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VOLUME 12 ISSUE 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY
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VOLUME 12 ISSUE 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
Also see C+T in PDF at www.content-technology.com
55 Nine’s Technology Transition REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 04 NEWS Monash Uni Builds Broadcast Facility with Techtel, Sony FS7 the Real Deal, “RF King” Joins Magna, Finding the Silver Bullet in the Golden Age of TV, FIC Chooses MediaHub Australia
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CLASSIFIEDS AND EVENTS INDUSTRY FOCUS FEATURES AND DEALINES TIMESHIFTER Foxtel Marks 20 Years of Subscription Television
20 FEATURES 14 TAKING STOCK 16 TECHNICAL STANDARDS 18 ACQUISITION Sony F55 Selected by Neighbours, Tiffen Unleashes Monster in Japan, Southern Cross Cameras Chooses ARRI AMIRA, BBC Goes UHD for Life Story
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24 SPORTSCASTING NEP Delivers President’s Cup from Korea, Gearhouse Launches Event Communications Division, Allianz Stadium Keeps Score with 7thSense
30 NEWS OPERATIONS ANC Chooses Ericsson for Captioning, Seven Australia Restructures News Operations, Ten Expands Dejero Deployment with GoBox
34 POST-PRODUCTION Chief Entertainment Makes Right Connection with Telstra, ‘The Dressmaker’ Graded with Resolve, Animal Logic Opens in Vancouver, OS X El Capitan
42 MEDIA IN THE CLOUD iflix Chooses Silvertrak for High Volume Asset Management, SGL Integrates with Data Expedition, Signiant Flight Gains Microsoft Azure Certification
46 AUDIO Hardy Audio Cuts Through Advertising Noise, Audinate ID22s at Massey Uni, Audinate Ramps Up APAC Activity, DirectOut Introduces MADI.MONI
52 RADIO Vision for Radio at WorldDAB General Assembly, Vale John Innes, New MD for Radio Free Asia
55 CONTENT DELIVERY VidOvation Announces New VidOlink Systems, Triveni Digital Enhances 4K TV Service Quality with HEVC, Brightcove Simplifies Live Events
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CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY: ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN: 34 095 653 277) PO Box 259, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel: +61 (0)2 4368 4569 Mob: +61 (0)414 671 811 Email: papers@broadcastpapers.com
SUB-EDITOR: Keith Ford Mob: +61 (0)430 432 437 Email: papers@broadcastpapers.com PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lucy Salmon Tel: +61(0)412 479 662 production@broadcastpapers.com DESIGN & LAYOUT: Wide Open Media Tel: +61-2-9282 9359 info@wideopenmedia.com.au PRINTING: Lindsay Yates COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All material in Broadcastpapers’ Content+Technology Magazine is protected under
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EDITOR’S WELCOME
See you, C-band? By Phil Sandberg
The report says the use of C-band spectrum for mobile broadband can be achieved through the development of “sharing techniques” to allow mobile services to co-exist with other users of the band, such as satellite and fixed link services. It puts forward the use of exclusion zones of a 5-kilometre radius around satellite installations and says similar provisions can be made for fixed link and point-to-multipoint services that use the band. The GSMA says the report highlights an “urgent need” for regulators across
With millions of people in the Philippines depending on satellite C-band for their cable TV and other services, the PCTA says the country relies on C-band for the reception of over a hundred satellite channels, both from overseas and from within the country. These channels are distributed to over 1600 cable systems spread around the thousands of islands of the archipelago. Since the introduction of LTE operation in the Philippines in late 2014, the PCTA claims numerous cable systems have experienced serious interference problems. According to the PCTA, if LTE use of C-band frequencies is expanded, the problems will get worse. The Philippines’ tropical location and rainfall averages of up to 200mm per month in many areas render the use of higher frequency Ku-band satellite signals inappropriate for transmission critical applications like TV reception for millions of people or disaster relief. C-band’s unique characteristics make reception in tropical climates with extreme precipitation the only viable option for many users including TV channel reception. 03:00
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The report, “Use of C-Band Spectrum for Mobile Broadband in Cities: London and Shenzhen”, developed by Plum Consulting with analysis from the GSMA and handset/network provider Huawei claims that the use of additional C-band spectrum for mobile broadband in London and Shenzhen alone will generate an additional USD$440 million of economic benefit whilst protecting the continued operation of incumbent services. In a footnote, it says these economic benefits are based on the avoided infrastructure costs achieved by the availability of addition C-band spectrum to support mobile broadband services. 16:00
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The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, including nearly 800 operators and more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies. It also produces industry events such as the Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences.
At the recent CASBAA Convention in Hong Kong, Philippines Cable TV Association President Ralph Casino and Chairman Gerik Paderanga presented a video, which they have also submitted to the ITU, outlining recent C-band interference issues experienced by Filipino cable operators.
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At the recent Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Hong Kong, the GSMA (formerly GSM Association) released a report which it claims reveals the economic benefits of C-band spectrum for mobile broadband.
Aside from the fact that C-band is already used to deliver video, it would seem that the “urgent need” is not universally urgent.
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Future spectrum allocations for mobile broadband and C-band spectrum will be considered at the conference and the decisions reached there will impact operators on both sides of the divide throughout the Asia-Pacific.
the globe to address the allocation of spectrum required to meet the huge growth in mobile data traffic, especially in densely populated urban areas. It also says that C-band spectrum can “… provide large contiguous channels that support the delivery of high data rate services such as video.”
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BY THE END OF NOVEMBER 2015, and the conclusion of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) in Geneva, we should know to what extent the terrestrial mobile communications industry has realised its ambition of expanding broadband services into the C-band (4 to 8GHz) segment of the radiofrequency spectrum.
However, when one considers the amount of money involved in the mobile ecosystem – from network construction and operation to handset and app development, as well as transactions – it is hard to see how bodies like the PCTA will not be drowned out. We’ll have to stay tuned. Thanks for Reading Phil Sandberg - Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com - T: +61-(0)414671811
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Monash Uni Builds State-of-the-Art Broadcast Facility with Techtel MONASH UNIVERSITY IN MELBOURNE has selected Techtel to build a state-of-the-art broadcast facility as part of a major upgrade to their School of Media, Film and Journalism. The facility will provide students with a MOSintegrated newsroom environment, complete with a TV studio, two radio studios, five edit suites, and three voiceover booths. Monash University’s media and journalism students will soon have access to one of the most sophisticated media production facilities in the country where they can gain invaluable practical experience with the systems that are used throughout Australia’s major broadcasters and future employers of today’s media students. In accordance with the university’s design guidelines, Techtel proposed a cost-effective turnkey broadcast solution, which includes the industry standard in newsroom systems, AP ENPS in addition to the SIENNA Media Asset Management system, Panasonic’s AVHS450 switcher, CueScript teleprompters and Yamaha mixing & speakers. Australian broadcasters depend on the market leading ENPS to deliver their news every day so it makes sense for universities to train their students on the software to prepare them for a career in the industry. Tightly integrated to ENPS via MOS is the SIENNA production system, a complete end-to-end digital media infrastructure for newsroom environments. Workflow elements include ingest, asset management, video editing integration, ENPS client integration, automation, playout and archive. SIENNA offers outstanding support for virtually every MOS profile and feature, including the ability for students to edit ENPS stories from the Adobe Premier desktop. “We welcome Monash University to the growing family of ENPS users and educators throughout Australia and New Zealand,” commented Mal Chandler, Head of Sales at Techtel. “The turnkey solution Techtel has provided to Monash has demonstrated our capability to deliver innovative solutions to educate the next generation of talented producers and journalists.”
NEWS + PEOPLE
Visit www.techtel.tv
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Animal Logic Entertainment to Produce Neil Gaiman’s ‘Fortunately, The Milk’ AWARD-WINNING AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION COMPANY Animal Logic Entertainment has announced that it is producing, in partnership with Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil and through 20th Century Fox, a film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best selling children’s book ‘Fortunately, The Milk’. Acclaimed director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Shaun of the Dead) is attached to direct the film, with the script to be written by Academy Award winner Bret McKenzie (The Muppet Movie, Flight of the Conchords). The film will be a live action/animation hybrid that tells the story of a father who goes to buy milk for his children’s breakfast cereal only to be abducted by aliens, thrown into a time vortex, captured by pirates, and befriended by a time travelling dinosaur. Animal Logic Entertainment optioned the New York Times best selling fantasy adventure in 2013 through their reps at CAA, the agency that also represents Gaiman and Wright. Animal Logic Entertainment’s Zareh Nalbandian will produce the film, alongside Infinitum Nihil’s Christi Dembrowski. Zareh Nalbandian said, “The perfect team to bring this family adventure to life has truly been assembled in Edgar Wright, Bret McKenzie, Neil Gaiman, Johnny Depp, Infinitum Nihil and 20th Century Fox. Neil’s book is a wildly inventive story that has captured not only our hearts but the imagination of readers across the world.” Nalbandian, whose credits include the Oscar-winning Happy Feet and the BAFTA Award-winning The LEGO Movie, added, “Neil’s book provided the perfect canvas for Edgar Wright’s and Bret Mckenzie’s imaginative storytelling which will marry Animal Logic’s history of ground breaking animation with their unique vision. We are privileged to be working alongside such an incredible line-up of talent and are excited to be beginning this wild adventure together!” Animal Logic Entertainment is continuing to develop a strong slate of innovative, commercially minded, story driven projects stamped with the creative visual and technical excellence that has become the hallmark of the company’s work. Visit www.animallogic.com
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ASIA NEWS CHINA CHRISTIE, A GLOBAL LEADER in digital cinema projection, announced that Wanda Cinema Line, a subsidiary of Wanda Group and the world’s largest cinema operator with 195 theatres and 1,732 movie screens in China as at July 2015, will install upwards of 1,500 Christie Solaria Series 2K and 4K digital cinema projectors, as well as the Christie Vive Audio solution in selected theatres, over three years. Visit www.christiedigital.com
PAKISTAN THE PAKISTAN ELECTRONIC MEDIA REGULATORY AUTHORITY (PEMRA) has issued an invitation to companies interested in establishing and operating a Direct-to-Home (DTH) distribution service in Pakistan. A shortlist of applicants will be issued on November 27, 2015, with an auction for DTH licences and announcement of provisional successful bidders taking place on December 7. Visit www.pemra.gov.pk
NEWS + PEOPLE
INDIA
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THE WHITESPACE ALLIANCE (WSA) announced India’s first whitespace pilot in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay at Mumbai (IIT Bombay). The program uses standards-based products and services that dynamically allocate underutilised spectrum to provide broadband Internet services. The powerful propagation characteristics of TV band signals make them ideal for use in rural areas where wired infrastructure is not cost effective to deploy, and vegetation makes line-of-sight wireless solutions unreliable.
MALAYSIAN PAY-TV OPERATOR Astro have launched a new OD (on demand) offering. OD is available to Astro customers through an Internet-connected Personal Video Recorder (PVR) at home, or via Astro on the Go (AOTG) on a smartphone, laptop or tablet, with options to suit different needs and every budget. NonAstro customers can also enjoy our OD content via AOTG.
Visit www.whitespacealliance.org
ASIA’S LEADING SATELLITE OPERATOR Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) announced that ST Teleport, a full-service satellite and fibre communications solutions provider based in Singapore, has expanded its capacity commitment and strategic partnership with AsiaSat to enhance service offerings to the VSAT and media sectors. ST Teleport’s advanced earth station complex facilities in Singapore is now capable of connecting to AsiaSat’s comprehensive fleet of satellites to offer more choices to customers.
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JAPAN BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED that Blackmagic products, including Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K and ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K, were used for the live streaming and recording of seminars held at the recent TEDxFUKUOKA 2015 event in Japan. TEDxFUKUOKA is part of the worldwide set of TEDx conferences. Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com
KOREA THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 has concluded its fifth visit (22-24 September) to the Korean host city positive about the progress being made, while underlining the importance of test events for the Games preparations. The Commission was joined for the meeting by representatives of the seven International Federations of sports on the programme of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Visit www.olympic.org
HONG KONG IMAX CORPORATION HAS ANNOUNCED that shares of IMAX China Holding, Inc., a Cayman Islands company, began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
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“We are very pleased with the result of our IPO in Hong Kong,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “We believe it provides investors the ability to access our IMAX China business directly, and provides greater clarity into the performance of those assets in the fastestgrowing entertainment market in the world.”
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AUSTRALIA NBN HAS S UCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED its first broadband satellite into orbit. Blasting 36,000kms into space from Guiana Space Centre in South America, Sky Muster, is one of the world’s most-advanced communication satellites and will play a critical role in providing fast broadband access to around 400,000 Australian homes and businesses. Visit www.nbnco.com.au
NEW ZEALAND COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER AMY ADAMS has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next stage of rolling out fast, reliable broadband to New Zealanders. There are more than 110 towns and communities noted in the RFP as potential areas for inclusion. The long list is made up of the next largest towns not covered by the first phase of the Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative. Visit www.beehive.govt.nz
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Sony FS7 the Real Deal for Pretend One Movie The Pretend One i s an Australian feature film due for theatrical release in 2016. The film is directed by Tony Prescott, produced by Tony Prescott and Dinusha Ratnaweera and stars Geraldine Hakewill, Michael Whalley, Benedict Wall and David Field. It is also the first feature length film shot with Sony PXW-FS7 cameras. DOP ROBERT MORTON detailed the production’s choice of camera explaining, “Our shooting schedule was ambitious and given the limited amount of shoot days for the production phase, we employed a two-camera setup for a lot of scenes. This allowed us to get the coverage we needed quickly. Primarily, we wanted a camera with a cinematic look that was more lightweight and less cumbersome than other cameras on the market, so the FS7 was ideal. “We also had a number of intricate Steadicam shots and the FS7’s lightweight design meant that we could handle them with ease. We also required a camera system that could record off speed, shoot low light or natural light and work quickly in changing lighting conditions and needed to be able to switch between PL primes and EF zoom lenses for particular shots. The film also included a number of VFX elements from green screen composites to sky replacement. All in all the FS7 ticked all our boxes.” On set both FS7 cameras were put to the test, shooting all day every day without a break. As Morton described the production had a very ambitious schedule and could not afford any setbacks. He added, “The cameras didn’t fail once which was unbelievable. The FS7s were also very maneuverable meaning that we were very agile and could shift setups really quickly saving us a lot of time on set. This also helped when transferring to Steadicam or a car mount. There were other major advantages to using FS7s such as the fact that we wanted a camera that was 4K and capable of recording up to 60fps, had internal Neutral Density filters to minimise filter changes when exterior lighting conditions changed plus had good colour and a wide dynamic range. Also the Sony Alpha mount allows for many different lens mounting options, changing between different mounts quickly. The bit depth of the camera in conjunction with the slog2 produced really fine gradation in colour and contrast.” The Pretend One was shot internally with 4K XAVC–I codec as opposed to RAW for several reasons according to Morton who explained, “Though it would have been a preference to shoot RAW as I have done in situations where compression and colour subsampling were critical to the final result, we weighed up the benefits of shooting RAW for The Pretend One and decided against it due to the data requirements. In saying that, the 4K XAVC-I 10bit 42:2 codec is a data efficient codec which holds up well with the slog2 gamma encoding.”
NEWS + PEOPLE
The Pretend One is set on a magnificent cotton farm in rural QLD so there were a lot of broad sweeping exterior shots at varying times of day with the interiors largely set in a beautiful old farm house and a classic rural pub situated in the area. Morton also shot across a full spectrum of coverage; long complicated Steadicam shots, wide planametric shots, car mounts, hand-held and composed dialogue scenes.
He added, “We set the cameras up in full production mode; matte boxes, remote focus, remote video and audio, Vlock battery plates, PL Zeiss MK3 Super Speeds. We also employed a ¼ glimmer glass that gave the images a soft edged, blooming highlight with a rich image. The cameras were employed for a wide range of coverage including handheld, Steadicam, dollies, car (and tractor) rigs. Thankfully the FS7 allowed for a lot of freedom in shooting as it could switch between setups quickly – going from sticks to handheld in seconds utilising a Sony VCT plate.”
With all this to take into consideration Morton was particularly delighted with the performance of the FS7 cameras saying, “The FS7 is gamechanger of a camera. To offer images that equate to a camera five times the price whilst offering amazing ergonomics and usability, it blows every other camera in its class out of the water. Besides the obvious budgetary advantage, the FS7 offers a cinematic feel, that coupled with the MK3 Super speeds gave beautiful soft images comparable to the best digital cameras on the market. Some of the shoot days had up to ten minutes of screen time scheduled for the day and the FS7’s lightweight nature and ease of operation meant the time between setups allowed us to achieve all scheduled shots. Light sensitivity was also outstanding meaning that we could shoot in very natural low light whilst still having a lot of detail, this allowed us to the versatility of shooting well into last light on the epic sunset days. The FS7’s latitude is also phenomenal, shooting externals in daylight, there was always a lot of detail in the highlights and shadows whilst still keeping our image low contrast and beautiful.”
There was a wide range of images shot for the film which included a lot of exterior filming at specific time of day. It was important to Morton that the
Visit https://www.facebook.com/thepretendone, pro.sony.com.au and pro.sony.co.nz
When Morton describes putting the FS7s to the test it’s easy to see why the quality and reliability of the cameras was so critical to the production.
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camera rendered dynamic range, colour, contrast and textures as, “This way we accurately and beautifully represented the landscape the characters inhabit. The majority of the film was shot hand held with the exception of car-mounted shots and some establishing landscapes and scene master wides to give a strong sense of place. The FS7 sits very well on the shoulder – balance and overall weight are very good. The button layout is also very well thought out, allowing for quick adjustments and access to various metering modes to be done by the operator whilst the camera is comfortably sitting on the shoulder like an ENG camera.”
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NEWS + PEOPLE
Hogarth Appointed GM of Prime Television
Trivuncevic Joins Digistor Services Team
PRIME MEDIA GROUP HAS ANNOUNCED the recent appointment of Mr Tony Hogarth to the new position of General Manager, Prime Television.
DIGITAL MEDIA INTEGRATION SPECIALIST, Digistor Pty Ltd, has appointed Patrick Trivuncevic to the company’s Services Team as Solutions Architect and Senior Systems Engineer.
In his 17 year career at PRIME, Mr Hogarth has held several executive positions, most recently as General Manager PRIME Network Sales with responsibility for local advertising sales operations across PRIME’s markets of NSW, ACT, Victoria and Western Australia.
Drawing on Patrick’s experience, the appointment extends Digistor’s ability to design, build and support technology solutions for VFX and post facilities, broadcasters and digital media professionals.
Prime Chief Executive Officer, Ian Audsley, said, “Tony boasts a long and successful career at PRIME and his work ethic and leadership qualities are well demonstrated. In this new role Tony adds the day-to-day running of our television operations to his existing advertising sales responsibilities.”
Most recently, Patrick held the position of Senior Systems Engineer at data storage company, DDN. In this position, and as Head of Engineering at Future Reality, he consulted directly with clients to design and implement high bandwidth storage solutions, colour correction systems, and optimised workflows for media production and management.
The announcement follows Prime Media Group confirming that a number of senior editorial positions will go in Wagga Wagga, Tamworth, and Canberra.
Visit www.digistor.com.au
Visit www.primemedia.com.au
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Screen Producers Australia Announces 2015-2016 Councillors SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCED the appointment of its 2015 – 2016 Councillors. The Screen Producers Australia Council is comprised of members working across the production of feature film, television, documentary, interactive media and children’s content, as well as service and facility businesses. Screen Producers Australia CEO, Matthew Deaner, “The Councillors are well recognised within the industry through the breadth and depth of their experience, achievements and contribution to the industry. I would like to thank outgoing Councillors Amanda Higgs, Morgan Jaffitt and Andrew Ogilvie for their service and I look forward to working with our new Council and again with President Chris Oliver-Taylor and Vice-President Ben Grant.” Chris Oliver-Taylor, Managing Director of Matchbox Pictures said, “I am delighted to welcome our new councillors, Marcus Gillezeau, Ewan Burnett and Tania Chambers. Their experience and talent compliments an incredibly strong council that is well placed to continue the ongoing work of Screen Producers Australia.”
The 2015 – 2016 Screen Producers Australia Council is represented by the following new members: ¡
Donna Andrews, CEO & Partner, Sticky Pictures
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Wayne Borg, Managing Director, Fox Studios Australia
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¡ Ewan Burnett, Chief Executive Officer, Burberry Productions ¡
Tania Chambers, Managing Director, Feisty Dame Productions
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Kate Croser, Producer, Hedone Productions
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Marcus Gillezeau, Producer, Firelight Productions
¡ Chris Hilton, EP/CEO, Essential Media and Entertainment ¡
Nathan Mayfield, Chief Executive Officer, Hoodlum
¡ Alaric McAusland, Managing Director, Deluxe Australia ¡
David Redman, CEO, Redman Entertainments
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Joanna Werner, Director, Werner Film Productions
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Visit https://screenproducersaustralia.org.au
Deb Sexton Joins Agile Broadcast AGILE BROADCAST has appointed Deb Sexton as its Sales and Marketing
Deb joins Agile Broadcast after a period away to raise a family. Previous positions have included General Manager of Innes Corporation and Account Manager at Gearhouse Broadcast.
knowledge makes her a key addition to the Agile Broadcast family. We view her appointment as a sign of our commitment to our clients and brands, and it is very fortunate that we were able to find someone of Deb’s calibre. I’m confident that Deb will play a key role in providing exceptional service for our clients, while growing awareness of our many brands.”
Agile Broadcast Director, Adrian Harper said, “Deb’s experience and industry
Visit www.agilebroadcast.com.au
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Manager. Deb has 16 years’ experience in the broadcast market both in Australia and the United States. With a background in television, pro audio and radio broadcast, Deborah brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the role.
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“RF King” Joins Magna Systems & Engineering AS PART OF ITS MAJOR EXPANSION and continued efforts in the supply
King’s previous roles included successful stints with AWA, Aussat, and Optus where the roles included design, testing and commissioning of RF links and satellite systems, as well as Network TEN where, during a 13 year period, he was responsible for implementing digital broadcasting and the transition from analogue broadcasting Andrew King is also currently the chairman of Australian Radiocommunications Study Group 6.
of microwave solutions to Asia Pac’s leading telcos, RF communications and industry stalwart Andrew King has joined Magna Systems and Engineering as Telecoms and RF Specialist. King brings with him over 40 years experience of working in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries in various roles, from manufacturing, engineering design, operations, sales, planning and working with governments and regulators. His career has spanned many different technologies, from audio to cable transmission, to satellite systems, the development of cellular mobile services, video encoding and broadcasting.
Visit www.magnasys.tv
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THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION (SAFC) Chief Executive Annabelle Sheehan has announced the appointment of former Miramax and The Weinstein Company executive, Michelle Krumm, as Head of Production, Development and Studio at the SAFC. Michelle is a key appointment in the new structure at SAFC which has seen the merger of the Adelaide Studios and Production Departments to achieve greater efficiencies and streamline industry engagement. Other key appointments in the new structure include Peter Hartley as
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Head of Corporate Services and Finance. Peter brings with him more than 25 years of finance and business administration experience including 15 years with Oxfam Australia. The SAFC has also strengthened its production support capacity with the appointment of experienced feature film and television producer, Vicki Sugars as Manager, Production Development and Studios. In addition, Alison Bowman has joined SAFC as Manager, Communications. Visit www.safilm.com.au
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NEWS + PEOPLE
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Miramax & Weinstein Exec Joins Restructured Team at SAFC
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14/03/2015 2:38 pm
NEWS + PEOPLE
Finding the Silver Bullet in the Golden Age of TV By Keith Ford THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY is in the midst of a shake-up, as all involved well know and recognise. The factor that is up in the air is one of scale. How much will new platforms impact more traditional viewing methods, and how quickly? Speaking at the ASTRA Conference 2015, Hernan Lopez, President & CEO Fox International Channels, faces the question head-on and poses a strategy for succeeding in this ever-evolving landscape. “The numbers are really staggering,” said Lopez. “Creators are coming to television in droves to create some of the best television shows we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes. In the year 2000, 136 television scripted shows were made in the US. This year some people say there will be 400 scripted television shows, and each of them will cost at least twice as much to make. The current era of television has been universally recognised as a Golden Age, with premium drama reaching heights of critical acclaim that have never been seen, in both a sense of quality and volume. Many rate incredibly well; AMC’s The Walking Dead surpasses 20 million viewers in the US alone and HBO’s Game of Thrones is their most watched series ever. Despite all of this, business models are being questioned and deemed to be failing. “There’s a lot of anxiety among main investors. Some people on one extreme argue that we are watching television, but we’re only doing it on our tablets, desktops, and smart phones, ‘personal screens’. They argue that this transition makes the traditional media business models obsolete. And the only way in which you can reach a 30 year old, or anybody under 30 today, is on their smart phone,” said Lopez. When it comes to the question of succeeding in the current landscape, there are a variety of strategies. The old adage that ‘Content is King’ is one that is inevitably trotted out in a discussion such as this, as does the idea that distribution is, in fact, King. The jockeying for position is worthy of Game of Thrones itself, and the allegiances inspire just as much passion. “One position is that as long as you have your content, you’ll be fine. When the whole market thinks that way though, it’s no surprise that first the cost of licensing shows goes up, then followed by how much of it is made, and the cost of the content that we make,” explained Lopez. “So on one point it’s fair to ask the question, how much is too much? Have we reached the point where there’s so much content that consumers are over-served? That in their mind content has become commoditised so distribution is king again? “Distribution has always been and will always be essential. Without distribution you have no chance. Without your product in front of consumers, obviously you have no chance of being sold at all. One school of thought
however, very popular in Silicon Valley, is if you just make your product absolutely great, consumers will magically find you. So this is the school of thought that essentially minimises the value of distribution. “Netflix and Amazon are companies that come from the tech war, yet when you buy a new television set, and you see that both Netflix and Amazon have paid money to have their own dedicated button on the remote control, you see that they too understand the value of distribution, they’re just trying to get it in a different way, but they know that it’s essential to their business.” This is where the changes to the broadcast industry necessitate another dimension. 20 years ago having content and distribution might have been enough, but in the new world of massively increased competition consumers need a shortcut to finding the content they want. “The most time-tested way of doing it is called a brand. Under the argument that the content is king, the brand is the castle. Content obviously comes before brand; a brand without content is like a castle without a king. But a king, even the most powerful king, one day will be gone, yet the castle, the brand, if you build it right, if you maintain it, can thrive for generations,” explained Lopez. When a customer calls a subscription television service for the first time they don’t ask if it has The Walking Dead, argues Lopez, they ask if it carries the FX channel. “Let’s say that you do have distribution, you do have content, you do have brand. That all used to be enough up until maybe two years ago,” said Hernan. “It won’t be enough in the future if you don’t have a great user experience.”
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“There is a fundamental reason to be optimistic about the future of the television industry. Consumers are spending more time in front of more screens than ever, and that cultural impact is attracting more talent to the television industry, both from the creative side and the technology side. There is, I believe, a pot of gold in this new golden age in TV, but it’s not for everybody. It is for the companies that find the formula. If anybody tells you that there’s a single silver bullet that will get you that pot of gold, don’t believe it; you need many,” concluded Hernan Lopez.
RTS
Visit http://foxinternationalchannels.com
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Fox International Channels Chooses MediaHub Australia Playout Platform
NEWS + PEOPLE
FOX INTERNATIONAL CHANNELS (FIC) Australia, a division of 21st Century FOX, recently chose MediaHub Australia as its playout platform for all of its channels throughout Australia and New Zealand including the entertainment channel FX, and factual channels National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo People.
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FIC Director of Technical Operations, Stephen Lloyd, said, “FIC was seeking a 21st century, high-quality, technology-led, efficient Australian-based full service media playout operation. We found that and more in MediaHub, who demonstrated a great can-do working culture with the ability to be flexible and responsive ensuring we get the best on-air presentation for our viewers, which is what matters most. I look forward to a productive partnership in the years ahead.” The implementation began in what was an incredibly tight timeframe from signing contracts to parallel broadcast operations. A fact and a feat not lost on Lloyd who remarked, “In just eight weeks MediaHub have managed to
provide the total Australia and New Zealand playout platform and services for all FIC channels with very a compelling SLA target. This includes full data centre services for FIC, presentation, monitoring, logging, and delivery of all feeds to Foxtel and SKY NZ. “
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MediaHub Australia CEO, Alan Sweeney, said, “We are absolutely delighted to have an organisation of Fox International Channels’ stature as a partner and to be handling and managing the playout for all of their channels. Not only are the Fox International Channels premium channels, but their decision to partner with MediaHub further validates our offering to the market in general. MediaHub is open for business and very ready to manage new channels and data services as the market requires.” The FX, Nat Geo (to Foxtel and SKY NZ), Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo People channels will be live and on air through MediaHub on 1 December 2015. Visit www.mediahubaustralia.com
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TAKING STOCK Moves in the business of content + technology
Hugh Marks New CEO for Nine Entertainment NINE ENTERTAINMENT CO. HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Mr Hugh Marks as Chief Executive Officer, effective 10 November 2015, following the decision by the current long-term CEO, David Gyngell, to step down. Mr Gyngell will remain on the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Hugh Marks joined the Board of NEC in February 2013, prior to the IPO. He is a veteran of the media and production industry, with almost 20 years’ experience as a senior executive in content production and broadcasting in Australia and internationally. He currently owns talent agency RGM Artists, together with ownership and management interests in a number of independent companies producing content for broadcast and pay TV. Hugh will cease his involvement in these other businesses. NEC also notes that, effective immediately, Mr Peter Costello has been appointed Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, whilst Ms Holly Kramer has been appointed Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Visit www.nineentertainment.com.au
Miller Camera Support Equipment Expands Into Latin America MILLER CAMERA SUPPORT EQUIPMENT has announced that Miamibased IntekTV, a distributor specialising in broadcast, professional audio and video products, as well as test, measurement and monitoring technology, will become a distribution hub for Miller equipment in Argentina. This relationship allows Miller to further its global reach and continue expanding into Latin America. “With IntekTV’s strategic location in Miami, and contacts throughout Argentina, Miller is proud to have it as a partner for this new endeavour,” says Gus Harilaou, Regional Manager for the Americas, Miller Camera Support, LLC. “Latin America as a whole has grown into a major broadcast production market, and Miller is excited to have IntekTV as its representative there.” Visit www.intektv.com and www.millertripods.com
Telestream Acquires PandaStream TELESTREAM, A LEADING PROVIDER OF digital media tools and
TAKING STOCK
workflow solutions, has announced the acquisition of Cloud-based encoding provider, PandaStream. As a direct result of this acquisition, Telestream announced the launch of Telestream Cloud, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. This platform makes the PandaStream encoding capabilities available under the Telestream brand and will serve as the foundation for future cloud offerings.
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Using the PandaStream architecture, Telestream Cloud offers a globally distributed, VOD encoding platform that dynamically scales in response to customer requirements. File transfer and encoding times are optimised from any location since Telestream Cloud leverages multiple cloud service providers including Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services and Rackspace. “Telestream can now provide video transcoding anywhere and everywhere – on your desktop, in your facility’s server room or in the cloud,” said Shawn Carnahan, Chief Technology Officer at Telestream. Visit www.telestream.net
www.content-technology.com/mediabusiness
Dan Molloy Joins Bloomberg Media Group DAN MOLLOY HAS JOINED BLOOMBERG MEDIA GROUP as Commercial Director for Asia Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, Dan will lead Bloomberg Media Group’s strategic partnerships, distribution and marketing across all platforms, including web, mobile, television, digital video, radio, print magazines, and live events in Asia. Dan joins Bloomberg Media with over 17 years of experience in media and advertising, most recently as General Manager at Kaplan Hong Kong where he led its commercial operations, business development, marketing and customer acquisition. “Bloomberg Media Group is one of the few media companies today that continues to expand across such a diverse range of platforms in multiple countries, creating content from Asia for the business professional”, said Dan Molloy. Visit www.bloombergmedia.com
Metropolitan Radio Ad Revenue Rises in October THE COMMERCIAL RADIO INDUSTRY has recorded growth in metropolitan advertising revenue of 4.60% for October, to a total of $71.559 million, according to figures sourced by Deloitte and released by industry body Commercial Radio Australia (CRA). Figures for the individual markets showed that Adelaide again led growth figures, reporting an increase of 11.82% to $6.598m in October compared to the same month a year ago, while Perth increased by 7.12% to $9.980m and Brisbane climbed by 6.16% to $11.267m. Melbourne rose by 2.56% to $21.934m and Sydney was up 2.77% to $21.780m. The financial year-to-date figures show growth across all markets with a rise of 7.66% to $267.104m. Adelaide was up 15.31% to $25.093m; Perth was up 7.94% to $36.128m; Sydney increased 7.82% to $82.215m; Melbourne rose 6.44% to $82.159m; and Brisbane rose 5.28% to $41.508m. Visit www.commercialradio.com.au
Technicolor Looking to Expand DVD Business TECHNICOLOR IS IN ADVANCED NEGOTIATIONS with two large US customers to assume their contracts for the replication and distribution of packaged media products (DVD and Blu-ray discs) in North America. In order to support these customers, Technicolor has agreed to purchase relevant North American optical disc manufacturing and distribution assets from Cinram Group, Inc. The customer contracts, if concluded, would add in excess of €190 million in annualised revenues to Technicolor’s Entertainment Services segment. The purchase price for the Cinram assets, net of working capital adjustments, is expected to be in the range of €35 million to €40 million, at current exchange rates, and would be entirely funded out of available cash. Visit www.technicolor.com
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INNOVATING DIGITAL CONNECTIONS
Until recently, a viewer had to use a personal computer or laptop to watch online services such as catch-up TV or movies on demand. Now, with Connected TV, it is possible to access content from the comfort of your sofa and watch your favourite shows on television. The last few years have seen an increase in media industry activities around Connected TV. Content owners, broadcasters and technology providers are working together to find business models that will make Connected TV commercially viable and change the way we consume radio and television content. DBS-2016 aims to stimulate thinking among delegates on the business and technology strategies that will safeguard and grow radio and television services in the highly competitive connected era. The three-day event will address the multiplatform delivery of radio and TV in the future, the software defined platforms, networks and services, the transformation in the broadcasting field, the immersive audio and television experiences and the emergence of OTT as a pay and FTA service.
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29 February-3 March 2016 Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur Contact: dbs@abu.org.my
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WORKSHOPS
TECHNICAL STANDARDS www.content-technology.com/standards
Multimedia Preservation Application Format is Finalised
Configurable Decoder Framework Extended with BSD
AT THE 113TH MPEG MEETING, the Multimedia Preservation Application Format (MP-AF, ISO/IEC 23000-15) has reached the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) stage. This new standard provides standardised description information to enable users to plan, execute, and evaluate preservation operations in order to achieve the objectives of digital preservation.
THE RECONFIGURABLE MEDIA CODING FRAMEWORK — MPEG’s toolkit that enables the expression of functions of a decoder in terms of functional units and data models — has been extended by a novel new building block, called Parser Instantiation from BSD.
The standard also provides the industry with a coherent and consistent approach in managing multimedia preservation so that it can be implemented in a variety of scenarios. This includes applications, systems, and methods and different hardware and software in varying administrative domains, independent of technological changes.
Parser Instantiation from BSD can interpret information about a bitstream that is described via the Bitstream Syntax Description Language (defined in ISO/IEC 23001-5), and automatically instantiate a functional unit that is able to correctly parse the bitstream. This will, for example, enable on-the-fly decoding of bitstreams that have been reconfigured for dedicated purposes.
Implementation guidelines and reference software for MP-AF are under development and have reached Draft Amendment stage at the 113th MPEG meeting. This latest amendment contains examples of applying MP-AF to use cases from the media industry.
The specification of the new technology will be included in a new edition of ISO/IEC 23001-4, which has also been issued by MPEG. Visit http://mpeg.chiariglione.org
Visit http://mpeg.chiariglione.org
NASA Verifies Interoperability of VSF’s TR-01 AT AN EVENT HELD on October 20, 2015 at Marshal Space Flight Center, NASA personnel conducted successful testing to verify interoperability between five vendor implementations of the Video Services Forum’s (VSF’s) Technical Recommendation 01 (TR-01). TR-01 uses existing standards to define interoperable profiles for real time streaming of a broadcast profile JPEG 2000 codestream wrapped in MPEG2TS, with audio and ancillary data and encapsulated in IP with FEC. The verification was necessary in order to include TR-01 as an acceptable technology for use with multi-agency
Media Links Joins TICO Alliance MEDIA GLOBAL LINKS CO., LTD. (MGL), has announced it has joined the TICO Alliance; the coalition of companies aiming to promote next generation UHD/4K infrastructure by establishing TICO compression in the new IP-based Live ecosystem. The TICO Alliance was founded in April 2015 and brings together leading Broadcast equipment manufacturers, OEM providers, broadcasters, electronics brands and technology companies. The group is working to establish the TICO lightweight compression technology in the new IP-based Live production ecosystem that allows users to leverage the existing SDI-based workflows to 4K/UHD without the cost of a complete renewal. Membership is open to any company active in the Broadcast industry. The move follows September’s announcement by EVS that it was also joining the alliance.
TECHNICAL STANDARDS
Visit www.tico-alliance.org, www.medialinks.com and www.evs.com
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spaceflight operations. The five vendors participating in the event were Ericsson, Evertz, Imagine Communications, Media Links, and Nevion. The source material provided by NASA was encoded at 720p/59.94 Hz. Tests were conducted at a wide range of bit rates, and multiple vendors were able to decode images at bit rates as low as 20 MBits/sec. Visit www.videoservicesforum.org
SMPTE Publishes SG Report on HDR THE SOCIETY OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ENGINEERS (SMPTE) announced at the SMPTE 2015 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition the publication of the SMPTE study group (SG) report on the high dynamic range (HDR) imaging ecosystem. The work of 170 top international experts, the SMPTE SG report summarises an extensive discussion on the implementation of HDR in professional media workflows and addresses key questions that will arise for industry members as they move forward in taking advantage of HDR technology. The report also offers recommendations for further HDR standardisation efforts by SMPTE and other organisations. The SMPTE SG report on the HDR ecosystem provides consensus guidance on HDR terms and definitions and presents detailed and useful information on HDR technologies that, up to this point, has not been readily available to the media industry. The report acknowledges that although HDR technologies, both proprietary and standardised, are available today and already can be implemented for non-real-time workflows, challenges remain in live or real-time applications. Visit www.smpte.org
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ACQUISITION
Vi www.content-technology.com/acquisition
Sony PMW-F55 Selected by Neighbours First broadcast in 1985, Neighbours has become an Australian icon and the longest running drama series in Australian television history, launching the careers of stars like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, Guy Pearce, and Margot Robbie. Recently the show moved to shooting with Sony PMW-F55 large sensor 4K cameras. STEVE SCOBLE, LOCATION DOP FOR FREMANTLE MEDIA on Neighbours since 2006, explained, “The Neighbours location unit had previously been using Sony XDCAMs and they were nearing the end of their lifecycle. A search began for new cameras that needed to satisfy more technical and creative options to facilitate fast moving tightly scheduled drama. Research was conducted on a variety of cameras available.” The Neighbours team decided to go with a larger sensor format as the current 2/3” PDW-700 had been around for some time. Scoble continued, “The F55 is a third generation Super35 sensor. This narrowed our choices. Bearing in mind we had chosen to go with 30300mm, 30-105mm and 15-47mm cine zoom lenses to cover all our needs, the F55 ticked off all of our requirements for shooting Neighbours. As we see it the main advantages of using an F55 are its Super35 4K sensor for improved contrast ratios, the variable frame rate and the integral ND filters. Our F55s have now been in production for 20 weeks and have performed well beyond our expectations.” Neighbours use two F55s on location, bringing in an additional camera when required. One of the improvements Scoble and the crew noticed when using the F55 was in the contrast ratios and the ability of the sensor to handle extreme highlights compared to the XDCAM cameras. Scoble added, “This was quite appealing for our style of drama shooting. I previously worked with Sony cameras for many years on Blue Heelers and was extremely impressed with their reliability and quality for fast turnaround drama. The cameras were constantly in extreme conditions running long hours with very few technical issues. I have also spoken to other DoPs who own and use the F55 and all are extremely happy.
ACQUISITION
“The F55 seemed like the ideal choice as it satisfied all our technical requirements with the 4K Super35 CMOS sensor, global shutter, extra exposure latitude, greatly improved ASA rating (currently able to shoot 4000 ASA without noise), variable frame rate, and the ability to shoot 4K when required. In consultation with the producers we felt the F55 would have a huge impact on the picture quality for both local and overseas sales. Of course, the F55 is capable of shooting 4K, but due to current postproduction storage requirements and having to match our studio pictures it was decided to shoot with XAVC HD 1920 x1080 at 25p.”
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Neighbours DOP Steve Scoble and the F55 camera on the set of Neighbours
systems featuring the larger Super35 sized sensors. Typically, the latest single CMOS sensors have native resolution around 4K, which can be recorded in a range of formats and resolutions, from the current HDTV 1080 format up to full 4K. The single CMOS Super35 sensors exhibit vastly increased ISO speed, colour resolution and gamma range, when compared to 3 CCD prism systems. Scott continued, “With this in mind both the increased speed and vastly increased gamma range of 14 photographic stops as opposed to our previous 5 or 6 are huge advantages when using the F55 in terms of technical and aesthetic results.” To improve the look and quality of the show, the Neighbours production team needed to enable a seamless technical and aesthetic imaging match between the studio and location units and provide consistency with current dramatic and artistic practices. Gary Scott added, “The F55 has a number of specific features that helped us improve the look of the show including, as mentioned previously, integral rotating ND filters, which are extremely useful in the variable lighting conditions routinely experienced on Neighbours locations. Also the familiarity and system compatibility of Sony cameras is very helpful in ensuring a smooth transition for the crew.” On the post side, retrieving data from the Sony SxS pro memory card into Avid Media Composer has been a far simpler process than the previous year’s post production workflow according to Post Supervisor Caroline Scott and 3rd Assistant Editor Rebecca McPherson. Scott explained, “It is now easy, streamlined and has vastly improved our timeframes, making things much quicker than how we did them last year. We have managed to streamline the process in a number of ways including our ability to Avid AMA link and transcode footage, rather than import from XDCAM. Also, the invaluable use of upgraded Ambient ACL 204 Lockit boxes with a programmable offset has enabled us to auto sync and multigroup audio and vision clips with a synchronised source time-code, as opposed to manually matching each slate.”
Gary Scott, 1st Assistant Camera Location Unit, also saw the benefits of the F55 in its design, engineering, build quality and reliability. He added, “We also needed a camera system which was durable, stable and resistant to both heavy use over prolonged periods and the sometimes-extreme Melbourne environmental conditions, especially on exterior locations. The F55 was ideal.”
Looking back over the F55’s success on Neighbours during the last twenty weeks Steve Scoble concluded, “In general the cameras are in use five days a week, with ten shooting hours per day and in weather conditions which are often unstable. The F55 cameras are reliable, sturdy and can take the heat, the cold and rough and tumble of fast turnaround shooting. After six months we are really happy with the Sony F55 cameras and the quality of the image is well beyond expectations.”
Television imaging has recently seen rapid development in camera
Visit http://pro.sony.com.au
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Videocraft Designs, Supplies, Builds and Installs New TV Studio for RMIT RECENTLY VIDEOCRAFT PLAYED A MAJOR PART in the delivery of RMIT’s New Academic Street (NAS) consolidation project, which included providing teaching and learning environments for students in their Screen and Media, Screen and Media Productions, Communications and Journalism programs. The scope of works required to deliver this project involved Videocraft designing, building and being responsible for the full construction of RMIT’s new TV Studio A.
were very happy with the end result.”
Videocraft MD, James Taylor, explained, “This was a very comprehensive project and build and involved the acoustic treatment of ceiling, walls and windows, specialist acoustic doors, an upgrade of existing mechanical and electrical services and the relocation of existing equipment which was no mean feat. Bearing all this in mind Videocraft fulfilled all of RMIT’s audio visual requirements.”
Videocraft supplied RMIT with the equipment for two TV studios with all associated cabling, two control rooms, comms, master control, cameras, audio, vision switchers, routers, racks, patch bays, CCUs and graphics.
Moving studios is never easy. Moving studios and simultaneously building a new one is even more complex as Taylor detailed, “This was a challenge for all involved. Maintaining continuity of business whilst shutting down one facility and building and troubleshooting a new state-of-the-art studio definitely had its challenges. That said we approached the broadcast AV installation in our usual professional manner and completed the project on a very tight timeframe and within the budget.”
Now complete and ‘on-air’ the new studio is a dynamic and busy teaching facility catering to both VE and HE classes at RMIT in addition to RMITV. As a result students can now put live broadcasts to air on CTV31, live stream broadcasts over IP and cater for numerous pre-records and teaching activities.
According to Taylor the program constraints were difficult to achieve however he added, “Despite this major constraint we delivered in full and worked extensively with the end user to ensure their functional requirements were comprehensively addressed. I’m delighted to say RMIT
When all was complete Videocraft built and installed a state-of-the art digital television studio and master control including fibre link to C31, live streaming capabilities and green lighting technologies throughout.
James Taylor concluded, “RMIT’s feedback is that the users are ecstatic with the new spaces and the overall user experience has been excellent. The students find the state-of-the-art gear we installed a joy to work with and represents best industry practice, which in turn ensures the graduates are industry ready.” Visit www.videocraft.com.au
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New Canon CJ20ex7.8B Portable Zoom Lens for 4K CANON AUSTRALIA HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of the new CJ20ex7.8B portable-type broadcast zoom lens, which offers a 20x zoom ratio with a focal-length range from 7.8 mm to 156 mm and supports use with 4K broadcast cameras employing 2/3-inch sensors. The new lens, features a compact, lightweight body design, makes possible the creation of high-resolution and high-impact 4K video content. This lens is ideal for indoor and outdoor location applications, from sporting events and news coverage, to dramas and documentaries.
Drawing on the advanced optical technologies cultivated by Canon, the new CJ20ex7.8B achieves a high level of optical performance enabling use with 4K broadcast cameras. Furthermore, featuring a compact, lightweight body design, the lens delivers exceptional mobility in response to the needs of the broadcast industry, facilitating shouldermounted shooting and convenient transport and setup.
Through optimal lens positioning and advanced levels of component and body assembly precision, the CJ20ex7.8B achieves high-quality 4K-resolution images from the centre to the peripheral areas of the image field. Delivering superior colour reproducibility the lens contributes to the creation of compelling video brimming with realism.
The new CJ20ex7.8B includes a built-in 2x extender, which increases the lens focal range by two fold. Even when shooting at the 312 mm telephoto-end focal length, the lens delivers superior optical performance to support use with 4K broadcast cameras. Visit www.canon.com.au
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Canon Introduces the XA35 and XA30 CANON AUSTRALIA HAS ANNOUNCED the addition of two handheld video cameras to its X-series, the XA35 and XA30. Designed for professionals and enthusiasts alike, the highly compact and lightweight models feature a newly developed HD CMOS Pro sensor, which provides higher sensitivity and improved low-light performance. Both cameras also include new Wide Dynamic Range (DR) and Highlight Priority settings. Utilising Canon’s heritage in optical expertise and advanced technologies, the newly designed 1/2.84-type 2.91 megapixel HD CMOS Pro sensor has enhanced sensitivity with improved signal-to-noise ratio. As a result, images are crisp and clear, even in low-light environments. Lowlight shooting opportunities are further boosted by improved infrared performance. The 20x zoom wide-angle lens offers a 26.8-576mm (35mm equivalent) focal range and employs Canon’s intelligent 5-axis Optical Image Stabilization System with Dynamic IS. The lens also features an 8 blade circular aperture to give enhanced ‘bokeh’.
The XA35 and XA30 features two new settings – Wide DR and Highlight Priority. In Wide DR mode, the cameras are able to achieve 600% dynamic range, resulting in bright images with high contrast that retain detail in both highlight and shadow areas, without the need for post-production. When using the High Priority settings, users are able to produce footage with more natural tones and richer colours, particularly in areas of high brightness, perfect for scenes with bright skies and reflective surfaces. The cameras also support high quality AVCHD (up to 28Mbps) and MP4 (up to 35Mbps) file formats and include dual SD card slots, providing instant back-up through simultaneous recording or the option for relay recording at longer events, ideal for wedding videographers. Both the XA35 and XA30 are dual-band Wi-Fi enabled which allow remote control of the camera, wireless file transfer/upload and browser preview, all with the use of a smartphone, tablet or computer. Visit www.canon.com.au
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Tiffen Unleashes Monster in Japan TOHO STUDIOS, the legendary Tokyo production house responsible for the original Godzilla and its current remake, as well as Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa, has purchased the new Tiffen Steadicam M-1 camera stabiliser for all its current and future feature projects.
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Senior Cameraman Kosuke Yamada has been looking at the M-1 since its launch, and was further excited about bringing a rig to Japan after he completed the 6-Day SOA (Steadicam Operators Association) Classic workshop in the US with Jerry Holway and Steadicam’s inventor Garrett Brown. Assisting him on the language front during the workshop was Tiffen/Steadicam’s US sales manager Dan Ikeda, one of Tiffen’s senior workshop instructors.
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Yamada-san’s experience as a cinematographer was gained well before the SOA workshop, with a 13 year camera assistant’s path at TOHO Studios leading four years ago to the top job as TOHO’s Cinematographer. According to Yamada-san, the first reason he chose the M-1 was its stability.
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“When I used the M-1 for the first time at the SOA workshop,” he said. “I felt a firm sense of stability that I had never felt before. No matter how much lighter cameras become, the quality of the image largely depends on its stability in use. “The M-1 can accommodate various shooting styles and equipment, and I think this is perhaps the biggest strength of it, but also very important is the ease with which you can achieve dynamic balance and smoothness of the gimbal.” “A further reason was the modular design. Unlike the USA, it is difficult for us to customise our rigs here in Japan as we often do not have enough information or equipment, but with the M-1, we can upgrade it later if it is necessary. We are really impressed and happy with it.”
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The supportive exoskeleton design of Exovest frees the chest from constraint by providing support on the hip and shoulder. The industry’s benchmark ISOElastic G70X arm completes the package, making M-1 the most advanced stabiliser in feature production.
TOHO’s M-1 stabiliser is the first to be delivered to an Asia-based customer, beating Taiwan by a day. A recent showing of the M1 at Beijing BIRTV broadcast exhibition has already resulted in more systems going to Chinese broadcasters and film-makers.
The Steadicam M1 system was supplied by Tiffen’s Japanese distributor, Gin-ichi Corp, who boast Steadicam factory support training, offering local time-zone support to TOHO and broadcasters like NHK, CX Fuji and TV Asahi who have purchased Steadicam Archer 2, Zephyr and Shadow stabilisers over the last two years.
All Tiffen M-1 systems in Asia have been ordered with the Fawcett Exovest.
Visit www.tiffen.com/steadicam
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Panasonic to Trial P2 Cast Cloud-Based News Production in APAC PANASONIC WILL BE INVITING APAC broadcasters to trial its P2 Cast
cost distribution, within a short time frame and with reduced staffing.
cloud-based news production system and expects to commence the trials in early 2016.
The service has been tested for the past several months by major international broadcasters. Panasonic’s P2 Cast APAC hub will be located in Hong Kong.
P2 Cast is designed to meet the demands of a rapid news cycle and dramatically increase the speed of delivery of high quality news content to air. Since P2 Cast is a cloud based network service that utilises IP infrastructure, news workflow is streamlined, leaving camera operators free to concentrate on getting the perfect shot. P2 Cast leverages the network features of Panasonic’s P2 HD camcorders with AVC-ULTRA recording – the AJ-PX5000G, AJ-PX800, and AJ-PX270 – so content is uploaded to the cloud and is immediately available for review, download, and editing. Footage can quickly and reliably be sent from the field to be edited for broadcast, so breaking news can immediately be delivered to viewers.
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A major P2 Cast advantage is its ability via the cloud to move low bit rate, yet high-quality, proxy video off a camcorder in the field. This allows either the camera operator or newsroom editors to quickly create a video sequence of the desired clips, and then automatically pull back only the original high-quality and high bit rate video selected for air from the camera.
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High-resolution video can range in quality from AVC-LongG12 12Mbps through to AVC-Intra Class100 100Mbps, depending on preference and available bandwidth. AVC-ULTRA cameras in the field can be connected with the newsroom through mobile networks (4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, or dedicated connection) and the cloud, making it possible to instantly produce news from events as they occur. With distribution formats for video content diversifying and opportunities for utilising raw news resources increasing, P2 Cast facilitates everything from the gathering of news footage to low-
P2 Cast workflow features include: 1. Proxy file sharing – Shared storage is prepared on the server. The proxy files uploaded from camcorders can be browsed and played from news stations. The proxy file can be downloaded and used for breaking news. 2. Highlight editing, high-quality footage transfer – At a station, the editor can highlight edit (In point/Out point) the proxy files that have been uploaded on the server, thus creating an EDL (Edit Decision List) and transfer it to the camera. Based on the EDL, the camera selects just the desired high-quality footage and transfers it back to the server. 3. New, efficient workflows using metadata – Cameras and cameramen are pre-assigned IDs and metadata is sent from the newsroom to the camcorders in the field. Metadata can be automatically recorded with footage shot in the field, and the data can then be used in the editing process to dramatically increase the searchability of the raw footage and shorten the time required for archiving and re-accessing data for other uses. Metadata makes it possible to search content by keyword – the name of the cameraman or interviewee for example – making locating and distributing content to affiliates around the world much faster. Future features Panasonic wants to develop include the ability to search metadata using voice or face recognition of filmed subjects, and checking and performing firmware updates. Visit www.panasonic.com.sg
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Portable Multicamera Recorder Switcher CONVERGENT DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED Apollo, a portable HD multicamera recorder/switcher. Apollo can simultaneously record up to four HD video signals, along with a fifth channel of either a live-switch between the four or a quad-split reference view. Apollo can also function as a four-channel live switcher while simultaneously recording the four isolated HD video signals. The size of a small tablet and able to run for hours on a camcorder battery, Apollo is truly portable and the only device of its kind that can both record multiple HD camera feeds as well as live-switch between them. All cameras stay in sync with matching timecode. A single SSD contains all of the multicamera media, dramatically reducing turnaround time for post. There are two SSD slots on Apollo, allowing for twice the record time or mirror recording for safety backup. Apollo utilises industry-standard 2.5” SSD media, either manufactured by Convergent Design or qualified 3rd party models. Using the new Apollo Media Manager App, recordings can be exported as separate Apple ProRes files or as a single multicamera QuickTime file that drops directly into the timeline of supporting NLEs such as Final Cut Pro-X. Additional functions are planned for release in the first quarter of 2016, including two-channel 4K/UHD video recording, DNxHD recording, and cascade interconnect between up to three Apollos for up to twelve HD channel or six 4K/UHD channel simultaneous recording. These and other additional functions will be made available via a free firmware update. A remote keypad control unit will be offered along with a rack mount and other accessories. Apollo is scheduled for release in December 2015 and comes with an SSD to USB3 adapter, a 5-pack of SSD mounting handles, and a universal AC power supply included. Owners of the Convergent Design Odyssey7Q and Odyssey7Q+ will be able to purchase an Apollo Option for their devices as an upgrade. Apollo Features include: ¡ Monitor –
Four HD Streams; Switched/Quad View; Image Analysis Tools; Custom 3D-LUTs; SDI and HDMI I/O
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4x HD + Quad/Live; Single File; SSD Media;
Embedded Audio ¡ Switch – No Genlock Required; Touchscreen Interface; 2x SDI/1x HDMI
Output; XML EDL for Post; Compact/Lightweight ¡ Play – Switched/Quad View; Output to HDMI/SDI; Intuitive Controls;
Playlist/Scrubbing; Clip Markers Recording features include: HD video recording, up to four signals simultaneously; 1080p24 / 1080p30 / 1080i60 / 720p60 (60hz territories);
Covering Dispersed Locations ABONAIR has launched its AB-MultiZone technology for the coverage of massive areas and multiple venues. AB-MultiZone introduces continuous, unlimited coverage with a single receiver connecting up to 250 MIMO antennas, and roaming from one coverage zone to another seamlessly and automatically without dropping even a single pixel. AB-MultiZone addresses the coverage challenges of dispersed locations like golf courses, race tracks or separate venues. ABonAir’s robust wireless broadcast systems enable broadcast professionals to transmit content directly from the field to the control centre, providing the benefits of unique shooting angles, original content and flexible setups. Traditionally, in large area coverage the transition from one zone to the next was not smooth, requiring a complex antenna and cable installation, or even a second receiver. Connecting the different system elements (receiver and antennas) are fibre optic cables which are already in place in most locations. The system can be deployed in multiple topologies for ease of installation: daisy chain, star or any combination of the two, enabling flexible topologies based on venue requirements. The system automatically identifies the topology in place, making setup simple and easy. Visit www.abonair.com
1080p25 / 1080i50/720p50 (50hz territories); Apple ProRes HQ/422/LT; Record four HD signals and one quad-split view; Record four HD signals and one live switch; Up to four SDI inputs or three SDI & one HDMI; Embedded audio or analog input; Loss of any signal does not interrupt recording of other channels; Apollo Media Manager App outputs four separate files or one master multi-camera QuickTime for simplified post; Dual SSDs allow spanning (long record time) or mirroring (simultaneous backup); and 3.5 hours recording time at highest quality [2TB of 4x HD signals & live switch, 1080p30, Apple ProRes 422(HQ); 8.5 hours in Apple ProRes 422(LT)] Switching/Monitoring features include: No Genlock required; Touchscreen interface; Monitor outputs for switched or quad view; Two SDI outputs, one HDMI output; Preset or Custom Monitoring LUTs; and Image Analysis tools: False Colour, Focus Assist, Histogram, Pixel Zoom, Spot Meter, Vectorscope, Waveform, and Zebra; 7.7” OLED panel for true blacks and accurate colours. Additional features available in a free firmware update (early 2016) will include: Dual 4K/UHD recording (Apple ProRes in 24p, 25p, 30p); DNxHD recording; Record XML file Edit Decision List from Live Switch; Remote keyboard control pad; Audio delay; On-screen source naming; and Cascade interconnect for 12-channel HD/6-channel 4K recording. Visit www.convergent-design.com/apollo
U.S. to Introduce Drone Registration U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Anthony Foxx and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Huerta have announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The task force will be composed of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders. The group will advise the Department on which aircraft should be exempt from registration due to a low safety risk, including toys and certain other small UAS. The task force also will explore options for a streamlined system that would make registration less burdensome for commercial UAS operators. The task force may make additional safety recommendations as it deems appropriate. “Registering unmanned aircraft will help build a culture of accountability and responsibility, especially with new users who have no experience operating in the U.S. aviation system,” Foxx said. “It will help protect public safety in the air and on the ground.” Visit www.transportation.gov
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Southern Cross Cameras Chooses ARRI AMIRA
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SOUTHERN CROSS CAMERAS AUSTRALIA is a camera rental house
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based in Sydney. The company, headed up by owner Anthony Pawley, provides productions with a wide selection of camera packages, lenses, speciality lenses and video gear. In addition to its range of ARRI ALEXA XT PLUS and ARRI ALEXA Mini cameras the company recently also added two new ARRI AMIRA cameras to its rental fleet. As Anthony Pawley explains, “For as long as I have been involved in the film industry ARRI has been one of the best companies worldwide in regards to film cameras and now, with the new digital movement arriving over the last few years, ARRI is again and the pointy end of the pyramid in regards to camera quality and ease of use. This made buying an AMIRA an easy choice.” Pawley runs Southern Cross Cameras (SCC) as a truly boutique film and digital camera rental house and as such, his philosophy for the company has always been underpinned by quality. He continues, “I always make sure only buy the best quality products when it comes to purchasing digital cameras and cinema lenses. So, with previous proven quality products from ARRI in mind, when the AMIRA was announced I did my research and I could see that just like the ARRI ALEXA the AMIRA would have its place in the Australian market because of its great new features and it new amendments in body design and lightweight options.” SCC’s clients are familiar and used to Pawley’s high standards of equipment and service so the AMIRA was a good fit with the other equipment in their fleet as Pawley adds, “The AMIRA has fit really well into the market. Also as the new camera offers different options to the ALEXA it fits perfectly into our business as another great ARRI option.” Pawley also likes and was impressed by the new AMIRA’s specs as they gave him and his clients other options they’ve never had before. He explains, “The AMIRA offers a great new option to shoot 3.2K and also in camera 4K
Sony Expands Line of XDCAM HD 422 Shoulder Camcorders SONY’S LATEST ADDITION to its PXW series of shoulder mount camcorders, PXW-X400, delivers stronger network and wireless capabilities, improved weight balance, XAVC 50/60p recording and pool feed functions, giving electronic news-gathering (ENG) and field production professionals a versatile and high-performance tool. When wireless LAN is unstable or unavailable, the new PXW-X400’s Ethernet interface enables direct connection to a network for file transfer, live streaming and control from a web browser. A near-field communications (NFC) feature gives users a one-touch link between the camcorder and a mobile device. A Content Browser Mobile application enables users to preview or remotely control camcorder settings and various menu functions. The pool feed function (HD/SD SDI) allows recording of the SDI external signal onto an SxS card, a useful function to record a distributed signal from another camera or player on-site without requiring a portable deck. Redesigning the inner structure of PXW-X400’s body, Sony has drastically improved the weight balance and handling capabilities compared to its predecessor models. Combining the newly introduced manual lens with the well-balanced body resolves any front-heavy issues and dramatically reduces the load for users on the right-hand.
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The PXW-X400’s “ONLINE button” lets users bypass a mobile device or the camcorder’s menu for direct on/off control over direct streaming transmission of AV signals from the PXW-X400 to assigned destinations, auto-uploading of proxy files to cloud services and FTP servers, and on/ off control over Sony’s PWS-100RX1 network server while shooting.
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The PXW-X400 camcorder is scheduled for release in Australia and New Zealand from February 2016. Visit http://pro.sony.com.au
UHD ProRes as well as a great new lighter body for handheld making it a great camera for SteadiCam. Other options like being able to shoot a number of different preset LUT options that can be baked into the ProRes data for a quicker post path if needed are a big plus, as is now being able to shoot 200FPS.” “ARRI Australia offer great service and excellent support. Stefan and his team offer the perfect service which is great Anthony Pawley with his two new ARRI AMIRA because when you are cameras. spending a lot of money on a product like this it is good to know you can have the best support at any time of the day, even weekends if needed,” concluded Pawley. “In summary I can’t fault the ARRI AMIRA at all, it fits perfectly into our range of cameras and is always busy.” Visit www.arri.com.au
HD Encoder for Drones VITEC HAS UNVEILED the MGW Pico TOUGH, its latest innovation in airborne encoding and streaming appliances. Said to be the world’s smallest dual-channel H.264 HD/SD encoding solution, weighing less than 400 grams, Vitec says the MGW Pico TOUGH sets a new standard of performance for manned and unmanned airborne platforms, military vehicles, and ground units. The MGW Pico TOUGH consumes less than seven watts of power for 1080p encoding with KLV/STANAG metadata. MGW Pico TOUGH features simultaneous, low-latency streaming of two sources from HD-SDI and analog composite signals, JITC-compliant metadata processing AES encryption, forward error correction technology, real-time resolution scaling, and image cropping. The credit-card-sized, rugged enclosure uses MIL-DTL-38999 connectors and is certified for extreme environmental conditions. “VITEC has a long history of providing innovative, high-performance solutions to military forces and the aerospace industry. MGW Pico TOUGH builds on our experience processing video in these unique environments and is designed to allow our customers to meet the growing demand for high-quality, full-motion video streaming anywhere, anytime,” said Philippe Wetzel, CEO of VITEC. “With government agencies and military forces increasingly relying on manned and unmanned platforms for situational awareness and tactical video, the encoding devices responsible for streaming video and metadata are more critical than ever,” said Eli Garten, vice president of product management at VITEC. “MGW Pico TOUGH is the most technologically advanced HD H.264 airborne encoder available. We designed it to include all the capabilities needed to support any type of mission while providing operational advantage in all domains — video quality, weight, power, connectivity options, and physical footprint.” MGW Pico TOUGH is available for immediate deployment as a turnkey appliance or as a PCB for integration into other systems. Visit www.vitec.com
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BBC Natural History Unit Goes Ultra HD for ‘Life Story’ By Keith Ford When producing nature documentaries there can be a tendency to revert to the familiar. It is easy to give the viewing public what it expects: lions, cheetahs, elephants, and monkeys, etc., all behaving in a manner that is recognisable and shot predominantly in the same way. Shaking up this formula with unexpected perspectives, both on a narrative and technical sense, is where Mike Gunton, Creative Director of the BBC Natural History Unit, puts his focus. “THE BBC IS PROBABLY the world leader, and has been for about 60 years, in natural history. We made our name really through what we call these global, blockbuster series, like Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Africa, Life, and now Life Story. These are huge projects, these sell all over the world, 180 territories or more. They’re multimillion dollar businesses, and they are seen by enormous numbers of people; we think that Life and Planet Earth have been seen by about half a billion people,” explained Mike Gunton at the ASTRA 2015 Conference in Sydney. “That’s good, but the challenge of course is, those half a billion people always want to see something new. We’re constantly being forced into raising the bar –bigger stories, new stories, taking a different perspective all the time. That concept of newness is really what underpins virtually everything I think about with the audience and how to bring them new stories.” The challenge becomes bringing something new to a ravenous audience that is well acquainted with natural history. The way that Mike Gunton and his BBC Natural History Unit do this, particularly in their latest project, Life Story, is by utilising technical innovations to gain and convey a greater understanding of the subject. A prime example of the innovative shooting taking place in Life Story is with the cheetahs. Cheetahs are a staple of nature documentaries where they showcase stunning speed and agility, yet the footage can often feel stale and tired. The shots have become predictable – a telephoto lens from distance tracking a cheetah as it stalks a gazelle then chases, often in slow motion. Life Story eschews convention by getting perilously close to the action, even during the all important chase. “Kim Wolhuter, the cameraman, has spent about six months getting close to two young cheetahs so that they –and their mother – become habituated to his presence. They just think he’s a strange tree that walks around carrying a camera. That means that he can be with them all the time, and that was really important for Life Story, because we wanted to be able to get very close to a very important time in their lives,” said Gunton. “Combined with that, Kim, in his hand, has an unusual camera. It’s a 4K camera with a gyroscopic mount, which means that he can run around on foot, and the picture will be held rock steady. The result is very, very clean, good pictures when the action starts. “Specialist cameramen like Kim, and specialist cameras in the hands of enterprising cameramen like Kim, or special lenses, or other cameras that can do all sorts of things, allow us to get super close, and show these different viewpoints,” added Gunton. When it came to another staple of the nature documentary, meerkats, getting close was never going to be an issue.
“Meerkats have this tendency of using people as lookouts because it’s very flat and if they can get a bit higher they can see if danger’s coming, so if you stand there for long enough, the meerkat will almost certainly stand on your head. So getting closer’s not a problem, the problem with them is, if you’ve ever seen them, they move like lightning. They’re going all over the place, and they’re tiny, so all the action happens six inches off the ground,” said Mike Gunton. “We wanted to be able to show what’s going on from that perspective and we needed a different solution to get into their world. So we came up with Meerkam. Meerkam is a Steadicam turned upside down. The camera is flipped on so that it skims along about three inches above the ground, and the lens is about six inches above the ground - right in their eyeline. So it was perfect for us to be able to show what happens one day, when our young hero comes face to face with the meerkats’ mortal enemy, for the first time.” Life Story was the first time that the BBC Natural History Unit shot one of its documentaries in ultra-high definition (UHD). Aside from the considerable increase in storage requirements, which reached approximately 300 terabytes for the 1800 hours of footage, UHD enabled a deeper narrative focus. “Ultra-high definition has been a big breakthrough for us. Apart from anything else, the natural world is beautiful, and seeing the natural world in even greater definition is a lovely thing to do. But editorially it was quite interesting because the sensors have quite a shallow depth of field, and that allows you to pull your hero out of the background so that they can become centre stage,” said Gunton. “UHD has other advantages for us as well as being able to generate enormous detail. We thought, ‘Could it do that detail with very, very small creatures?’ Because the tiniest creatures in the world, we never really see, yet if you look at them, in this kind of detail, they are utterly extraordinary and utterly beautiful.” This is exemplified by the Maratus volans, or peacock jumping spider, which reaches just 5mm in body length. The added detail of UHD allowed Life Story to get close enough to capture the male’s vivid colours and extraordinary mating ritual without compromising image quality. “Innovation can’t stop, you have to keep going, you have to continuously be searching for developing new technology, new techniques, new ways of telling the stories, new platforms, all to show as large and as wide-ranging an audience as possible, the wonders of the natural world,” concluded Mike Gunton.
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SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide
www.content-technology.com/sportscasting
NEP Delivers 2015 President’s Cup From Korea NEP AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST OUTSIDE BROADCAST (OB) of 2015 has just successfully wrapped: the biennial Presidents Cup golf tournament from Korea. NEP Australia facilitated four days of gripping PGA action from Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon on behalf of the host broadcaster, NBC Sports Group, and unilateral broadcast clients PGA TOUR, Golf Channel, Jupiter TV Japan, Chinese Golf Network, and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) South Korea. The Presidents Cup tournament has been held outside the United States on five occasions and NEP Australia (formerly Global Television) has facilitated two of them, delivering Melbourne in 2011 and now Korea.
Rounding off a turnkey broadcast solution for NBC, NEP supplied and delivered radio frequency (RF) camera, graphics and edit workflow packages.
“These large scale events challenge our industry’s technical delivery capabilities and the NEP Australia team is always up to the task of delivering world class solutions on behalf of NBC.”
27 NEP broadcast technical experts travelled to Incheon for the event, supported by more than 200 NBC crew.
The 2015 Presidents Cup was televised to a potential worldwide audience of 1 billion viewers.
NBC Coordinating Producer, Tom Roy, said, “NEPA has done a wonderful job providing the facilities for our broadcast. With their extensive planning and on-site expertise we have utilised their resources in our production to showcase one of golf’s most prestigious global events.”
The Presidents Cup is among the most anticipated and keenly followed events on the PGA TOUR. Every two years 24 top players – 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding the UK and Europe – engage in four days of team match-play competition.
NEP Project Director, Andrew Quinn, said, “It’s a privilege for NEP Australia
Visit www.nepinc.com
BEIN MEDIA GROUP LLC ANNOUNCED that it has acquired the remaining 50% of the shares held by MP & Silva of its beIN SPORTS channels in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. beIN MEDIA GROUP had entered into a 50/50 joint venture with MP & Silva in 2013 but will assume full control of all of its channels in the Asian market. Full control of these channels will allow beIN MEDIA GROUP to fully implement its market strategy in the region in terms of both production, expanded programming and content. beIN’s recently acquired exclusive TV rights to La Liga, Spain’s top flight soccer league will now be available incountry on its fully acquired channels in Asia.
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Commenting on the news, Nasser Al Khelaifi, Chairman and Chief Executive of beIN MEDIA GROUP, said, “Our priority is to continue expanding our reach in Asia. Our latest Australian acquisition has been very successful. Our intention is to continue in building a solid network of countries in the AsiaPacific region and deliver world-class content and stellar sports programming in markets with high growth potential.”
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Said Marco Auletta, CEO of MP & Silva, “We are very proud of what we have achieved. This JV has shown the unique capability and expertise of MP & Silva in pioneering a new way of media rights distribution in Southeast Asian markets. It has successfully created more competition in the region for the benefit of both rights holders and fans.” Visit www.beinmediagroup.com and www.mpsilva.com
Spidercam and Gearhouse Partner in ANZ SPIDERCAM, a leading fly by wire camera system owner and Gearhouse Broadcast, a leading outside broadcast service provider, have announced a new strategic partnership to accelerate growth in the adoption, service and support of the Spidercam system in Australia and New Zealand. Gearhouse will use its live event experience and breadth of operation to support the expansion of use of Spidercam, enabling many more broadcasters, producers and directors to take advantage of the unique view that a Spidercam system offers to their production. Spidercam will continue to provide the high quality engineered systems whilst Gearhouse will adopt responsibility for marketing the system locally, providing all crew and service support to customers in Australia and New Zealand alongside local maintenance and logistics. Herbert Neff, CEO of Spidercam Holding GmbH said “we are delighted to be working with Gearhouse as a partner in developing the market for Spidercam and supporting many more users of the camera system locally.” John Newton, CEO of Gearhouse, added, “we are very happy to be working with such a unique and high quality system that enables us to offer our existing and many potential new customers something quite different.” Visit www.gearhousebroadcast.com
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NEP also provided flyaway kits, including its large format HDP1, to accommodate the broadcast requirements of NBC Sports and its unilateral broadcast partners.
to be asked by NBC to be involved again in the broadcast of the 2015 Presidents Cup following a successful Melbourne event in 2011. Being awarded the Korea project reinforces how NEP Australia is just as capable of supplying large flyaway equipment-based broadcast solutions as we are at supplying truck-based solutions.
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38 tonnes of broadcast technical equipment were shipped to Incheon via sea and air from Sydney, and the NEP team laid more than 42 kilometres of cabling and set up the infrastructure to support this massive international broadcast. A total of 54 high definition cameras captured every shot.
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STAND-ALONE as a 12x12 router (24 x 3G/HD/SD-SDI) with MediorNet processing features
POINT-TO-POINT supporting
MESH as decentralized video
and 2 MADIs / ETH (1Gbit)
24 bidirectional SDI video signals
and audio routing applications
· This high density breakout unit provides your network with 24 valuable 3G/HD/SD-SDI signals.
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· Network compatibility tested in projects with sensitive signals. · Natural audio embedding/de-embedding. A member of the MediorNet Family
· Day and night frame synchronizer. · Vitalizing 10G MediorNet high speed links for smooth flexibility and redundancy
www.riedel.net
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IPC to Sell Broadcast Rights for Korea Paralympic Winter Games THE PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT’S global governing body will be responsible for marketing the international broadcast rights for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) has appointed the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to act as the exclusive sales agent for international broadcast rights for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. Under the terms of the IPC-IOC agreement, a Games Organising Committee is responsible for selling the international broadcast rights to the Paralympic Games. However PyeongChang 2018 has given the responsibility for marketing and negotiating international broadcast agreements to the IPC. The IPC struck similar agreements with both the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Organising Committees leading to record breaking results. Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with PyeongChang 2018 for the IPC to act as the exclusive international sales agent for the next Paralympic Winter Games. “Through the IPC taking on a similar role for the 2014 and 2016 Games, we have not only built loyalty with rights holders but continuity with TV viewers who are able to see more hours of Paralympic sport coverage than ever before.” Visit www.pyeongchang2018.com
Gearhouse Broadcast Launches Event Communications Division GEARHOUSE BROADCAST has launched a specialised Events Communications Division to specifically handle the communications needs of broadcast, corporate and community events, concert touring and festivals. With the option of a managed delivery or a dry hire solution Gearhouse Broadcast Events Communications now offers a suite of options in both the wired and wireless communications solutions. In addition to their communications solutions they also offer a comprehensive spectrum management service as part of a complete equipment hire package or as a standalone service. By drawing on its large in-house inventory Gearhouse Broadcast Events Communications can always offer a best of breed solution by using top quality comms equipment from manufacturers including Riedel, Hytera, ClearCom, Kenwood, RFI, Polar and Peltor amongst many others. Gearhouse Broadcast Senior Outside Broadcast Manager, Jason Owen, says, “Comms relies heavily on well trained and experienced engineering staff to deliver jobs, something Gearhouse has plenty of and is recruiting more of. The market has been crying out for a more comprehensive solution for some time so for Gearhouse, with our existing engineering skill and expertise and significant inventory base, launching Gearhouse Event Communication’s was not just a logical step, but one that now fully meets the market’s requirements.”
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For Gearhouse’s current and prospective clients there are clear and natural synergies between the Event Communications division and Gearhouse’s traditional OB and TV facilities business where the company is already onsite delivering technology solutions.
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Jason Owen concluded, “Our entire ethos is built around quality, efficiency and reliability. We can offer package pricing for broadcast clients where they need both broadcast and event comms and for standalone non-broadcast events we offer technology-driven solutions to suit every need and budget.” Visit www.gearhousebroadcast.com
NEP Forms Business Unit for International Events NEP GROUP INC. HAS ANNOUNCED it has formed a new business unit dedicated to supporting the broadcasting needs of major international events. The new major projects group will leverage the company’s worldwide assets to provide a variety of broadcast and event solutions around the globe coupling NEP’s flypack capabilities with its host broadcasting capabilities. NEP CEO, Kevin Rabbitt, said, “We see a growing market for major international events that require more than a standard OB. Since our founding, NEP has provided custom, high-quality broadcast infrastructure, technical support and host broadcast services for these types of events, but this new team will allow us to provide a dedicated service line focused solely on these major international events and projects.” NEP’s new major projects group will draw on their worldwide team of over 600 engineers and technical experts to help create custom solutions for each project. NEP’s pool of talent includes experts in broadcast engineering; infrastructure design and systems integration; technical management and logistics management; workflow and cloud-based production solutions; post-production solutions; and more. “NEP is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive broadcast solutions for major international events around the world. We offer local support around the globe, the industry’s largest pool of resources, and leading technical expertise,” said NEP’s COO, Keith Andrews. “Additionally, we have proven experience providing in-depth solutions for broadcasters and organising committees at events such as the Commonwealth Games, the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Asian Games in Doha and Almaty, Wimbledon and many, many more.”
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As part of this new major projects group, NEP is forming a dedicated team in Europe. NEP has tapped Brian Clark to be Sales Director, and lead the engagement with their clients and partners for this new initiative. He will work in tandem with a Project Director who will have a commercial and technical focus.
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VSM to be the Default Control System in All Future Streamline OB Vans L-S-B BROADCAST TECHNOLOGIES, the German-based specialist in Broadcast Control Systems, and its VSM system is set as the default control system in all Streamline OB Vans to be built in the future. With the Streamline OB Van family, Broadcast Solutions GmbH, one of Europe’s biggest and fastest growing system integrators, offers pre-engineered and nearly “off-the-shelf” OB Vans for every broadcasting environment. Broadcast Solutions offers Streamline OB Vans in five different versions – from 4, 6, 8, 12 to 16 cameras. All Streamline OB’s come with highly developed and pre-engineered solutions and are delivered turn-key to the customer – fitting in any outdoor broadcasting environment.
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Depending on the Streamline version VSM is working in, the VSM system is implemented with a standardised feature set. Common to every VSM system in all Streamline versions, the control systems has direct access to all relevant hardware within the vehicle: router, multiviewer, audio and vision mixer, intercom and glue equipment. Furthermore VSM controls the Labels and Tally signals, so there is no need for an additional tally system.
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Used in the Streamline versions S12 and S16 VSM is implemented referring to its full feature set. In the smaller Streamline OB Vans (S 4, S6 and S8), VSM offers video router control, audio router control, vision mixer control with Tally and Labelling, multiviewer Tally, Labels, GPIO, Tally and several LCD Panels, depending on the Streamline version.
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Imagine Delivers Complete Solution for Ten Sports India IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS, a leader in video and advertising solutions
retrieve sports content anytime at any stage.
serving the media and entertainment, multichannel video programming distributors and enterprise markets, has announced the completion of a major broadcast facility upgrade at Ten Sports, part of the Zee Entertainment Group. Ten Sports’ new broadcast facility, recently relocated from the UAE to India, relies on an end-to-end sports production and playout solution from Imagine Communications and supports the production and distribution of its entire family of channels.
“Our existing IT infrastructure was dated and consisted of independent islands of storage, which lacked fast throughput — slowing the entire ingest to playout process,” said Sanjeev Bhargava, Vice President – Engineering, Ten Sports. “We selected Imagine Communications to enable us to build a more efficient workflow capable of handling the demands of modern day sports production, from ingest through to playout and archive. Furthermore, as our parent company, Zee Entertainment, is also an Imagine Communications’ playout solutions customer, we knew this solution was robust enough to meet our exacting requirements.
The solution includes the Imagine Communications D-Series automated content management and distribution system controlling Nexio playout servers running Nexio Motion and Insight software that create automated processes to move and manage media. Ten Sports executes ingest, asset management, and playout on a Nexio Farad high-performance online storage network with intrinsic mirroring for absolute content security. Imagine Communications also provided the core infrastructure at Ten Sports, including the Nexio IconMaster branding and master control switcher. The industry-leading Platinum MX router with integrated Platinum SX Pro multiviewer capabilities provides signal routing, distribution and monitoring capabilities, enabling clean and quiet switching for on-air applications in a small physical footprint. The upgrade has enabled Ten Sports to optimise workflow across the network, from ingest to playout, including all media management, branding and master control. Rich metadata tagging gives Ten Sports the flexibility to
“The Nexio IconMaster is a key component of the system and is exclusively used by our sports channels, streamlining the function of fade-in/out during live switching from one event to another — a feature that is extremely important in a sports production environment.” “There are many factors to consider during any relocation and upgrade,” added Raj Yadav, Regional Sales Manager South Asia at Imagine Communications. “For Ten Sports, this included the ability to work with a single supplier to provide the end-to-end technology and have this underpinned with local support. For a group that has eight sports channels covering regional and international sporting events, keeping the facility on air during the relocation and upgrade process was critical.” Visit www.imaginecommunications.com
CCTV Leads the Field with Cobham at IAAF Championships COBHAM TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS AND SURVEILLANCE and its Chinese business partner, CSS Group, provided Cobham’s Solo H.264 ENG TX transmitters, the new PRORXD HD receivers, and associated camera control systems on behalf of host broadcaster CCTV for track and field coverage of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing from 22 – 30 August 2015. The historic Beijing National Stadium, known as the ‘bird’s nest’, that hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, was the focal point for CCTV’s coverage where CSS Group deployed four Solo H.264 ENG TX, PRORXD HD receivers, and respective camera control systems. Cobham liaised with CSS for installation, testing, and operations before, and during the nine-day games to assist the host broadcaster produce the pragmatic general multicast (PGM) for regional broadcasters around the world. Video signals from the stadium were sent to the central production compound over standard HD-SDI fibre optic systems. Camera control was achieved with Cobham’s specialist four-in-one system enabling four cameras to be controlled over the one UHF channel. The UHF transmitting unit was placed in the stadium and connected to the production
compound’s remote control panel with a pair of 500m audio cables. CSS Group President, Product and Application Development, Roger Wong, said, “Cobham’s Solo ENG and respective camera control systems always provide the very best performance in video quality and robust reliability. We thank them, as well as CCTV for their trust in us to deliver high-quality professional broadcast signals to the world broadcasting community.” Cobham Broadcast Sales Manager, Asia Pacific, Sue Gilks, added, “High quality images are essential for live sport coverage and we are delighted that CSS Group and CCTV had such a high degree of success with our technology in their coverage of a world class event.” Visit www.cobham.com
Olympic Channel Recruits for 2016 Launch THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) is gearing up for the 2016 launch of the Olympic TV Channel with the recruitment of key staff to be based at the channel’s Spanish production centre. While the Commercial focus of the Olympic Channel will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Production of the Channel – Programming, Content generation and acquisition, including News and the technical operations of the Channel – will be headquartered in the Spanish capital, Madrid. The Olympic Channel will broadcast on a permanent basis on both traditional and digital platforms. In preparation for the channel’s launch, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has been calling for applications for a number of positions, including Assistant Producer (Digital Content), Duty Editors, Digital Producer, Broadcast Systems Engineer, Broadcast IT Network Engineer and Media Manager.
At the recent 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the world’s largest marketing communications group, WPP, outlined the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for the Olympic Channel. “You need to evolve to new consumption behaviours in both younger demographics and in fast-growth markets, more online and more mobile,” he said. “The challenge will be to deliver a solution that reaches this new audience, linking to platforms they are already engaged with and extending the window of the Games outside the two- or four-year period. You have to get more continuity into the offer. The world is ready for a mobile first social content platform united under a powerful purpose that resonates with people around the world. And the IOC has the potential to create just that.” Visit www.obs.tv and www.olympic.org
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Ventuz Technology Launches Online Asset Store SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Ventuz Technology has enhanced its service with an online asset store. The Ventuz Store provides a space where Ventuz users can buy and sell their 3D real-time creations. The Ventuz Store is part of the efforts of Ventuz Technology to enhance user friendliness and make its software more accessible for newcomers. By utilising assets from the Ventuz Store, rookies can not only improve their production quality, but also learn from the scene creation skills of the contributors. “We want to make sure that even someone who is new to Ventuz can produce a presentable result in a reasonable amount of time”, said Erik Beaumont, COO of Ventuz. At the same time, the Ventuz Store functions as an additional chance for revenue for skilled Ventuz operators and agencies, who are invited to offer their assets for download on the site. Contributors can sell entire scenes, 3D models and textures, but also Ventuz specific plug-ins and add-ons, such as shaders and logic. Visit www.ventuz-store.com
Truck-End Unit for Mini-Camera Interface STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES, manufacturer of audio, video and fibre-optic solutions, has introduced a new, portable truck-end unit for its Live-Link Mini Remote Camera Interface System. Live-Link Mini provides all the resources needed for a range of single-camera live events. Interconnected through one single-mode optical fibre, the system delivers the same, solid performance whether the camera-end and truck-end units are hundreds of feet or miles apart. Housed in a lightweight aluminium enclosure that includes an integrated carry handle, the portable truck-end unit weighs less than four pounds, making it well-suited for “run-and-gun” operations in which the quick transport and setup of broadcast equipment is essential. Highlights of the unit include dual SDI outputs (active “mults”), two analogue de-embed audio outputs and dual-channel party-line (PL) intercom support. The PL intercom interface can provide power for user belt packs or can be connected to an existing powered system. The Live Link Mini Remote Camera Interface System offers one SDI path in each direction, supporting a wide range of SD-, HD- and 3G video signals making it an ideal camera extender system for electronic news gathering (ENG), uplink truck and specialised broadcast, corporate and education applications. For quick and reliable field deployment, the camera- and truckend units interconnect using one single-mode optical fibre. Standard optical, video and audio connectors are used throughout. Visit www.studio-tech.com
RT Software Standardises on AJA Corvid 88 BROADCAST GRAPHICS SYSTEMS DEVELOPER RT Software has standardised on using AJA Video Systems’ Corvid 88 video card in its 4K real-time broadcast graphics systems. The company is also integrating AJA’s Io 4K with Thunderbolt 2 and 4K support into its up-and-coming 4K camera stitching solution, tOG-Vista. RT Software’s first system to integrate Corvid 88 is a tOG-VR 3D solution currently deployed at BT Sports to facilitate exclusive 4K broadcasts of the 2015/2016 UEFA Champions League season. As part of the launch of BT Sports’ new 4K channel and studio upgrade, RT Software supplied and assisted with the implementation of the augmented reality solution that delivers studio floor graphics during demanding live broadcasts. RT Software integrated Corvid 88 into the live studio workflow to facilitate the real-time render of on-air broadcast graphics. The in-studio setup consists of up to four cameras, each with its own render PC using Corvid cards. ”This is the first time we’ve used AJA cards, and we’ve been really impressed with their reliability,” says Luke Harrison, Technical Product Marketing Manager at RT Software. ”We chose to go with Corvid 88 because we needed cards with multi-directional capabilities for configuring video and audio I/O. Our products are operator driven, so the fact that Corvid 88 lets our users monitor graphics at their workstations is great. This last-minute quality check is a huge advantage when it comes to live broadcasts, and BT Sports couldn’t be more satisfied with the results.” Visit www.aja.com and http://rtsw.co.uk
Redefining Sports Audio Production with Lawo KICK
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NEW AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY from Lawo, KICK, will ensure the evolution of audio production for major live sports. When interfaced with modern image analysis and tracking systems, KICK’s unique, patent-pending, technology guarantees a consistent, fullyautomated, high-quality, close-ball audio mix for sports such as soccer, rugby and American football. KICK’s intuitive graphical user interface allows easy adjustment of all of all of its parameters, including the placement of microphones, their polar patterns and microphone prioritisation. The system ensures transparent sound pickup with its excellent ‘noise-tokick’ ratio, significantly reducing crowd noise. It also ensures a consistent audio level without noticeable fades for seamless inclusion in a broadcast mix, and delivers a mix that is 100% repeatable from match to match. It remains highly accurate, even after 90 minutes of play. KICK is available as a software-only solution for productions using Lawo mc² mixing consoles, as well as a hardware bundled solution for productions using consoles from other manufacturers. It requires a standard host PC (running Windows 7 or Windows 8) for the host application, and an HTML5 capable browser for the user interface. Visit www.lawo.com
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Mark Roberts Motion Control Releases Polycam
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POLYCAM FROM MARK ROBERTS MOTION CONTROL is an IPbased robotic camera system that enables networked cameras to simultaneously track a subject of interest from multiple perspectives. Ideal for live broadcasting events such as sporting events, concerts, studio-based productions, conferences and parliamentary and judiciary installations, the system enables automated, constant and fluid tracking. The recent IBC 2015 show in Amsterdam saw a demonstration of the synchronised tracking capabilities of Polycam on a 12-screen television wall, each following a different football player simultaneously. The IP-
based system control allows a single operator to automatically control the synchronous movement of numerous cameras so that the primary perspective is instantly changeable to any of the networked camera positions.
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The tracking interface used alongside this Polycam system analyses where the action is happening and allows for automated zooming, pan, focus and tilt ability of the camera lens, keeping each player a constant size on screen. Visit www.mrmoco.com
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Allianz Stadium Keeps Score with 7thSense, Techtel ALLIANZ STADIUM is one of Australia’s most high-tech sporting venues, boasting a cutting edge media server solution that integrates the ground’s 277m2 super-screens with its extensive digital assets, including its LED ribbon board and 1200-screen IPTV networks. The Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust selected the UK’s 7thSense Design to provide their media server solution as part of a landmark technology upgrade to Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, Sydney. Systems integrator Techtel was successful in its bid for the Allianz Stadium control room upgrade project and was later selected to supply and install the 7thSenseDelta Infinity II Media Server to feed the high definition LED video boards at the north and south ends of the stadium. 7thSense systems also serve LED displays located at the pitch and along the terrace barriers throughout the stadium, used to offer digital fan engagement and match-day experience as well as advertising and sponsorship branding. The Delta Infinity II solution at Allianz provides 4 SDI in and 4 SDI out channels which deliver content to the stadium LED screens. The single device solution means all video overlays are simultaneous and allows for independent synchronisation of outputs to compensate for any downstream delay. Delta Infinity II integrates with Cisco’s StadiumVision, the innovative video and digital content distribution solution used at Allianz Stadium to centrally manage and target delivery of customised content to any combination of monitors throughout the venue. Delta Infinity II can trigger the playback of predefined content – such as a goal or try – on the 1200 StadiumVision connected screens in the venue to match the SDI output overlay shown on the large scale stadium screens.
The Delta WebService interface from 7thSense has also played an important role in the newly upgraded control room, providing a fully customisable web-based control to manage the media server. As one of NSW’s favourite places to watch rugby league, union and football, WebService provides Allianz Stadium with simple, flexible control over the team branding that is displayed when an operator triggers various events during the match. Allianz Stadium’s self-funded $20 million upgrade was successfully completed in March 2015 and boasts two giant high-definition superscreens, free wi-fi and a 1200-screen IPTV network. Visit www.techtel.tv
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- Wisycom exclusive digital sub-carrier telemetry technology allows:
- DSP based audio processing for unbeatable audio and digital outputs
• Remote TX battery monitoring
- 40 groups of 60 frequencies fully user programmable
• PTT function (An optional back-panel module is available, with the secondary intercom output)
- Broadcast superlative quality of any audiosignal transposition - DSP fully digital audio processing for broadcast superlative quality and multicompander compatibility
- Exceptional sturdiness and absolute reliability even in very congested environments - Amazing small size - Very easy and pleasant use with easy status indication by means of RGB LEDs
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- Infrared interface for programming and transmitter synchronization
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NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations
Australian News Channel Chooses Ericsson for Captioning ERICSSON HAS ANNOUNCED that it has signed a multi-year news captioning contract with ANC, the Australian provider of 24-hour multichannel, multi-platform news services. Ericsson will provide live captioning services for SKY NEWS LIVE and SKY NEWS BUSINESS, which are broadcast to 2.8 million subscribing homes across Australia on subscription television provider Foxtel. As part of the contract, Ericsson will also provide captioning services for SKY NEWS-produced bulletins on Qantas flights. The captions will be delivered as an as-live service to ensure the news is as current and up-to-date as possible. Ericsson now provides captioning services for four of the six national TV news outlets in Australia. Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO, ANC, said, “We look forward to working with Ericsson to expand our captioning services and explore new technology to further improve the quality and availability of live captioning.” Thorsten Sauer, Head of Broadcast and Media Services, Ericsson, says, “As a leading news provider in Australia, it is important that SKY NEWS’ captioning services match the quality of its editorial output. Our market-leading live captioning platform allows us to do this, by delivering the highest levels of service and quality to both our client and their audiences. “For the first time, Ericsson’s captions will also be made available on an airline, ensuring that the latest news from SKY NEWS will be accessible to as many Qantas air passengers as possible the world over.” Ericsson’s live captioning platform supports live captioning in various languages for broadcasters around the world by using speech-to-text, newsroom integration and rapid offline content preparation. The enterprise-level, schedule-driven software platform, which was developed in-house, uses speech recognition and stenography technologies to power Ericsson’s live captioning services. It allows multiple captioners to prepare and deliver real-time services for clients while maximising re-use of the caption data after it has been broadcast – for example, by helping to power content discovery and enrich archive search. Visit www.ericsson.com
SBS Adds to News Line-Up MULTICULTURAL BROADCASTER SBS has added 11 new World Watch international language news bulletins to SBS 2 catering for Australia’s Eastern European, African, and South Asian communities. The languages and bulletins joining the World Watch schedule line up include, African English (F24), Armenian (H1), Bangla (Channel-i), Bosnian (BHT1), Nepali (NTV), Punjabi (DD Punjab), Romanian (TVRi), Sinhalese (SLRC), Somali (UT), Tamil (Polimer) and Thai (Thai PBS). SBS broadcasts news from highly regarded global outlets on SBS and SBS 2 in 36 languages, through World Watch. Bulletins are also available via SBS On Demand and on SBS’s language websites. The network is also targeting English speakers during the breakfast slot with English-language news coverage from some of the world’s most respected international broadcasters, including NHK (Japan), France 24, Deutsche Welle (Germany), Al Jazeera News (Qatar) and CCTV (China). SBS Director of News and Current Affairs, Jim Carroll, said, “We are proud to bring more global coverage to all Australians in the breakfast news slot. These English news bullets will give Australian audiences a perspective on how other nations are seeing and covering world events. “Our nation has changed. There are twice as many speakers of languages other than English (LOTE) in Australia than 30 years ago. Increasing our language news offering is about actively playing a role in supporting Australia’s diverse multicultural communities to participate in Australian life. This further cements our position as one of the world’s most linguistically diverse broadcasters through what will be a significant increase in our LOTE content offer. " Visit www.sbs.com.au
Seven Australia Restructures News Operations CHANNEL SEVEN HAS ANNOUNCED significant changes to the structure of its National News operations and Martin Place Sydney newsroom.
New Director and Deputy for ABC News THE AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (ABC) has announced the appointment of Gaven Morris as Director ABC News. Currently ABC Head of News Content, Gaven brings extensive journalism and management experience to the position with a career that spans two decades and includes senior roles within the ABC, CNN, Al Jazeera English, and Network Ten. In his current role at the ABC, Gaven has been responsible for the launch and ongoing operation of ABC News 24 and all ABC News digital and broadcast news output.
NEWS OPERATIONS
Craig McMurtrie has been appointed Deputy Director of ABC News. An accomplished journalist and editorial executive, Craig currently serves as ABC Head of Newsgathering.
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Gaven said that he was “pleased to be asked to lead ABC News’ team of dedicated staff and to serve the community by providing all Australians with an outstanding independent news service.” The new appointments follow the departure of former ABC News Director Kate Torney in September 2015. Visit www.abc.net.au
The recently appointed Network Director of News and Public Affairs, Craig McPherson, has commenced his role, taking on management responsibility for Seven News, Sunday Night, Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Daily Edition, and Today Tonight in the programme’s two major metropolitan markets. Rob Raschke steps down from his current role as Network Director of News. Rob Raschke said, “For the past 18 and a half years, it’s been an honour to have worked for a proprietor like Kerry Stokes. In that time I’ve had the most amazing opportunities. I’ve covered three Olympic Games, travelled with peace keepers to East Timor and covered more state and federal elections than I thought possible. I’ve worked alongside the best of the best from reporters, producers, camera operators and editors." After a career in journalism spanning 41 years, 24 of which have been with Channel Seven, Sydney Director of News Chris Willis has stepped aside from that role. Craig McPherson also announced the appointment of Jason Morrison to the role of Sydney Director of News. “I’ve known Jason for some time,” Craig said. “He’s a born leader with a brilliant news sense. He’s Sydney from his bootstraps to his gingertop. He was an outstanding TV type before chasing multimedia glory. He’s taking over from one of the best and I’m extremely confident he’ll flourish at the helm of an extraordinarily talented and dedicated news team.” Visit www.sevenwestmedia.com.au
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Indonesia Introduces New Visa Regulations for Visiting Journalists FOREIGN JOURNALISTS AND MOVIE CREWS looking to work in Indonesia will have to deal with more red tape following the introduction of new visa regulations announced by the Director General for Political Affairs and General Administration at the Home Affairs Ministry, Soedarmo. Under the new rules, visiting journalists and movie crews will need: A permit issued by the Coordinating Team for Visiting Foreigners at the
Foreign Affairs Ministry (a task force coordinated by the Foreign Affairs Ministry whose members come from the State Intelligence Body (BIN), the National Police, immigration and other institutions); A permit from the Directorate General for Political Affairs and General
Administration at the Home Affairs Ministry; For those working in designated “remote areas” of the country, a permit
from the National Unity and Politic Affairs Body, which is under local administration; and While working, journalists will be required to show IDs officially issued by
Indonesian representatives abroad. Director General Soedarmo stated that the procedures would also apply to journalist’s “local partners like activists of the foreign NGOs that have local representatives in Indonesia”. Soedarmo said the reason for the introduction of the new procedure was that there were still many foreign journalists and foreign movie crew members who work in Indonesia only with general visas like a tourist visas. In a statement criticising the new visa requirements, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club said it is “… gravely concerned about Wednesday’s policy announcement by an official at the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding foreign journalists and foreign television and movie crews visiting Indonesia to work. “The continuation and expansion of restrictive state policies on visiting journalists is a sad reminder of the authoritarian Suharto regime, and a stain on Indonesia’s transition to democracy and claims by its government that it supports a free press and human rights.” “The new stringent requirements are particularly troubling given that the Indonesian government already takes weeks if not months to issue approvals for foreign journalists and film crews to visit Indonesia to work – if at all. While the JFCC does not condone foreign journalists entering the country on tourist visas in violation of Indonesian immigration regulations, there is often little choice given the glacial pace at which the Indonesian government and its embassies abroad go in approving visiting journalist visa requests. “The JFCC protests any move by the Indonesian authorities to restrict access to any part of the country for journalists, or to implement policies aimed at curtailing the activities of any media organization or movie company from working in Indonesia, whether they are based here or not.” Visit www.jfcc.info
Network Ten Expands Dejero Deployment with GoBox DEJERO HAS ANNOUNCED that Network Ten, one of Australia’s leading commercial TV networks, has expanded its deployment of Dejero’s LIVE+ GoBox professional-grade transmitters. With the rugged and portable LIVE+ GoBox units, Network Ten’s mobile journalists are able to broadcast live from virtually any location using bonded cellular, Wi-Fi, and portable satellite connections, or record up to 40 hours of HD video for later broadcast. “Our deployment of Dejero’s LIVE+ mobile transmitters last year in our metro stations throughout Australia was a great success, and the units were very well-received by our field news crews. Therefore, when we recently needed additional equipment to cover black spots in our traditional microwave news coverage, the LIVE+ GoBox transmitters were the obvious choice,” said Glen Bathie, Network Ten project manager. The new LIVE+ GoBox units join the fleet of LIVE+ mobile transmitters purchased by Network Ten last October to enable live coverage of breaking news throughout Australia. The GoBox transmitters have been deployed in New South Wales and Queensland to supplement the mobile transmitter units already in use there. Network Ten news crews use the GoBox transmitters to broadcast live news crosses and also to supply feeds of live entertainment programs. Dejero’s LIVE+ Broadcast Servers installed at the network’s broadcast centres in Brisbane and Sydney receive the remote transmissions and process them for air. In addition to providing high-quality video of breaking news that can be inserted into live news programs, the news crews are able to execute live crosses in situations that are impractical using traditional microwave links. For example, a Network Ten camera operator recently used a LIVE+ GoBox to facilitate a cross from a ski resort while he and the correspondent rode up the mountain on a chairlift. “As our most rugged solution, LIVE+ GoBox can be set up anywhere to transmit low-latency and high-quality HD video quickly and reliably, even in the most challenging conditions and in areas with marginal cellular coverage,” said Brian Cram, CEO of Dejero. “This range is particularly important in a continent as vast as Australia, where news might be breaking in a remote region hundreds of kilometres away from a Network Ten broadcast centre.” Visit www.dejero.com
NEWS OPERATIONS
ChyronHego and Hybrid Partner to Offer Virtual Set Solutions
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CHYRONHEGO HAS FORGED a partnership with Hybrid, a leading manufacturer of virtual reality and robotics solutions for the digital media and broadcast industries. Under the OEM agreement, ChyronHego will work with Hybrid to develop and market solutions based on Hybrid’s line of advanced tracking and trackless virtual studio and robotic camera head technologies. “With the Hybrid solutions, we’ll be able to fill an important product niche and offer our customers best-of-breed technologies for building extremely compelling, visually striking, and realistic sets. With Hybrid’s state-of-the-art instrumented camera heads, we’ll be able to offer a truly complete solution that is also applicable in sports, a very large
growth market for ChyronHego,” said Kevin Prince, senior vice president, business development, ChyronHego. Through the partnership, ChyronHego will serve as an OEM for Hybrid’s technologies but retain the Hybrid branding and positioning for the Neon (trackless) and Krypton (tracking) virtual set solutions. ChyronHego will act as the primary sales and marketing organisation for the Hybrid products, and Hybrid will work closely with ChyronHego to continue developing the products in alignment with ChyronHego’s overall strategy for virtual and augmented reality solutions. Visit www.chyronhego.com
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Imagine Provides News Production and Playout Solution for PTNI IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS, a leader in video and advertising solutions serving the media and entertainment, multichannel video programming distributors and enterprise markets, has implemented a major upgrade of a news production and playout facility at People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) in the Philippines through its reseller Composite Technology Inc. This upgrade provides the broadcaster’s PTV4 news channel with the ability to deliver higher-quality news packages to air faster and more efficiently, while retaining the control and management needed to preserve the station’s reputation. The Imagine Communications solution covers two distinct areas of operation: the highly dynamic and reactive production and editing area for the news system and a dedicated area of the scheduled playout. Both are built around scalable Imagine Communications Nexio video servers, with Nexio Motion content management and Insight advanced metadata systems providing intelligence, automation and accessibility. The integrated system simplifies the management of the content on and between the operational areas, as well as allowing journalists to locate and use the right content at the right time.
Critical for the dynamic live news presentation, where events cannot be missed or lost, is the content storage system, which uses the Nexio Farad high-performance online storage network. This incorporates Imagine Communications’ Intrinsic Mirroring for absolute content security and resilience. Playout control uses Imagine Communications’ market-proven ADC playout automation system, along with IconStation graphics and Nexio IconMaster branding and master control switcher. Both edit-in-place high-resolution Velocity ESX workstations and proxybased Velocity PRX clients are also included in the solution. The Nexio server system automatically generates browse-resolution proxies and instantly conforms offline edits for maximum speed in getting stories to air, as well as providing access to all journalists and editors. “Our ambitious plans meant we needed a more efficient workflow in news production,” said Richard Valdez, engineering head at PTNI. “Because it was able to deliver a complete and well-integrated solution, we were confident that Imagine Communications was the right partner to help us raise production standards and operational efficiency.” Visit www.imaginecommunications.com
Mobile App for Journalist Security THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MEDIA FOUNDATION (IWMF) has
provide key information about their location and status.
released Reporta, a free and comprehensive personal safety app for iPhone and Android devices that journalists working in potentially dangerous environments can utilise to quickly implement their security protocols. The app is designed specifically for journalists worldwide and available in six languages — Arabic, English, French, Hebrew, Spanish, and Turkish.
A customisable alert function that allows journalists to let key contacts know when their safety or that of a colleague’s may be at risk. An SOS feature that can be used to send an emergency message with the touch of a button.
“Journalists covering conflict zones, working in repressive environments, or reporting on sensitive or highly charged issues are too often the targets of attacks,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, Executive Director of IWMF. “Reporta was developed with the goal to harness the power of the one piece of technology that most journalists use every day – a mobile phone. Now, more than ever, it is critical to equip journalists with a free tool to help them stay safe and best positioned to continue to tell the significant stories of our time.”
Reporta’s launch comes at a time when violence against journalists is on the rise. The last three years have been widely reported as the deadliest period on record. Too often, journalists reporting on corruption, conflicts, and other illegal or sensitive activities face threats of harassment, abduction, or even imprisonment. In addition, IWMF research found that nearly two-thirds of women in media had experienced intimidation, threats, or abuse as a direct result of their work.
Reporta empowers journalists to be proactive with their security protocols, making it easy to issue notifications containing photos, audio, or video to designated, pre-loaded contacts using the app’s three essential features:
Reporta was made possible by a grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Al-Monitor, Inter-American Development Bank, and Facebook provided additional support.
An automated and customisable check-in system that allows journalists to
Visit www.reporta.org
Dejero Updates LIVE+ Mobile App DEJERO HAS ANNOUNCED a new release of its LIVE+ Mobile App, designed to empower mobile journalists and video contributors to broadcast live from virtually anywhere using their smartphones or tablets. The latest LIVE+ Mobile App by Dejero includes enhancements that give advanced users greater control when broadcasting live or recording video for later use, including an exposure and focus lock feature and a simplified on-screen zoom capability. A new automatic exposure and automatic focus (AE/AF) lock feature delivers more advanced control for situations in which automatic adjustments are not always ideal, such as challenging lighting situations or when there is movement within the frame. Now, by tapping and holding onto a specific area within the frame, users can choose what to lock the focus on, as well as manually adjust and lock the exposure level. This prevents the camera from automatically refocusing and adjusting the exposure, which can be distracting for viewers, and it also keeps the focus and exposure constant when the user is reframing the scene. In addition, the new on-screen zoom bar enables users to zoom in and out on the
subject with a simple sliding motion. Dejero’s LIVE+ Mobile App is suitable for covering breaking news, impromptu interviews, and live events, and it provides an excellent backup system if the primary camera or transmitter fails. Users can capture high-quality live video (up to 1080p) from virtually anywhere, record video for later broadcast, or import and upload edited video files to designated servers when traditional broadcast equipment is not at the scene. Because the app is extremely easy to use, it can be deployed by news organisations to every person in the operation, giving even nonnews professionals the ability to broadcast from the scene of any breaking news they might happen upon. The LIVE+ Mobile App for iOS is now available for free download from the Apple App Store. A license is required to send live feeds and recorded or edited files to server destinations. Visit www.dejero.com
NEWS OPERATIONS
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NEWS OPERATIONS
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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction
Chief Entertainment Makes Right Connection with Telstra Online Videos FOLLOWING THE TELSTRA AIR Wi-Fi network campaign launch, Chief Entertainment was commissioned to create three ninety second online educational videos to show how customers could access & benefit from using Telstra Air both in Australia and overseas. The creative and brief came in via Telstra’s partner agency The Monkeys. It was fairly simple: use traditional long exposure light painting techniques to provide enhanced visuals to give the videos the look of connectivity and excitement. This sounded simple enough, however as Chief began drawing up story boards for the three videos, it estimated the camera shutter would need to be open for about twenty-two and a half hours! A tough challenge for the crew, and our talent who would need to hold key poses for ridiculous lengths of time. It was pretty clear they would have to come up with an alternative to real light painting, so Chief began playing with different techniques in post. This proved harder than anticipated given the complexity of the brief. Leading up to the two shoot nights, it was dry, balmy spring weather, but come shoot night, it was as if the crew had flown to Antarctica in blizzard conditions. It would have been unlikely the mercury lifted above 10 degrees C and the gaffer ran out of shot bags to stop the set blowing away. Somehow the camera didn’t show the goose bumps. The spots were shot on the Sony F5 with Cine-Primes at 25 frames per second. Lighting spill was achieved with a large Cream Source soft light from above, with some creative use of pink-gelled panel lights and LED torches. In post,
the story was cut to the script then sent to graphics for the paint. Different techniques of particle emitters, stroke and light flares were combined to give the light effect. Each shot was then timed to 10 frames per second to give a stop-frame appearance. The device screens were motion tracked and added, then the plates were graded and all combined back to 25 frames per second for delivery. Visit www.chiefentertainment.com.au
Weta Takes HPA Award for Outstanding VFX THE HOLLYWOOD POST ALLIANCE (HPA) has unveiled the winners of its 10th Annual HPA Awards with New Zealand’s Weta Digital taking out the category of Outstanding Visual Effects – Feature Film for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The HPA Awards recognise individuals and companies for outstanding contributions made in the creation of feature films, television, commercials, and entertainment content enjoyed around the world. Honours were bestowed in craft categories honoring behind the scenes artistry, Engineering Excellence, and Creativity and Innovation. Leon D. Silverman, a founder and current president of the HPA, was the recipient of the prestigious HPA Lifetime Achievement Award. The HPA Award for Outstanding Visual Effects – Feature Film went to the Weta Digital team lead by Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White and Matt Aitken.
Services. “Mad Max: Fury Road” was nominated in this category with Mark Mangini and Scott Hecker of Formosa Group and Chris Jenkins and Gregg Rudloff of Warner Bros. Post Production Services receiving the nomination. ¡ Outstanding Sound (Television) – “Homeland – Redux”, Nello Torri, Alan
Decker // NBCUniversal StudioPost and Craig Dellinger // Sony Sound Services ¡
Outstanding Sound (Commercial) – The Syria Campaign – “In Reverse”, Jon Clarke // Factory
¡
Outstanding Visual Effects (Television) – “Game of Thrones – The Dance of Dragons”, Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Derek Spears, Eric Carney, Jabbar Raisani // Fire and Blood Productions
¡ Outstanding Visual Effects (Commercial) – “Game Of War – Decisions”,
Benjamin Walsh, Brian Burke, Ian Holland, Brandon Nelson // Method Studios
Other winners of the 2015 HPA Awards include: ¡
Outstanding Color Grading (Feature Film) – “Birdman”, Steven J. Scott // Technicolor
¡ Outstanding Color Grading (Television) – “Boardwalk Empire – Golden
Days for Boys and Girls”, John Crowley // Technicolor PostWorks NY
¡
Canon – 4K Cine Zoom Lens
¡ Outstanding Color Grading (Commercial) – Lincoln – “Intro”, Tom Poole
¡
Dolby – Dolby Vision Projector
¡
Panasonic – 4K Camera Imagers
¡
Quantel – Pablo Rio 8K
// Company 3. Australian Siggy Ferstl of L.A.-based Company 3 was nominated in this category for Toyota – “Harrier”. ¡ Outstanding Editing (Feature Film) – “Whiplash”, Tom Cross, ACE
POST PRODUCTION
¡ Outstanding Editing (Television) – “Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways –
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The HPA also presented Engineering Excellence Awards to a number of technology providers, including:
Nashville”, Kristin McCasey // Therapy Studios ¡ Outstanding Editing (Commercial) – GNP Seguros – “World Cup”,
Doobie White // Therapy Studios ¡
Outstanding Sound (Feature Film) – “American Sniper”, Alan Murray, Tom Ozanich, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff // Warner Bros. Post Production
¡ Sony Electronics – BVMX300 Monitor
An Honorable Mention went to Colorfront for Interactive HFR FrameBlending. Finally, the HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation went to ESPN for ESPN Digital Center 2. Visit http://hollywoodpostalliance.org
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POST PRODUCTION
DaVinci Resolve Studio Used to Grade ‘The Dressmaker’ BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED that Trish Cahill at Melbourne and Sydney, Australia based post production facility Soundfirm graded Australian film ‘The Dressmaker’ using DaVinci Resolve Studio. Based on the book by Rosalie Ham, ‘The Dressmaker’ takes place in the 1950s and follows Myrtle ‘Tilly’ Dunnage (Kate Winslet) as she returns to her hometown to take care of her ill mother, Molly (Judy Davis), from whom she was sent away at the age of ten because of false accusations of murder. The film is produced by Sue Maslin, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and also stars Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving, and Sarah Snook. “I made the decision to take ‘The Dressmaker’ to Soundfirm as it is a ‘one stop shop’ for state of the art sound and picture post production and enabled us to work with a world class team of professionals who cared deeply about the story,” said Sue. “I couldn’t be happier with the creative results that Resolve delivered in the hands of Don McAlpine and Trish Cahill.” Trish said, “We had the opportunity to experiment a little with the memory scenes where Kate Winslet’s character remembers moments from her childhood, which needed to look different from the present. We ended up with a moody contrast look with a desaturated, ashy palette. Wherever we had skies and silhouette trees we graded, keyed and dropped the mids. There was definitely a focus on the environment.” In one day for night shot, the camera is on a dolly moving towards a silo, and Trish was tasked with retaining this camera movement while creating a starry nighttime sky. “It fell into place very quickly using Resolve’s super fast tracker for grades and the intuitive keyer to control the various areas of the image,” said Trish. “The very next shot is the two main characters gazing up at the stars and talking about the night sky, and the shot needed stars. I made numerous one-pixel windows with a slight blur and lots of brightness and started moving them all over the place, occasionally making some brighter than others to recreate the randomness of a starry sky.” DaVinci Resolve Studio’s tracker also proved beneficial when protecting the performances and subtlety of the actors’ eyes and faces while maintaining the rich and tonal look for the film. “We have gorgeous actors with beautiful blue eyes, which were sometimes a challenge to maintain in warmly lit scenes. This is where Resolve’s tracker also came in handy,” said Trish. “To be able to go through the film and highlight the moments and selective colours we needed and yet keep the frame rich, vivid and inviting on a whole was a case of having our cake and eating it too.”
Deluxe Sydney Expands Localisation Services for Asia-Pacific DELUXE ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES GROUP has announced significant enhancements to its Sydney studio. The studio, strategically located to reach key Southeast Asian markets in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, now offers a wide array of digital localisation solutions to clients which build on its international distribution network, including a North Asian hub in Hong Kong. Deluxe Australia extends its localisation services including Scripting, Transcription, Dubbing, Subtitling, and Audio Description to clients in production, advertising, corporate and government industries.
POST PRODUCTION
Deluxe’s new localisation team recently completed their first project in Sydney: work on seven original series for the launch of Amazon Japan, including the Golden Globe-winning comedy series “Transparent” and the Emmy-winning children’s series “Tumble Leaf.”
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The Sydney facility, which includes leading animation studio Iloura and a full suite of film & TV picture and sound post production services, will operate a wider range of digital broadcasting, media, cinema, and creative services across content through Deluxe’s digital distribution network. “Deluxe Australia has well-established existing operations, such as Post, Animation & VFX, Digital Cinema and OTT broadcasting, but now with its completed localization expansion the Sydney studio is unmatched in the region,” said Alaric McAusland, Managing Director, Deluxe Australia. Visit www.bydeluxe.com
DaVinci Resolve Studio was also used for the online edit of the film at Soundfirm, which has a number of Resolve Studio suites in both its Melbourne and Sydney facilities. And according to Jonathan Burton, digital imaging supervisor at Soundfirm, “The flexibility of the system really allowed for it to form the backbone of the DI post workflow, especially given that the production wanted to retain the 4K RAW files all the way to the final mastering of the film.” He explained, “Resolve was used as the primary conform tool at Soundfirm Melbourne where the offline edit of the film was also done. There is a big advantage in being able to conform the film as the edit progresses, allowing the production to go between the online and offline versions of the cut and ultimately reflect any minor edit tweaks until the final picture lock off. Resolve was next used to handle all of the VFX I/O, creating deliveries to go to the VFX team along with temp grades, reviews and returns of VFX finals to go back into the online. “The final conformed Resolve projects were then sent up to our grading theatre at Fox Studios in Sydney, and DaVinci Resolve’s Consolidate Clips tool was used to move all the media and manage the transition between facilities.” Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com
Animal Logic Opens in Vancouver AUSTRALIAN VISUAL EFFECTS and animation studio Animal Logic has officially opened in Canada, with the first of the team moving into their new 45,000 sq ft studio in Yaletown, Vancouver. Animal Logic announced that the new studio will be led by its current Group Head of Production, Sharon Taylor, who will now take up the role of Executive Vice President & General Manager in Vancouver. Zareh Nalbandian, Chairman and CEO of Animal Logic, said, “Sharon has been a key driver in the growth and success of Animal Logic over the last ten years. I’m confident that her deep knowledge of our company and its culture, coupled with her collaborative leadership style and amazing energy, will ensure the success of our new Vancouver studio.” Taylor, in partnership with the Vancouver management team, will lead the growth of the Cambie Street studio, as it ramps up for the start of production on The LEGO Movie Sequel in January 2016. As announced in May this year, The LEGO Movie Sequel is the first film in what is a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. – a slate of three productions for Animal Logic’s Vancouver studio. Sharon Taylor, EVP & General Manager of Animal Logic, Vancouver, said, “We are delighted to officially open our doors in Vancouver. The city has such a rich and diverse talent pool that it made perfect sense for us to expand our operations into Canada to support our growing slate of animated productions.” Visit www.animallogic.com
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Pixspan Integrates with Autodesk Creative Finishing Suite PIXSPAN, INC. HAS ANNOUNCED that Autodesk, Inc. has integrated Pixspan’s full resolution bit-exact software in the Autodesk Creative Finishing suite. Autodesk’s upcoming Flame Extension 1 release will integrate Pixspan within Flame Premium, Flame, Flare, and Lustre to allow savings on storage and network costs as well as faster collaboration while preserving 100 percent of the quality. The Autodesk Creative Finishing suite will be able to publish and share Pixspan’s .pxz smaller file format among its applications. Pixspan’s software is comprised of the free “Pixspan Reader”, which is available to all Flame users and permits seamless decoding of Pixspan’s format, and Pixspan’s subscription-based option that enables saving, exporting, and publishing in the .pxz format. Pixspan subscriptions will be available through select resellers and system integrators, including some Autodesk Specialized Partners. “With the aid of Pixspan, Autodesk Creative Finishing customers can take advantage of savings on storage and network costs while preserving maximum quality. This is an example of Autodesk’s commitment to improving the customer experience while maximising existing hardware and software investments, without compromising quality,” said Steve McNeill, Autodesk director of Product Management and Development. “We are pleased that Autodesk, as a premier provider of visual effects and finishing products, with its leadership in creative finishing, has integrated Pixspan’s capabilities in such a seamless way,” said Michael Rowny, Pixspan’s CEO. “All Creative Finishing customers will now have access to the more efficient workflows for Digital Intermediates and ARRIRaw, so important for high resolution projects.” Visit www.pixspan.com and www.autodesk.com
Cinegy Introduces World’s Fastest Video Codec CINEGY, DEVELOPER AND PRODUCER of software technology for digital video processing, asset management, video compression, automation, and playout, has unveiled “DANIEL2”, believed to be the world’s fastest video codec. The new DANIEL2 codec is an acquisition and production codec designed for recording from camera sources, editing, and postproduction as well as playout and was developed from inception to be GPU based with no dependence on legacy codec architectures. DANIEL2 can decode up to 1100 frames per second at 8K (7680×4320), which translates to over 17,000 frames of full HD per second. Cinegy Managing Director, Jan Weigner, said, “Today, even if users could decode multiple 4K or 8K streams using a CPU, which they cannot, they would probably still want to use the power of the GPU for effects and filters. Then there is the issue of system bus bandwidth bottlenecks for those trying to transfer decoded streams to the GPU’s memory. This is where DANIEL2 shines as streams a fraction of the size of their uncompressed counterparts are read from disk, or via a network, and are passed to the GPU for decompression faster than uncompressed frames can be copied.”
POST PRODUCTION
As a result of its architecture, DANIEL2 offers three key benefits. It uses far less system bandwidth, consumes less disc or network bandwidth, and frees a CPU from the heavy lifting of video stream decoding so it can perform other tasks.
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To verify its speed and accuracy, Cinegy used DANIEL2 on its IBC stand to decode multiple 8K and 4K streams while performing real time compositing, colour correction, scaling, and titling. The results were all displayed in real time 8K. The hardware platform used for the DANIEL2 IBC demo was an off-theshelf sub-$1000 PC, in this case equipped with an Intel quad core i7-6700K processor, and an Nvidia GTX980Ti or Quadro M6000 graphics card. Visit www.cinegy.com
Paragon Software Group Releases NTFS for Mac 14 PARAGON SOFTWARE GROUP has announced the release of Paragon NTFS for Mac 14. Paragon NTFS for Mac 14 is the industry’s fastest driver giving OS X full read and write access to Windowsformatted NTFS partitions. The new version is fully compatible with Apple’s new operating system OS X 10.11 El Capitan and still supports all versions back to 10.8 Mountain Lion. Internal tests show Paragon NTFS for Mac 14 matches the file transfer speed of Apple’s native driver on SSDs. Paragon NTFS 14 for Mac achieved 700MB/sec (write) and 800MB/sec (read) on the internal SSD of a MacBook Pro. It also performs as well as HFS+ with external storage: 250MB/sec write and 240MB/sec read on a two-SSD RAID device, and 210MB/sec write and 210MB/sec read on an ordinary external drive. To ensure a higher level of security, El Capitan delivers a new protection feature. System Integrity Protection prevents modifications to certain system files, folders and processes. This protects components on disk and at run-time, only allowing system binaries to be modified by the system installer and software updates. Code injection and runtime attachments to system binaries are no longer allowed. Paragon NTFS for Mac 14 is fully compatible with Apple’s new security policy ensuring fast, hassle-free and safe access to NTFS partitions from El Capitan. Once the program is installed, the user can get started right away: conveniently navigate contents and read, edit, copy or create files and folders. The program guarantees advanced support of NTFS file systems and provides fast and transparent read/write access to any NTFS partition under OS X 10.11. Visit www.paragon-software.com
Make.tv Launch ACQUIRE Plugin for Avid MediaCentral Platform MAKE.TV RECENTLY ANNOUNCED its latest development, make.tv ACQUIRE. The new plugin enables third-party solution providers to integrate the functions of the make.tv Live Video Cloud into their own applications. As part of this development, make.tv announced that Avid has certified the integration of the make.tv ACQUIRE plugin within the Avid MediaCentral Platform ecosystem, using the Avid Connectivity Toolkit. With make.tv ACQUIRE, Avid MediaCentral Platform users can utilise access to the make.tv Live Video Cloud and all its features. News productions can be enriched with live feeds from smartphones and tablets. For example, news reporters can upload live streams using the free make.tv MOBILE APP and, at any time, the producer can determine the location of his roving reporters thanks to geo-localisation, query their online status and communicate via a chat function and integrated intercom. On top of this, a tally light in the make.tv MOBILE APP notifies the reporter as soon as the supplied live stream is on-air. As a result, make.tv is becoming a daily business tool for Avid users and news reporters all over the world. The compatibility with other make.tv tools, such as make.tv SELECTOR and make.tv MANAGER, means that the content generated can be selected, managed and distributed with flexibility. Producers also have the option of transferring their content to Avid Interplay | Production. “In our Internet live production tool, we are bringing together all of the features essential for the cloud-based acquisition, production and distribution of video content. Live formats such as news, events, sports and conferences can now be produced more quickly, more independently and most cost-effectively than ever before,” said Andreas Jacobi, CEO of make.tv. “The certification for the Avid MediaCentral Platform is a significant step on our journey towards revolutionising live productions through cloud-based architectures.” Visit www.make.tv
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OS X El Capitan Now Available as a Free Update APPLE HAS ANNOUNCED that OS X El Capitan, the latest major release of their desktop operating system, is available as a free update for Mac users. El Capitan builds on the features and design of OS X Yosemite, refining the Mac experience with updates to window management, built-in apps and Spotlight search, and performance improvements to make everyday activities — like launching and switching apps, opening PDFs and accessing email — faster and more responsive. “People love using their Macs, and one of the biggest reasons is the power and ease-of-use of OS X,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “El Capitan refines the Mac experience and improves performance in a lot of little ways that make a very big difference. Feedback from our OS X beta program has been incredibly positive and we think customers are going to love their Macs even more with El Capitan.” El Capitan gives you simpler and smarter ways to do the things you do most with your Mac. A streamlined Mission Control makes it easier to see and organise everything you have open on your Mac. With a single swipe, Mission Control arranges all your windows in a single layer so you can find the window you need even faster. OS X El Capitan improves system performance across your Mac; making many of the things you do everyday faster and more responsive. Metal, Apple’s graphics technology, accelerates Core Animation and Core Graphics to boost system-level rendering by up to 50 percent, and efficiency by up to 40 percent, resulting in faster graphics performance for everyday apps. Metal also takes full advantage of your CPU and GPU, delivering up to 10 times faster draw call performance for a richer, more fluid experience in games and pro apps. El Capitan also features enhanced international language support, including a new Chinese system font for both Traditional and Simplified, with 50,000 characters for crisp on-screen readability. Chinese keyboard input methods now offer regularly updated vocabulary lists and a smarter candidate window. El Capitan makes entering Japanese text faster by automatically transforming Hiragana into written Japanese and reducing the need to individually select and confirm word conversions. Visit www.apple.com
Blackmagic Design Announces Fusion 8 Public Beta BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED the public beta of the free version of Fusion 8 is now available for download from the Blackmagic Design website. This beta is for the free version of Fusion 8 and is available for both Mac OS X and Windows. This public beta is also the first ever Mac compatible release of Fusion, which was previously a Windows only product. By bringing the free version of Fusion 8 to the Mac, high end visual effects are available to even more users than ever before, opening the door to millions of motion graphic artists, broadcast designers, video editors, visual effects compositors, and 3D animators. In addition, projects can be easily moved between Mac and Windows versions of Fusion so customers can work on the platform of their choice. Featuring a powerful node based interface, Fusion makes it extremely easy to build sophisticated visual effects compositions very quickly. Nodes are small icons that represent effects, filters and other image processing operations that can be connected together in any order to create unlimited visual effects. Nodes are laid out logically like a flow chart, so customers won’t waste time hunting through nested stacks of confusing layers with filters and effects. Unlike timeline based applications, it’s easy to see and adjust any part of a project in Fusion by simply clicking on a node. With a massive toolset consisting of hundreds of built in tools, customers can pull keys, track objects, rotoscope, retouch images, animate titles, create particle effects and much more, all in a true 3D workspace. Fusion can also import 3D models, point cloud data, cameras or even entire 3D scenes from Maya, 3ds Max or Lightwave and render them seamlessly with other elements. Deep pixel tools can be used to add volumetric fog, lighting and reflection mapping of rendered objects using world position passes so customers can create atmospheric effects that render in seconds, instead of hours. “Since we announced our plans to bring Fusion 8 to Mac OS X, we’ve had a massive response from the creative community,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “This is something that animators, designers and visual effects artists have wanted on the Mac for a very long time. Because it was written specifically for Windows, bringing Fusion to Mac OS X wasn’t just a simple port. Our engineering team has been working tirelessly to rewrite parts of the Fusion code base so it runs incredibly well on Mac OS X, while also improving the Windows version. This new free version of Fusion 8 for Mac and Windows will make it accessible to many more users than ever.” Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com
Shotgun Announces New Review and Pipeline Features SHOTGUN SOFTWARE HAS ANNOUNCED a new set of features and updates that will make it easier for teams to review, share and provide feedback on creative projects. The upcoming Shotgun release will include new review and approval features and an updated Client Review Site to streamline collaboration and communication within teams, across sites and with clients. Shotgun’s Pipeline Toolkit is also being updated with the Shotgun Panel, which will let artists communicate directly with other artists and see only the information relevant to their tasks directly inside creative tools like Autodesk Maya and The Foundry’s Nuke , along with a refreshed Workfiles tool to find and navigate to relevant files more quickly. ”These updates address some of the biggest bottlenecks we see affecting our clients today: fluid review and approval pipelines, simple and integrated ways for studios to present their work and communicate securely, and simple and fast ways for artists to reference key info right inside of creative applications like Maya and Nuke so they don’t lose time switching contexts and applications,” said Don Parker, co-founder, Shotgun Software and Senior Product Manager, Autodesk. “This will be our second major release this year that focuses on these bottlenecks, and we’re excited to get these new tools into the hands of our clients.”
A new global view allows users to easily access and manage media across all of their studio's projects from one, easy-to-access location in Shotgun. Other improvements include new browsing options, playlists and a preference to launch media in RV, the desktop image/movie player. Now studios can more quickly invite multiple client contacts to review work, control password options that cover a wider range of security requirements, and collaborate faster with clients by uploading attachments and replying to notes. A Shotgun Panel inside Maya, Nuke and other artist tools means that artists now have a simple mini-Shotgun UI directly inside their most commonly used applications giving them quick access to important information and utilities, and the ability to communicate with other artists on their team without having to go out to a web browser. The panel can also be integrated directly into proprietary pipelines, and is customisable to support each studio's specific workflow. With Toolkit Workfiles Refresh, users can browse, load and save files faster with improved navigation for finding files and getting them loaded. Visit www.shotgunsoftware.com
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Autodesk Introduces Subscription Options for Flame AUTODESK HAS ANNOUNCED new Desktop Subscription options for Autodesk Flame software. Autodesk also announced Flame support for OS X as part of the Autodesk Flame Extension 2 release, available late November 2015. Autodesk Flare and Autodesk Flame Assist software are now available as standalone products with monthly subscription prices. With these changes, Autodesk is evolving the entire Flame Family to meet the needs of a growing base of creative professionals including freelancers and smaller facilities that need access to powerful 3D visual effects and finishing tools to tackle tough jobs. The new subscription offerings provide a lower cost for facilities expanding their creative capabilities and for smaller studios and individual freelancers who work on a project basis. Autodesk plans to continue to sell perpetual licenses of Flame Family. “The changes we are making allow us to continue to provide our Flame users with the tools they need to grow and transform their businesses, now and in the future, as well as to ensure that our business continues to serve them. With the new Flame business model, it’s never been easier for artists and studios to access these powerful tools they need for the high-end finishing their customers demand,” shared Marc Stevens, vice president, Film & TV, Autodesk. Autodesk has also announced the upcoming Flame Family 2016 Extension 2 releas. It brings new format support and stunning performance gains in colour grading workflows. Lustre Reactor brings new GPU acceleration to
Boris FX Releases Boris Continuum Complete 10 for Avid BORIS FX, A LEADING DEVELOPER in VFX and workflow solutions for film and video, announced Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) 10 for Avid. The recent merger between Boris FX and Imagineer Systems, the developer of mocha Planar Tracking tools, brings the two development teams together for the largest release in the company’s history – delivering new tools for advanced visual effects, title design, digital beauty work, and image restoration to the Avid timeline.
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Among the most anticipated features, BCC 10 for Avid includes: integrated mocha technology for planar motion tracking and masking; BCC Beauty Studio, a skin smoothing and retouching plugin; and BCC Title Studio, Boris FX’s next generation 3D titling and motion graphics tool.
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“BCC 10 builds on our company history of developing advanced and accelerated 3D titling, effects, and finishing tools,” explains Boris Yamnitsky, president and founder of Boris FX. “The addition of Title Studio, Beauty Studio, mocha, new filters, and new transitions makes this our largest release to date and we are excited about early customer response. Beta testers from the Avid editing community have given us excellent feedback and we look forward to delivering BCC 10 for Adobe, Apple, Resolve, and more hosts very soon.” BCC 10 for Avid draws upon the strength of past releases to deliver the most comprehensive plug-in package for Avid editors and also includes new filters, new transitions, and a new subscription/rental option. Visit www.borisfx.com
colour grading workflows and significantly improves performance when using blur, keying and softness controls for both preview and rendering operations. Other enhancements in Lustre include 32-bit floating point GPU rendering locally, via Shot Reactor and when using Autodesk background rendering software; performance enhancements when working with Open EXR source media with embedded mattes; UI support for high DPI monitors (4K); and new Print View and Print LUT support when using AJA SDI output. Visit http://www.autodesk.com
Red Giant Releases Trapcode Suite 13 RED GIANT HAS ANNOUNCED the release of Trapcode Suite 13, an upgrade to the their tools for creating motion graphics and visual effects in Adobe After Effects. In addition to major updates to Trapcode Particular, Shine, and Mir, the release introduces Trapcode Tao, a brand new plugin for generating 3D geometries along a path. The update also includes new features in Trapcode Form, Sound Keys and Starglow. With tools to generate complex procedural 3D geometries using built-in auto paths, mask shapes and the motion from 3D lights, Trapcode Tao brings new depth to motion graphics projects. Thanks to GPU acceleration, processintensive graphics and effects, like image-based lighting, reflection maps and ambient occlusion, all render at incredible speeds. Offering a more creative and intuitive way to build and customise particle effects, Trapcode Particular’s new Effects Builder lets artists drag and drop blocks of particle behaviours and styles, and includes a built-in instant preview window for immediate feedback. In addition to the massive library of Sprites, users can choose from more than 130 new presets to help kick off any project. With Trapcode Shine’s new ability to link to an After Effects 3D light, users can generate 3D camera-aware light rays. Shine’s new Fractal Noise tools enable users to add smoky, volumetric lighting to their motion graphics and visual effects. These Fractal Noise tools include masking and Parallax that simulate depth and organic behaviour within the light. Also getting a major upgrade, Trapcode Mir 2 adds a number of new ways to create and customise dynamic 3D surfaces, such as the ability to spiralise the mesh or deform the surface with spiral rotations. Create seamless looping fractal-based backgrounds, add a second-pass wireframe to create grid overlays on terrains and other surfaces, and choose between quad or triangle-based polygons for a surface. Visit www.redgiant.com
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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM
iflix Chooses High Volume Asset Management Workflow Solution from Silver Trak IFLIX IS ONE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA’S leading Internet TV services and offers subscribers unlimited access to tens of thousands of hours of entertainment in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. iflix users enjoy unlimited access to a library of top international, Asian regional and local content on up to five devices of their choice including smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, TVs and other connected devices. Speaking at the recent CASBAA Convention in Hong Kong, Mark Britt, Co-Founder and Group CEO of iflix, released new figures which, after 20 weeks of operation, saw the service sitting at 670,000 activated accounts with average viewing hours in the Philippines at 2 hours 20 per viewer per day and an average of one hour 40 minutes in Thailand and Malaysia. The number of hours watched since launch total 4.2 million. To service this expanding user base, iFlix needed a high capacity workflow solution that would allow it to securely receive and ingest large volumes of premium content. For that solution, iFlix turned to Silver Trak and its Media Room smart media asset management system. According to Silver Trak MD Christian Christiansen, “iflix is a major operation and they have thousands of hours of content that flows through their system at any one time. The company recently announced a succession of landmark content deals with Hollywood and international studios including MGM, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox to name a few, so their library and offering is very substantial. With that in mind they came to us for a high volume workflow solution that gives iflix the ability to easily, efficiently, and securely receive and transcode premium content from multiple studio partners for processing. The critical challenge here was developing a workflow that could comfortably handle the sheer volume of content. This was no mean feat.” With the challenge and requirements clearly defined Silver Trak’s in-house development team set about creating a custom-built workflow solution that encompassed a wide range of Silver Trak’s services and included its Media Room smart media asset management system at its core.Christiansen continued, “Media Room was critical to the iflix workflow solution as, due to its flexibility and scalability, it allows their smaller suppliers to easily access the Silver Trak ecosystem and deliver content in the same, completely automated way, as any major supplier. This is a big plus as far as efficiency of delivery is concerned.” Silver Trak’s Media Room smart media storage, management and delivery service is used by some of the region’s largest free to air broadcasters,
streaming companies and content providers including Foxtel, Icon Film Distribution, Transmission Films and Entertainment One. Media Room addresses the specific needs of any broadcaster, production house, post production house or distributor who has media assets they want to store, manage and deliver from the convenience of any web connected device. In simple terms it gives the user 100% control over their assets and the ability to use Silver Trak’s services such as QC, file storage or Aspera fasp high speed data transfers without paying any licence fees and without leaving the comfort of their seat. The Media Room workflow designed and developed by Silver Trak, enabled content to be sent by iflix and its suppliers, received in Media Room, ingested automatically, edited, QC’d, transcoded and then ultimately delivered to its final destination within the iflix transcoding platform. “Not only did we custom create and build this workflow to be as straightforward and easy to use as possible but such is its efficiency that it can manage over 2500 hours of content per month,” says Christian Christiansen concluded. “Media Room is a unique smart media asset management system as it has been custom designed, developed and built in-house at Silver Trak. In iflix’s case its uniqueness is even more apparent as we custom-tailored the system to integrate iflix’s content requirements with Silver Trak’s full suite of broadcast services. In addition, all iflix’s assets are stored redundantly and all are easily accessible at anytime. This means iflix and their suppliers can upload, view, amend and deliver those assets 24/7 and all assets are QC’d and secure. All they need is a web-enabled device and Media Room’s enormously powerful workflow is immediately at their disposal.”
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Visit www.silvertrak.com.au
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM
SGL Provides CNN Indonesia with Avid Archive and DR Workflows SGL, THE PROVIDER OF content archive and storage management software for media and entertainment, has announced that CNN Indonesia has installed SGL FlashNet as the archive management solution for its Avid Interplay PAM system. FlashNet is a key part of CNN Indonesia’s new turnkey newsroom system at its facility at the Trans Corp Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia. SGL fully designed and configured the FlashNet installation, working alongside systems integrator, Ideal Systems. The integrated SGL FlashNet and Avid Interplay PAM installed at CNN Indonesia provides operators with a number of key features including: partial file restore from within Avid Media Composer; automated tracking and management of archived content across the lifecycle of the archived asset; high-speed retrieval of recently archived assets; and lifecycle management
of long-term archived assets between on-site and off-site storage, providing DR workflows, long term asset security and business continuity processes. CNN Indonesia’s Interplay PAM operators and the Avid PAM automated workflow, archives and restores to-and-from SGL FlashNet to disk and tape archives on-site. FlashNet Storage Manager automatically manages the creation, duplication, verification and deletion of archived material in, and between, CNN Indonesia’s on-site disc and tape archive and its off-site DR tape archive for DR purposes throughout the lifecycle of material. An off-site standby FlashNet archive management system is also available for business continuity purposes if DR is required.
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Visit www.sglbroadcast.com and www.idealsys.com
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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM
Telestream Releases Tempo Version 2.0 Retiming Software TELESTREAM, a leading provider of video transcoding and workflow automation solutions, has announced the release of the latest version of its flagship Vantage media processing platform with specific enhancements to its Tempo time adjustment system. This enterpriseclass software system allows content owners, producers, and distributors to quickly, easily, and efficiently ingest, edit, transform, package, monetise and distribute their media. First unveiled at NAB 2015, Tempo is a time adjustment solution that helps re-time file-based content and intelligently adjust the running time of shows and segments. It utilises new time adjustment algorithms that deliver superior quality and faster turn-around times. With a Tempo system, users have both a retiming solution and a Vantage node – when not retiming assets, the Lightspeed server resources can be used for other Vantage tasks, thereby maximising return on investment in production tools. Tempo v2.0 includes an enhanced user interface, which provides more control over asset timing. VU meters in the portal player enable segmenting files on ‘silence’, whilst intuitive on-screen markers segment content visually and provide a ‘jump to’ capability. The ability to save and recall projects allows users to mark up a file with segments and timing options, save that as a configuration, and then recall and load it at a later time. Also, Tempo v2.0 features retiming of SCC caption and STL subtitle files as well as advanced support for interlaced content. Developed as an integral element of Telestream’s Vantage media processing platform, Tempo v2.0 is a complete solution, running on a Lightspeed K80 Server with Vantage Transcode Pro. Within this intelligent software environment, new compression and expansion algorithms deliver superior quality and faster turn-around times. Simultaneously, new methods of interpolation adjust the effective sampling rate of each media stream in a way that produces no noticeable visual or audible artifacts. With Tempo, retiming is applied longitudinally across the entire asset, resulting in much better and more consistent quality. Visit www.telestream.net
GLOOKAST Launches INGESTER LT for ISIS | 1000 GLOOKAST, an innovator in MXF workflow solutions, has announced
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM
the launch of a new version of its file-based ingest solution, Gloobox INGESTER. This new version offers an entry-level turnkey file ingest solution, primarily designed to work in conjunction with Avid’s new ISIS | 1000 entry-level storage system.
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Gloobox INGESTER LT is designed to provide users with a means to easily automate and create efficiencies for ingesting XDCAMHD or AVC-Intra files into ISIS | 1000 or other entry-level shared storage systems. It supports the openness of ISIS | 1000 and can create files that are compatible with both Avid Media Composer, as well as Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Avid Interplay | Production Integration can be added as an option to INGESTER LT. For facilities that wish to manage media through integration with thirdparty asset management software, files created by INGESTER LT and its associated metadata are compatible with Cantemo Portal. “We are excited to offer an entry-level solution that allows smaller post production facilities and broadcasters to implement automated file-based ingest workflows,” said Edel Garcia, Executive Vice President of Operations at GLOOKAST. “Our goal was to offer a file-ingest appliance solution for under $10K and INGESTER LT achieves that.” Visit www.glookast.com
Portable Thunderbolt SSD Flash Drive from JMR Electronics JMR ELECTRONICS, INC., a manufacturer and systems integrator of scalable storage solutions has announced the general availability of their new Lightning LTNG-XTD portable Thunderbolt SSD Flash Drive. The ultra-compact PCIe Flash Drive with Thunderbolt 2 interface is a portable bus-powered drive requiring no external power source, and is introduced with 256GB storage capacity, with 512GB and 1.02TB models being added in the future. The new SSD drive is the ideal high performance alternative to USB thumb drives, portable SATA based hard disk drives and current SSD storage products in the market. It easily connects to a compatible Mac or Windows computer with a Thunderbolt port, or at the end of a Thunderbolt device daisy chain, via its attached Thunderbolt cable. The LTNG-XTD SSD Flash Drive leverages the latest generation M.2 PCIe SSD technology, coupling a 20Gb/s Thunderbolt 2 interface that provides real world sustained read and write file transfer speeds of between 1,200 to 1,400 MB/s. The unit incorporates a PCIe Generation 3 flash controller, enabling it to easily outperform 6Gb/s SATA SSDs and 5Gb/s USB 3.0 flash drives. The flash drive is compatible and certified for use with OS X (including Yosemite) and Windows 7+ OS. Visit www.jmr.com
Lexar Announces New CFast 2.0 Cards LEXAR HAS ANNOUNCED two additions to its CFast memory card line: the Lexar Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card and the Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card. Both are designed to capture highquality 4K video and meet the exacting speed and capacity demands of professional cinematographers, filmmakers, and content creators. These cards leverage new thresholds of performance and maximise the capabilities of next-generation cinema-grade video cameras.
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Lexar has also launched the Lexar Professional 2933x and 1400x XQD 2.0 cards, as well as the Lexar Professional Workflow XR2 (XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader) for professional videographers, photographers, and enthusiasts. Designed for use with the latest generation of high-definition camcorders and high-resolution DSLRs, the new XQD 2.0 cards deliver read transfer speeds up to 2933x (440MB per second) and 1400x (210MB per second) respectively, enabling an accelerated workflow that allows users to quickly capture and store high-quality images and 4K video. These new rugged, high-speed cards support both PCI Express Gen 2 and USB 3.0 interfaces. The Lexar Professional Workflow XR2 (XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader) is compatible with both the Professional Workflow HR2 (Thunderbolt 2/ USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub) and Professional Workflow HR1 (USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub). Visit www.lexar.com
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SGL Announces Integration with Data Expedition SGL, A LEADING PROVIDER OF content archive and storage management software for media and entertainment, has announced that its flagship content management software FlashNet is now fully integrated with Data Expedition, Inc.’s ExpeDat Gateway for Amazon S3. This latest integration enables broadcasters and content owners to transfer media directly to Amazon Web Services (AWS) at maximum speed, providing an additional means of storage and disaster recovery workflows. FlashNet integrated with ExpeDat Gateway for Amazon S3 provides a highly cost-effective file transfer solution, enabling files to be transferred to and from S3 at up to 700 Mbit/s. Once data is stored in S3 it can be moved to Amazon Glacier using a standard AWS interface, providing a more affordable long-term storage option. The combined SGL and Data Expedition solution can be deployed quickly and is highly scalable. FlashNet’s rules-based implementation provides fully-automated data duplication across multiple storage layers and locations. Using FlashNet operators can create additional rules that send material directly to the cloud. The FlashNet archive is able to track and record exactly where material is at any given time, regardless of long-term storage method, and can alert third-party systems, such as the MAM, that content is available for download. “The cloud is becoming a viable option for broadcasters and content owners who want secure, long-term storage for disaster recovery workflows. By transferring data to the cloud using the combination of FlashNet and ExpeDat Gateway for Amazon S3, users can very quickly and easily store their material. FlashNet provides a rich set of tools to optimise the benefits of the various archiving platforms, including tape, disk, optical disk and cloud,” explains Lee Sheppard, SGL’s Director of Product Management. Visit www.sglbroadcast.com and www.dataexpedition.com
ATTO Technology Announces Support for Mac OS X 10.11 ATTO TECHNOLOGY, INC., has affirmed its commitment to Apple technology innovations by announcing driver support for El Capitan, the latest update to Mac OS X that brings enhanced usability, performance and security. The announcement makes ATTO the only high-performance connectivity provider with a full range of storage and network connectivity solutions to support Apple’s new operating system. Mac OS X has long been a platform of choice for creative professionals, and applications such as 4K digital video production and editing now bring challenges including greatly expanded file sizes, project complexity and storage footprint. ATTO continues to innovate and provide solutions to power these and other high-performance environments, including the most demanding applications used for government and education, scientific research, and video surveillance. “ATTO’s decades-long relationship with Apple, and the release of these drivers, demonstrate our commitment to Mac users,” said Tom Kolniak, Director of Products at ATTO Technology. “Our consistent support for Apple operating system updates recognises their need to keep pace with the latest technology for accessing high-performance storage and networks.” The announcement of El Capitan support follows ATTO’s release of Xtend SAN 4.0. Optimised for OS X 10.11, Xtend SAN 4.0 represents a major overhaul and includes a refreshed GUI and other enhancements to ensure optimal performance of block-based iSCSI transfers in OS X environments. Visit www.attotech.com
Imagine Products Supporting Mac OS X El Capitan IMAGINE PRODUCTS, INC. has announced that all their Macintosh applications support El Capitan, the latest Mac OS X update. Imagine Products, Inc has been developing workflow applications for the media, broadcasting and entertainment industry for over 25 years. Their array of applications boast simple to use, elegant user interfaces with powerful backends that are affordable for both professionals and beginners. Mac OS has been a well-established platform of choice in the industry for decades and Imagine Product’s has been a dedicated supporter since 1991. “We’ve been developing Mac software for a long time. It’s one of the most stable and the most widely used platform in the media and entertainment industry,” said Dan Montgomery, the President of Imagine Products, Inc. “We appreciate and emulate Apple’s constant technological advances for our industry and the world.” Imagine Product’s popular LTFS archiving application, PreRoll Post is optimised for OS X 10.11. PreRoll Post takes advantage of the Linear Tape File System and can be paired with any LTO tape drive or Sony’s Optical Disc Archive (ODA). Visit www.imagineproducts.com
Signiant Flight Gains Microsoft Azure Certification SIGNIANT, a leader in intelligent file movement software, has announced that Signiant Flight has been validated for compatibility with Microsoft Azure as an Azure Certified solution and can now be purchased via the Azure Marketplace. As one of the first SaaS offerings in the Developer Services category, Flight gives Azure customers easy access to a scalable solution for fast uploads into Azure blob storage. Signiant Flight enables automatic movement of large data sets into and out of object storage in a security-enhanced and reliable manner, at speeds up to 200 times faster than a standard transfer. As the only multi-tenant, auto-scaling acceleration solution on the market, Flight is extremely easy to deploy and manage – and it is highly elastic to accommodate wide variations in data volume and large numbers of endpoints. “Signiant is thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with Microsoft to bring Flight to the next-generation Azure Marketplace,” said Rick Clarkson, VP Product Management. “Our unique SaaS acceleration offering is being broadly adopted across a wide range of data-intensive cloud applications, and we are seeing increasing demand for Azure. This new, low-friction way to discover and try Flight is consistent with the core value proposition of the product, and customers are responding enthusiastically.” “We are pleased to include Signiant in our Azure Certified SaaS program within our enhanced Azure Marketplace,” said Dan Sandlin, Senior Partner Director, Microsoft Business Evangelism. “The addition of the Developer Services category, and the inclusion of more flexible pricing options, will further enable our customers to integrate Azure into their applications and meet their business goals.” Customers can purchase Flight through the Azure Marketplace using an existing Microsoft enterprise agreement, and recent refinements to Microsoft’s online store further enhance the procurement experience for businesses. Companies like Signiant can now offer true SaaS solutions rather than being limited to bring-your-ownlicense models or machine images of on-premises software, along with the associated constraint of pricing in units of time. The Azure Marketplace is the only channel through which Flight is available on a pay-as-you-go basis with no minimum commitment. Visit www.signiant.com
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM
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AUDIO Digital soundwaves
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Hardy Audio Cuts Through Advertising Noise By Brad Watts WHEN IT COMES TO world-class radio and TVC audio and voiceover production, Ballarat in Western Victoria isn’t a locality that immediately springs to mind. Top-shelf radio production? Surely this is a business best centred in Melbourne, or Sydney, or indeed, New York. Yet Ballarat, the relatively sleepy city that churns out the odd Melbourne Cup winning horse, trainer, and jockey team – a world-first achievement in itself - is also home to a prolific radio production house, Hardy Audio. Situated within the all-but-gated suburb of Lake Gardens of Ballarat, Hardy Audio is home to a pair of gun audio producers, James Watson and Robbie Cirvydas, with the guys backed up by an über professional support team comprising Production Manager Tracey Savige, Office Manager and Marketeer Lauren Goodrham, with Allison Giofches taking care of business in accounts. It’s a tiny crew when you consider Hardy Audio is pumping out up to 70 radio ads a day, with around 400 clients from not only Australia, but the United States, the U.K., and occasionally Asia. Hardy Audio began life in a garage in Ballarat almost 30 years ago. Paul Hardy – the voice of Harvey Norman – now sadly departed, built the business back in the days of reel-to-reel tape. Paul’s widow still owns the business, but happily leaves the team to their own exemplary devices. Upon entering the fray, I’m immediately greeted with smiles (and the local cat) and offered my favoured warm beverage. Already this feels very comfortable. I’ve barely had time to sup my long black when James Watson begins touring me through the facility. The two sunlit production suites are based around ProTools HD systems running on bespoke Windows PCs – a single HD card per system. James informs me there isn’t a great need for scads of DSP power in this style of production, and that a solitary HD Accel card is ample. This is the recording and mixing platform of choice at Hardy Audio. Final editing of finished mixes is done with Sony’s Sound Forge. James took me through the process of final edits on an advertisement, removing breaths or carving out the body of an ‘f’ or ‘s’ sound to shorten the vocal material to the required 30-second length. If the final file is a little bit long or short, Serrato’s Pitch ’n’ Time relegates the audio to the correct length. When it comes to levels and compliance with radio and television, NugenAudio’s Mastercheck crunches the file’s levels correctly for the required medium. It was like watching a sleight-of-hand sideshow, with James signing off on the project and returning it to the client within a 15-minute timeframe.
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Secondary computers in each suite look after ancillary admin applications such as Microsoft Office; email and so forth. These machines also provide access to Digital Pigeon – a file sharing and delivery platform tailored to media and content professionals. Via Digital Pigeon, Hardy Audio’s producers return content to clients immediately upon completion. Clients can preview content, audition the material via their phone or desktop machine, returning comments if needs require, or download finished product. Turnaround times are typically within the hour. James tells me the typical delivery format is 16-bit, 48kHz WAV files, but most formats are deliverable via Hardy Audio. If the client requests AIFF files or mp3, that’s what they’ll receive.
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To the side of the production desks are Tascam DM3200 digital consoles. I quizzed James about the validity of such plant, and he confided these were soon to be relegated to the broom cupboard, as they’re used primarily as digital patchbays nowadays. More intrinsic are the Innkeeper PBX Digital Hybrid units from JK Audio. Each production suite uses these to converts PBX telephone lines into professional levels for ingest to
The Hardy Audio gang clockwise from left: James Watson – Producer, Robbie Cirvydas – Producer, Lauren Goodrham – Office Manager, Tracey Savige – Production Manager, and Allison Giofches – Accounts
ProTools. Both suites employ Yamaha HS8 monitors, as the inevitable step forward from the traditional NS10 stalwarts. James comments that these do the job adequately for the style of production required for radio, and the relief of not needing to endure hot and noisy amplifiers in each suite. There are no subs – this is radio... Incidentally, the aforementioned broom cupboard is actually the third production suite. It’s a similar size to the main suites, and there are honestly no brooms in there. However, being configured for surround, and with Hardy’s penchant for radio, this suite seldom sees the light of day. But the facility is there should James and Robbie be required to flex their skills on the razzamatazz of immersive audio. Feeding each of the production suites are two virtually identical vocal studios. It’s a pretty basic set up, Sennheiser 416 microphones, a basic headphone setup and dual screens for bringing up scripts for the voiceover artist. It really couldn’t be much simpler. Occasionally a project director may wish to oversee the session, in which case Skype is used. If Skype is unavailable to the director they can phone in to the session and direct via a standard telephone call. When it comes to voiceover talent, Hardy Audio has hundreds of prospects to choose from and offer clients. James notes the more popular choice is still the now completely engrained ‘Samuel Johnson’ styling (think ‘Secret Life of Us’ or every Hungry Jacks ad you’ve heard in Australia). However, for a smorgasbord of vocal styles, clients can simply jump onto Hardy Audio’s website, which effectively provides samples of over 100 different voiceover artists. Male, female, kids, foreign language artists – with hard sell, soft sell, and corporate styled examples from each artist. It’s a superbly presented and refreshingly uncluttered site, making choosing an artist or considering alternatives extremely easy. Whilst you’re checking out voiceover candidates, dive into Hardy Audio’s previous client list. You’ll find household names like Harvey Norman and Kia motor vehicles, alongside a plethora of radio ads for anything from finance providers through to car yards, far north Queensland holiday attractions and Melbourne markets. There’s no such thing as too small or too large a client with the Hardy Audio team. Visit http://hardyaudio.com.au
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Audinate Ramps Up APAC Activity for a Big 2016
Kiwa Digital Releases VoiceQ 2.0 KIWA DIGITAL HAS RELEASED VOICEQ 2.0, a streamlined
AUDINATE, THE SYDNEY BASED COMPANY behind the Dante networking solution, has zoomed past 500 Dante-enabled products and opened a new office in Hong Kong as it looks towards a big 2016. More than 500 Dante-enabled products are now available from more than 225 licensed manufacturers worldwide, including Yamaha, Bose, and Shure, a 60 per cent increase in the past 12 months. Audinate’s Dante technology transforms audio into a smart, connected medium that can be used for a huge range of professional audio and commercial needs, replacing bundles of audio cables with a single network cable that can be controlled through software. It has become the de facto standard for commercial audio installed in stadiums, hotels, theme parks, and major live events. “The 500th Dante-enabled product represents a significant milestone for Audinate and our Dante OEM partners,” Audinate CEO, Lee Ellison, said. “Customer research tells us that the single biggest factor when selecting an audio networking solution, is the number of available products on the market. With hundreds of products launched in the past 12 months, Dante has reached the tipping point and has become the industry standard for Audio over IP networking.”
postproduction cueing application designed to save time and improve accuracy with synchronised dialogue in films, television programs and games. Through the use of intuitive workflows and simple easy-to-use features, VoiceQ provides extremely accurate lip-synched processes and tools that considerably simplify dialogue replacement and dubbing for international versions. The software presents the script to actors in the traditional rythmo band, presenting a frame-accurate cue for every word yet utilizing digital technology to gain significant time and cost savings. Working with ProTools and other Digital Audio Workstations (DAW’s), VoiceQ harnesses the power of Mac OSX, providing an abundance of simple easy-to-use features for all production and studio professionals. Visit www.voiceq.com
Audient iD22s Populate New iMac Lab at NZ’s Massey University
According to InfoComm, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market in the professional AV industry, and that holds true for Audinate as well. Audinate now has 44 Dante licensees in Asia, and 47 per cent of those manufacturers have signed on in just the past 12 months.
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Fuelled by the overall growth of the AV industry in Asia and the widespread adoption of Audinate’s Dante media networking technology in the region, Audinate’s new Hong Kong office will provide business development, technical sales and customer support.
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Ben Wong has been appointed Director of Sales for Asia Pacific and will lead Audinate’s team from the new Hong Kong office.
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“The fast adoption of Dante among AV manufacturers in Asia is truly exciting, and is proof that Dante has become the de facto standard in audio networking,” Wong said. “These manufacturers are selecting Dante to ensure their products have guaranteed interoperability with the hundreds of other Dante-enabled products available worldwide.” Visit www.audinate.com
CREATIVE MEDIA Production students at Massey University are learning
iZotope Integrates RX Loudness Control with Premiere Pro API AUDIO TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IZOTOPE INC. has integrated with Premiere Pro’s open extension API to allow users access to RX Loudness Control directly within the media export function. RX Loudness Control offers the ability to perform loudness correction to quickly and accurately meet global broadcast media loudness specifications. “We’re extremely excited to extend this feature to Premiere Pro users,” says Rob D’Amico, Director of Product Management at iZotope, Inc. “For the first time ever, Premiere Pro users will have access to offline loudness correction from within the app.” To ensure audio mixes comply with any global loudness standard, RX Loudness Control utilises advanced algorithms developed specifically to deliver the highest quality loudness correction quickly. Premiere Pro users can utilise these time-saving tools to export their final audio mix without taking additional steps to meet these specifications.
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This streamlined workflow will not only ensure compliant material, but will also provide editors with more time for creativity. Visit www.izotope.com
sound design with the help of 25 Audient iD22 audio interface units in a brand new Mac Pro teaching suite this semester. Described as “a great addition to our new School”, by Associate Professor and Head of School, Andre Ktori, the iMac lab has been operational since July. Neil Aldridge, Sound Design programme leader, says, “We’re loving the Audient iD22s. We are by no means using them to their full potential yet, that’ll come when the Commercial Music degree starts up. Having said that, the iD22s are a great asset to the Sound Design paper. The students find them intuitive and easy to use: simple to set up and straightforward to operate. Combine this with the super clean audio path, and the iD22s have become an integral and seamless part of the student’s artistic process.” Each iD22 features two Class-A mic pres with additional ADC, helping to transform each of the iMac-based DAWs into a world-class recording system. As far as Aldridge was concerned, choosing Audient was an easy decision. “I have an ASP510 which I use in my 5.1 set up for film work. Based on my experiences with that, the DDA heritage that Audient grew from and the excellent customer support I’ve always received when I’ve been in touch with them, I had no hesitation in wholeheartedly recommending Audient for Massey University.” The brand new Commercial Music degree, which is already enrolling students for its 2016 intake, will also have Aldridge at its helm. Preparations are well under way to ensure that the teaching studio for the new degree is up to scratch, with a 48-channel ASP8024 console on order from New Zealand Audient distributor, Protel. Visit http://audient.com and www.protel.co.nz
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Neumann Launches KH 805 Active Studio Subwoofer WITH THE KH 805, Neumann.Berlin is adding a new active subwoofer to
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its string of studio monitoring products. Based on the excellent acoustical performance of the KH 810 subwoofer, the KH 805 is the optimal choice for stereo set-ups in combination with the KH 120 or KH 310. The combination of the new KH 805 subwoofer and KH 120 or KH 310 loudspeakers is ideal for tracking, mixing and mastering in recording, broadcasting, and post-production studios. A robust 10” driver, solid cabinet and carefully designed ports ensure tight, articulate and distortion-free low-frequency reproduction down to 18 Hz, even at high playback levels. Fourth-order crossovers and adaptable acoustical controls allow for seamless integration into existing loudspeaker systems. The KH 805 features a remotely controllable 2.0/0.1 Bass Manager which enables it to be used in many different applications, for example for extending the loudspeaker bass down to 18 Hz, for increasing the maximum SPL of a loudspeaker set-up by up to 8 dB or for reproducing the LFE channel. The active subwoofer is also an ideal tool to decrease the harmonic and intermodulation distortion of a loudspeaker set-up or to reproduce the “Sub” signal of a bass-managed multichannel source, and works as an extension for KH 810, KH 870 and KH 805 subwoofer systems. The KH 805 can be used to make a Plane Wave Bass Array system, which will acoustically improve lateral consistency in the listening area and further increase low frequency linearity. To reduce cabling, the subwoofer electronics can be located remotely, allowing the cabinet to be mounted flush to a wall. Visit www.neumann.com
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DirectOut introduces MADI.MONI MADI SPECIALISTS DIRECTOUT, have brought out MADI.MONI, a highly ergonomic MADI tester and mobile MADI monitoring tool. MADI.MONI has been specifically designed for MADI testing and monitoring in the field and has the smallest footprint of any mobile MADI monitor on the market. MADI.MONI offers a simple, uncluttered interface enabling users to see at a glance all format parameters as well as the signal quality of a MADI stream. Operation is extremely straightforward via four push buttons on the UI including a volume/ channel selection to monitor individual channels of a MADI signal via the 3.5mm headphone jack. The device is battery powered and provides one coaxial and one SFP MADI port. A traffic light like display delivers immediate information about the physical signal condition (amplitude/ jitter). The state of the incoming MADI signal is displayed with dedicated LEDs for each parameter (sample rate, frame mode, channel format). As a result, MADI.MONI is the perfect match for engineers in the field who need a handy, easy-to-use mobile device that offers comprehensive audio monitoring combined with instant, reliable information about the link quality. For those who require a more sophisticated analysis tool, DirectOut’s compact MADI analyser, ANNA-LISA, is the ideal choice. Furthermore, the device’s capabilities have just been expanded with the recent release of a remote control app for Android devices. Visit www.directout.eu
SUMMA. THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL.
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Leading-edge Bluefin2 DSP and the same high-performance Hydra2 router technology featured on the Apollo and Artemis consoles means Summa is fully integrated with the wider broadcast community. Lean, refined and simple – more reasons why the world’s most successful broadcasters rely on Calrec.
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Designed for live broadcast applications, with a focus on instinctive operation, Summa simplifies even complex workflow tasks with common procedures that are just a touch away.
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Inspired by the simplicity and intuitiveness of tablet technology, Summa is designed for a broad range of operator levels, with an easy-to-use touchscreen interface which uses established finger gestures to navigate the system.
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TASCAM Premieres Celesonic US-20×20 TASCAM’S NEW CELESONIC US-20×20 packs 20 channels of analogue and digital I/O into a single rackspace with great sounding preamps and USB 3.0/2.0 connectivity. Eight Ultra-HDDA microphone preamps provide 56dB of gain and high headroom to make microphones sound their best. Up to ten channels of digital I/O are included on ADAT and S/PDIF connectors, with word clock also provided for use with external clocks like TASCAM’s CG-1000. MIDI I/O allows use with controllers and synthesizers, and sample rates up to 192kHz/24-bit are supported.
Sound Devices CL-12 Now Shipping SOUND DEVICES CL-12 LINEAR FADER CONTROLLER, an optional accessory that significantly expands the mixing capability of the 688 mixer/recorder, is now shipping worldwide. The CL-12 features 12 100 mm linear faders, and is ideal for live mixing of multiple audio signals. The CL-12 comes in two models: the standard CL-12 and the CL-12 Alaia, which features smooth-gliding Penny & Giles faders and custom hardwood side panels in either Blonde Maple or Red Mahogany. With the CL-12, the 688 gains sunlight-viewable LED metering, as well as numerous dedicated buttons for quick access to key functionality, such as fast-track arming, naming, routing, and transport controls. It features a 3-band parametric equaliser for each of the 12 inputs, and the ability to monitor audio directly from the CL-12’s headphone port. Visit www.sounddevices.com
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The TASCAM Celesonic US-20×20 is the first USB 3.0 interface to use classcompliant drivers for future-proof use with computers and tablets. A builtin DSP mixer includes parametric EQ and compression on every channel and a stereo reverb send for great-sounding monitor mixes. The DSP mixer can also be used as a live mixer or submixer with computer control. The US-20×20 has three modes: audio interface, digital mixer, and 8-channel digital mic preamp. Visit www.tascam.com
TASCAM DA-6400 Captures 64 Tracks In Single Rack Space TASCAM’S DA-6400 is an all-new 64-track recorder that records to an internal SSD drive caddy for live and event recording. Professional I/O options like MADI and DANTE make it ideal for live recording, event capture, or as a backup for critical DAW sessions. Included with the DA-6400 is an AK-CC25 hot-swappable caddy containing a high-performance 240GB TASCAM solid-state drive. The caddy includes a USB 3 jack for stand-alone use. The DA-6400 records 64 tracks at 48kHz/24-bit or 32 tracks at 96kHz/24-bit. Included on the rear panel are SMPTE timecode, word clock, RS-422, parallel and Ethernet connections. I/O options for the DA-6400 include the IF-MA64/EX interface card, with both coaxial and optical MADI connections. This card includes a redundant coaxial connection so that MADI is passed through even if power is lost. Visit www.tascam.com
5.1 Surround Sound from 2 channel sound capture
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How much more impressive and emotional are sports broadcasts that also convey the spirit and atmosphere of the venue. The solution is Sennheiser’s ESFERA, the surround microphone system that enables you to generate and broadcast 5.1 surround sound using two standard audio channels.
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ESFERA - contact us for further details www.sennheiser.com.au/esfera
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Clear-Com Unveils HelixNet Version 3.0
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GERMAN MANUFACTURER AND MADI SPECIALIST, DirectOut Technologies has launched brand new remote software for their MADI analyser and signal generator, ANNA-LISA. ANNA-LISA is a handheld device with a simple traffic light style LED Go/No Go indication. It is equipped with two MADI I/Os; a coaxial BNC port and an SFP cage for single mode or multimode transceivers. It is compatible with all MADI formats and checks for AES10 conformity, sample rate, format, signal amplitude and jitter. The onboard generator has three presets for different test signals.
CLEAR-COM HAS LAUNCHED HelixNet Version 3.0, a free software-only update to the acclaimed HelixNet digital network partyline platform. The new version unlocks the HelixNet system in response to the growing need for more communication channels to support live performances and live productions. With this new update, the HelixNet multiplies its basic channel count by three, with a new offering of 12 channels per HMS-4X Main Station. In the previous version, users had to link three HMS-4X Stations together in order to achieve the same number of channels. This capability brings greater capacity and flexibility to larger productions that require more distinctive talk groups. Furthermore, an additional 12 channels can be added simply by purchasing a licence, effectively enabling a single HMS-4X to provide a total of 24 channels. In order to support this expanded channel count of HelixNet, any combination of Main Stations or Remote Stations (HRM) can be configured to function as expansion key stations. With multiple devices acting as one system, users are able to address all users on HelixNet with a single headset/ mic/loudspeaker. Pressing the “All Talk” key will affect all channels in a linked and expanded system.
The newly-launched remote software, which is available as an app for ANDROID devices and connected via Bluetooth, offers a significantly enhanced feature set for ANNA-LISA users. Functions include advanced analysis of signal parameters including amplitude and jitter measurement; monitoring of AES3 channel state; bit scope for monitoring audio and subframe data; 128 channel level meter and output gain adjustment; and finally, a channel-based routing matrix for both MADI I/Os and all signal generator presets. DirectOut managing director, Stephan Flock, remarked, “I’m delighted with the extremely positive feedback that we’re getting for the ANNALISA remote app. Our only regret is that we weren’t able to bring it out sooner, but our users all agree that the even more comprehensive analysis tools provided by the software were worth the wait!” Visit www.directout.eu
The New 10MX Atomic Clock from Antelope Audio
HelixNet 3.0 also features a free browser-based software tool for the first time, called Core Configuration Manager (CCM). This enables easy online set-up and configuration of all HelixNet devices via the latest versions of all major browsers on Mac, PC and tablet platforms. CCM offers visual representation of all connected devices and functions, and the save/restore function allows easy duplication of systems. All configurations can be edited via the CCM software, or via the traditional menu system on the HelixNet Main Station.
ANTELOPE AUDIO HAS ANNOUNCED its latest innovation in audio
Visit www.clearcom.com
clocking technology: the 10MX Atomic Clock.
NUGEN Audio Releases New DSP Version of VisLM-H2 NUGEN AUDIO HAS INTRODUCED a new DSP option for its industryleading VisLM-H2 visual loudness meter, targeted to users of Avid Pro Tools HDX systems. Leveraging advanced AAX DSP hybrid technology, VisLM-H2 DSP integrates seamlessly into the professional Avid HDX environment and optimally deploys Avid audio engine resources for the Pro Tools power user. Joining ISL 2 DSP, NUGEN Audio’s true peak limiter for HDX, VisLM-H2 DSP enables users to take advantage of the full capability of their NUGEN Audio loudness tools within the context of a highly optimised HDX environment. “VisLM-H2 DSP completes our lineup of loudness offerings for HDX workstations,” said Jon Schorah, creative director, NUGEN Audio. “With VisLM-H2 DSP, HDX users can handle loudness at their workstations in the fastest and smartest manner and gain maximum benefit from their HDX systems.” Visit www.nugenaudio.com
The 10MX builds on Antelope’s clocking legacy by fusing proven technologies and advances in industrial design to deliver a product without compromise. The new product combines the atomic precision of the legendary 10M with the sophisticated Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) algorithms of the Trinity into an aesthetically stunning 1U enclosure. “The 10M Rubidium Atomic Clock and Trinity Master Clock combination has proven to be the ‘gold standard’ and the ultimate clocking reference in many top recording, mastering and post-production facilities around the world,” commented Igor Levin, CEO and founder, Antelope Audio. “In our development of the 10MX, we wanted to raise the bar. We listened to our customers and delivered exactly what they asked for: the best features of the 10M and Trinity in a combined, 1U package.” As digital devices continue to proliferate the audio signal chain, high quality clocking solutions have never been more critical. The Antelope 10MX is perfectly suited to recording, mixing and mastering environments and is an ideal companion to a variety of live sound applications in delivering refined clarity and three-dimensionality. Housed in a compact and futuristically designed 1U rack box, the 10MX is manufactured with premium components to deliver the most stable clocking solution in the world. The 10MX features multiple atomic outputs, enabling up to ten devices to be clocked simultaneously over 10MHz. Four BNC outputs provide Word Clock (WC) signal, supporting an astounding sampling rate of up to 768 kHz. In addition, four more WC outputs are available through AES and S/PDIF. Visit www.antelopeaudio.com
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DirectOut Delivers Enhanced Feature Set for ANNA-LISA
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Community Sector Tackles Digitising Radio THE RECENT Community Broadcasting Association of Australia
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conference saw around 50 representatives from metro, sub metro and regional stations gather to learn about the establishment and development of community digital radio in a session hosted by Kath Letch and featuring Phillip Randall, Chair of the CBAA Digital Radio Consultative Committee, Philip Shine, Digital Radio Project Manager, and David Sice, Technical Consultant.
The metropolitan stations already cover digital content and service generation costs and, as take up of digital is now moving to significant levels, it is important that stations begin to profile a contribution to platform costs in their budgeting, just as they do for analogue.
Phillip Randall opened the panel discussion and talked about the framework and corporate structure of the multiplexes for digital radio DAB+ and explained the shared transmitter arrangements, discussing the joint venture companies that have been set up for broadcast transmission and detailing the community broadcasters access to transmission. Randall also discussed the role of the Digital Radio Consultative Committee. Philip Shine, outlined the current status of community digital radio in Australia and detailed the ways stations are currently using their digital services, and mentioned the different stages of development that the stations are at utilising their electronic program guide (EPG) systems. David Sice explained the costs for digital broadcast multiplex transmission aspects are regulated through an ACCC access regime that sets pricing principles, ensures access and does not discriminate between commercial and non-commercial users. The Government has a long standing commitment to ensure access remains affordable and unless Government funding support is maintained at existing levels, plus indexation, access would be out of reach for most community broadcasters, especially considering that, at this stage, digital services are running alongside analogue for most stations. Shine said there is a potential shortfall of government funding from June 2016 for community digital radio, which is a key matter for discussion with government. Shine also said that metro stations are currently being asked to budget for a contribution of an amount towards digital radio costs as from 2016-17 –
The workshop addressed digital radio as the future of radio, noting that all media is digitising and that the digital broadcast platform was a critical element to enable free-to-air delivery to significant concurrent listeners. Sitting alongside that mainstay broadcast platform is complementary online delivery, and the importance of a multi-platform approach was agreed, with integration into hybrid devices now underway. The CBAA’s key commitment is that primary services are available to listeners on a free-to-air basis as radio digitises. It recognises that analogue is not the future. The CBAA views the role of community broadcasting to address diversity, local culture and voices and maintain access and democratic discourse on a free-to-air basis is increasingly relevant as media digitises, and commercial models move to centralise and globalise. The current take-up of digital radio across Australia was also outlined and the strategies for digitisation, including analogue closure in some countries, were discussed. The panel answered questions from delegates about regional rollout of digital services, demographics of digital take up and station financial contributions. In the context of the digitisation of radio more broadly, formal planning for extension of DAB+ digital radio to regional Australia has now commenced. The Government recently released a report recommending a planning committee chaired the the ACMA. The community sector is represented by Kath Letch and David Sice on that committee. It is anticipated that regional extension will commences in initial set of key locations as from the latter half of 2016.
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Phillip Randall New President of CBAA THE COMMUNITY BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION of Australia has welcomed a new President, Phillip Randall, and bid a fond farewell to Adrian Basso. Phillip Randall takes the position in addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer of Hope 103.2, one of Sydney’s oldest community radio stations. “I’m delighted to have this opportunity to serve the sector. Community broadcasting continues to play a vital role in Australian media and Australian communities. I look forward to working with the CBAA Board and wider sector to ensure that community broadcasting can continue to thrive,” said Randall. After beginning his media career in Albany, WA, in 1977, Randall has had more than 35 years’ experience in media. Since 2007, he has been involved in the push for a digital radio future for community broadcasting and is the Chair of the Digital Radio Consultative Committee. Randall has been a CBAA Board member since 2008, and was most recently Vice President.
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The CBAA has also farewelled outgoing President Adrian Basso, whose sustained and outstanding contribution to the community broadcasting sector was recognised at the 2015 CBAA Community Radio Awards. “As well as our ongoing activities to support community radio stations and the wider sector, Adrian has been instrumental in our Commit to Community Radio campaigns and an incredible champion for our cause. To Adrian, I
say thank you for your support and confidence, and for the immense amount of time, energy and passion you have put into the role of President,” said CBAA Chief Executive Officer Jon Bisset. Basso welcomes Phillip Randall’s appointment, saying, “I’m delighted that Phillip has been elected President. His experience and knowledge of the sector will be invaluable in the role and I wish him all the best.” Following the CBAA’s Annual General Meeting, Melanie Withnall and Peter Rohweder retain their roles as Board Members. Visit www.cbaa.org.au
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Vision for Radio at WorldDAB General Assembly
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THE RECENT WORLDDAB GENERAL ASSEMBLY held in London saw Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon receive WorldDAB’s award for outstanding services to digital radio. The award, presented by WorldDAB Vice President and CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, is in recognition of Anthony’s contribution to the development of DAB technologies and markets over the last 15 years. During this period, Frontier has invested over USD$50m on the development of its “Chorus” family of digital radio chips – the 4th of which went into mass production earlier this year. These chips have sold over 30 million units - making them, by some distance, the best-selling DAB solutions of all time. Anthony, previously a Vice President of WorldDAB, has also played a critical role in the international development of DAB digital radio – not only developing the early digital radio chips, but also being actively involved in the launches of DAB+ in Australia in 2009 and Germany in 2011. Joan Warner, VP of WorldDAB, said: “Anthony’s influence on the development of DAB digital radio has been enormous. He has combined technology expertise with strong commercial instincts – often providing much-needed impetus to motivate a diverse range of players from across the digital radio ecosystem. Anthony’s drive and commitment were key factors in enabling the successful launch of DAB+ in Australia and Germany.” Meanwhile, Dorothee Bär, German Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the UK Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, set out their shared vision for radio’s digital future. The two Ministers emphasised their commitment to digital radio and the importance of working together to accelerate the growth of DAB in Europe.
Dorothee Bär said, “DAB+ is emerging as the future platform for radio in Europe. More than three quarters of new cars now come with digital radio as standard. Listeners are already benefitting from a wide range of new digital radio services and significant improvements in reception quality, so the time is right for European governments to work together to accelerate the international adoption of digital radio.” Ed Vaizey said, “UK listening figures show the future of radio is increasingly digital. It’s reflected in the fact that more than three quarters of new cars now come with digital radio as standard. Listeners are already benefitting from a wide range of new digital radio services and significant improvements in reception quality, so the time is right for European governments to work together to accelerate the international adoption of digital radio.” In other sessions at the event, delegates also heard about the opportunities which DAB provides for commercial radio. Case studies from the UK, Italy and Australia illustrated how private broadcasters are developing new services, often using brand extensions, to grow audiences and generate new revenues. Media regulator Ofcom also provided an update about the cost-effective solutions for small scale local broadcasters. Several countries reported significant progress on getting DAB into vehicles. The UK announced that 75% of new vehicles are fitted with DAB. Norway and Switzerland reported similar figures, of 63% and 60% respectively. Meanwhile, Norway is heading for Digital Switchover (DSO) in 2017; Switzerland is close behind with DSO between 2020 and 2024. Solid progress was reported in Germany, Netherlands, UK, Denmark and Italy. Other markets taking early steps include Poland, France, Belgium, Czech Republic and Austria. Outside Europe, DAB+ is well established in Australia while trials are underway in South Africa, the Gulf States and Thailand. Visit www.worlddab.org
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Vale John Innes OCTOBER 28 SAW the Australian broadcasting industry lose one of its longest serving and most esteemed engineers with the passing of John Somerville Innes. Born in 1934, John’s career in broadcast engineering spanned more than 60 years and earned him industry recognition and respect worldwide. He was a great mentor to many young engineers and largely regarded as the foremost authority on MF transmission in the country. John’s passion for broadcasting was lifelong. He obtained his Amateur Radio license in 1955 and one of his earliest jobs was repairing twoway radio systems for a taxi company. Prior to the advent of Australian television in 1956, John worked on HF and VHF transmitters before transferring his talents to the TV industry. He was instrumental in
Radio Free Asia Announces New Managing Director, Northeast Asia RADIO FREE ASIA (RFA) has announced that distinguished journalist and former diplomat Bay Fang will serve as RFA’s new Managing Director, with responsibility for Northeast Asia. “Bay’s experience as a Beijing-based correspondent who also reported from the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to her diplomatic career, make her an asset to RFA in advancing our mission of gathering news in some of the world’s toughest media environments,” said Libby Liu, President of RFA. “I have long admired the work of Radio Free Asia journalists, and am thrilled to be joining an organisation with such an important mandate,” Fang said. “Bringing objective, accurate, and timely news to people in countries that restrict free press is a cause that is more critical than ever. I hope to help RFA continue to break stories and deliver impactful journalism in some of the most challenging regions of the world.” As Managing Director, Northeast Asia, Fang will work closely with the directors of five language services to manage the daily and long-term operations of RFA Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur, and Korean. She will oversee a year-long investigative series across all the language services, and help to increase the impact of RFA’s programming. Visit www.rfa.org
The volume of heartfelt tributes flowing in from around the world are testimony to the high regard in which John was held by the broadcast community and he will be sorely missed. He was universally acknowledged as a gentleman of great honour and integrity.
ENCO iWatch App for Connectivity to Automation ENCO HAS DEVELOPED an iWatch app, which gives radio broadcasters in the field connectivity to ENCO DAD automation systems back at the studio. The in-house developed app offers the same control capability as ENCO’s iDAD mobile app, which was released three years ago to streamline live remote and newsgathering workflows. For broadcasters, the remote control functions of both iDAD and the new iWatch app simplify and enhance remote options via ENCO’s DAD Command Language. These are presented on the app’s GUI through a clean array of user-definable buttons. The differentiator for the iWatch user is a further reduction of clutter; rather than fumbling with a mobile device while conducting an interview or live broadcast, the user can simply press a button on a wristwatch to send a command back to the studio. “A broadcaster can easily do live remotes and control the automation system from the convenience of his or her wrist,” said Ken Frommert, general manager, ENCO. “It brings further ease of use to the process while holding a microphone, for example, and additionally frees up mobile phones and tablets for other production or communication needs.” Visit www.enco.com
GatesAir Powers-Up Transmitters
AMPEGON HAS INTRODUCED a folded monopole 50 kW antenna system
GATESAIR IS OFFERING a cost-efficient exciter upgrade to its large base of Platinum Z and ZX transmitter customers. The Flexiva Power-Up Program targets worldwide FM broadcasters seeking a low-cost path to the increased power levels of elevated HD Radio sidebands, and provides competitive analogue audio improvements without requiring investment in a new transmitter.
The folded monopole antenna is fully grounded with no need of a base insulator for the placement of the antenna. This is an advantage for the antenna setup; maintenance of components and auxiliary systems installed on the antenna structure is simplified. Constructed as a single unit, the folded monopole antenna consists of the mast and the radiating element. The guy ropes supporting the mast are each divided by a single insulator. The upper section forms the “antenna cage”, which is connected to the mast on one side, and by ropes to the insulated feed point at the base of the antenna.
RADIO
In 1977 John branched out into his own business operations, initially with transformer manufacturing and ultimately founding the company that became Innes Corporation. His charter was always to provide the best engineering service to all broadcasters but he had a special affiliation with the smaller community groups and independent radio stations. His vast and detailed knowledge of AM transmission sites around Australia was unique and he remained active in a consulting role to the industry until selling his business in 2014.
New MW and SW Antennas from Ampegon with new design concept and optimised antenna structure.
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establishing ATN7 Sydney and BTQ9 Brisbane, joined RCA as a field engineer and eventually became Chief Engineer for the same company.
The Flexiva Power Up Program allows Platinum Z and ZX customers to raise HD Radio power by up to 237 percent upon integrating the Flexiva FAX-50 FM exciter. This, along with GatesAir’s innovations in hybrid crest factor reduction to increase output power, ensures that HD Radio broadcasters can broaden their market penetration.
Ampegon has also introduced a new folded dipole shortwave antenna system. The new antenna design concept and an optimised antenna structure is used for the introduction of the single band folded dipole antenna system, available in the RF power range up to 50 kW.
An extension of the program allows customers to additionally upgrade to current-generation GatesAir Flexiva Importer and Exporter units, ensuring the full multichannel and audio quality benefits of a complete Gen4 Exgine architecture. The current-generation Importer, Exporter and exciter units also eliminate spinning disks in favour of 100 percent solid-state operation.
The antenna system features key performance indicators like VSWR ≤ 1.5 in the perational frequency band (Z0 = 300 W) and a gain of 8 dBi.
The base Flexiva Power-Up package includes the FAX-50 FM/HD Radio exciter, an installation kit, and a video installation guide.
Visit www.ampegon.com
Visit www.gatesair.com
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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband
www.content-technology.com/delivery
Nine Technology – the Broadcast/IT Crowd By Phil Sandberg Like most television broadcasters, Australia’s Nine Network has undergone myriad changes over recent years, including new state HQs in Melbourne and Adelaide (with another on the way in Perth), the sale of its flagship location in Sydney and the appointment of another new CEO. ON THE CONTENT DELIVERY FRONT, the Network has embraced high definition, online video and just launched Australia’s first free-to-air lifestyle channel in the form of 9Life. Underpinning and enabling much of this change has been Nine Technology, the group within the Network charged with evaluating and implementing new technology and, increasingly, bridging the gap between broadcast and IT.
According to Geoff Sparke, Nine Network Director of Broadcast Operations, “The NPC is probably our greatest success. It was a once in an industry move for us by centralising it. It was a no brainer, No-one will say it was a hard decision, but it is a hard decision to spend that much money and pull it off in the time that we did.” The move was also contrary to the trend seen in Australia, and elsewhere, for playout to be outsourced to leave broadcasters to “concentrate on content”. “There’s a fundamental disconnect between the suppliers of playout services and a reactive broadcast channel,” says Geoff Sparke. “There is no
[L-R] Nine Network CTO, David Bowers; Michael Greenwood, General Manager, Nine Network National Playout Centre; Geoff Sparke, Nine Network Director of Broadcast Operations; and Mat Yelavich, Chief Information Officer at Nine Entertainment Co.
document on earth that can cover a service level agreement of the changing wants and needs of broadcast curation. It just doesn’t happen.” “As we prepare a program,” adds Michael Greenwood, General Manager, Nine Network National Playout Centre, “we modify it for the different markets. All those sorts of aspects of playout, I think, go unappreciated in a sense that someone sees it as you broadcast The Block and it goes everywhere. That’s true, but there’s various versions of The Block and those things, they sound simple, but when you try and impress that upon a potential playout supplier, they really don’t understand the nuances and it’s all back up into programming and how they want to promote. “I don’t see us outsourcing purely because of the things that we have to change all the time,” says Geoff Sparke. “We’re changing every week, workflows, deliveries, all of those things and
it’s not like a one off example. Every program is different.” “A good analogy,” says Michael Greenwood, “is the whole network is running one game of football at the same time, except for Melbourne Go is running Melbourne versus someone. That’s first up and that’s on the Go channel live into the Victorian market because we’ve got Cricket on the Gem channel and other programming on Channel 9. “You look at that and you say, ‘right, so we’re flipping the whole schedule just to cater for what the Melbourne markets wants and it’s on the Go channel’. We still have to treat it as a priority and how we’re going to work that through. And having two matches back to back, you think, ‘Oh well, that’s simple’, but it’s not because of the way they’re integrated. One game throws to the other game so you’ve got to then have the reverse
Continued Page 56
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A fundamental pillar in that bridge was the 2012 establishment of Nine’s Sydney-based National Playout Centre (NPC) which allowed the broadcaster to streamline technical operations by centralising playout for all of the Nine Network’s markets within one efficient and modern broadcast facility. Originally serving 18 channels across the country, the NPC underwent an expansion in 2014 to enable it to service the Adelaide and Perth markets by expanding its deployment of Imagine Communications D-Series playout automation and Nexio Insight asset management software, while increasing its existing Nexio server installation’s capacity with Nexio Volt integrated media servers. The expansion also included Imagine Communications Selenio media convergence platforms for signal processing, and a Platinum router with Multiviewer for large scale routing and monitoring.
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CONTENT DELIVERY Continued from Page 55 happening in the markets that run it in a different order. You’ve got to cater for those differences. “So, I mean, that’s what we do. It’s preparation in thinking those things through and having that sort of a strategy as to how you’re going to do it beforehand which makes it work, and when you’re looking at any sort of arrangement that’s not run by the people who have that knowledge, it’s very hard to sit down and discuss that. This is why we do these things ourselves.” Despite enacting complex workflows and planning for a range of contingencies, the operation of Nine’s National Playout Centre has not been without its challenges. One seemingly small challenge arose from the world of online media in the form of just 140 characters. “To be honest,” says Michael Greenwood, “the first thing that really hit us was Twitter. Traditionally, you think of a program sitting in a server. Once that’s done, it can go out at different times to your various markets. If Sydney and Melbourne are slightly out of sync it doesn’t really matter, but then as soon as we got Twitter, Twitter makes the event live again. So, even though it’s sitting in the server, we have to synchronise everybody so we can hit Twitter at the same time. So that has changed the way we approach things. It pushed us back a little bit to the tape days because everyone has to be fed at exactly the same time. You can’t have elastic breaks in one market. Everything has to be locked because the program is live because of Twitter.” Another recent accommodation to the world of online media has been the NPC’s handling of both on-demand and live streaming media. According to Nine Network CTO, David Bowers, “Streaming has become a responsibility of the NPC. Firstly, the consolidation of our long form ondemand ingest and storage, but also live streaming. And, because streaming doesn’t necessarily have a specific geographic market there’s now a team out at NPC that look after a specific feed for the over the top or the stream of that event. So, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 was the first big kickoff and that was an across the board operation where technically it was the whole group involved in getting that up and running. “It’s not a simple thing to do,” adds Geoff Sparke. “In the old days, when the internet first started, streaming people were recording off air and repurposing it and putting all the metadata and making it ready, making it available. We’re taking it upstream because we’ve got a contemporary platform and we’ve got some clever people under our banner who are integrating these things so that when you do go to take a break on a live sport there’s messaging that automatically goes out to the internet so that they can do their thing. Television was down to the frame and now we’re down to the packet.” But, the marriage of broadcast and IT is about more than just new facilities or new media. According to Mat Yelavich, Chief Information Officer at Nine
Entertainment Co., it’s also about taking people on a cultural journey to show where they fit in within an evolving organisation and how IT can enable the tighter integration of broadcast with other company operations. “We’ve been working recently on aligning our technology strategy to the company strategy,” he says. “What that’s enabled us to do is very clearly document how we enable the company strategy, what functions are required for those enablers and therefore what part everybody plays in that sort of value chain. And, us being able to tell that story to the rest of the team and the staff I think will make it a whole lot easier for us to cross that IT broadcast divide and it’s not just broadcast and IT, it’s a function that you’re responsible for and you sit under a technology banner. “Since we’ve been talking about it, it’s more and more making sense and it makes it very easy for us to tell the story about how we’re involved in ensuring the company is a success and headed in the right direction and what we’re doing is relevant. “It starts with scheduling and sales, and IT traditionally has been responsible for that sort of stuff, and program acquisitioning and rights. So, they are traditional sort of IT services, they are all components that have been developed in-house by the DEV team that sits in IT. “Once those sort of functions are undertaken and things are scheduled you either need post-production to create that content, which is what Nine Technology looks after at the minute in our news systems, the big Avid system downstairs, or you acquire content, you ingest and store it and play it out and use automation, and use all those sorts of tools we have over at NPC. “So, there’s a sort of a flip between the two. You start with those IT functions, then you’ve got broadcast functions. All those broadcast functions are essentially layered on virtual infrastructure, networks and storage that ultimately we want to become a service to the business. So, those lines sort of start to blur pretty quickly and it’s very easy to imagine how that could be essentially one team.” “From IT’s perspective,” adds Geoff Sparke, “the big data solutions that IT in other industries are enjoying, the broadcast industry could certainly benefit from that, and you need those disciplines, you need those IT disciplines, you need that IT backbone discipline in play for us to start normalising the broadcast data. And all that broadcast data is rights, cost of production, buying rights in the first place and then all of the other costs, running the studio, all of those things. We get a big data solution and have a normalised data space, then we can automate a lot of things which are still very manual because of their isolated environments. Technology can solve a lot of those and streamline a lot of those.” “And enable us to be more agile,” says Mat Yelavich. and spin off new services out of the NPC rapidly and not necessarily be bound any more by the amount of spectrum we have.”v
Lumina Supplies Nine Adelaide with Satellite Headend System
CONTENT DELIVERY
WHEN NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA’S new purpose-built facility in Adelaide needed a satellite headend system, they turned to Lumina Broadcast Systems Australia. Providing technology from Comtech Xicom Technology, Newtec, Advantech Wireless, and AVCOM, Lumina BSA supplied a complete system, which will interface with a Crystal Network Monitoring System.
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Lumina supplied Nine Adelaide with a 2:1 System of Xicom 750W Ku Band High Powered Amplifiers (HPAs) with the new touch screen display panel. The XTRD-750K is a highly efficient rack mountable traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) The compact 4RU chassis includes RF gain control, a solid state pre-amplifier, cooling, and monitoring and control (M&C) system. RF, traveling wave tube, and default parameters
are easily monitored on the 4-line front panel display. Gain control is provided via the front panel or through the serial interface.
built-in Bandwidth Cancellation, Clean Channel Technology, FlexACM, QoS, and Equalink 3 pre-distortion.
The same Xicom equipment is also being utilised in Nine’s Sydney and Melbourne facilities, as are Newtec M6100 MDM6000 Modulators and Demodulators, also supplied to Nine Adelaide by Lumina.
Advantech Wireless Transcend 800 7GHz IP Microwave Links provide up to 380 Mbps over-the-air throughput for single IDU configurations and multiple Gbps over-the-air throughput for aggregated traffic. Transcend 800 automatically adjusts coding and modulation rates to changing environmental conditions. Transcend 800 carries MPEG data carried directly from broadcast equipment through integrated DVB-ASI interfaces over the microwave link.
The M6100 Modulators are DVB-S2X, S2 Extensions, DVB-S2, and DVB-DSNG/S compliant and supports data rates up to 425 Mbit/s in multistream mode and up to 216 Mbit/s in single stream mode. The M6100 features high system reliability and service uptime through robust design and industry leading redundancy solutions. The unit also features new modulation and Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes in combination with innovative technologies such as 133 Mbaud,
Lumina BSA also supplied an AVCOM Spectrum Analyser designed for test and measurement of RF chain monitoring. Visit http://luminabsa.com.au
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Construction Commences on New Nine Perth Station NINE ENTERTAINMENT CO., owner of Nine Perth, has announced that construction has commenced on its fully digitised new studio at 253 St George’s Terrace. The new station, to be operational by September 2016, will include an outdoor activation area, Nine Plaza, complete with a public viewing window into the News Studio. Ray Wardrop, Managing Director of Nine Perth, said, “It’s very exciting to bring our TV station into the city and make it more accessible to everyone. This whole concept of relocating into the CBD is exciting for us as well as anyone who wants to visit. It will also add vibrancy to the top end of the Terrace. “We will be telecasting Nine News live every day from our studio on the Terrace, and to
complement this we’re creating a fantastic landscaped plaza and amphitheatre right outside the studio which will be open to the public to relax in and enjoy.” Nine Perth will occupy approximately 2500 sqm of office space across three buildings interconnected in a campus-style layout and will house some 130 staff. The existing properties at 255 St George’s Terrace and two levels in 267 St George’s Terrace will undergo extensive refurbishment. The new studio located at 253 St George’s Terrace will become the focal point in its unique parkland setting. Visit www.nineentertainment.com.au
Make the SWITCH today! +61 2 9292 0000 +61 2 9292 0092
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• Downlink/Uplink • SD/HD/4K transmissions • Satellite coverage - 91.3°E – 177°W
Nine Network Sees Clearly with Crystal NMS Solution AS PART OF ITS MAJOR NATIONWIDE STUDIO and facilities upgrade, the Nine Network has chosen the Crystal Network Management System supplied by Magna Systems and Engineering to control its earth stations. Nine Network CTO, David Bowers, said, “As many will know we are upgrading our key facilities across Australia. Having moved our Adelaide studios into the centre of the city and with the studios now online, we wanted to be able to remotely control the Adelaide earth station from the new location. This meant obtaining and installing a management system that would work on our network so we set about finding the best one available.” Geoff Osborne, Engineering Development Manager GTV9 and the NWS team did extensive research before concluding the Network Management System (NMS), which sits at the heart of Crystal Control, was the most suitable for their requirements. He continued, “There are many systems in the market but we wanted one that we could easily integrate our newly upgraded facilities, such as our Adelaide and Perth studios, into as soon as they come online. We also wanted to be able to use and manage our earth stations from any of our major facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. During our evaluation and assessment it became obvious that Crystal’s NMS had some clear advantages over other systems. As the Crystal solution was developed by experts in satellite control they had almost all of our requirements already covered. As we are also dealing with the RF spectrum Crystal’s experience of interfacing with the Nine network’s satellite hardware, satellite uplinks, spectrum analysers and power control was another big plus. Basically we realised that
Crystal is a product we want to grow with.” The Crystal NMS centralises, tracks and visualises how signals flow through entire video, satellite, and data network systems. Customised for every installation to enhance workflow, NMS connects all equipment, regardless of type, vendor, or age. With a clean dashboard view of all operations and signal flow, normal functions and problem resolution are intuitive. Through automated routine execution, NMS enables rapid failure recovery and geographic diversity switching, which dramatically increase network resiliency and reliability. Bowers added, “We began the process with Magna and Crystal at this year’s NAB and signed the deal at SMPTE in July. The Crystal NMS is a very well-referenced system with the largest number of devices already interfaced of any system on the market and that’s impressive.” Crystal Control includes Signal Verification and Smart Routing, developed with and proven at leading contribution operations such as Fox Sports, Fox International, ESPN, CNN and ABC. With one click, operators can auto-route and configure satellite and IP networks and transport stream analysers to rapidly resolve problems in acquiring contribution feeds. Dave Bowers concluded, “Magna are commissioning the Crystal NMS system on 16 November at which point it will be controlling the Adelaide earth station. Then, by simply using a web interface, the Adelaide earth station will be able to be used by Nine’s Sydney and Melbourne sites as they will have visibility and use of the network. That’s Phase One. Phase Two will bring the Perth earth station onto the network in the very near future.” Visit www.magnasys.tv
• 12x HD/SD SNG vehicles • Direct To Home • Fibre backhaul • HD/SD Video Encoding • OTT Streaming • VSAT services • Telehousing/CoLo • Media Management • Domestic/International contribution platform - New Zealand - USA - UK - Europe - Middle East • PoP representation - Nextgen Networks - BT Media - Level3 - EBU - Tata Communications
CONTENT DELIVERY
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Microsoft Customers to Receive Access to Akamai’s CDN AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a global leader in content delivery network (CDN) services, and Microsoft Corp. have announced a partnership in which access to the Akamai CDN will be fully integrated into Microsoft Azure. The forthcoming Azure CDN offering is designed to optimise performance of content and applications deployed and delivered on Azure. As part of the companies’ expanded relationship, Microsoft is also bringing to market a series of first-party services that include Akamai’s market-leading CDN, acceleration and security solutions. Microsoft enterprise customers will be able to purchase any Akamai offering as “self-select” options through the Azure portal or as part of their organisation’s Microsoft enterprise agreement. In addition, customers will receive integrated, one-stop service and support from Microsoft and Akamai. Microsoft customers are expected to be able to purchase an Azure CDN offering and deploy onto the Akamai Network architecture via the Azure portal in early 2016. In addition, a managed roll-out of Microsoft firstparty services for CDN, acceleration and security based on Akamai will be available to targeted enterprises next month. Visit www.akamai.com
TSL Products Releases New TallyMan Virtual Panel T SL PRODUCTS USERS can now access the functionality provided in every TallyMan system out-of-the-box in an intuitive interface that is fully customisable to the end users requirement. The fully customised interfaces provides limited interaction with key functions of broadcast equipment without the learning curve and the risk of accidental errors when using the full manufacturer provided interfaces. The TallyMan virtual panel is compatible with every TallyMan installation, new and existing. Almost every new device in a facility has a control interface, whether Serial, SNMP, TCP/UDP or web browser interface, and the TallyMan Virtual panel gives access to all, including: ¡ Signal flow management – Control of Video and Audio routers, including
CONTENT DELIVERY
internal routers of audio consoles and Vision Switchers.
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¡
Grouped Signal flow management – facilitating 4K, SD-follow-HD and audio-follow-video functionality across or within routing devices.
¡
Procedure automation – Simplify multi step procedures across multiple devices into a single button press or without any human interaction with live feedback on the virtual panel.
¡
Virtual patching – remove the time consuming patching in dynamic installs such as Outside broadcast vehicles, TallyMan contains a fully fledged GPI router with presets.
¡
Custom IP and Serial interfaces – to allow interaction with in-house systems and devices without additional development.
Visit www.tslproducts.com
Triveni Digital Enhances 4K TV Service Quality with HEVC TRIVENI DIGITAL HAS ANNOUNCED a new HEVC functionality for its StreamScope MT-50 transport stream analysis and troubleshooting tool, enabling broadcast and cable operators to address the growing consumer demand for 4K television services. Through advanced features such as HEVC support, intelligent filtering, closed captioning analyses, and audio monitoring, the StreamScope MT-50 allows operators to swiftly detect and resolve transport stream errors, ensuring superior quality of service (QoS) for viewers. The StreamScope MT-50 supports a broad range of video compression schemes, from HEVC to H.264 and MPEG-2, allowing operators to make a smooth transition to an all-HEVC infrastructure. As new video formats and compression technologies emerge in the future, the software-based solution will make it easy and affordable for operators to adapt, eliminating the need for any additional hardware. The new HEVC capability is available for all versions of the StreamScope MT-50, including the StreamScope Portal, an ultraportable, touchscreen tablet-based analyser featuring the industry’s most comprehensive MPEG analysis engine. The HEVC capability is also part of the StreamScope MT-50 HDT, which offers a 10 GigE interface option and a 16:9 HD touchscreen for easy, efficient transport stream analysis and troubleshooting. In addition to HEVC support, the StreamScope MT-50 includes advanced closed-caption and audio monitoring features to guarantee a world-class audio experience for viewers. Transport stream errors are classified and filtered based on error severity scales defined by industry standards, such as DVB-SI, SCTE-142, and ATSC A/78, allowing for quick error resolution. Visit www.trivenidigital.com
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Witbe Set a Milestone in Root Cause Analysis on OTT Landscape WITBE, A LEADER in Quality of Experience (QoE) Test and Monitoring, has unveiled the coupling of its Witbe Smartping with the other major Witbe Monitoring Technologies. By making this algorithm compatible with any Witbe Robot running Windows environment, this innovation enables any company to combine Smartping’s potential with other Witbe tests. They can now use its unique features in correlation with the Witbe OTT, Witbe Streaming or Witbe Application Tests, and with the Witbe Mean Opinion Score Technology. This innovation is all about combining on single appliances the monitoring of the Quality being actually delivered to the End-Users (whatever the device, the service or the network), and the instant localisation of any network issue that might have an impact on the Quality. To do so, the Witbe R&D teams successfully made compatible the Witbe Smartping, mapping the network routes & bottlenecks taken for service delivery, with the Witbe Video, Data and Application Robots, monitoring the Quality actually delivered. Combined with the comparison feature on the Witbe Portal (webaccessed reporting interface), this new compatibility aims to give any team comprehensible and automatic Root Cause Analysis of their services’ Quality issues. It allows anyone to easily correlate Smartping measures with any other Witbe metrics, and to proactively diagnose the deterioration and their causes of what matters: the Quality perceived by the End-User. Developed as a response to several companies departments’ needs, this innovation is a groundbreaking step for OTT Monitoring. The Witbe MOS Algorithm metrics and alerts can now be combined with Witbe Smartping’s capabilities. Jerkiness, blueriness, blockiness, frozen or black screens, content delivery errors: their real-time detection is now immediately combined with precise localisation and diagnosis of the delivery issue. Visit www.witbe.net
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COMPANY DESCRIPTION CombiTel Group is a market leader in IPTV, Video On-Demand and Digital Signage solutions for both service providers and enterprises. We service customers across the Asia Pacific region from our offices in Australia and New Zealand. We integrate and resell 3rd-party products as well as sell our own solutions internationally. Our software development team at Omniscreen creates applications in-house, including our flagship product, Omniscreen Pilot.
JOB DESCRIPTION We are looking for an experienced engineer to join our enthusiastic and experienced team in our office in Cheltenham, a bayside Melbourne suburb. The successful candidate will play a key role in ambitious TV, radio and digital signage delivery projects. They include IPTV, COFDM and QAM headends, various software platforms for multimedia content management and delivery to multiple devices such as connected TVs, set-top boxes, signage terminals, tablets and mobile phones. This job will require your full commitment to building a world-class systems engineering team to ensure professional and timely project delivery as well as pre-sales and post-sales support to sales team and to end customers. This job involves constant contact with team members, customers, suppliers and technology partners. So the successful candidate must be available for
Due to continuos stream of new projects and customer requirements, this job provides variety of creative tasks and ample opportunities for training in new technologies and professional development. Qualifications The successful candidate must have: ¡
Computer Science / Engineering degree or a post-graduate qualification in these disciplines;
¡
Working knowledge of Linux/Unix;
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Proven experience in design and troubleshooting of IP networks including excellent knowledge of Switching, Routing, Security and Wireless;
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Hands-on experience in virtualising business critical applications;
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Minimum 5 years of IT, Telecommunications or Media/Broadcast industry experience.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION All candidates must have the right to live and work in Australia. When applying, please submit a cover letter addressing the job requirements and your resume containing full details of your employment history and qualifications. Direct applicants only, no agencies or contractors please. Apply here: www.smartrecruiters.com/CombiTel/87066901-engineeringmanager
what’s on DECEMBER
FEBRUARY
BAKUTEL 2 - 5 December Baku Expo Center, Azerbaijan http://bakutel.az
BES EXPO 4 - 6 February, New Delhi, India www.besindia.com
IBC CONTENT EVERYWHERE MENA 3 - 4 December Shanghai Inte’l Convention Center www.gixnabshow.com
JANUARY INTERNATIONAL CES 6-9 January Las Vegas, Nevada, USA www.cesweb.org CONVERGENCE INDIA 20 - 22 January International Exhibition and Conference New Delhi, India http://convergenceindia.org
BVE EXPO 24 - 26 February Excel London Exhibition and Conference Centre www.bvexpo.com ABU DIGITAL BROADCASTING SYMPOSIUM 29 February - 3 March Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur www.abu.org.my/Event-_-dbs2015. aspx
MARCH CABSAT 8 - 10 March Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE www.cabsat.com
Advertiser Index AJA......................................................... 3 Amber Technology..........................35 ARRI................................................... IBC Autodesk........................................ OBC AV Group............................................19 Blackmagic Design............................ 5
BroadcastAsia...................................43 Calrec..................................................49 Elemental...........................................41 IHSE GmbH Asia Pacific..................10 Imagine Communications.............55 IRT Communications......................16
CCBN 24 - 26 March China International Exhibition Center Beijing, China www.ccbn.cn/en/
APRIL NAB SHOW 16 - 21 April Las Vegas Convention Center www.nabshow.com
MAY CEBIT AUSTRALIA 2 - 4 May Sydney Olympic Park www.cebit.com.au VIBA 2015 7 - 9 May Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center, Vietnam www.vibashow.com
PROLIGHT + SOUND 15 - 18 April Frankfurt, Germany http://pls.messefrankfurt.com
PALME MIDDLE EAST 11 - 13 May Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, UAE www.palme-middleeast.com
TV CONNECT 26 - 28 April Excel London Exhibition and Conference Centre www.tvconnectevent.com
KOBA2015 24-27 May COEX (Convention & Exhibition Center), Seoul, Korea www.kobashow.com/eng/
Jands...................................................47 ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium.......................................15 Magna Systems & Engineering...13 On Air Solutions...............................31 Professional Audio & Television ................................................. 11,29,53 Quantum............................................37
Quinto Communications................. 9 Riedel Communications GmbH & Co. KG................................25 Sennheiser Australia......................50 Lumina Broadcast Systems .........IFC Studiotech Australia......................... 4 Sydney Teleport Services..............57 Techtel................................................17
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MEDIA PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY As well as the features below, EVERY ISSUE of Content+Technology contains features on the following:
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TIME shifter Foxtel Marks 20 Years of Subscription Television 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of a watershed moment in Australian broadcast history. In the distant time of 1995 subscription television (STV) made its way to Australia’s shores, bringing with it all manner of changes. Australians were not accustomed to paying for television services and in many ways still aren’t; subscriber rates are around 30%, a mark much lower than most developed nations. This number belies the effect STV has had on the media landscape; forcing free-to-air (FTA) networks to work ever harder to keep viewers eyes and advertising dollars. LAUNCHING ALONG WITH THE BROADER STV industry was Foxtel, the last of the vanguard still in operation two decades on, though not the first to launch. That honour goes to Galaxy, the joint venture between Continental Century PayTV and Australis Media, though it was defunct just 3 years later. “The early years were tough for everyone. Many companies lost a lot of money. I mean a lot of money. Telstra and Optus waged an expensive war to be the first to roll out cable networks, and hugely expensive long-term deals were done to lock up exclusive content rights, especially for movies,” said Foxtel CEO, Richard Freudenstein, at the 2015 ASTRA Conference. “The industry launched despite governmentimposed restrictions. For the first couple of years, there were limits on the number of satellitebased channels that could be offered and no advertising or sponsorship was allowed on the platform. Plus, of course, there was the antisiphoning list; even more extensive than the one we have today. There were shareholder disputes and expensive litigation. CETV and East Coast Television merged to become Austar; Australis went spectacularly broke.” While it may not sound like much today, the 20 channels that Foxtel had at launch was revelatory. “For the first time there was real choice, a breadth and depth of content for Australians that were used to having to choose between five largely homogeneous free-to-air services,” said Freudenstein.
TIME SHIFTER
Thanks to digital broadcasting there are now about as many FTA channels available to viewers
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today as Foxtel brought at launch. Just as FTA grew, so did STV; Foxtel now gives access to around 100 channels, 36 of which are also available in HD. Through this growth has come employment for many thousands of Australians. “Tens of thousands of Australians have been employed directly or indirectly by subscription television. Young Australians have learned new skills and found career opportunities that previously did not exist. While commercial networks and the ABC used to be the training ground for young Australians wanting to learn editing, sound, and camera skills, it’s now the STV family channels that provides most of these opportunities,” said Freudenstein. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in sporting rights, creating new competitions like the A League and Super Rugby, and funding the expansion of other sports like AFL, NRL, and cricket. Increasingly, we have invested in local productions across all genres and to critical acclaim. “We have become a key partner for the local production community, creating opportunities for writers, directors, actors, producers, and all of the many skill sets required to create television. This in turn creates and sustains a pool of talent for the film industry, the theatre, and the broader television sector.” Innovation has always been an integral part of not only Foxtel, but also the broader STV sector. Foxtel was the first Australian broadcast platform to go fully digital; they have consistently expanded their HD capabilities, right up to the current 36 channels; launched Foxtel Go, catering
to viewers changing habits; launched the Foxtel Play IPTV platform; and even Foxtel Broadband. “Not every launch has been a success. Some may remember T-mail that Austar launched around 2001. The theory seemed sound enough. Not everyone had a computer and everyone had television, so why not use the TV to send e-mails,” said Freudenstein. Among the major changes to the Australian broadcast landscape in the two decades since STV was introduced has been the amount and variety of sport. Today, Foxtel offers 9 channels dedicated to sport, despite anti-siphoning limiting what rights they can have. On top of these channels is Fox Sports ability to scale up with the ‘Red Button’, and even then run out of channels on occasion (the final round of the English Premier League sees ten games played concurrently, for example), such is the current appetite of Australian sport lovers. “Over 20 years, we have revolutionised coverage of sport. Fox Sports has offered a comprehensive coverage of all the major sports in Australia and from around the world and introduced extraordinary technology to enhance the viewer experience. We have launched a host of magazine programs that get down and dirty with the sports our viewers love, and we’ve delivered brilliant coverage of events like the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the Rugby World Cup,” said Freudenstein. “From nothing to a thriving successful industry in 20 years, employing over 8000 Australians; investing nearly 800 million in Australian programming each year; delivering hundreds of thousands of hours of original programs each year; pioneering new technologies; launching new products and services; launching new businesses, a truly remarkable achievement. I am confident that subscription TV will continue to innovate and lead the way in the Australian media. As an industry, we are growing strongly, producing worldclass content, and bringing great entertainment to our customers. I couldn’t be more confident of the future than when I look at the current and upcoming slate of amazing programs we are producing,” Freudenstein concluded.
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