyse and troubleshoot digital audio paths quickly and portably.

A bright OLED display provides channel signal levels and loudness, as well

This portable diagnostic tool identifies input signal type, including sample rate, video format and frame rate, as well as error detection at the bitstream and AES3 layers. It supports two-channel and multichannel PCM, plus Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby E decoding, monitoring, and analysis.

The MT2000 is able to output test signals in both PCM- and Dolby-coded

The software update offers a streamlined menu structure, automatic detection of input signal type, and now viewing of all 16 audio channels at once. In addition, the MT2000 can also analyse SMPTE 337 formatting, measure Dolby E guard band and line position, and display all the metadata contained in a Dolby encoded bitstream. In support of ATSC A/85 (CALM) and EBU R128 recommendations, it also includes ITU-R BS.1770-1/2/3 loudness measurement capabilities with user selectable Dolby Dialog Intelligence.

Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby E test bitstreams, which are stored internally.

as status updates, while a combination jog wheel and navigation joystick provides control. In addition to viewing the characteristics of a signal from the analyser’s display, engineers can utilise the unit’s built-in speaker or headphone output to listen to the audio. formats, and can output test signals simultaneously on all outputs, even while receiving and decoding an input signal. When generating twochannel PCM tone signals, it allows independently adjustable frequency and level on each channel. It also offers an extensive set of Dolby Digital, The unit also allows for the generation of SDI video, measurement of A/V synchronisation (lip sync) and audio latency.

Signal I/O includes HD/SD-SDI, AES, MADI and TOSLINK. Additional options include DVB-ASI and HDMI inputs. Power is supplied by an internal NiMH battery or an included external DC power supply.

Visit www.telosalliance.com/linear

Nugen ‘Upmixes’ Post and Broadcast Tools AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW, Nugen Audio will demonstrate updates to its family of post-production and broadcast audio tools. These include updates to the company’s upmixing, batch processing, and offline loudness tools.

AUDIO

Nugen Audio will unveil a new option for Halo Upmix, the company’s solution for upmixing stereo audio to surround. The 9.1 option allows the introduction of vertical positioning into the upmix, generating a 7.1.2 (Dolby Atmos) bed track-compatible upmix.

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Management Batch (LMB) Processor. These updates include improved LRA correction speed for the DynApt Extension and wider file format support for the ProRes Extension, which now supports .MOV files using Version 2 descriptors and those with the LPCM format flag. Channel support for LMB Processor is now increased from 16 to 32 channels when advanced routing is used for both the MXF Extension and ProRes Extension. These updates are available at no charge to current owners.

Available in Avid AAX, VST, and AU formats, Halo Upmix automates the creation of a stereo-to-surround, downmix-compatible upmix with unique centre channel management and spatial density controls. Combining several technologies, including frequency and time-domain energy distribution and neural network artificial intelligence, Halo Upmix enables producers to target various upmix goals, including full stable surrounds, exact downmix matching, and/or full dialog isolation. In addition to stem and group upmixing, producers can use Halo Upmix’s centre channel control and management to fine-tune a surround mix and to create intricate mixes when there is no access to the original stems. The Halo Upmix 9.1 option will be available in April, with pricing to be announced.

Nugen Audio will also demonstrate a new Adobe Premiere integration for its LM-Correct 2 loudness quick-fix tool. For the first time, Premiere Pro users will have LM-Correct at their fingertips to help them adhere to any worldwide loudness standard with faster-than-real-time performance. This integration brings the same loudness management workflow to Adobe Premiere that Avid users already enjoy with LM-Correct 2. Using Adobe’s Common Extensibility Platform (CEP), Nugen Audio has created a fully integrated CEP panel for LM-Correct 2. This means Nugen Audio’s award-winning loudness analysis and correction can now be run from a simple panel within Adobe Premiere without requiring users to leave the editing environment.

Nugen Audio has also built technology extensions for its Loudness

Visit www.nugenaudio.com

The Adobe Premiere integration is free for all existing LM-Correct 2 users.

AUDIO

Studio Monitor Control JBL PROFESSIONAL RECENTLY showcased a new line-up of monitor

5.1 Headphone Monitor

system controllers designed to enhance the workflow in music recording,

DAYSEQUERRA WILL DEBUT a new 5.1 headphone monitoring

post production and

system at NAB 2016. Designed for accurate rendering of a discreet 5.1

broadcast control rooms.

soundstage, the iMix 5.1 Monitor does not require artificial ambience

The new controllers are

or special encoding to accurately reproduce multichannel audio in

matched for use with JBL’s

headphones. Additionally, the iMix 5.1 Monitor works with any type

3 Series studio monitors

of headphone, including open backed, closed back, in ear, or ear buds

and can be used with any studio speaker system.

without the need for individual HRTF calibration or special setup.

In a desktop form factor,

Developed over a two-year period, this new DaySequerra product

the Nano Patch+ serves as the volume control between the output of the

allows for accurate and quick assessment of 5.1 surround audio

production system and a pair of studio monitors. The unit features balanced

including program quality, levels and loudness. The iMix 5.1 Monitor

combo XLR/TRS and stereo mini TRS input connectors, balanced TRS and stereo mini TRS outputs, and all-passive circuitry. The top panel features a large, comfortable volume control for precise level adjustments and a system mute switch.

The M-Patch 2 stereo controller and switch box (pictured) can be placed

ships with three sets of AES digital inputs and features the latest version ITU-R BS.1770 loudness measurement system, as well as a built-in web-server – an HD-SDI input is optional. No proprietary encoding is required and test tone locations are rendered with precise image

on the desktop and is rack-mountable to provide versatile switching and

integrity. BLITS tones and TWIRL tests are readily managed without the

dedicated level controls for two stereo input sources. Signals are routed to

need for artificial ambience that masks the program audio.

two sets of balanced outputs with A/B selection and selectable stereo-to mono summing. The unit features an integrated headphone output with a dedicated level control.

JBL also announced the Active Speaker Starter Pack as an add-on to JBL 3

The iMix 5.1 Monitor is designed for use by broadcasters, production houses, content creators, recording studios, mastering houses and HDTV networks.

Series studio monitors. The pack bundles two studio monitor isolation pads

iMix 5.1 Headphone Monitor field testing will start during the upcoming

with the Nano Patch+ volume controller and four 3-meter male XLR-to-TRS

NASCAR, MLB and NFL seasons – production will commence in Q4.

cables.

Visit www.daysequerra.com

Visit www.jblpro.com

DIGITAL LINK PROTECTION OPTIMISED DYNAMIC RANGE PLUG and RECORD

AUDIO

sennheiser.com/avx

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AUDIO

Mic/Line to Dante Interface STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE showcasing its new Model 5205 mic/line to Dante Interface as part of its Dante-enabled product line-up

Calrec Technologies for Audio and Video Over-IP

during NAB 2016 (Booth C8549). Designed for broadcast, production and

CALREC WILL SHOWCASE four new networking interfaces at NAB

systems-integration applications, the Model 5205 allows two microphone or

2016, including an AES67/Ravenna interface, an AVB interface, and a

line-level signals to interface with systems that use Dante media networking

modular I/O Dante card that also has AES67 compatibility. In addition,

technology.

Calrec will debut a SMPTE 2022-6 video interface.

The inherent interoperability of Dante allows the Model 5205 to be used with

Each element of Calrec’s protocol range redundantly connects to Hydra2

other Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled products, or with scores of devices

and appears like any other I/O resource on the Hydra2 network. Hydra2’s

from other manufacturers. It is aimed at use in conjunction with a variety of fixed

integral suite of management tools provides additional benefits to allow

and portable audio applications where one or two analogue audio signals need to

remote configuration patching, port protection, alias files, virtual patchbays,

join a Dante network.

and access rights.

The unit’s audio circuitry, adjustable gain, and phantom power allows almost

The AES67/Ravenna and AVB interfaces are a 1RU box that can transport 256

any source to be handled correctly. Virtually all condenser, dynamic, and ribbon microphones are compatible, as are most balanced and unbalanced analogue line-level sources.

The mic/line inputs are optimised for use in both permanent and portable/field applications. Extensive filtering minimises the chance that radio frequency (RF) energy will interfere with the audio input signals. Other components are included to specifically address ESD, or ‘static’ situations, helping to ensure reliable operation.

the unit with 512 channels of audio – one of the highest-bandwidth connections available for either protocol. The box can accommodate one of each card, allowing simultaneous operation of multiple formats.

The SMPTE 2022 modular I/O card has a 10GB port that can receive up to four SD, HD, or 3G video streams, de-embedding 16 audio channels from each. Each video stream may be retransmitted intact or with new embedded audio. A secondary 10GB port provides for hitless switching, as defined by SMPTE 2022-7.

The Model 5205’s can be mounted, using optional brackets, underneath a table or on-air studio set. With its use of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) for its power source, the Model 5205 can be ready to accept signal sources from a variety of userprovided devices. Applications include TV, radio and streaming broadcast events, corporate and government AV installations, and post-production facilities.

Visit www.studio-tech.com

channels of audio on a single connection. A second expansion card provides

Calrec’s existing Dante modular I/O card, launched at IBC 2014, utilises Audinate’s Brooklyn II card and now offers AES67 support as standard.

This combination allows access to up to 64 bidirectional channels in either protocol.

Visit http://calrec.com

Slogan created by:

AUDIO

Name: Jo Partridge Job title: Runner Company: Airfield Studios

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190x127mm_Calrec_C&T.indd 1

28/03/2016 19:09

RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

Dissent Over Community Broadcasting Funding Reforms MAJOR PLAYERS IN AUSTRALIA’S COMMUNITY radio and TV sector have called for unity in the release of a joint statement of support for reforms to the Community Broadcasting Foundation’s (CBF) structure and governance arrangements.

The statement supports the continuation of the CBF as the most appropriate funding distribution body and asks, in the interests of the sector, that the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council (NEMBC) to consider ending a public campaign against the reforms.

The organisations signing the statement include: The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA); The Christian Media Australia (CMA); RPH Australia (Radio Reading Network serving people with a print disability); Southern Community Media Association (SCMA); South Australian Community Broadcasters Association (SACBA); Community Broadcasting Association of Victoria (CBAV); Technorama Inc; and The Australian Community Television Alliance (ACTA).

According to the CBF, it has spent two years revising its organisational structure and governance arrangements to better manage and distribute funding to community broadcasters.

It says key benefits offered by the new model include: Making grant processes more straight-forward for applicants; Helping the sector respond to a rapidly changing media environment; Encouraging more grassroots involvement in grant assessment processes; and Ensuring the CBF Board, advisory committees, and assessors are appropriately skilled.

supporting the CBF reforms.

“The changes are quite marked and do take a new tack. It is not an easy process, and in our view it is not ‘perfect’ for everyone including our organisation. No change will be perfect for every party involved. However we are keen to progress, and thus far we have been given confidence to believe that the implementation will be a process in which we can all keep being consulted. It is about keeping communication lines open, and working collaboratively,” Bennison said.

Christian Media Australia (CMA) remains of the view that the changes proposed by the CBF are positive, providing timely reform to the mechanisms of assessing and distributing grant funds.

Nathan Brown, CEO of CMA says “CMA applauds the effort of the CBF to facilitate greater transparency and enable greater flexibility through these changes.”

The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council (NEMBC), however, says it will maintain its campaign against what it describes as “the disempowering changes being implemented by the CBF”.

The NEMBC is asking all ethnic community broadcasters and stations to boycott the CBF’s new model and boycott the call for nominations for any of the positions on the board or committees.

The CBF will transition to its new structure in 2016 with new grant categories open for application in early 2017.

According to an NEMBC statement, “The proposed new model of operation is a radical change and complete departure from what we know as the CBF, it is a fundamental shift away from the reason why the CBF was established.

It changes the CBF from an agency that administers funds to one that determines what happens to those funds.

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, CEO, Jon Bisset said, “The CBAA is supportive of CBF reform and considers the review conducted by the CBF as a constructive step in ensuring that the CBF can deliver on its mission and support the community broadcasting sector well into the future.

“The CBF’s new model will mainstream and dilute ethnic funding that will mean ethnic radio stations will lose funding, ethnic language programs jeopardised and metro and regional stations will lose their incentive to broadcast new language programs.

“In January, the Community Broadcasting Sector Roundtable expressed its support for the continued management of federal government funding, including ethnic community broadcasting funding, by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. The Roundtable has also asked the federal government for a quick decision so that the long overdue CBF reforms do not get delayed.”

“Under the CBF proposed changes, democratic processes will be abolished and the NEMBC will be excluded from any say in how funds are to be distributed to ethnic community broadcasting. We are concerned that ethnic community broadcasting will be controlled by a small group of people – the CBF Board – that will hand-pick its own organisation and create a selfperpetuating board. The new CBF board will make decisions and determine new guidelines without ethnic community representation.”

Vaughn Bennison, Chair of the RPH Australia (Radio Reading Network), which serves the almost 5 million Australians with a print disability nationally, is also

Visit www.cbf.com.au, www.cbaa.org.au and www.nembc.org.au

Cars Drive Up DAB+ Digital Radio Listening

More than 307,500 new cars were sold with digital radio installed in 2015, up from 98,400 a year earlier, as more vehicle manufacturers upgraded the in-car entertainment systems offered in their new models.

“Australians love listening to radio in their cars, and it remains by far the most popular entertainment choice when driving,” said Joan Warner, Chief Executive Officer of CRA. “As people are discovering the great sound quality of digital radio in their cars as well as the additional stations, we are hearing anecdotally that it’s having a flow-on effect on sales of digital radios for the home,” she said.

Twenty-seven percent of new vehicles sold in 2015 were fitted with digital radio, and a range of manufacturers have announced the technology will

be standard in many of their new 2016/17 range models, including the Porsche Cayenne, Toyota Prius i-Tech, and Mitsubishi Pajero and Lancer.

Ms Warner said digital broadcast radio was now standard in 80 percent of new cars in the UK and the radio industry was reaching out to brands including Mazda and Hyundai to encourage them to start offering DAB+ in Australia.

Meanwhile, the latest quarterly GfK DAB+ Digital Radio Report shows the number of people listening to radio via a DAB+ device has grown to 3.35 million in the five capital cities where digital radio services have been launched. This reflects an increase of 179,000 listeners since the last report issued in November 2015.

The GfK DAB+ Digital Radio Report 1, 2016, including top stations info, is available from http://www.gfk.com/en-au/insights/report/digital-radioreport/ Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

RADIO

THE NUMBER OF NEW CARS on Australian roads fitted with DAB+ broadcast digital radio has tripled in the past year, helping to lift digital radio uptake to 25.3 percent of the population in the metropolitan capital cities, according to new data released today by Commercial Radio Australia.

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RADIO

Smartphone with Built-In DAB+ LG ELECTRONICS HAS UNVEILED its LG Stylus DAB+ device. Expected to be available in Australia later this year, the 5.7-inch handset features the world’s first built-in DAB+ broadcast digital radio.

Users will be able to access more radio channels with DAB+ than traditional FM, with up to 30 free digital only stations. Unlike radio broadcasting apps that use hefty amounts of data for streaming, DAB+ lets users listen to the radio for free and in excellent audio quality, plus DAB+ broadcasts pictures and text on screen.

The device was developed by LG in conjunction with The International DMB Advancement Group (IDAG), a global organisation representing radio broadcasters. Peak industry body, Commercial Radio Australia, a founding member of IDAG, was closely involved in the development of the device.

The handset is pre-installed with a DAB+ supporting chipset and an exclusive application. Broadcasters can develop their own tailored apps for the Stylus DAB+, in which internet services complement broadcast radio.

The LG Stylus DAB+ is only 7.4mm thin and weighs 145g. The handset delivers features such as a 3000mAh removable battery, an SD card slot and a 5.7-inch screen.

Visit www.lg.com.au

UK Extends DAB Trial

WinMedia Reinvents Voice-Tracking

UK REGULATOR OFCOM is proposing to extend a trial of small-scale

WINMEDIA HAS ANNOUNCED a new multi voice-tracking feature in

digital radio multiplexes for two years. The move follows the success of the trial, which has enabled 85 smaller radio stations, such as community radio stations, to broadcast on digital radio.

its flagship WinMedia Radio suite. The production technology specialist

Small-scale DAB is an innovative technology that makes use of software freely available from the website www.opendigitalradio.org, rather than relying on expensive hardware equipment.

Ofcom says it wishes to continue to monitor the longer-term performance of small-scale DAB while it develops a new licensing framework. There are 10 small-scale digital radio multiplexes around the UK on the trial. Each had a licence awarded in June 2015 for a ninemonth period.

Ofcom says it would like to extend these for a further two years, and will now begin the licence variation process with the individual multiplexes.

It will keep the trial under review, given its longer-term programme of work around licensing.

Visit www.ofcom.org.uk

has developed an integrated module offering the possibility to localise voice-tracks in case of regional broadcasts.

Many radio stations providing local programming face the challenge of having to produce several playlists. The new WinMedia multi voice-track feature means the broadcaster only needs to prepare one playlist and have its On-Air talent add their voice-tracks on one of the 32 recording tracks available. Embedded in WinMedia Mixing module, this feature allows the broadcaster to edit mixing points once, control all voicetracks at once and have On-Air talent record voice-tracks of the exact same duration. Boasting advanced multi-zone capabilities, the On-Air module triggers the right voice-track for each broadcasting zone from a single playlist.

Visit www.winmedia.org

Barix Partners with Wowza for Audio-over-IP AUDIO-OVER-IP PIONEER BARIX has become a Wowza Media Systems Tech Alliance partner, giving customers of both companies an interoperable solution for live and on-demand audio streaming. The non-exclusive partnership sees the vendors working together to simplify the audio-over-IP ecosystem in support of online content delivery.

The interoperable platform brings together the Barix Instreamer IP audio encoder with Wowza Streaming Engine media server software. Wowza Streaming Engine transports the real-time input stream from the Instreamer in support of live radio streams, on-demand podcasts and other audio content. Although the main focus is to support online and mobile delivery to consumers, the integrated Barix and Wowza solution can support many networked audio transport requirements in broadcast.

The Barix and Wowza Media Systems partnership was initially explored through a customer request, according to both companies. That customer, SportsLabs, is using the Barix and Wowza solution to power its Advanced Media Platform, which today manages more than 15,000 live video and audio events, and ingests more than 950 unique content feeds associated with online and mobile streaming of sports content.

Representatives from Barix and Wowza Media Systems will discuss the partnership and demonstrate the integration at the 2016 NAB Show. Barix will share space at the LineQ booth C1139. LineQ is Barix’s premier US distributor and a specialist in IP audio streaming and end-point systems.

Wowza Media Systems will exhibit at booth SU5324.

Visit www.barix.com

Remote Audio Encoding from Comrex

RADIO

COMREX HAS ANNOUNCED it will be releasing CrossLock for ACCESS (soon to be available for BRICLink II). The new upgrade will enable users to utilise multiple networks at once for improved broadcast reliability.

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CrossLock, a new feature included with ACCESS firmware 4.0, provides an added capability for bonding, which will allow multiple networks to be

utilised at once. In addition to network bonding, the user can configure multiple networks for redundancy mode, a better choice for reliability on higher bandwidth links. Additionally, forward error correction (FEC) and other ACCESS reliability tools are included with the firmware.

Visit www.comrex.com

RADIO

GatesAir Expands Intraplex IP Link Family AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW, GatesAir will showcase its IP Link family of audio

with the Intraplex HD Link microwave STL system to provide composite

codecs, including a new model built specifically for transporting analog FM composite multiplex signals over IP networks.

signals over a 950MHz link.

The IP Link MPX is a full duplex product built for studio-to-transmitter link (STL) applications for FM radio broadcasters. It is aimed at broadcasters that lack the network bandwidth to distribute a full AES192 digital FM composite signal, which typically requires 5MB/s of bandwidth, from studio to transmitter, and/or lack AES192 signal receiving capability in their legacy exciters. It is also configurable, allowing broadcasters to adjust bit rates for optimal bandwidth usage across a wide area network, using less than half of the bandwidth required for AES192.

decoding of audio and RDS content from either the input or output MPX

The new codec also provides an efficiency boost for engineers by enabling installation of all signal generating equipment at a central studio.

Broadcasters can send audio and data, including RDS information, in a single bandwidth-efficient stream to multiple transmitter and booster locations.

That capability is fortified through IP Link MPX’s integration of Intraplex SynchroCast simulcast technology, and built-in GPS capability for reliable timing recovery in multipoint distribution. The IP Link MPX can also be used

The IP Link MPX offers multiple input and output ports for signal redundancy, signal, and the option to incorporate external SCA subcarrier signals into the output MPX signal. It also offers features common across all IP Link codecs, including stream splicing, forward error correction and a trio of network interfaces for stream reliability.

Also on show is the IP Link 100P, a single-channel, full-duplex codec which adds advanced signal monitoring capabilities and integration with SynchroCast systems that are absent from base IP Link codecs, providing another audio contribution and distribution option for simulcasting across transmitter networks. All IP Link codecs also include new software for audio loudness levelling and metering based on EBU R128 and ITU-R BS 1770-3 standards for legal compliance.

Visit www.gatesair.com

Automated Channel Scanning AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW (booth C3730), Belar is extending Automated

The extension of this software function to the FMCS-1 brings value to

Channel Scanning to its FCMS-1 all-in-one monitor for multi-station FM or FM/HD monitoring.

broadcasters who want to monitor multiple FM signals, or a mix of FM and

Automated channel scanning was created based on a need to simplify on-air compliance and quality monitoring in consolidated RF facilities.

The automatic scan function cycles through up to six pre-sets, making it suitable for networks operating multiple stations in a single market.

FMCS-1 customers to incorporate automated channel scanning in the

HD Radio signals. Belar’s software-defined architecture allows existing field.

Visit www.belar.com

OVER 1 MILLION HOURS of radio content is broadcast daily around the world. A new online product, Rewind Radio (www.RewindRadio.com), has been launched to help radio stations make their audio content more searchable and shareable, quickly and simply.

The online platform allows listeners and/or station producers to create a clip just seconds after audio has gone to air, and share it with listeners.

The Australian invention is the brainchild of IT entrepreneur and former radio broadcaster Anthony Gherghetta, who came up with the idea three years ago and has been developing the product since then.

“There is so much radio content broadcast everyday and most of this content disappears the second it leaves the transmitter. Rewind Radio is designed to capture ‘radio moments’ that can be stored forever and easily shared on social media.”

Rewind Radio company chairman Steve Ahern says the invention fills a much-needed gap in radio industry workflow.

“My company, AMT, works with stations all over the world to make their workflow more efficient, but there was always a gap – how to allow producers or listeners to immediately retrieve audio that just went to air, then listen again and share it.

“When Anthony came to me with his idea, I could see it filled that gap perfectly, so I invested in the company to bring the product to market.”

When stations take out an account with Rewind Radio, the platform ingests a station’s broadcast stream and from then on is ‘always listening.’ They can make the feed public or restrict it only to staff.

When a producer or listener wants to make a clip and share it, the service has the audio ready to go

and can create a clip in seconds with as few as four mouse clicks.

Another problem with audio on the internet is that it is difficult for search engines to index. Rewind Radio now makes radio content more searchable, and stations using the service have found that their online audio presence has increased after using it.

A range of stations around the world, including BFM Malaysia, Radio Romania and 2SER FM Sydney, have been using the service in beta-test mode for some months and are pleased with the results Ahern says, “Stations using Rewind Radio tell us that it is perfect for sharing quick turn-around audio.

Podcasts and audio downloads are useful for long form content, but there are lots of short grabs and interviews that never make it to a station’s webpage, social media or podcast feed because they take too much work to edit. Rewind Radio streamlines that process.

“One broadcaster told me his manager was always asking him to put up more content on the station’s social media feeds during the show, but he couldn’t figure how to do it easily and quickly. Rewind Radio solved that problem for Rewind Radio offers broadcasters a range of audio catch up services for a small monthly fee.”

Rewind Radio partnerships director Daniel Laforest said, “Small regional stations particularly like the product because they don’t have lots of staff allocated to production. Rewind Radio lets them create and share clips quickly while they are still on air and brings rich content to their social media feeds.”

Broadcasters can go to the www.rewindradio.com website to try out the service, and contact Daniel Laforest daniel@rewindradio.com for a quote on professional usage.

RADIO

Lost Radio Content Now Found by Rewind Radio

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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/delivery

Viocorp Takes to the Cloud with Elemental SYDNEY-BASED VIOCORP is a 50-person firm which focuses on enterprise video with live production services and boasts a 100 percent success rate broadcasting live streamed events for customers over the last five years. These events have ranged from casual executive addresses to an employee base over lunch, to complex multi-day, multi-venue conferences with live streaming coverage for keynotes and accompanying presentations.

Steve Jones, Head of Live and Production at Viocorp, acknowledges the accelerating demand for live streaming capabilities, and the expectation of ondemand access to content for viewing after an event. This demand, together with the proliferation of multiscreen devices and the increasing use of video as an enterprise best practice for business communications, proved that the company needed a new kind of solution – a cloud-based solution – to ensure that Viocorp could deliver on events and grow its business.

from on-premises to the cloud, and from cloud-based Elemental Live encoders to the Elemental Delta origin, redundant design provides Viocorp, and its customers, with a fully resilient workflow.

In 2015, the company supported AWS re:Invent, a week-long event cloud computing user conference in Las Vegas. Viocorp’s workflow incorporated Elemental Cloud, which runs on an AWS infrastructure.

Elemental Cloud enables Viocorp to create workflows with virtual resources that only incur costs when used, automatically provision and dynamically scale resources, and quickly create broadcast quality multiscreen offerings.

“What attracted us to Elemental Cloud,” says Jones, “was the ease of spinning up a deployment in a different region. Since then, we have saved time because we don’t have to keep physical servers up to date. Using Elemental Cloud is as easy as going to a web page, selecting a dropdown box and hitting start.”

“We were hesitant to use Elemental Cloud at first,” says Jones. “But we knew we needed an easier way to deliver events to audiences in the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore. The switch to live cloud encoding was easy.

The Elemental Live user interface is the same whether operating on-premises equipment or performing video processing in the cloud. Elemental has become more of a partner than a provider,” says Jones.

“Our challenge was to increase our scalability both in the number of live productions we were managing simultaneously and to increase our reach globally,” says Jones. “That’s what first drew us to cloud-based video processing.”

Viocorp helped make the multi-day conference available via live streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) to the over 20,000 people who attended AWS re:Invent.

Meanwhile, three months after the event, the keynote by AWS Senior Vice President Andy Jassy had received over 68,000 views, and the keynote delivered

by Amazon CTO Werner Vogels had received more than 58,000 views.

The resiliency of Elemental solutions is key for Viocorp. Its video workflows include redundancy at every stage of an event from production to delivery.

On-premises, Viocorp works to make sure everything is redundant: video camera feeds, uninterrupted power supplies, internet connections, and two active Elemental Live encoders to ensure a high-quality RTMP or MPEG-TS contribution into the cloud.

Using Elemental Cloud, Viocorp again relies on Elemental Live encoding services that receive RTMP/MPEG-TS contribution source from on-premises units. Cloudbased encoders output adaptive bitrate (ABR) streams to a redundant Elemental Delta origin server that provides just-in-time video packaging in response to Content Delivery Network (CDN) requests. As live streaming content transitions

Software-defined video solutions from Elemental allow Viocorp to scale globally and grow to support increasingly complex events that leverage the elasticity and scalability of cloud-based resources.

With Elemental Cloud, Viocorp can dynamically scale resources to process and deliver broadcast quality video while offering its customers cost-effective resiliency. CXOs can take the stage to deliver keynotes to audiences participating both live, and later via VOD, using multiscreen devices around the world. This is key as live production events such as AWS conferences and TEDxSydney, another Viocorp client, increasingly represent enterprise best practices.

“The inherent agility that comes with software-defined video solutions gives Viocorp an advantage moving forward. “By using the cloud, we have futureproofed our operations,” says Jones. “There is a team of Elemental engineers working on solutions to support industry innovations such as high efficiency video coding (HEVC/H.265) compression, and the ability to stream to whatever new devices come next. With Elemental, we know we are ready.”

Visit http://viocorp.com and www.elementaltechnologies.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

Seven West Media Appoints MediaHub for 7flix Playout

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THE SEVEN NETWORK HAS APPOINTED MediaHub Australia for the

profile channels including the ABC, WIN, FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat

playout of its new free-to-air digital television multichannel 7flix (channel 76) to all five capital cities plus regional Queensland.

Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, Imparja TV and Australia Plus.

7flix is available in standard definition digital in metropolitan areas and regional Queensland through Seven Network owned-and-operated stations including ATN Sydney, HSV Melbourne, BTQ Brisbane, SAS Adelaide, TVW Perth and STQ Queensland. The channel airs movies in its prime time slots with television series and other entertainment at other times. 7flix was added to Seven’s live streaming service PLUS7 Live upon its launch and it is also available to Foxtel cable subscribers with iQ3, iQ2 and iQ1.5 set top boxes on Channel 187.

6am on 28 February 2016 and is a smooth and reliable operation and we are

Seven’s Head of Broadcast Operations Andrew Anderson said, “MediaHub’s infrastructure and operation perfectly suits the style of play-out that SWM require for 7flix. All media content, branding and schedules are prepared daily

by SWM. MediaHub quality check and playout the channels 24/7.”

MediaHub already manages and is responsible for the playout of many high

MediaHub CEO Alan Sweeney said, “7flix went live and began broadcasting at delighted with the workflows that have been created for this. Anywhere you’re watching 7flix in Australia the signal is coming from MediaHub.” MediaHub also supplies connectivity for 7flix providing totally diverse multiple one gigabit private IP links between Seven’s Broadcast Centre Melbourne (BCM) and the MediaHub facility at Ingleburn in NSW. Alan Sweeney concluded, “As broadcaster’s focus more on content while demanding significant reductions in operating costs, a technology-driven, multi-client facility such as MediaHub more and more reflects the future path of broadcast operations.”

Visit www.sevenwestmedia.com.au and www.mediahubaustralia.com.au

CONTENT DELIVERY

Freeview Oz Unveils Innovation Program, Mobile App FREEVIEW AUSTRALIA HAS ANNOUNCED it will be launching a new program of innovation and products including a new FreeviewPlus mobile application for access to all of the free-to-air networks’ live streaming and catch up content.

The program will include investment in upgrading FreeviewPlus which will allow viewers access to a wider range of features and functionality, the details of which will be announced later this year.

The Australian industry will also create a world first with all the FTA networks working together on the new FreeviewPlus mobile live streaming product.

Freeview CEO, Liz Ross, said she was delighted that the strength of collaboration across the FTA broadcasters around the program had also influenced the decision by SBS to re-join Freeview.

watch what they want, when they want, on the best available screen at the time even when out of home,” Ross said. “Freeview has responded to changing viewing habits and we are excited about the FreeviewPlus multi-screen future,” Ross said.

Freeview also announced the appointment of Clive Dickens as its new Chairman.

Seven West Media’s Chief Digital Officer, Clive Dickens, replaces inaugural Freeview Chairman Kim Dalton who has stepped down after seven years in the role.

“We would like to thank Kim for his vision and energy in the role,” incoming Chairman, Dickens said. “Under his stewardship, Freeview has launched the award-winning hybrid TV service FreeviewPlus delivering Australian audiences the best in FTA TV technology.

“We have an exciting year ahead in free-to-air television and the spirit of progress and collaboration will deliver some significant innovations in 2016,” Ross said. “We’re especially glad to welcome SBS back to the Freeview family.”

“This year will continue to be one of collaboration and innovation for Freeview leading with FreeviewPlus mobile product and we look forward to announcing even more exciting IP initiatives in the coming months,” Dickens said.

“It’s clear that consumers are in charge of their viewing and they want the flexibility to

Visit www.freeview.com.au

Lumina Takes Off at Satellite Forum Satellite Forum to be held at the Westin Hotel on May 17th-18th.

Lumina has taken three booths at the show and will be representing the following manufacturers: Advantech Wireless - Advantech Wireless is a wireless broadband communications solution provider for commercial, critical infrastructure, government and military clients. Arnaud Barthelemy from Advantech will attend the show and invites attendees to meet and discuss their requirements. His focus at the show will be the Advantech VSAT and SSPA product range.

Vislink - VISLINK is a leading global technology business specialising in the provision of advanced communications to the broadcast, surveillance and

defence industries. By continuously investing in innovation and combining exceptional products and services, VISLINK delivers solutions that enable our customers to do their jobs even more effectively.

Newtec - Newtec has developed satellite communication equipment and technologies for broadcast, government and defence, IP trunking and consumer and enterprise VSAT. Richard Walshe from Newtec will be in attendance.

Comtech-Xicom - Comtech Xicom provides rugged, highly efficient and reliable traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), Klystron power amplifiers (KPAs), Solid State power amplifiers (SSPAs), and block upconverters (BUCs) for commercial and military broadcast and broadband applications around the world.

Visit www.luminabsa.com.au

CONTENT DELIVERY

LUMINA BROADCAST SYSTEMS will be exhibiting at the 2016 Australasia

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CONTENT DELIVERY

Amagi Brings Thunderstorm to the Cloud AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW, Amagi will unveil ‘Thunderstorm’, a new platform that inserts ads on the server side, simplifying the delivery of personalised and targeted ads on premium live and linear OTT feeds.

Thunderstorm performs instant, server-side ad insertion, providing TV networks with an effective approach to OTT ad insertion compared with the traditional method of inserting mid-roll ads on the client side. Since ads are stitched at the server level, making them compatible across various screens, Thunderstorm eliminates the need to create devicedriven OTT ad streams.

Amagi will also showcase Cumulus, Amagi’s broadcast cloud. CUMULUS allows TV networks to prepare, manage, playout, deliver, and monetise content through a single cloud platform. Using the cloud service, content owners and broadcasters can create and deliver linear and nonlinear streams across cable, satellite, IPTV, and OTT on-demand platforms, reducing dependencies on individual service providers. Cumulus is built on a global, secure, and reliable architecture provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), lowering CAPEX and OPEX for TV networks.

Cumulus offers centralised content storage and archive, providing TV networks with transparent, total access and control of their assets.

Leveraging AWS Glacier, Cumulus provides an integrated archival workflow with instant retrieval of archived assets. Cumulus offers a hybrid playout model where playout can happen on the cloud or at the affiliate locations.

Monetisation can be realised from content regionalisation and targeted ad insertion across linear and OTT feeds, combined with the opportunity for ad sales partnerships and programmatic buying.

Amagi will also show Cloudport 3.0 for multichannel playout of both live and nonlinear feeds. The next-generation Cloudport platform has transitioned from proprietary hardware to an Intel-based server in the cloud, offering broadcasters even better control over their operations.

Using Cloudport 3.0, broadcasters can support the entire playout workflow, from channel branding and graphics to subtitling, traffic, and scheduling, along with compliance recording, quality control, and multichannel monitoring. In addition to delivering content to operator headends and teleports for further distribution, Cloudport 3.0 also offers automated transcoding and delivery to different VOD and OTT platforms, enabling broadcasters to address the growing consumer demand for multiscreen viewing.

Visit www.amagi.com

New Options for Leader’s LV7390 Rasteriser LEADER INSTRUMENTS has announced two new options for its LV7390 rasteriser. These comprise full 4K signal measurement capability plus a plug-in digital audio module providing up to 16 channels of de-embedded SDI audio which can be viewed on screen and output as discrete AES3 feeds.

Both options will be introduced and demonstrated on the Leader Booth (C5109) at the 2016 NAB. The LV7390 is a 3G/HD/SD-SDI rasteriser which can be used to monitor up to four sources at the same time. Compatible with 3G/HD/SD-SDI, and now optionally 4K, the unit can also monitor up to eight channels of embedded audio as standard.

The instrument incorporates full-resolution 3G/HD-SDI and DVI-I rasterised outputs which allow detailed video and audio measurements to be checked on a separate monitor in full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution.

and measurements as a BMP file on removable USB memory. This feature can be used for matching cameras or documenting a shot for purposes such as continuity or technical trouble-shooting.

Transmission line measurement for each SDI input can be displayed numerically in terms of equivalent cable length, allowing the safety margin to be checked quickly.

Video Engineer controls are provided for use in camera setup during shading.

The Leader CINELITE feature allows the user to measure luminance levels at up to three different points in a scene. CINEZONE uses false colours to indicate luminance levels in a scene and is particularly suited to green-screen chroma-key virtual-set alignment.

Waveform, vector, picture, audio and SDI status can be viewed full screen or in a multi-display. The multi-display layout is user-customisable and can be configured with a standard USB mouse, then saved for fast recall. 60 user-definable pre-sets are standard. These can be labelled and displayed on-screen. The LV7390 can also be controlled remotely using a USB mouse.

Additional features include error logs and alarms, format and timecode displays, SDI analysis plus a data dump and information on a variety of error monitoring functions such as CRC, TRS position, illegal code, line number SDI errors, checksum and parity ancillary data errors, BCH, DBN, inhibit, and embedded audio errors.

Ethernet connectivity allows remote control via an internet or extranet connection.

The LV7390 supports TELNET, FTP, HTTP, and SNMP protocols.

A screen capture function allows the LV7390 operator to save the displayed image

Visit www.leaderamerica.com

Media Links Bridges Gap Between LAN and WAN AT NAB 2016, booth SU4721, Media Links will unveil a series of new products aimed at eliminating the boundaries that occur between local area networks (LAN) inside a typical broadcast facility and external wide area content distribution networks (WAN).

CONTENT DELIVERY

New products at NAB include:

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• CoolFire IP Gateway enables current and emerging broadcast formats (3G/HD/SD-SDI, 4K, 8K) to be encoded into an IP data stream using low latency compression. Up to 64 video interfaces in a 3RU chassis with optional redundant power supplies and controllers can be supported.

CoolFire incorporates SMPTE 2022-5/6/7 industry standards along with IEEE 1588 Precision Timing Protocol and simultaneous SDI/RTP delivery. Additionally concurrent contribution (SMPTE 2022-6 w/PTP timing) and confidence (J2K TR-01) video feeds are available to increase operational flexibility.

• NetGazer Network Management System is a scalable graphicallyorientated software platform that monitors and manages network environments and their associated elements. It is a network monitoring and management system for both in-studio and wide area media networks and provides graphically rich topology maps for intuitively

displaying network elements across the LAN and WAN. An integrated SDN (Software Defined Networking) and MDN (Media Defined Networking) platform allows performance optimisation for high bandwidth multi-media services.

• MDX 4090 – COTS-based IP Video Router delivers the next generation of IP media routing. Optimised for use in media switching environments where bandwidth management, quality of service and deterministic timing are critical, the MDX 4090 incorporates Media Links’ Media Rapid Flow protocol for SDN channel switching that is 100 times faster than typical IT-based data protocols like OpenFlow. Up to 96 non-blocking 10GbE as well as four 40GbE ports in a 2RU chassis with hot pluggable power supplies and fan units are supported.

• MDP 3010 – IP to J2K Decoder offers high-speed IP to JPEG2000 processing in a compact, portable and rugged footprint, which meets the challenges of high-end broadcast applications or simple IP-based network applications. It receives IP packets that contain a JPEG2000 compressed stream through a 1GbE network interface and reproduces them into simultaneous SDI and HDMI video outputs.

Visit www.medialinks.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

Introducing The Kula Range 4K/1080p/HD/SD/1ME/2ME From $17K USD TM

The best value production switcher in the world

The Range With a choice of three easy to operate control panels, the 2RU Kula Range offers 1M/E 4K, 1M/E HD/SD and 2M/E HD/SD models.

www.s-a-m.com/kula

Multi-format Flexibility Built from the heritage of SAM’s award-winning Kahuna switcher, Kula uses innovative FormatFusion3 technology to seamlessly mix any format, up to and including 4K eliminating the need for external conversion equipment.

Small Price, Massive Performance

TM

TM

Find out more at www.s-a-m.com/kula

Kula

Creative Power Kula offers up to 5 keyers per M/E, 24 channels of DVE and floating/ auxiliary keying resource. Up to 36 inputs and 18 outputs, plus a massive internal clip and still store ensures high impact productions every time.

CONTENT DELIVERY

The new Kula class-leading switcher range delivers the multi-format flexibility you need, the panel options you require and the SAM quality you can rely on – all at a remarkable price point.

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CONTENT DELIVERY

Last-Mile Content Localisation and Monetisation for DTT Networks

By Colin Prior IN TODAY’S ULTRA-COMPETITIVE media landscape, monetising content and generating new revenues from existing content assets and infrastructure is something every broadcaster must consider. Television still remains the most effective means of engaging audiences and DTT free-to-air still dominates the broadcast and content delivery landscape in many markets.

According to the recent Global TV Advertising Survey from PWC, “Terrestrial TV is the primary contributor to advertising revenues.”

national broadcasters and regional

There’s no doubt the world of content delivery is now a rapidly shifting landscape. IP, OTT, DTO (download-to-own) and mobile content access are pushing into the mainstream in developed markets, and are a growing option across many other regions. However, before we write off traditional broadcast television, it’s worth remembering that for the vast majority around the world, IP is still, at best, another part of our fragmented delivery world, and not the primary method television content is consumed.

faced with the need for expensive

Tried and trusted broadcast delivery, whether digital, satellite, cable, or terrestrial, continues to dominate. In the free-to-air arena, digital terrestrial stands alone as the most effective delivery method now and in the immediate future, especially when regional content is required. This offers a powerful opportunity for broadcasters to generate additional revenues.

communities.

With DTT infrastructure already a major investment for many broadcasters and network operators, the last thing they want is to be new additions to meet the need for local content provision. What’s needed is a solution that can easily and seamlessly integrate with existing DTT network infrastructure, but enable local content delivery without requiring the creation of complete local playout and distribution networks.

The answer is a simple and straightforward way to address local video content delivery within a DTT network by facilitating the insertion of local content (adverts, news and weather forecasts, et al), at the final stage of DTT delivery. Local services can then be better monetised as they target specific regional audiences, enabling deployment of local advertising and content.

According to a June 2015 report from Digital TV Research, from the 455 million digital homes added globally between 2010 and 2014, 111 million were primary DTT (i.e. homes taking DTT but not subscribing to cable, satellite TV or IPTV). The number of primary DTT homes will also double over that period to 380 million, with half the content coming from regional TV channels. There’s also the possibility of DTT network upgrades to DVB-T2 (increased spectrum efficiency so potentially more services in the same space or the same delivered using less) in certain parts of the world, Europe being a case in point.

Enensys’ AdsEdge has been designed to meet this market requirement

What broadcasters seek is a way to maximise this opportunity and more effectively monetise their content from the outset, with views to generating additional revenue.

fully deterministic, which means it can handle the constraints of transmitting

Multiple studies have shown viewers are more likely to purchase products advertised locally, believing they are specifically targeted at them. Nielsen’s ‘Local Watch: Where you live and its impact on your choices, 2014’ said, “The choices we make each day about what to watch and what to buy are greatly influenced by our immediate surroundings, our communities, towns and cities.” Local content, for example, is highly relevant and important to the majority of viewers. Even with the proliferation of 24-hour international news channels, local news is still seen as a trusted source of information for many, and creates a greater sense of community and engagement between

and forms part of the company’s wider DTT network optimisation and regionalisation strategy. It helps generate additional revenues by the delivery of targeted content over terrestrial networks including DVB-T, DVB-T2, and ISDB-T/Tb. It manages MPTS, T2-MI, and BTS standard inputs and outputs.

Industry standard SCTE 35 triggers enable locally targeted content to be inserted at the edge of the content delivery process – at the transmitter site – within a DTT Single Frequency Network (SFN) environment. The technology is exactly the same content on exactly the same frequency at exactly the same time, required for SFN operation. SFN services have to be bit-accurate to prevent potential interference.

AdsEdge is a fully integrated solution, combining file-based video clip storage and a splicer in a single product. It also enables local insertion in multiple services in a multiplex and can be easily integrated with existing air-time sales, automation and asset management systems.

Colin Prior is APAC Sales Manager for Enensys Visit www.enensys.com

Nevion Shows Off Live IP Technology THIS YEAR AT THE NAB SHOW, Nevion will be highlighting how

CONTENT DELIVERY

broadcasters can transition to IP, with a host of interoperability demonstrations based on open industry standards including SMPTE 20226 and TR-03. The demos will include equipment from other vendors from the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), under the control of Nevion’s flagship orchestrator, VideoIPath.

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Nevion will also be outlining its vision of a virtualised media production, demonstrating how VideoIPath and flagship products like the NX4600 H.264/AVC media gateway are stepping stones in the journey towards fulfilling that vision.

VideoIPath is a service and network management system that brings connection management, service assurance and network inventory capabilities to the broadcast workflow – helping broadcasters boost revenue by optimising network resources. It uses software-defined networking (SDN) to deliver deterministic, scalable performance

demanded by broadcasters when it comes to the transport of media services..

Playing a supporting role on the Nevion stand is the NX4600 Media Gateway compression platform, which offers H.264/MPEG-4 AVC encoding and decoding. The platform provides a great trade-off between bandwidth usage and low latency.

Nevion will also be showcasing the full range of its product offering, both baseband and IP, including the latest updates to the Flashlink optical transport range, the VikinX compact hybrid routers, and the cProcessor TS adaptation, processing and multiplexing equipment.

Nevion’s booth – SU5510 in the upper South Hall – will also feature its latest in optical and IP transport, both for contribution and in studio, as well as digital terrestrial distribution and monitoring.

Visit https://nevion.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

Class Monitoring from Interra Systems AT THE 2016 NAB SHOW, Interra Systems will showcase Baton 7.0, the latest version of its QC solution for file-based SD, HD, and mixed workflows.

The Baton 7.0 user interface now features a revamped functionality across smart folders, manual scheduling, test plans, reports, and more, simplifying the user experience while continuing to provide the flexibility and a vast feature set Baton is known for. Significant architectural changes have also been made to Baton 7.0 to enhance the overall throughput of the system.

with multiple Baton installations, captures the QC data, and offers a visual representation of the data analysis results in the form of reports and graphs.

This enables users to track trends and anomalies in the media content.

Interra Systems will also introduce Orion OTT, a software-based over-thetop (OTT) solution for real-time monitoring of adaptive bitrate (ABR) content for multiscreen service delivery over unmanaged networks. In addition to monitoring the integrity of ABR content, Orion OTT also measures network performance in an OTT environment.

Meanwhile, the original Orion real-time content monitoring system has been enhanced with multi-processor architecture support. Now available on Linux,

The Baton 7.0 system offers video/audio quality checks, including new support for text detection (including language) and recognition of burnt-in subtitles, audio language detection, detection of new audio quality noises, as well as support for the latest loudness ITU-R BS.1770 specification. In addition, Baton 7.0 supports new image formats like TIFF/Targa, enhanced closed captions, and updates to DPP/ARD_ZDF compliance support.

the latest version of Orion offers improved usability, monitoring and setup

Baton 7.0 also features a more intuitive and stand-alone media player interface with support for complete manual review flow. Additional new features include mark-in/mark-out in timeline and vectorscope display.

Furthermore, Baton Content Corrector (BCC) can now be accessed remotely via a Web browser.

virtualisation and comprehensive QoE evaluation.

The latest Baton+ QC and data analysis system will also be on display. Baton+ features enhanced workflow QC capabilities, including the ability for users to define workflows representing the stages through which media content flows in a facility. By defining workflows, Baton+ users can ensure metadata consistency and compare QC reports in different ways across content lineage.

The latest release also improves upon data analysis. Baton+ integrates

capabilities, optimised alerts, and reporting functionalities. In addition, it provides SCTE-35 verification with time-accurate thumbnails around splice points, closed caption and text service monitoring with logging and display of captions frame-by-frame, encoder boundary point monitoring, and IGMP monitoring for network troubleshooting. Furthermore, Orion supports Also on show will be the full Vega product suite. Vega is Interra Systems’ media analysis platform for standards compliance, debug, and interoperability of encoded streams. Recent updates to the Vega family include support for Windows 10, the latest HEVC HM reference code, HEVC interlaced streams, VP9 streams (4:2:2, 4:4:4), PCAP streams, Dolby AC-4 audio, and AVS Plus video.

Vega supports a range of media formats and DTV standards such as H.264, MPEG-2, HEVC, VP9, CC, MP4, ATSC, and DVB, among others.

Visit www.interrasystems.com

BMM-810 Audio & Video Quality Monitoring Platform I I I I I I I I I I

Flexible arrangements of tiles in a Video Wall for up to 36 SD, HD and 4k services Verify the quality of your compressed services with Video Quality Monitoring Decodes MPEG 2, MPEG 4 and HEVC encoded content Loudness Monitoring Audio / Video Delay & Lip Sync detection OTT Monitoring Compare your Content between different locations Closed Caption Support Dolby Support Mobile UI

CONTENT DELIVERY

For more information: sales.australia@rohde-schwarz.com

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CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS Position Vacant – Broadcast Engineer, Sydney Professional Audio and Television Pty Ltd is a leading distributor of broadcast and professional audio equipment in Australia, with our office located in Hornsby, Sydney. PAT sell, configure, install and commission systems for brands such as LAWO, VSM, DirectOut Technologies, ROSS VIDEO, RTW, Boland Communications, Demitis, Bel Digital and various other manufacturers.

ROLE SUMMARY/PURPOSE A position for a broadcast engineer has become available, performing the following tasks and duties: • Understanding all of PAT's brands on a technical level, and to be able to deal with support enquiries from customers • Provide technical support during system design, configuration, installation and commissioning • Setup and configure systems for customer inspection, training, commissioning and tradeshows • Provide technical support to the sales department and assist in system designs To be successful in this role you will possess the following attributes and characteristics: • Have a minimum of 5 years proven track record in the broadcast industry with detailed knowledge of current and emerging

technologies • Have an understanding of, and keen interest in broadcast routers, switches, broadcast audio consoles, broadcast control and automation systems, robotics, cameras and IT networking • Have a keen eye for detail and be able to manage your time while multitasking • Provisioned in AutoCAT2016, with the ability to translate design briefs into detailed installation drawings • Have a very professional telephone manner and be able interact with all levels of personnel from junior techs to MDs. • Be punctual, self driven and willing to 'go the extra mile' for the greater good of the company and your career • Highly responsible, trustworthy and very well presented • Have a current driver’s license

REQUIREMENTS

We are a small team of high achievers and each team member is highly respected and regarded in their chosen field and industry. To become part of our team, you will not only need to fit in, you will need to bring motivation and determination that is necessary to drive the business forward. As it is a small team, you will need to be an all-rounder who is willing and capable to do what is necessary to get the job done.

If you are the right person for the job, we offer competitive remuneration relative to your experience, a relaxed and fun work environment, further education in the technical field of the broadcast and pro-audio industries. Possible opportunities may also exist for the successful candidate to undergo overseas manufacturer certified training.

It would be advantageous but not essential if you fulfill the following criteria:

To apply for the above position please submit your

• Have in depth IT networking knowledge • Have technical experience with any of the brands we represent • Have previously worked in a technical sales environment

are the right person for the job with your CV to

1 page cover letter outlining specifically why you management@proaudiotv.com.au.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Previous applicants need not apply.

Position Vacant – Broadcast Sales and Support Engineer, Auckland Professional Audio and Television Pty Ltd is a leading distributor of broadcast and professional audio equipment in Australia, and due to continued growth, has recently established a branch office in Auckland, New Zealand. PAT represents some of the world's leading broadcast brands direct to the New Zealand market. Offering full service capability, PAT sell, configure, install and commission systems for brands such as LAWO, DirectOut Technologies, RTW, Boland Communications, Demitis, Bel Digital and various other manufacturers.

REQUIREMENTS

• Have a minimum of 5 years proven track record in the broadcast industry with detailed knowledge of current and emerging technologies • Have an understanding of, and keen interest in broadcast routers, switches, broadcast audio consoles, broadcast control and automation systems, robotics, cameras and IT networking • Have a keen eye for detail and be able to manage your time while multitasking • Provide confident, high level technical service to all levels of business through face to face meetings, phone calls and through written correspondence • Be punctual, self-driven and willing to 'go the extra mile' for the greater good of the company and your career • Proficient in AutoCAT2016, with the ability to translate design briefs into detailed installation drawings • Be diligent with personal record keeping and time management * Highly responsible, trustworthy and very well presented • Have a current unrestricted driver’s license It would be advantageous but not essential if you fulfill the following criteria: • Have in depth IT networking knowledge • Have technical experience with any of the brands we represent • Have previously worked in a technical sales environment • Have previously worked in a role that required autonomy

To be successful in this role you will possess the

We are a small team of high achievers and each team

ROLE SUMMARY/PURPOSE

CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS

Our newly established presence in Auckland and throughout New Zealand, has given PAT the opportunity to expand our team. A position for a Broadcast Sales and Support Engineer has become available, performing the following tasks and duties:

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following attributes and characteristics:

• Represent PAT New Zealand for new and existing clients, while maintaining and building client relationships • Support clients from first point of contact, through the decision making, sales and post-sales process • Provide technical support during pre-sales contact, system design, configuration, installation and commissioning • Setup and configure systems for customer inspection, demos, training, commissioning and trade-shows • Understanding all of PAT's brands on a technical level, and to be able to deal with support enquiries from customers

member is highly respected and regarded in their chosen field and industry. To become part of our team, you will not only need to fit in, you will need to bring motivation and determination that is necessary to drive the business forward. As a small team, you will need to be an all-rounder who is willing and capable to do what is necessary to get the job done.

You will play an integral part in establishing our presence in New Zealand, and work closely with the engineering and admin teams in Sydney. You will report directly to the Managing Director. This is a fantastic opportunity to further your career and become an integral part of one of the fastest growing Broadcast Solution providers in APAC. Our customers are the 'Who is Who' of the broadcast industry in Australia and New Zealand, while our exclusive manufacturers are redefining the broadcast industry with their cutting edge technologies.

This is an opportunity you don't want to miss. If you are the right person for the job, we offer competitive remuneration relative to your experience, a relaxed and fun work environment, further education in the technical field of the broadcast and pro-audio industries.

Opportunities also exist for the successful candidate to undergo overseas manufacturer certified training.

To apply for the above position please submit your 1 page cover letter outlining specifically why you are the right person for the job with your CV to management@proaudiotv.com.au.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Previous applicants need not apply.

CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS The 21st International Digital Multimedia & Entertainment Technology Exhibition & Conference

www.Broadcast-Asia.com

31 May - 3 June 2016

Level 4 & 5, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES, EXPERIENCING CONTENT Well-established and recognised, BroadcastAsia2016 is Asia’s must-attend international event for the pro-audio, film and broadcasting industries! Find out what’s hot in the industry – Cloud / IP Broadcasting, Digital Media Asset Management, OTT, TV Everywhere, Wireless Live Production and many others. Participate in the Post I Production Hub, hear from award-winning / well-known directors and experts; and meet up with industry peers at this networking platform.

BROADCAST

Meet over 600 leading global brand owners and solution providers…

and many others

Complete the online registration www.Broadcast-Asia.com/pre-registration to visit the exhibition. Register online early to participate in the Online Business Matching Programme.

Worldwide Associate:

Held concurrently with:

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CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS Position Vacant – Broadcast Engineer. Sydney, Melbourne.

ROLE SUMMARY/PURPOSE The primary responsibility of this role is for the efficient setup, operational condition, calibration and signal standards of the OB Unit or Studio control room and other associated equipment assigned to projects.

Career Level: Experienced Division: Technical Services Department: Technical Services Unit Reports To: Manager – Technical Services

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Support key projects/initiative roll outs To liaise with the project’s Technical Manager to ensure you are fully briefed on the size, scope, production schedule and equipment and facilities required.

2. To have prepared to an operational ready state all equipment and facilities by the scheduled production hand over time required by any field or studio project you are assigned to.

3. To have completed system calibration and signal checks onto the local program recording device or devices or to the end users transmission or recording facility by the predetermined time in the production schedule.

4. To ensure all requests by the producers within limits of their allocated facilities are met

promptly. Any requests that require facilities not allocated to the particular project are to be referred to the Technical Manager.

5. Monitor program signals and equipment during production for problems and rectify any problems encountered to minimise the impact on the production.

REQUIREMENTS • Proficient in use of VSM system within HD trucks • Proficient in the use of Workflow solutions • Fulfill the role of BE1 on all projects • Offer Technical input into project builds

6. Ensure the immediate environment of the OB Unit or Studio control room is neat and tidy and professionally presented.

• Ability to deploy and power all DP/HD trucks/ HDPOB kit

7. Report all malfunctioning equipment to the Technical Manager or ensure that an EMR is completed and where applicable this equipment is to be deposited in the facilities store.

• Proficient in use of equipment used within HD/ DP Trucks/HDPOB kit

8. Any repaired or “in for repair” equipment required by your designated OB Unit is to be tracked and operationally tested as soon as practical prior to any client use.

9. Assist in the technical planning and production of circuit and interconnect diagrams.

10.Assist in preparing detailed reports from field testing of new technology and equipment.

• Proficient in use of Signal Flow within DP/HD Trucks/HDPOB kit

• Proficient in programming and operation of the Router • Proficient in programming and operation of the Vision Mixer • Proficient in interfacing of external equipment to the truck • Proficiency in configuration of transmission signals generated from the truck

11.Assist where applicable the training of junior staff of the unit.

• Proficiency in fault finding of equipment failures

12.Keep abreast of the changes in technology that affect the television industry.

• Offer training to junior staff Contact Steven Smyth info@nepinc.com

what's on PALME MIDDLE EAST 11 - 13 May Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, UAE www.palme-middleeast.com

APRIL NAB SHOW 16 - 21 April Las Vegas Convention Center www.nabshow.com PROLIGHT + SOUND 15 - 18 April Frankfurt, Germany http://pls.messefrankfurt.com TV CONNECT 26 - 28 April Excel London Exhibition and Conference Centre www.tvconnectevent.com

MAY CEBIT AUSTRALIA 2 - 4 May Sydney Olympic Park www.cebit.com.au

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KOBA2015 24-27 May COEX (Convention & Exhibition Center), Seoul, Korea www.kobashow.com/eng/ BROADCASTASIA 31 May - 3 June Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore www.broadcast-asia.com

JUNE CINE GEAR EXPO 3 - 5 June The Studios at Paramount Hollywood

Amber Technology..........................37

BroadcastAsia...................................63 Calrec..................................................50 Dejero.................................................43 EMC......................................................43 Extensis..............................................41 IHSE GmbH Asia Pacific..................14 IRT Communications......................12

ARRI................................................... IBC

Jands...................................................47

Blackmagic Design............................ 5

Lawo....................................................23

ABE Show 2016................................25 Agile Broadcast................................55 AJA......................................................... 3

Los Angeles, USA www.cinegearexpo.com

AUGUST BEIJING INTERNATIONAL RADIO, TV & FILM EXHIBITION (BIRTV) 24-27 August CIEC, Beijing, China http://www.birtv.com BROADCAST INDONESIA 31 August – 3 September Jakarta International Expo, Indonesia

SEPTEMBER IBC 2015 9 - 13 September Amsterdam RAI www.ibc.org

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Rohde & Schwarz............................59

Magna Systems & Engineering...13

Ross Video.........................................19

Media Proxy......................................15

Sennheiser Australia......................49

Million$Mission...............................50 On Air Solutions........................ 10,35 Professional Audio & Television...29,53 Quantum........................................ OBC Quinto Communications................. 9 Riedel Communications ...............21

Snell Advanced Media...................57 Sportscasting Expo.........................31 Studiotech Australia......................... 4 Techtel................................................17 The P.A. People.................................46