Content+Technology ANZ April 2017

PP: 255003/06831

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 2 APRIL 2017

MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

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PREVIEW ISSUE

NETWORK. AUDIO. VIDEO. CONTROL.

Welcome to Broadcast 3.0 For more information, contact the PAT team PAT AUSTRALIA P: 02 9476 1272 E: sales@proaudiotv.com.au

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CONSOLES

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 2 APRIL 2017

Riedel Revs Up for Melbourne Grand Prix, page 58.

REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME

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INDUSTRY FOCUS

04 NEWS NINE Podcasts: Keeping Up with the

64 CLASSIFIEDS

Downloads, New High for Free Catch-Up and Live Streaming TV, PAT to Distribute Embrionix, Sky Sports Highlights App, Chinese TV Station for NZ, SMPTE17, People Moves.

29 FEATURES 12 STANDARDSAIMS Interop at VidTrans17,

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD Empowering Content with the Blockchain, Managing Media at NAB.

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AUDIO AES Enters Alternate Realities, Audio Technology on the Vegas Showfloor.

HbbTV App Test Centre, DPP Guide to Connectivity Services.

14 NABSHOW PREVIEW 22 ACQUISITION Adam Howden ACS Chooses

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ARRI ALEXA Mini, Sky’s the Limit for Peter Beeh and Sony’s F5, On Location with Canon's EOS C700, New Cameras from Blackmagic and Grass Valley, NAB Camera Preview.

28 SPORTSCASTING Melbourne Grand Prix – Under the Bonnet with Riedel, Commonwealth Games 2018 - Gold Coast Diaries, NEP and Fox Sports to Create Remote Production Hubs.

35 NEWS OPERATIONS WA Election Delivers

52 RADIO Logitek Establishes Australian R&D Centre, Vehicles Tipped to Drive Australian DAB+ Take-Up, Radio NZ Reassures the Pacific..

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CONTENT DELIVERY Ericsson, Telstra and Fox Launch Content Delivery Solution, Southern Cross Austereo in Online Video Revamp, Village Island Releases 4K Over 3G-SDI Appliance.

Cross-Platform Results for Seven West Media, Taking Control of News Delivery with Dejero, NAB Previews.

38 POST-PRODUCTION A Lot of Resolve for

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‘A Few Less Men’, Deluxe’s Iloura Delivers Subtle VFX for ‘Lion’, Meet the Colourist: Yoomin Lee.

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

Las Vegas – Where Technology Goes to Fly

By Phil Sandberg

WHILE THESE MAY BE UNCERTAIN TIMES, it is certainly time again for the content production and delivery industry’s annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the annual NABshow.

ersburg

According to AIMS board chair, Michael Cronk, "These survey results reveal that our members are investing heavily in technology that's compliant with the latest SMPTE video-over-IP standards and are working diligently to supply full-fledged products that cover a wide swath of the broadcast workflow. Ultimately, that brings the entire industry closer to the goal of a unified IP-based infrastructure."

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For those of you who are attending NABShow2017, don’t forget the annual Aussie-Kiwi Night which makes its return to the Le Central Bar, Paris Casino, Saturday April 22 from 7.30pm until Late.

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SMPTE ST 2110 is currently in final draft stage, and builds on work undertaken in formulating the SMPTE 2022-6 standard which describes how to transport high bit-rate media signals over IP networks. SMPTE 2110, the next standard in the category, has been in development for the past year or so, and is designed to specify a separate set of standards for IP media networking with separate essence flows. Indeed, the AES67 audioover-IP standard has been included in SMPTE 2110 as its audio element.

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The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced the results of a recent survey conducted of its members. The survey reveals that many AIMS members are moving quickly to bring products to market that are compliant with the SMPTE suite of standards for Professional Media over IP Networks (SMPTE ST 2110) by the end of 2017.

At an IP Showcase during the 2017 NAB Show, AIMS members will participate in SMPTE ST 2110 interoperability demonstrations and showcase some solutions expected to come to market in the coming year.

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By far the most significant disruptor in content technology this year will be that of maturing and increasingly standardised IP-based solutions.

routers, line cards, video servers, switchers, encoders, audio and video processors, cameras, multiviewers, and integrated playout.

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The technology promises of previous years are showing signs of maturing and there will be a spotlight on areas of ongoing disruption such as drones, virtual and augmented reality, connected media - including automobiles, and the latest iteration of the North American ATSC terrestrial TV standard.

Brought to you under an innovative crowd-sourced sponsorship scheme provided by C+T*, all Aussies, Kiwis and Honorary Types are invited to share a drink and a chinwag.

Meanwhile, of the AIMS members who responded to the survey — many of whom are major vendors to the broadcast and media industry — 72 percent said they will begin shipping final-draft SMPTE ST 2110 standardscompliant products this year.

Be sure to say G’day to your host for the evening, our very own Adam Buick.

Those surveyed were asked to identify product categories that would be generally available beyond alpha, beta, or proof-of-concept merchandise.

Respondents mentioned products spanning 25 categories, including

Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher

* i.e., You Buy Your Own Drinks.

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

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

NINE Podcasts: Keeping Up with the Downloads

By Phil Sandberg AUSTRALIA’S NINE ENTERTAINMENT CO says it is looking to grow new revenue streams with the launch of an audio podcasting strategy, built around leveraging many of its existing brands across news, sports and lifestyle.

Launched under the umbrella of 9Podcasts, Nine has begun with an initial rollout of three weekly brands: the Sweet Spot, a relationship-based weekly podcast which started on the back of the television series Married at First Sight; an NRL podcast, Six Tackles With Gus, hosted by Phil Gould and James Bracey; and a news and current affairs podcast, The Way It Is, hosted by journalists Leila McKinnon and Neil Breen.

“Our commercial goal has been to expand and leverage our content

NEWS + PEOPLE

expertise into new areas for the business,” said Amanda Laing, Managing

4

Helen McCabe, Head of Lifestyle for nine.com.au.

Director of Nine. “We see the clear potential for Nine to provide our

9 and that was sort of the original thinking around it.

audiences with additional reasons and opportunities to engage with us

“Then, when we went to look at doing it and how best to do it we decided

for longer and in more meaningful ways. That has been at the heart of our

that we would beg, borrow and steal resources from the television network,

podcasting strategy.

so recording space, etc. It’s still very early days for us and we are just doing

According to Helen McCabe, Head of Lifestyle for nine.com.au, “We began

it within existing resources and existing talent, and existing budgets with a

just in a sort of a fledgling way because we were launching Married at

view to just testing the waters.

First Sight and a women’s lifestyle network and there was a lot of interest

“We’re not dissimilar to a radio show, but they’re pretty informal. At the

internally from a lot of our staff. So, the two things seemed to marry up in

moment, they’re just half hour shows that are done in a loose, but fun

many ways. We’ve got a team of people working out of a Amanda Laing’s

fashion.

office that took it onboard and said ‘leave it with us, let’s see what we can

“We are learning as we go and we know that what works is people with

do’ and they did a bit of research around what had worked in podcasts

really good radio experience and, so, we’ve sort of looked at people with

in Australia and identified different areas, and the Married at First Sight

radio backgrounds to kind of give us a bit of an indication about what

juggernaut, which we were fairly confident as a network it was going to be

works. If you think about the way it is with Breenie (Neil Breen) and Leila

a very big brand this season, seemed like a logical place to start.”

[McKinnon], they’re just taking the news of the day that’s certainly covered

That starting point lead to the Sweet Spot relationship podcast which not

on the 6 o'clock news bulletins and interpreting it and giving their opinions

only draws upon broadcast episodes of Married at First Sight, but could be

and having a laugh.

adapted around similar ‘reality’ programmes.

“The Sweet Spot is using a presenter out of Brisbane with a psychologist

“The team on that basically draws on the themes of the show and teases

from [Married At First Sight] and I imagine, as it grows, it will easily move

them out and it’s just a lot of fun,” says McCabe. “Essentially, the Sweet

into using reality stars from one show that can comment on another show

Spot is all about relationships and we know that relationships are a pretty

which means that we can really leverage the existing talent pool which is

rich vein for a women’s lifestyle site. It comes out on Wednesday nights, just

quite extensive.

after the show has finished. It’s interesting because we just dipped our toe

“Because we have such a big talent pool, it was almost a waste not to try

in the water into that area and thought, ‘well, let’s see how it goes’, and if

and start in the podcast territory and hopefully be ahead of the curve in

it works we can then look at extending it through The Last Resort which is

terms of some of our other mainstream competitors. I know that many

the next big show for the network, and that is also around relationships.”

people have been in this place for some time, but not TV networks as such,

Nine’s podcasts are currently available in audio from the iTunes Store or via

which is what makes us a little bit unique.

a player on the Nine web site.

“So, whilst they’re an experiment, we feel quite confident that they are

According to McCabe, “The reason to do podcasts was it was just something

finding their feet and that the clients will start to use them probably in the

that wasn’t really going to take up a lot of time, or a lot of money, or a lot of

context of broader advertising deals that will involve our digital sites and

effort, but nevertheless we wanted to test it out and potentially so that it

our TV platforms.

was something we could offer clients, particularly in the women’s lifestyle

“It’s a really exciting space for us to be in and we are, as I say, trying to do it

space.

in a low-key kind of way to be good at it, but I’m confident that for Nine this

“The lifestyle space is very competitive and a lot of clients are looking for

is going to be a great space for the network to be in for quite a long time to

different and unique executions and we wanted to be able to offer them a

come.”

full range of opportunities to interact with their audiences through Channel

Visit www.nine.com.au

NEWS + PEOPLE New High for Free Catch-Up and Live Streaming TV CITING THE LATEST OzTAM VPM 28 Day Rolling Report, Freeview Australia has heralded an unprecedented 1.2 billion minutes of catch-up and live streaming TV during March 2017. In addition, 5.14 million Australians – the highest-ever number – are streaming Free Video on Demand (FVOD) content, eclipsing 3.53 million for Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD).

Strong content across tenplay, 9Now, PLUS7, ABC iview and SBS on Demand has driven the increase, particularly Seven Network’s My Kitchen Rules, Nine Network’s Married at First Sight, Network Ten’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, SBS’s Vikings, and ABC iview’s Newton’s Law. Freeview says the results also reflect the success of free-to-air TV innovations like the Freeview FV mobile app and FreeviewPlus, allowing Australians to watch catch-up TV anywhere, anytime.

Freeview CEO Elizabeth Ross said people are increasingly focused on convenience and flexibility and how they watch TV is no exception.

“We’ve seen a big appetite for our streaming products that give viewers access to the best of TV, for free, on whatever device they choose.

and large has been in addition to traditional TV consumption. Australians are still watching, on average, 2 hours and 39 minutes of broadcast television on their TV each day,” said Ross.

“This time 10 years ago, Australian viewers only had access to five free-to-air channels, whereas today we have more than 25. TV is everywhere and any time, and with streaming services supplementing traditional TV viewing, it looks certain that we have entered a golden era of TV.

Launched in November last year, Freeview FV delivers live streaming from 20 free-to-air TV channels and catch-up content from all networks with just one click.

The mobile app has been shortlisted at the UK-based International Connie Awards in the Best TV/Video Service Update or Launch category. Freeview is the only Australian-based company to be recognised in the international categories.

“It’s great to see such significant growth in catch-up TV consumption, which by

Visit www.Freeview.com.au

PAT to Distribute Embrionix Pluggable Converters EMBRIONIX, A CANADIAN MANUFACTURER of SFP technology, has announced the appointment of Professional Audio & Television as its valueadded reseller for Australia and New Zealand.

Embrionix provides innovative conversion solutions using a unique product design based on a “SFP” (Small Form-Factor Pluggable) that can be inserted directly inside other manufacturers’ equipment. This flexible input/output approach includes (12G-SDI, 6G-SDI, 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, SD-SDI, HDMI, SDI-to- IP, Ethernet, etc) format adaptation. This enables product I/O modularity, and helps manufacturers to introduce their products faster into the market.

IP transition becomes much easier with a highly-optimised solution for SDI to IP conversion provided by Embrionix. This is made possible with the use of emSFP modules equipped with IP encapsulator and decapsulator installed directly inside COTS IP switches, converting any SDI legacy equipment into your IP network. A series of standalone, miniature devices, tailored to monitor IP signals and format conversion, complements the already comprehensive solution.

Professional Audio & Television’s Managing Director, Patrick Salloch, 20170330_VICO_4K_AD_ANZ(190_60)修Page 1 17.4.3 5:12:37 PM commented on the new appointment.

NEWS + PEOPLE

“We have been watching Embrionix for some time now and found that there is a lot of synergy between their business philosophy and ours,” said Salloch.

6

“Embrionix is all about exploring new trends within the broadcast industry and enabling a future-proofed transition path for broadcasters. We are delighted to be able to offer our customers Embrionix solutions, and we are looking forward to a long and prosperous business relationship.”

Denis Pare, Embrionix VP of Sales, added, “Australia and New Zealand are geographically about as far as you can get from North America, so it was imperative to engage an efficient partner that could not only represent Embrionix, but promote and support us as well. It was essential for us to find a partner that had a strong line card, but with a specific focus. We strongly feel that we found these qualities in Professional Audio & Television (PAT). To make this partnership even better, PAT’s product offering is complementary to Embrionix solutions. Reading customer’s feedback on their website is also great testimony to their dedication to clients. We are now looking forward to building on this new relationship with them.”

PAT will be stocking Embrionix SFP’s at their Sydney warehouse, and also offer customer demo SFP’s to trial this new and innovative technology.

The agreement between Embrionix and Professional Audio & Television is effective immediately.

Visit www.embrionix.com and www.proaudiotv.com.au

Internet Returns to Christmas Island Australian Government to deliver Wireless and 4G network services on Christmas Island until the 30th of June, 2017, to allow a transition period for Australia’s National Broadband Network services to be installed more widely on the island.

The local ISP ceased to provide internet services to 1000 locals and businesses on March 1, 2017, disconnecting one of Australia’s most remote islands.

SpeedCast, as a full-service communications provider, was notified one week ago and rapidly initiated discussions with partners and the Australian Government to meet the needs of islanders.

“SpeedCast has extensive experience in remote locations around the world and is proud to support Christmas Island by maintaining connectivity for its residents and local businesses,” said Andrew Burdall, Executive Vice President, Enterprise and Emerging Markets, SpeedCast. “A team from SpeedCast will be deployed to

Christmas Island this week to oversee the change and revitalise the local internet infrastructure.”

In order for Christmas Island residents and businesses to get internet access back rapidly, SpeedCast has arranged for disconnected internet accounts to be reactivated. All account holders will then migrate to a SpeedCast internet account over the coming weeks.

In addition, SpeedCast will be working closely with community members to evaluate providing Ka-band internet service on Christmas Island over a longer term. SpeedCast’s commercial satellite approach would complement the services of NBN. Local businesses will be able to subscribe to internet services with SpeedCast providing different speed options and committed levels of network availability.

Visit www.speedcast.com

Sky Sports Highlights App

Chinese TV Station for NZ

SKY NEW ZEALAND has extended its sport offering with a brand new

MARCH 19, 2017 SAW THE LAUNCH of NCTV, a new television channel dedicated to Chinese communities in New Zealand and Kiwis interested in Chinese culture. Available on Channel 32 on New Zealand’s Freeview|HD and FreeviewPlus, NCTV’s programme line-up includes drama, movies, documentaries, news and current affairs from China as well as international content in Chinese, with two hours of English content each day.

SKY Sport Highlights app.

The SKY Sport Highlights app enables users to get all of their sport highlights, pre- and post- interviews, build up, talking points and reaction in one easy place.

Free to all SKY Sport customers, the SKY Sport Highlights app features upto-the-minute browsing, and an intuitive news feed layout.

The app features a text-based newsfeed, a video player and the ability for users to receive notifications when updates are made.

To download the app for iPhone and Android users, search ‘SKY Sport highlights’ in the app store. The Apple phones supported include all models running iOS 9 and above. The Android phones supported include all models running 4.2 Jelly Bean and higher.

Visit www.sky.co.nz/hhighlightsapp

Initially available only in Auckland via UHF aerial, NCTV is owned by Asia Pacific News Corporation, and will broadcast 24/7. The channel’s operators intend to eventually extend to national coverage, with funding provided by advertising revenue.

The new station is operating out of the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, just off the Southern Motorway, and currently has a staff of 20. The operators say they will be seeking additional staff and they increase in-house production.

NEWS + PEOPLE

SPEEDCAST INTERNATIONAL LTD has reached an agreement with the

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NEWS + PEOPLE Riedel Appoints John Bell as New GM for Australia JOHN BELL, A 20-YEAR VETERAN of the media and entertainment industry, is the new general manager of Riedel Communications Australia.

Bell, who has served as a non-executive director of the Australia division since 2015, will leverage his management experience in global organisations to expand Riedel Australia’s market share and brand awareness.

“John’s career has spanned some of the most exciting changes in the history of media content production and technology. We are delighted that he has taken on this new role,” said Cameron O’Neill, Director of Asia Pacific at Riedel Communications.

Over his 20-year career, Bell has worked in film, TV, and music production and distribution, consumer electronics and pro-audio manufacturing, medical devices, electrical and telecommunications cable manufacturing, and software development. He is particularly proud of his time as Chief Financial Officer and Director at Lake Technology in Sydney, where he played a key role in taking the company from a research-driven audio DSP firm through

product development and then eventual acquisition by Dolby Laboratories.

Prior to relocating to Sydney, Bell worked in Hong Kong at Media Assets, the content acquisition partner for STAR TV. He was closely involved in the acquisition of ATP rights in Asia and developed the concept for Asia’s first-ever live satellite concert simulcast.

Bell is an associate member of the Audio Engineering Society and has postgraduate qualifications in business management. He currently serves as an adjunct lecturer for the master of arts management program at the Australian Institute of Music.

Visit www.riedel.net

Grass Valley Restructures Asia, Oceania FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL year in its Asia Pacific region, Grass Valley has named Somu Patil as Vice President of Sales for Asia, and Ward Hansford as Vice President of Sales Oceania. With this announcement, the company is separating APAC operations into two distinct regions.

“Our teams have helped us to establish Grass Valley as a powerhouse in the overall APAC market and set the organisation on course for a solid 2017,” noted Stephen Stubelt, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Grass Valley. “The changes we’re making are aimed at continuing our growth and addressing the individual business opportunities in each of these areas.”

Ward Hansford is joining Grass Valley as Vice President of Sales for

Oceania and is based in Sydney, Australia. Hansford has more than 30 years’ experience in sales, general management and marketing, with a proven record in creating business growth, strategic planning and focused execution. Prior to joining Grass Valley, he most recently served as head of APAC television at Ericson, covering Southeast Asia and India, excluding Northeast Asia.

The new Asia region includes the sub regions of China, Japan, North Asia, South Asia and ASEAN, while the new Oceania region includes Australia and New Zealand.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

Digistor Expands Sales Team with Olivier Jean and Ryan McGoldrick DIGISTOR HAS EXPANDED its Sydney sales team with the appointments of Olivier Jean as Sales Consultant, and Ryan McGoldrick as Sales Representative. Both are familiar with the technologies and processes that creatives need to achieve their goals and will use their experience to assist customers in choosing the best solutions.

Oliver Jean brings with him more than 15 years of sales and technical support experience in the digital media market.

As a musician, Olivier dived into Apple-based computing and technology, then utilised his hands-on experience to work with an Apple reseller and IT systems integration company.

“I had developed an interest in the media and entertainment and broadcast market and soon became involved in building editing systems and RAID storage in the early days of Apple’s Final Cut Pro. I then became an Apple FCP Certified

Trainer and kept refreshing my certifications. Since then I have continually expanded my knowledge as the market has added a wide range of SAN and NAS shared storage options as well as solutions for Adobe, Autodesk and Avid systems.”

Ryan McGoldrick, meanwhile, is keen to build on his background in digital arts production having graduated from the University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Creative Arts.

He has since worked as a creative consultant with independent theatre and dance groups.

In his sales support role, Ryan will take on processing new business leads and assist with the day-to-day business of existing customers. He will also handle software maintenance and licensing as well as hardware warranty opportunities.

Visit www.digistor.com.au

NEWS + PEOPLE

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NEWS + PEOPLE Radio Frequency Systems’ new Australian GM RADIO FREQUENCY SYSTEMS has promoted Gopal Naidu to the position of Vice President Broadcast and Defense Systems, and General Manager of the Australian production facility. The appointment is effective immediately, with Gopal acting in the role since September 2016.

Gopal has been employed in finance roles with RFS since 2000, and has extensive financial management experience as a qualified and chartered accountant. “For the future direction, I intend to grow our services business in the broadcast and defence sectors by extending

the planning, installation and commissioning capabilities RFS already has. In the coming period RFS will be working hard to supply broadcasters who are assigned new frequencies as a result of the US spectrum auction, and in the similar repack projects occurring in Europe.

On other continents the digital transition continues and the RFS broadcast portfolio has the complete range of antenna, combiner and filter products to address all global standards,” said Gopal.

Gopal began his career in the car industry with Toyota Motor Corporation before joining

Edson Metal Plating, and later, Nichiyu Australia – manufacturing entities where he held accounting and financial management roles.

At RFS he has had an involvement with the operational side of the business from financial perspectives, and is committed to lean manufacturing philosophy.

Visit www.rfsworld.com

ChyronHego Appoints Dae Yung Choe as VP of Sales for APAC CHYRONHEGO HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Dae Yung Choe as Vice President of Sales, Asia Pacific. Dae will manage the company’s APAC team and take responsibility for all ChyronHego’s sales, marketing, and business operations initiatives in the region. He reports to Kathy Power, ChyronHego’s President, Americas and Asia Pacific.

“We are very honoured to welcome Dae to our team. With more than two decades of management and vice-president-level experience,

Prior to joining ChyronHego, Dae served for over nine years as Vice President, Asia Pacific/Oceania at Ross Video. He also previously served as Director of Product Marketing for both Avid’s APAC division and for Pinnacle Systems Asia.

ChyronHego, which is producing some really cool and innovative technologies to help broadcast customers make a smooth and costeffective transition to IP-based workflows,” Dae said. “It will be a pleasure to help our team expand awareness and market share for these solutions in the Asia Pacific region.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the dynamic team at

Visit http://chyronhego.com

he’s an accomplished and highly regarded veteran of the APAC broadcast industry,” said Power. “We look forward to working with Dae to build the ChyronHego brand in the region.”

Anna Lockwood Welcomed to Australia SMPTE Section Board ANNA LOCKWOOD, Head of Market Development for Telstra Broadcast Services, has been appointed to the Australia Section Board of SMPTE. She joins the Board as a manager for a term ending in June 2018.

skills in areas that are complementary to the existing team – especially through her broad contacts with the engineering, production and content distribution sectors.”

Anna started her career as a journalist and documentary film producer, and then moved into media technology specialising in digital media, and broadcast training and consulting. Anna had a ten year global career with Avid Technology before moving to Sydney in 2013 to join Telstra.

Along with her professional work, Anna has interests in start-ups, innovation, women in technology, and media training and education.

She will be leading an initiative focusing on women technology leaders at the SMPTE17 Technical Conference and Exhibition in Sydney’s Darling Harbour this July.

In announcing the appointment, Australia Section Chair, Paul Broderick commented: “Anna comes from within the industry, and has strong

Paul Broderick continued: “Anna brings a further women-in-leadership dimension to the SMPTE Australia Board, and we look to her to lead

outreach with women and young industry professionals. Anna will be particularly focused on the Section’s marketing activities to help ensure the benefits of SMPTE membership are clearly articulated.”

“We also recognise the work of Stefan Sedlmeier, who has stepped down from the Board after a long-time association with the Section and our activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stefan for his contribution, and wish him all the best with his future endeavours.”

Visit www.smpte.org.au

Richard Visser Joins Telstra Broadcast Services

NEWS + PEOPLE

INDUSTRY VETERAN RICHARD VISSER has joined the team at Telstra Broadcast Services.

Reporting to Stewart Newman, Acting Head of Sales for Australia and New Zealand, Richard is the latest addition to the global Telstra Broadcast sales team – led by Andreas Eriksson.

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Richard offers over 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry, including senior positions as General Manager Fujinon Australia, General Manager Klotz Digital Australia, National Sales Manager Broadcast Networks Sony Australia, National Sales Manager Broadcast Film and Post Systems for Quantel, and General Manager Business Development Sony DADC Australia. Prior to joining Telstra Broadcast Services, Richard was

Director of Sales Oceania for Thomson Video networks and Harmonic International.

Andreas Eriksson said, “We are delighted to have Richard on the Telstra Broadcast Sales Team. His experience in general management, marketing and technical sales has given him strong market knowledge and experience in the areas of radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, film production, and post production. Richard has a strong customer focus and deep industry relationships, which will serve us well as we continue to grow and innovate.”

Richard added: “I have been working with Telstra as a broadcast partner and customer for several years

now, and have watched the Telstra Broadcast Services team grow in both size and ambition.

I’m happy to be joining Telstra at this period of rapid growth in the media and broadcast space. As an industry sales executive I will be working with some great Australian customers, and my accounts include ABC, SBS, SCA, Media Hub, Broadcast Australia, TVSN, Sporting bodies NBL, NRL and RSN Racing, Department of Defense, DFAT, the CSIRO, Fairfax, Thompson Reuters and NASDAQ, Star and Crown Casinos, Hoyts, and Fox Studios.”

Visit www.telstra.com/broadcastservices

SMPTE17: New Venue, New Technology, New Trends of Motion Picture and Television Engineers presents SMPTE17, the region’s premier forum for the exploration of Broadcast, Media and Entertainment technology. SMPTE17 will be held between 18 and 21 July this year, and returns to Darling Harbour at the new International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney.

Staged biennially since 1984, the SMPTE Australia Section event is truly industry-driven and focused.

The exhibition will occupy two halls, and will be bigger than past years, with a new floor plan to take advantage of the rebuilt ICC. “We’ve moved catering and services right to the centre of the exhibition, and we anticipate that will encourage networking, discussion and maybe even on-floor business,” said Paul Broderick, Chair of SMPTE Australia Section.

SMPTE17 includes three days of technical conference sessions, offering attendees unparalleled opportunities for professional development, relationship building, and “mind sharing.” Presenters will include a wide range of international and local technology thoughtleaders.

“The quality of papers submitted has been outstanding. We were oversubscribed on papers, and it’s been tough to cull the proposals back to fill the time and space available.” said Ian Fellows, Chair of the Conference Committee. “But, that means we’ve been able to pick the best of the best. We’re confident that this year’s Conference is going to be a very solid piece of programming, and will represent exceptional value for delegates. It’s a step up on anything we’ve done before”.

Broadcast and IT engineers, solutions architects, specifiers, project managers, technicians, installers, students, trainees, broadcast equipment suppliers and manufacturers, as well as CTOs and CEOs in related industries – all will find the Conference offers thought-provoking and insightful sessions on the latest trends, technologies and operational practices for the broadcast, content production and media industries. The conference will balance technical matters with creative, operational and business topics.

Papers already preselected for the Conference sessions cover topics including: Ultra High Definition (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR)

content; Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality; transition to IP and Cloud Technologies; sound for cinema and home; content distribution, OTT, and Video On Demand (VOD); security; and developments in file-based workflows. Delegates can expect some expert panels on important emerging topics.

Details of the SMPTE17 Conference program and how to register will be available from 1 May at www.smpte.com.au/2017/conference The SMPTE Australia Section was founded in 1971. Today, it is part of the SMPTE Asia Pacific Region that, includes more than 750 members.

SMPTE in Australia has been a leader in building ties between like-minded and guild organisations serving the media and content industry. The first SMPTE show in Australia was created in 1984 by and for the industry, and continues to be operated by the Australia Section.

More information about the SMPTE Australia Section is available at www.smpte.org.au Further information about SMPTE can be found at www.smpte.org

MOBILE

NEWS + PEOPLE

THE AUSTRALIA SECTION of the Society

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TECHNICAL STANDARDS www.content-technology.com/standards

AIMS Interop at VidTrans17 Shows Viability of SMPTE 2110

DPP Guide to Connectivity Services for Production

MEMBERS OF the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) recently contributed to an interop session, which was sponsored by Video Services Forum (VSF) and concluded at VidTrans17 in Los Angeles, which showcased the viability of the draft SMPTE 2110 standard and AMWA IS-04 as a carefully architected IP initiative.

THE DIGITAL PRODUCTION PARTNERSHIP (DPP) recently published the first ever guide to help producers find the right kind of connectivity for their business. ‘The DPP Survey Report: Connectivity Supply to Production’ helps producers to identify the kind of connectivity provision appropriate to their needs, with an indication of costs and type of service.

Leading up to VidTrans17, 19 AIMS members took part in VSF-sponsored interoperability testing at the Fox technical center in The Woodlands, Texas. The testing was unprecedented, as it was the first time a significant number of participants focused specifically on interoperability of the SMPTE ST-2110 drafts. Approximately 21 vendors, 19 of whom were AIMS members, were able to successfully transmit and receive from each other without major adjustments to their equipment or the network.

Following the testing event in Texas, 12 AIMS members exhibited their draft SMPTE ST-2110 systems in the interoperability session at VidTrans17. The results were on display, and the progress thus far generated strongly positive consensus between vendors and attendees alike.

“We’re energized by the success of this latest round of tests, so we’re ready to get back to work with renewed vigor,” said Michael Cronk, AIMS board chair. “AIMS members are very active in supporting and implementing the draft SMPTE 2110 standard. We are thrilled that testing to date is both showing excellent progress toward interoperability and providing great data for further improvements. There will be future interoperability events and tests, which makes this an exciting time for all who support a common industry standard, much as it was when SDI first appeared. Interoperability will remain the key, and those who get involved will reap the benefits of new workflows and solutions.”

“Our previous research with production companies has revealed that many still rely on inadequate broadband connections, and don’t always feel they understand the alternatives,” says DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison. “So, we have conducted some research, and sought the advice of DPP Member companies, to pull together a user-friendly view of what the market offers.”

The survey report considers the needs of different sizes of production company, and whether the connectivity they need is for general office use, for working with video, or out on location.

The needs of media production companies are unusual when compared to other sectors. The workload can expand and contract dramatically, and this makes for huge variations in the bandwidth required. Video files are also much bigger than the files being transferred by most other industries.

“There is no doubt connectivity suppliers find the media production community difficult to serve,” says Harrison. “But, provision is getting better all the time and now might be the right time for producers to explore the benefits they could get from professional supply.”

New additions to the AIMS membership roster include Bridge Technologies, Clear-Com, Solid State Logic, Juniper Networks, Atos, Leader, Encompass Digital Media, and sonoVTS.

‘DPP Survey Report: Connectivity Supply to Production’ is the fifth in the DPP’s Survey Report series, and follows on from the ‘2016 Survey Report Connectivity and Production’, which shared eye-opening DPP research into how production companies view their connectivity services.

Visit http://aimsalliance.org

Visit www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk

Eurofins, Samsung to Develop HbbTV App Test Centre EUROFINS DIGITAL TESTING has announced it will develop an HbbTV application test centre in co-operation with Samsung Electronics for testing HbbTV Applications on HbbTV enabled TVs. ‘HbbTV Applications’ include interactive applications that deliver additional functionality such as video-on-demand and are designed to run on TVs compliant with the HbbTV specification. As the lead supporter, Samsung will provide the initial TV platforms for conducting the compatibility tests. These platforms include an enhanced debug mode which allows the gathering of additional data to diagnose issues. Samsung will also provide technical assistance to the program to assist app developers to run their applications on Samsung TVs.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

Eurofins, which has offices in Belgium, Hong Kong, Poland and Sweden, will

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initially build the test centre at its office in Bristol, UK. This test centre will take responsibility for testing and validating HbbTV Applications provided by app developers (who might be broadcasters or other parties) and will work with these app developers to define the scope of the testing required. This will ensure that the HbbTV applications conform to the HbbTV specification and function correctly on real, deployed devices from the market leading brand.

The agreement between Samsung and Eurofins allows for the growth of the Test Centre to include more devices in due course – including those from other manufacturers – to further extend the testing capabilities.

Visit www.eurofins-digitaltesting.com and www.hbbtv.org

However you want to playout, you can with SAM SAM has the most fully featured, flexible and reliable solutions for playout and master control.

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Discrete IP & Virtualized Device Control Playout

IBC 2016

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2017 PREVIEW ATSC 3.0 Takes Centre Stage in Vegas WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD (outside of South Korea) has well and truly moved on, the North American digital terrestrial television standard has arrived at its third iteration. Hailed as the next-generation broadcast TV standard, both broadcasters and technology developers will be highlighting the capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 standard in the “NextGen TV Hub” at the 2017 NAB Show.

The NextGen TV Hub: Powered by ATSC 3.0 will highlight the capabilities of the new broadcast standard, with a comprehensive display in the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center. During the 2017 NAB Show, a live ATSC 3.0 broadcast will originate from local station KLSV-LD on Black Mountain in Las Vegas and will transmit a variety of stunning 4K Ultra HDTV programming. The broadcast will be received on an LG Electronics 4K Ultra HDTV set with an integrated ATSC 3.0 tuner at the NextGen TV Hub.

with a new, flexible, IP-based system. Viewers enjoy more vibrant images with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and 4K Ultra HDTV, immersive audio with new choices, mobile TV and broadcasts to the automobile, and ad-vanced emergency alerting to warn of danger and help find missing children,” said ATSC President Mark Richer.

“A wide range of new products are coming with built-in ATSC 3.0 capability, with the very first em-bedded ATSC 3.0 functionality coming this year in flat-screen TV receivers designed for use during next year’s Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. NextGen TV is more than just television sets. We’re expecting a wide variety of mobile, automotive and home gateway devices to be equipped with the new standard,” said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association.

The NextGen TV Hub is collaborative effort of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Major sponsors include Pearl TV, Sinclair Broadcast Group, LG Electronics and others.

Features that will be showcased at the Hub include Better Picture, Immersive Audio, Accessibility, Hybrid Broadcast and Broadband, Mobility, Addressable Advertising, Audience Measurement, and Advanced Emergency Alerting. Automotive business opportunities, including navigation and telematics updates delivered by ATSC 3.0, also will be featured.

“Television’s next generation brings broadcast and broadband together

Visit www.nabshow.com

CBS, BAMTech Execs Headline NAB Conference on Online Video CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER of CBS Corporation/Chief Executive Officer of

digital media strategy across the company and cultivates the growth of

CBS Interactive Jim Lanzone and BAMTech CEO Michael Paull will keynote the Online Video Conference at the 2017 NAB Show, held April 22-27 in Las Vegas.

new and existing digital streaming services.

One of 12 conference tracks offered at the 2017 NAB Show, the Online Video Conference will take place April 24-25 and feature panel discussions and research on evolving online viewership trends and streaming models that are revolutionizing the television and video industries.

industry, the role of direct-to-consumer subscription video services and the opportunities for live content, particularly sports, to better serve customers, and much more.

Paull was recently appointed CEO of BAMTech, the technology services and video streaming company owned by MLBAM, The Walt

In his role as Chief Digital Officer of CBS Corporation, Lanzone oversees

Visit www.nabshow.com

WHILE START-UPS ARE a new phenomenon to many, 2017 will mark the fifth year of NAB’s SPROCKIT start-up programme. Up to 30 emerging companies will be selected by industry leaders to participate based on their potential to offer real solutions to challenges in today’s evolving market.

Among the companies in this year’s SPROCKIT program are: • dotstudioPRO enables companies and network partners to deliver content directly to consumers via websites and branded applications and across OTT platforms.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

share his thoughts on key changes for the future of the streaming video

Lanzone’s session, titled “Inside CBS’s Transformation to a Next Generation Content Company,” will take place on April 24 and will focus on the digital initiatives and multi-platform strategy that has grown CBS into a digital media powerhouse.

Start-Up Innovation at NAB

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In Paull’s session, “Building Dreams of Video’s Future” on April 25, he will

• Epidemic Sound offers a global direct license that enables media companies to easily distribute content across all platforms.

• Ex Machina develops apps and multiscreen strategies for media companies and advertisers seeking engagement solutions for TV programs and live streams.

Disney Company and the National Hockey League (NHL). BAMTech powers direct-to-consumer solutions for dozens of sports, news and entertainment partners.

• Streamroot enables content providers to offer better quality video while improving the economics of OTT delivery.

• Tradecast.TV introduces the only end-to-end solution for easily managing, distributing and monetizing individual interactive TV channels and broadcasting networks, including a cloud-based linear TV channel and countless on demand, VOD/OTT, and live broadcasting possibilities.

• Wildmoka allows broadcasters and content owners to clip individual moments from live TV and events and share them across web, mobile and social platforms.

• Vertebrae’s native solutions bring the world of virtual and augmented reality advertising to brands. The headset-agnostic platform acts as a conduit and pipeline connecting advertisers with developers and publishers.

• Guidebox puts video apps in front of users when they are searching for content on AppleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast and more.

• Vydeo is a patent-pending platform and software development kit for

• ICX Media is a digital video management and data analytics platform for media companies, brands, digital video producers and creators.

Visit www.sprockitglory.com

third party apps to interact with users via video.

NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

MCN Goes Live with Dynamic Trading on Network TEN MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK (MCN) is establishing what it calls “a new benchmark for highly targeted and efficient television trading on Australian free-to-air channels” by offering its Dynamic Trading model on Network TEN. The announcement follows a successful trial of the model across Network TEN’s channels at the end of 2016.

This latest technical evolution for MCN and Network TEN’s partnership follows the latter’s move to Imagine Communications’ Landmark system in May 2016. It means MCN will now offer advertisers the opportunity to trade audiences rather than just airtime across Network TEN, helping improve targeting and audience campaign delivery. The rollout will progress over 2017 with selected partners.

MCN’s trading product uses up-to-date audience predictions to respond to changes in viewing behaviour, in turn, optimising campaign placement. In

2016 MCN demonstrated the success of this Dynamic Trading model by meeting the end-of-year goal to deliver 60 per cent of all Foxtel advertising campaigns through Dynamic Trading. The achievement reflected the market’s enthusiasm around dynamic trading, as well as MCN’s ability to deliver results.

MCN Chief Sales and Marketing officer, Mark Frain, said, “As the industry landscape becomes increasingly more complex, sophisticated and automated tools like Dynamic Trading play a significant role in helping advertisers trade with greater ease, flexibility and efficiency. This is the future of the television industry, and we’re excited to be the first to deliver Visit www.ten.com.au www.imaginecommunications.com and www.mcn.com.au

Southern Cross, WIN in Talks Over TV and Radio Assets

MEDIA STORAGE SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP (ASX:SXL) has announced that it

has entered into discussions with WIN Corporation for the sale by SCA of its Northern NSW (NNSW) television assets and operations to WIN and the acquisition of WIN’s i98FM radio station.

Under an affiliation agreement with Network TEN, SCA broadcasts TEN programming in the NNSW television licence area. The affiliation agreement is for a five-year term ending on June 30, 2021. Completion of the proposed transaction with WIN will be subject to consent from Network TEN. WIN already broadcasts TEN programming in several regional television licence areas, including regional Victoria, southern NSW, and regional Queensland. The proposed transaction would enable WIN to sell advertising for TEN programming in the four aggregated regional markets on the eastern seaboard.

SCA has a programme supply agreement with the Nine Network under which SCA broadcast Nine programming in regional Victoria, southern NSW (including Wollongong) and regional Queensland. SCA also provides national sales services for Nine’s NBN channel in northern NSW, providing advertisers with a centralised port of call for their regional advertising on Nine’s content along the eastern seaboard.

MADE SIMPLE SCA has 68 regional radio stations, but does not currently operate a radio station in the Wollongong licence area. The proposed transaction would create a multimedia market for SCA with the ability to cross-sell radio and television in this market.

SCA says it will make a further announcement if agreement is reached on the transaction proceeding.

Visit www.sca.com.au

Create, Manage, Deliver & Measure Media Content from the Edge to Core to Cloud

Find out more at: emergingtechsolutions.com/media-entertainment isilonapj@emc.com

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Visit us at NAB Show, booth # SL9111

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NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

Imagine to Empower Media Companies

Charlie Vogt, CEO, Imagine Communications.

AT NAB SHOW 2017 (South Hall - SL1516), Imagine Communications will

offering the highest levels of digital asset protection.

spotlight key module-based platforms, such as Selenio` One, xG, Versio and Zenium, that are designed to enable media companies to construct and evolve their workflows at their own pace and in lockstep with market demands, seamlessly integrating the latest technologies and capabilities as they become available. The company will also demonstrate the comprehensiveness of its end-to-end portfolio, which spans ad management, linear and nonlinear, broadcast and OTT. The Imagine Communications booth will be the venue for ImagineLIVE Power Sessions, featuring executives and subject matter experts from Imagine Communications and its partners and customers from across the IT and media and entertainment industries. Twice daily, attendees will have firsthand access to information and insight on the trends and events that are influencing the decisions of media industry professionals today and into the future.

Topics range from ground-breaking implementations of next-gen technologies to new product introductions, including: • The impact of the adoption of Cloud-Native and microservices-based applications on the future of the media and entertainment industry.

• Breakthrough technology from Imagine Communications offering early support for the processing of uncompressed UHD signals over IP in conformance with SMPTE ST 2110 • How the capabilities being introduced in cloud-centric content origination and via the advanced delivery technologies of ATSC 3.0 will bring significant enhancements to future business models and technical implementations.

Imagine Communications will also showcase many of its solutions as cloud services available through Microsoft Azure. Similarly, the company will be highlighting the power of Zenium, its microservices-based platform for building smarter applications and services for virtualised environments.

Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

Connect with Avid in Las Vegas WHILE THE NABSHOW has long provided a convenient setting for

• Innovative ways in which some of the most prominent media companies in the world are utilising virtualised environments to revitalised their operations and generate new revenue.

Now in its fourth year, and taking place the weekend before the NAB Show, Avid Connect is a unique gathering of media professionals.

Visitors to the Imagine Communications booth will also have access to dozens of demonstrations that highlight the capabilities of the company’s current market-leading live production, playout, multiscreen delivery and ad management solution portfolios: Live Production - Hybrid SDI-IP routing and multiviewer solutions empower media companies to transform sports, in-venue and other live production operations by leveraging standard IT equipment. Imagine Communications’ production and contribution portfolio provides ultra-low latency encoding and decoding and the delivery of standards-based uncompressed media over IP for HD and UHD, as well as third-party lightweight compression technologies.

Imagine’s live production portfolio also supports the most recent UHD processing technologies, including up/down conversion, high dynamic range (HDR) image quality and precision timing. Imagine Communications will also participate in the NAB 2017 IP Showcase, a cooperation of multiple standards organizations and the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) dedicated to demonstrating the interoperability of the SMPTE 2110 specification (currently being drafted) and highlighting the creative and business-building benefits of IP technology.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Advertising Management - Imagine’s multiplatform ad management portfolio features open, modular systems that help manage, connect, deliver and optimise ad revenue. Highlighted capabilities include sales, scheduling and analytics for linear and nonlinear monetisation. The company will also demonstrate integration of playout and scheduling achieved through the unification of its Versio and xG Schedule solutions, as well as hyper-localised monetisation models.

• Monetisation and cost-saving benefits associated with Imagine’s Unified Distribution architecture, which calls for a full embrace of OTT transport and moving all services to a single network based on fragmented video technology.

• How the move to a platform-based modular model for both operations and business systems introduces new cost efficiencies, provides greater agility and facilitates seamless integration across the end-to-end workflow.

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Multiscreen Delivery - Imagine’s multiscreen delivery portfolio supports high-density and high video quality transcoding and delivery for OTT linear and on-demand services, all supported by advanced dynamic ad insertion (DAI) capabilities.

An end-to-end cloud DVR solution, including recorders and packagers, is supported by advanced storage optimisation capabilities that enable video service providers to cost-effectively meet various legal and copyright requirements, including private copy laws.

Playout - Imagine Communications’ Nexio and Versio playout and graphic workflow solutions support compressed or uncompressed IP-based playout, advanced multichannel and UHD playback and branding. Also featured will be a new user interface, new automation features and the company’s native IP and hybrid playout and master control solutions, which seamlessly unify playout, automation and graphics supporting fully virtualised deployments for cloud environments. Showcasing its storage capabilities, Imagine will demonstrate the capabilities of Versio IOX, which provides sharable and scalable storage – SAN and NAS – throughout the content lifecycle while

manufacturer staff conferences, user group meetings, and society catchups, one parallel event that has gained traction in recent times is Avid Connect.

According to Avid President, Jeff Rosica, “We will be hosting our 4th Annual Avid Connect event at the Wynn Las Vegas, on the weekend just prior to the 2017 NAB Show. Together with the ACA leadership, we have put together what we believe will be our strongest event yet. Avid Connect 2017 is a ‘don’t miss’ event!

“From learning about the latest in cloud technologies to seeing the newest workflow innovations, or from hearing about ground-breaking immersive viewing experiences to better understanding 4K/HDR content production, this year’s keynote speeches and interactive breakout sessions promise to be jam-packed with valuable knowledge, helpful insights and useful information.”

The breakout sessions at this year’s Avid Connect will be organised around three tracks: • Transforming the Media Enterprise: Innovation in Business and Technology; • Empowering Collaboration: Talent, Tools and Technology; and • Mastering Your Craft: The Art of Cutting Edge Storytelling.

The dozens of sessions across these tracks will be led by some of the industry’s foremost thought leaders, business trendsetters, technology innovators and creative luminaries, who will be sharing their insights and ideas for helping our community solve its most pressing challenges and best address its most important opportunities.

“Avid Connect is the greatest community gathering of media industry leaders, technologists and creative professionals,” says Rosica. “The event offers a very unique environment to network, learn and help shape our collective future. I am confident that it will prove to be a very valuable investment for everyone that attends the event. I do hope that you will be able to join us, and that we will have the chance to meet in person.”

Visit www.avidconnect2017.com

NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

SMPTE Partners on NABShow’s Future of Cinema Conference NABSHOW’S ‘Future of Cinema Conference: The Intersection of Technology, Art, and Commerce in Cinema’, is produced in partnership with SMPTE, and scheduled for April 22-23. The conference will delve into how technical innovation, artistic intent, and evolving consumption and business models will interact to shape the future of cinema.

On day one of the conference, sessions will address topics including the use of the SMPTE Digital Cinema Package (SMPTE-DCP) for distribution in a time of technical and creative innovation, the role of cloud technology in global distribution, the latest in cinema projection and displays, and how the industry is adapting to

these advances, real-world implementations of Interoperable Master Format (IMF), the evolution and current status of immersive audio technologies and standards, and threats to content security and how to protect against them.

The second day of the conference will extend the conversation on content creation, as well as consumption and the consumer. It will tackle the impact of light field imaging on content production and feature a panel on high-dynamic-range (HDR). Sessions also will discuss topics such as consumers’ changing relationship to the movies, the significance of artistic intent to the consumer, the advance in augmented, virtual, and mixed

reality (AR, VR, and MR) experiences, and new styles of narrative and performance as showcased in select Sundance Film Festival entries.

The program committee includes: Conference Chair Cynthia Slavens of Pixar Animation Studio; Richard Welsh, SMPTE Education Vice President and CEO of Sundog Media Toolkit; Jaclyn Pytlarz of Dolby Laboratories; Chris Witham of The Walt Disney Studios; SMPTE Executive Vice President Pat Griffis, also of Dolby Laboratories; Nick Mitchell of Technicolor Creative Services; Jennifer Zeidan of Industrial Light and Magic (ILM); filmmaker Jennifer Hall Lee; Siegfried Foessel of Fraunhofer IIS, and Rajesh Ramachandran of Qube Cinema.

SESSIONS INCLUDE Next Generation Cinema: How You Hear It – Immersive Audio Sat. April 22 | 4:30 PM – 5:15 PM | S222/S223

How It Gets There – Cloud Technology in Global Distribution Sat. April 22 | 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM | S222/S223

Movie Security: How you steal it (and then how you stop everyone in the audience from succeeding) Sat. April 22 | 5:15 PM – 6:00 PM | S222/S223

Next Generation Cinema: How You See It – Projection and Displays in Cinema Sat. April 22 | 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | S222/S223

Is Cinephilia Dead Or Is It Just Expanding?

Sun. April 23 | 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM | S222/S223

Next Generation Cinema: How You Package It – IMF Case Study – Master, Myth, and Mystery Sat. April 22 | 3:45 PM – 4:30 PM | S222/S223

How They See It: Do Consumers Really Care About Artistic Intent?

Sun. April 23 | 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM | S222/S223

How We Make It: Diversity in Cinema Sun. April 23 | 1:15 PM – 2:00 PM | S222/S223 How You Get Inside It: AR/VR/AI and Deep Learning. The Immersive New Media Landscape and the Solutions Needed to Get Us There Sun. April 23 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | S222/S223 How You Capture It? Will Lightfield Change the Way of Content Production?

Sun. April 23 | 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | S222/S223 How You See It or How You Don’t: Better In HDR? Sun. April 23 | 4:30 PM – 5:45 PM | S222/S223 Visit www.nabshow.com

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Next Generation Cinema: How It Gets There – SMPTE DCP Transition, or The Unintended Consequences of Progress Sat. April 22 | 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM | S222/S223

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NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

Silver Trak Joins Aspera to Automate at NAB THE DAYS OF MANUALLY executing broadcast transcodes and

framerate conversions are limited thanks to new functionality to be launched at NAB 2017 within Silver Trak Digital’s Media Room – Australia’s first B2B, platform agnostic, smart digital asset management solution.

Silver Trak MD, Christian Christiansen explained, “Media Room resides on the Silver Trak Digital cloud, Media Sphere, giving you the ability to remotely access your digital content 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from your desktop, tablet or smartphone. You can log on to your Media Room secure web portal to upload, store, search, view and share your content and use metadata to enable fast searching and access meaningful metadata reports. At NAB 2017 you’ll see we’ve taken the automated side of Media Room to a whole new level as you can now include automated broadcast transcodes and framerate conversions as part of a fully customisable workflow.”

A full version of Silver Trak Digital’s Media Room including its new and automated broadcast transcodes and framerate conversions will be demonstrated on the Aspera booth SL8124 during NAB 2017.

Christiansen continued, “This is a first in Australia and something that

Visit http://silvertrak.com.au

OOYALA WILL SHOWCASE the breadth of its video solutions for media and

Visit Telstra at NAB 2017 VISIT TELSTRA AT NAB 2017 and learn how Telstra can help share content with its flexible, scalable, global media solutions.

entertainment companies at the NAB Show at stand SV1000, outside the North Hall in the Silver Lot.

At the Telstra stand:

Ooyala is headed toward delivering a fully integrated video platform (IVP) to meet the needs of today’s media content owners and production companies.

With a common data set to drive insights and inform strategies, IVP is the next generation of OVP, evolving beyond online video platform capabilities to deliver sophisticated solutions and to understand the costs and return-oninvestment of video content.

• Demonstrations of Telstra’s Globecam mini live cameras.

Ooyala Flex is designed to get content to market faster. It is a cornerstone in Ooyala’s transformation into an IVP, complementing its set of product offerings across ad tech, analytics and video platform solutions.

This year at NAB Telstra will host a Partner Hub on the Telstra Stand:

With Ooyala Flex’s integration with the Ooyala video platform, the solutions streamline the entire process, from creation to syndication and ultimately distribution across devices. Content owners have complete control over operations, as well as insights into video performance and audience engagement. By combining Ooyala solutions customers are able to: • Sync metadata across Ooyala Flex and Ooyala’s video platform.

• Transform assets into any format in Ooyala Flex for distribution to any device.

• Automate transcoding, packaging and syndication using Ooyala Flex to get content in front of audiences faster.

• Leverage metadata from Ooyala Flex for more personalised content recommendations with Ooyala Discovery, driving higher audience engagement and monetisation.

• Understand video performance across properties with Ooyala IQ to inform future content production decisions and distribution strategies.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

Where many assets are still sent by satellite and will continue to be so, Christiansen promotes the complementary side to Media Room’s automation and delivery service, adding, “Many companies, particularly those in the new media space want file-based deliveries. By using Media Room they can create individual delivery workflows for each asset and assign a specific codec, framerate and distribution list each completely customised to the recipient, including file delivery options. All the user has to do is press the button and Media Room takes care of the rest.”

You can do broadcast transcodes and framerate conversions on an ad-hoc basis, but the real benefit of Media Room lies in its ability to embed these services into the workflow and then automate a file’s delivery.

Ooyala Showcases Integrated Video Platform Solutions

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will save Media Room users a significant amount of time and money, particularly those producing programmes they need to send to multiple destinations. Previously someone had to manually do the broadcast transcodes and framerate conversions for every programme, and then arrange the correct delivery method. This can now be fully automated and sent by Aspera download link, from Aspera to Aspera, by Amazon S3 Push or FTP Push.”

• Meet the Telstra Broadcast Services team.

• Interactive demos of the Telstra Global Media Network.

• Explore Telstra’s sports and special events capability.

• Meet with Telstra Ventures latest investment companies Gorilla, InstartLogic and Near.

• Ooyala’s Integrated Video Platform solutions, including video workflow, publishing, analytics, and advertising products help get content to market faster, engage audiences and earn more with personalised OTT experiences.

• Vindicia brings enterprise-class innovation to help companies acquire and retain more customers by making recurring payments seamless, secure and easy.

• Touchstream delivers operational excellence by providing 24×7 proactive live stream monitoring and operational analytics with insights into the streams’ performance.

• NetApp works with leading global organisations to evolve their media environments by providing software, systems, and services to manage and store data and content.

• Telstra Ventures will be showcasing Gorilla, InstartLogic and Near.

• Benefit from a single provider supplying all solutions with aligned roadmaps and integrations.

Telstra can be found in the South Upper Hall throughout the show so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to meet the Telstra team and partners, and learn more about the company’s global content creation, production, distribution and monetisation capabilities.

Visit www.ooyala.com

Visit www.telstra.com.au

Massive Interactive Showcases AXIS AT NAB 2017, Massive will showcase new merchandising functionality offering control for broadcasters, telcos and studios to adapt all of the most important elements of any tier one multi-device video service.

Massive will demonstrate various high-profile client video services from around the world and present new updates to the Massive AXIS product roadmap.

Massive AXIS’s features confirm the end of a period when too many content owners built unique and inflexible apps on a host of manufacturers’ devices – the kind that couldn’t evolve tactically or iteratively when needed.

Massive works with a host of tier-one organisations including AT&T, BBC, CBS Interactive, SKY, YouView, Foxtel, Perform Group, Deutsche Telekom, Telstra, Quebecor, Freeview and many more.

Visit www.massive.co

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

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NAB SHOW 2017 PREVIEW

Further Smart Production from Ross ROSS VIDEO HAS ANNOUNCED it is planning another block-buster NAB. Following the theme of Smart Production, Ross will be showing how its technologies can help customers achieve creative, business, and technical goals.

Every Ross product family is bringing new product enhancements and major new product introductions to NAB. The scientists, engineers, and creative teams at Ross have been busy – the following is just a preview.

PRODUCTION SWITCHERS Acuity and Carbonite production switchers continue to add significant new features through software. Along with other features, Acuity v6.0 adds LiveEDL and Soft Panel operation.

LiveEDL is suitable for ‘live-to-tape’ productions. In LiveEDL mode, Acuity tracks source selections and creates a timecode locked edit decision list. This can then be exported as a file and imported to a non-linear editing system (NLE) along with camera iso-recordings, recreating the line cut in the NLE. Final changes are then easily made, saving massive amounts of time in the post-production process.

FRONTIER VIRTUAL SET SYSTEM

The new Soft Panel for Acuity provides full setup and operation from a graphical web user interface. This means the cost and space of a physical panel is no longer required, desirable in automated environments when deployed with Ross OverDrive Automated Production Systems.

ROBOTIC CAMERA SYSTEM

Carbonite moves up to v12.2. This brings support for the compact CB9 panel which can be added as a second control panel to a Carbonite for two panel operation. Other features included with 12.2 are MiniME preset for enhanced UHD 4K production, support for the1080P25 signal format, and intuitive thumbnail capture for media wipe selection. V12.2 software will be available at no charge to all Carbonite customers and made available to download from the Ross Video website.

Carbonite Black Solo adds v1.2 software, simplifying tasks such as keyer setup and panel layouts, and adds the Ross RGB PanelGlow that provides background illumination to make buttons readable in dark environments, as well as enabling button colour customisation allowing the system to be personalised for at-a-glance colour identification of busses and sources.

VIDEO SERVERS AND REPLAY New since last NAB is the acquisition by Ross of Abekas. The Abekas brand is being retained as the brand for Ross’ family of video servers.

New and shipping prior to show time is the Abekas Tria 2. The Tria 2 is the next-gen Tria clip server, a full two-channel clip server with an input record channel, synchronous playback of key/fill pairs or independent playout of two separate video channels with audio.

The Abekas Mira now includes Mira Connect gigabit ethernet networking which enables Mira Production and Mira Replay systems to share content.

There’s no need to cache or transfer files as they are streamed on demand across a GigE network.

NAB SHOW 2016 PREVIEW

XPRESSION GRAPHICS

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XPression motion graphics systems jump to v7.0, which adds support for the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system for users building or providing their own hardware for XPression Designer, XPression Studio GO!, XPression Prime GO! and XPression Live CG. IP inputs and outputs are now supported with SMPTE 2022-6 and SMPTE 2022-7 available (and shipping) on XPression Studio, XPression BlueBox, and XPression Clips systems. Support for video over IP workflows on XPression is available through a variety of hardware vendors, including AJA and Matrox.

XPression Datalinq – XPression’s universal data connector ties a wide range of data sources into XPression graphics templates. Datalinq adds support to parse JSON files as either an HTTP source using RSS or XML. JSON support is also available using a .JSON file in the local file system.

The new Frontier Virtual Engine is built using the Unreal Game Engine, bringing photorealistic rendering, particle systems and physics to the broadcast virtual set. Shown as a technology demo at IBC, Frontier has been developed in partnership with The Future Group.

Ross Robotic Camera Systems introduces a new pan/tilt head; the VR100.

The absolute encoding technology of the VR100 makes it ideal for VS/ AR applications in which the virtual objects must precisely match and track real-world images. The strength and rigidity of this head are enhanced to support payloads up to 20kg, eliminating the need for an extra support arm.

The VR100 accommodates small and medium-sized teleprompters, making it suitable for compact virtual sets or practical sets with augmented reality.

LIGHTNING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR LEGISLATURES AND ASSEMBLY MEETINGS Lightning is the new name for the Control System formerly known as LCS from Ross, which was originally designed to meet the needs of efficiently producing legislature broadcasts and recordings. The name Lightning highlights how this modern, fast, and powerful production solution has grown and now addresses a much broader range of applications including corporate, house of worship, education, live events, and news broadcasts.

Lightning continues to add more new features with v5 launching at NAB. Version 5 offers support for the new PIVOTCam pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras from Ross, as well as cost effective USB joystick control of cameras.

DASHBOARD FACILITY CONTROL The DashBoard Facility Control System will show v8.3 with expanded Visual Logic capability to permit users to create device APIs from within DashBoard. It adds support for USB human interface devices such as joystick controllers and custom keyboards as well as an expanded control library of devices including Panasonic and Hitachi box cameras and Ross ACID cameras. Version 8.3 also adds a Proxy server to make connections to devices at distant locations more efficient.

ROCKET SURGERY Rocket Surgery, Ross’ creative services team provide broadcast and stadium graphics creation, virtual sets and augmented reality services. ‘The Rocket’ has been providing enhanced augmented reality for NBC’s Sunday and Thursday Night Football on the Ross XPression graphics platform, controlled via Ross DashBoard Custom Panels. By being able to receive and translate a live feed from Skycam’s Aerial camera system through telemetry data from SportsMEDIA Technology (SMT), virtual and augmented reality cable-cam data is manipulated for full fly-through animation in a live environment.

Visit www.rossvideo.com

NETWORK. AUDIO. VIDEO. CONTROL.

Welcome to Broadcast3.0

Broadcast Broadcast Broadcast

3.0

3.0 3.0

broad·cast 3.0 [ˈbrɔːdkæːst 3.0] Broadcast 3.0 is based on the cornerstones of IP transport, software-defined processing, orchestration and seamless control of network resources, and automated workflows. This 3rd generation of broadcast infrastructure solutions raises production capabilities to a new level, enabling more efficient utilization of resources and smarter content creation.

www.lawo.com

IBC 2016

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Sharpen your focus @ NAB: #N1424

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ACQUISITION www.content-technology.com/acquisition

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Adam Howden ACS Chooses ARRI ALEXA Mini IT’S BEEN A SUCCESSFUL and busy time for Adam Howden ACS recently.

Mini. He’s about to shoot his debut feature film with it, already familiar with

Not only did the talented cinematographer receive ACS accreditation, but he also decided to take the plunge and purchase an ARRI ALEXA Mini camera.

the camera’s low light images and HDR capability. “On Fidget and Foil, part of

Adam has used the camera all across Australia, most recently in Darwin where even with high temperatures and humidity the Mini didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve had the camera in cars, cranes, boats and planes and it just keeps on keeping on. Being able to rely on the camera and emphatically trust the images you can create with the sensor really puts your mind at ease. You can push it all over the place and it just produces great pictures.”

the camera to 1600 ISO at 50fps for a lot of the night scenes and it looked

According to Howden, he wanted a camera that had several features, all related to quality and functionality as he added, “I wanted a camera that had great dynamic range, high resolution, a true anamorphic sized sensor, could shoot high speed, and frankly had the ‘ALEXA’ look for the right price. In other words, nothing but the ALEXA Mini would do.”

a lot of handheld and having a smaller camera package is a big advantage as

In the last year Adam has shot a diverse range of TVCs and a short film on the

Visit www.arri.com

a series of short films produced for the ABC, I shot anamorphic and pushed gorgeous. That fact that I can be shooting low-light high-ISO anamorphic one day and bright backlit daylight with the internal NDs the next, makes life with the camera simple and elegant.”

Howden continues to draw on the Mini’s form and function, adding, “I shoot I can pack it down and easily take it interstate. It’s also industry standard so it interfaces with everyone else's gear easily. And it’s an ALEXA so you can pretty much trust it to be bulletproof.”

Sky’s the Limit for Peter Beeh and Sony F5 Cameras WHEN THE AUDIENCE for the show you’re about to shoot is estimated at over one billion people worldwide, and your cameras will be flying through the air as they were for aerial cinematographer, Peter Beeh, at the recent Sydney New Year’s Eve (NYE) fireworks celebration, they’d better work.

Beeh explained, “I specialise in aerial filming for broadcast, commercials and features. There is a lot of expense in running an advanced stabilised camera system from a helicopter, so by using a dual camera setup on the Sydney NYE shoot we were able to deliver a much wider variety of shot options for a relatively small additional cost.”

For this high profile production, Beeh used the Shotover K1 aerial camera system as it is designed to carry multiple camera and lens combinations within one gimbal.

Beeh continued, “In this way it is possible to configure a variety of multiple camera setups for different purposes. For Sydney NYE we configured the system with two Sony F5 cameras, one fitted with a wide to mid-range zoom, the other fitted with an ultra wide-to-wide zoom. This setup enabled us to deliver a much greater variety of shots from the one gimbal. It was also possible to deliver a wider and tighter image simultaneously from the one stabilised head using the one aircraft.”

The Sony F5 cameras were chosen with good reason, as he explained, “The F5s were there because they integrate well into a live broadcast workflow with essential CCU control. However, because of their Super 35mm sized sensor they perform very well in low light. As this was a night shoot, optimising low light performance was key.”

ACQUISITION

It wasn’t just the low light that led Beeh to the Sony F5s, form and function also played key roles, as Beeh elaborated, “The size of the camera

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body was particularly useful. Our brief was to fit two fully independent camera packages into the one gimbal. The size of the F5 and its ‘cubic’ form factor made the task of fitting everything into a tight space much easier. Also, remote camera and CCU control was critical. Sony defines the industry standard for this and it’s easy to design the wiring needed to connect multiple Sony RMB remote controllers to the cameras. Generally this isn’t a complex process, but we needed to be able to pass all camera control information through one complex slip-ring, and because the RMB remotes connect with just four wires per camera, it was a problem that was easy to solve.”

Low light was just one of the challenges Beeh had to overcome, adding, “Every year I test different cameras for low-light performance. I’m yet to find a camera that delivers a better live HDSDI feed in low light than this one. Admittedly the F5 and F55 sensors are a few years old now, but I’m yet to see better for this kind of purpose. It is a testament to the quality of the Sony sensor that it is still so competitive despite having been around for a while.”

Beeh delivered the big picture aerial component of the Sydney NYE fireworks for the ABC’s broadcast. The footage was also fed live worldwide a fact not lost on Peter as he concluded, “It’s a big deal for Sydney each year as it is the first big city to reach midnight. Estimates this year suggested up to one billion viewers saw the presentation across traditional broadcast and online media. The overhead shots of Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Harbour bridge, the Sydney Opera House, and the city itself play a key role, and we had to make sure the cameras helped us get exactly what we needed.”

Visit http://pro.sony.com.au

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ACQUISITION

Blackmagic Announces URSA Mini Pro 4.6K Camera BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, a new professional camera that combines high-end digital film quality with the ergonomics and features of a traditional broadcast camera. URSA Mini Pro features tactile control buttons, switches and dials, built-in optical ND filters, a new interchangeable lens mount, dual CFAST 2.0 and dual SD/UHSII card recorders, and more.

URSA Mini Pro comes in a compact, durable and light, handheld magnesium alloy body. There is an external high visibility LCD status display for viewing critical shooting information; a foldout touch screen for reviewing shots without needing an extra on-set monitor; professional connections such as 12G-SDI, XLR audio; and built-in high quality stereo microphones. Every control on the camera features redundancy, including the power, so if anything should go wrong in the field, the camera can still be used.

URSA Mini Pro features a custom 4.6K image sensor that captures up to 4608 x 2592 pixels with 15 stops of dynamic range and a wide colour gamut. Third generation Blackmagic Design colour science is used to process the raw sensor data, enabling rich skin tones, natural colour response and an enormous amount of dynamic range. URSA Mini Pro is suitable for everything from standard rec. 709 broadcast HD to the latest rec. 2020 high dynamic range digital film production.

URSA Mini Pro also features neutral density (ND) filters with IR compensation for quickly reducing the amount of light that enters the camera. The 2, 4 and 6 stop filters are specifically designed to match the colourimetry of the camera and provide additional latitude, even under harsh lighting conditions. That means operators can use different combinations of aperture and shutter angle to achieve shallower depth of field, or specific levels of motion blur, in a wider range of situations. The IR filters evenly compensate for both far red and infrared wave lengths to eliminate IR contamination. The ND filters are true optical filters with a precision mechanism that quickly moves them into place when the ND filter dial is turned.

The broadcast camera ergonomics of URSA Mini Pro put powerful tactile control buttons, switches, knobs and dials on the outside of the camera, giving operators direct access to the most important camera settings. The controls are laid out in a logical order that makes them easy to remember so cinematographers can operate the camera without having to look at the buttons, hunt through menus, or take their eye off of the action. URSA Mini Pro also features a high visibility status screen that displays important information such as timecode, shutter and lens settings, battery, recording

status, and audio levels. The status display features a backlight and is designed to be clearly visible in both dimly lit studios and outside in direct sunlight.

URSA Mini Pro has a new interchangeable lens mount that makes it compatible with virtually all professional lenses so cinematographers can choose exactly the right lens for the job. Included standard is an EF mount for working with high quality photographic lenses.

If the camera is being used on a high-end feature or commercial shoot that calls for large cinematic lenses, simply remove the EF mount and replace it with the PL mount. There’s even a B4 broadcast lens mount for working with broadcast HD lenses. URSA Mini Pro also includes a standard 12 pin Hirose lens control connector. URSA Mini Pro comes with an EF mount and customers can purchase the optional PL and B4 lens mounts separately.

Featuring both dual C-Fast 2.0 recorders and dual SD/UHS-II card recorders, customers can choose the media that works best for their projects. C-Fast cards are suitable for full resolution RAW recording, while UHS-II SD cards are inexpensive and commonly available, making them perfect for recording ProRes Ultra HD files or RAW HD files. Simply choose the media type, insert the cards and start shooting. With dual slots for each media type, the camera never has to stop recording because when the first card is full, it automatically continues onto the next card. Full cards can be swapped for empty ones, all without stopping the camera. URSA Mini Pro can record lossless 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW files for the highest possible quality, or 10bit ProRes files for easy post production workflows with minimum storage requirements.

URSA Mini Pro is shipping with Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio post-production software.

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

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Grass Valley Debuts LDX 82 Series Camera

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GRASS VALLEY HAS ANNOUNCED the new LDX 82 Series of native

incorporating all the

HD-only cameras which offer an extended colour gamut and native high dynamic range operation with a full 15 F-stops

features of the LDX

Each model in the LDX 82 series fature high sensitivity in all HD formats, including 1080p, a wide colour gamut and Grass Valley’s XDR (Extended Dynamic Range) operations.

It enables 1080p

The four LDX 82 camera models are designed to suit a broad range of production needs:

to cover without

LDX 82 Flex is the entry-level model for single format 1080i or 720p acquisition, where minimal artistic modification is required.

in additional lighting or major compromise to image quality. The LDX 82

LDX 82 Première can switch between 1080i and 720p, and features the Contour Equalizer which allows for alterations to the crispness in the shadows, mid-tones and highlights independently.

any other LDX 82 Series camera, with single or multiple licenses.

LDX 82 Elite is designed as a workhorse for live HD production – from live sports to scripted productions. The LDX 82 Elite can switch between 1080i, 720p and 1080PsF. It also features PowerCurves for shooting under challenging conditions and Colour Protect to help correct lighting issues.

LDX 82 WorldCam is suitable for any production, under any condition,

82 Elite plus 1080p. productions that used to be impossible huge investments WorldCam is available as a 7-day or a perpetual GV-eLicense upgrade from Each LDX 82 camera model leverages the patented Xensium-FT CMOS imager which allows for better sensitivity, higher resolution and extended dynamic range.

Grass Valley is demonstrating the features of the LDX 82 Series cameras at NAB in booth SL106.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

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Canon EOS C700 – All Terrain Vehicle

By Phil Sandberg ANNOUNCED IN LATE 2016, Canon’s newest models in its Cinema EOS series – the EOS C700 (EF/PL) and EOS C700 GS PL – are able to capture slow motion 4K video footage internally with high frame rates of up to 59.94P/50P and 2K up to 200p/240p (sensor crop mode), or 4K RAW up to 100P/120P, to an optional dockable Codex RAW recorder. The cameras also include support for the Apple ProRes format for the first time. The EOS C700 GS PL is also the first Cinema EOS camera with a global shutter.

The camera recently saw its Australian TVC debut on two commercial for Jaguar Range Rover. C+T caught up with Director Brett Danton for his thoughts on the shoot.

DOP Ashleigh Carter on location for the Jaguar Range Rover TVC shoot.

Describe your recent shoot with the C700.

“We used it on two commercials for Jaguar Land Rover, for Range Rover, in conjunction with the Brumbies [Rugby Union team], so we shot a nice scene from a helicopter using a big gimbal mount and a very long lens with Land Rovers charging up the side of a mountain in Lake Jindabyne and then at the top, a little bit of action with the Brumbies.

“We literally got the camera a couple of days right before the shoot, rigged it all into the helicopter and went off and shot with it.”

When you looked at the results, what were your thoughts?

What were the environmental conditions of the shoot?

“We shot in sunrise to sunset so, obviously, it’s pretty dusty down there [around Lake Jindabyne] in the middle of summer. So, really harsh sun. It was hot. In the morning, it was about 8 degrees and it got up to sort of 38 degrees and then back down to 8 degrees, so we went through everything throughout the day. Also, when the boys flew the helicopter down they left Sydney in the middle of a storm so they had rain and the camera is on the outside of the chopper. So, it went through pretty much every environment you can think of in one day. We gave it a beating.”

Was there anything about the camera that made the shoot easier?

“You could say it’s an incredibly complicated piece of gear, but it’s not. It has so many possibilities. Everybody in our industry wants to work in different ways. We’ve all got our own workflow. Some of us like to shoot RAW. Some of us want to shoot this way, some of us want to shoot that, some of us want to dual-record, and you’re always searching for the piece of gear that’ll do it, but it seems to me with this one, I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface on the possibilities. You can almost go, ‘Well you know, if you dream up a workflow this camera will do it.’

“We wanted to shoot with it out of the box. I don’t believe in diving in and going into all these menus and changing all this stuff when you first get a camera. I want to see what the manufacturer actually thinks, and that’s what we did, we shot with it as is. We didn’t spend ages, literally set it up, turned it on and off we went.”

[L-R] Director Brett Danton, Canon’s Manager of Motion Imaging Paul Stewart and DOP Ashleigh Carter at the launch of the C700.

tried that since and then we shot dual with it as well, which is an interesting way of doing it. The great thing about that is if a client wants one delivery, you could always keep a RAW version - if you wanted a little bit more latitude to the image or whatever you wanted to do. Internally, it’s up to 810Mbit, so it’s massive. The files are huge. We graded in Baselight. We went to a grading facility in London and every single piece of detail came out.”

So, was there anything else that came to mind during the shoot?

“For us, we just wanted to pick up a piece of gear and work with it and not have problems and that’s what it did. It just did what we wanted it to do.

Ashley, the DOP, was very hands on with it. We didn’t put on a whole lot of gear that doesn’t come with the camera. We just used as was, and that worked perfectly. The viewfinder on it, Ashleigh [Carter, DOP] worked with it. He thinks it’s the best viewfinder he’s seen on any camera to date, which is fantastic, which is always a little bit of a missing link up until now.

“Having the access to the Canon glass, just to be able to go straight on, this is an interesting camera. A lot of people have said they don’t want to wait for the global shutter version. We didn’t have the global shutter. When you see the footage, personally, I’m not seeing a reason for the global shutter. For the sake of losing auto focus and losing one stop, I think you’re far better - and having the access straight to the Canon glass I think is fantastic.

“We were tracking it in a helicopter at 240km an hour, chasing a car on a 300mm lens. If anything’s going to show you a bit of rolling shutter it would

So, what were you outputting?

be that and you can’t, there’s none there.”

“We went to Canon Kodak XF-AVC. We didn’t have the RAW recorder. We’ve

Visit www.canon.com.au

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“Yeah, breathtaking. Obviously, shooting in 4K, you’ve got to appreciate it when it comes back in and you’re watching it on the big screen, but to see it back on the big screen it’s stunning. I think the thing for me was the amount of information it captures. You can see all the detail in the image. You know when people go into IMAX theatres and the image wraps around them? It’s the same with this 4K file projected. I don’t think a lot of people think they go to the cinema and see 4K. They’re still not seeing it at the cinema, a lot of it's in 2K still, so it’s quite rare to see true 4K and it’s a little bit different from tradition, where people used to sit back from the screen. When it’s a 4K image you can go and sit in the front rows now. That’s when you really get the appreciation of the file.”

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ACQUISITION

Hitachi Kokusai to Showcase HDR Expertise HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC AMERICA will highlight its continuing

private video networks such as in-venue displays and theatrical

efforts in High Dynamic Range (HDR) video acquisition at the 2017 NAB Show. HDR-enabled HITACHI cameras will be featured in the Hitachi Kokusai booth (C4309), while conference presentations will provide attendees with insight to emerging HDR technologies and applications.

presentation, and soon, broadcasters with the forthcoming adoption

One of the first implementers and proponents of the benefits of High Dynamic Range technologies, Hitachi Kokusai offers HDR support across its range of MOS and CMOS-based HDTV, 4K and 8K cameras. During NAB, the company will emphasise how the use of HDR in high-definition acquisition enables visibly superior HD productions with increased contrast and richer colours, but without the higher infrastructure costs, processing overhead and bandwidth requirements of Ultra HD.

backwards-compatible with the legacy standard dynamic range (SDR) TVs

“While HDR is most commonly mentioned alongside Ultra HD, highdefinition video can also benefit from dramatic improvements that enable life-like imagery with HDR,” said John J. Humphrey, Vice President of Business Development, Hitachi Kokusai Electric America Ltd. “While UHD delivers more pixels, HDR provides ‘better’ pixels – more detail in the blacks, expanded mid-tones with brighter highlights, and more saturated colours – independent of resolution.

Almost any distribution architecture that can deliver HDR for Ultra HD can also do so for HD-HDR, including cable, satellite and OTT services,

of ATSC 3.0. Similarly, HDR-capable Ultra HD viewing devices can also display HD-HDR while upconverting the high definition signal to 4K resolution, and HDR specifications such as Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) are still prevalent in many homes. HITACHI cameras, including the recentlyannounced Z-HD5500 1080p studio and field production camera, support HDR variants including HLG and HPQ, which is compatible with the HDR10 open standard for consumer TVs. Humphrey will explore these concepts and other aspects of HDR during his NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference presentation, ‘Emerging Technologies and Standards for High Dynamic Range’, from 9:00-9:30am PDT, Tuesday, April the 25th in room N260 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Featuring highlights from Humphrey’s white paper, ‘High Dynamic Range for HDTV’, the session will also look at the multiple available HDR standards, and discuss the relationship between HDR, camera sensor implementations and human visual perception.

Visit www.hitachikokusai.com

Shotoku to Launch Series of VR/AR Tracked Camera Cranes SHOTOKU BROADCAST SYSTEMS has revealed plans to launch a series of manual virtual/augmented reality tracked camera cranes at NAB 2017.

The series is the result of a partnership with crane manufacturer, CamMate.

The company is also highlighting its SmartPed a fully robotic XY pedestal, and Free-d2 next-gen tracking system.

Graphica – The Graphica Series is the fusion of Shotoku VR technology and engineering know-how of crane maker, CamMate. The result is a range of manual virtual/augmented reality tracked camera cranes with tracking capabilities in a package that is portable, scalable, stable and repeatable.

Graphica calculates positional data output from embedded physical rotary encoders designed for VR applications.

The SPi-Touch origin reset and 2-Point calibration function adds another level of convenience and high production flexibility. A true set-and-forget system, complete calibration is needed only once and can be achieved in 20 seconds. SPi-Touch comes standard on every model.

HIGHLIGHTS WILL INCLUDE: SmartPed Robotic Pedestal – Shotoku’s SmartPed is a robotic XY pedestal.

The three wheel smooth-steer pedestal features a new height column, multi-zone collision avoidance and detection systems, and precisionengineered, electro-mechanical steer/drive system. SmartPed offers instant switchover between local/remote operation. No re-reference or calibration is required when switching between these modes and a pan-bar mounted local joystick enables control from the studio floor.

Free-d2 Absolute Tracking System – The Company’s Free-d2 is a next generation tracking system that does not require physical encoder devices attached to the camera support’s moving axes. The Free-d2 system uses advanced video processing algorithms and simple ceiling markers to determine the position and orientation of the camera. No concept of a home or reference point exists for Free-d2 – wherever the camera is positioned is immediately known.

Visit www.shotoku.tv/uk

Ikegami Unicam Series Ready

ACQUISITION

AT NAB 2017, Ikegami will exhibit a range of cameras including the HDK-73, the latest in its Unicam HD series. The HDK-73 features F12 high-sensitivity, 2/3-inch CMOS sensors, and 1080i or 720p picture quality as well as Quick EZ Focus assist, CAC chromatic aberration correction, and HLG hybrid log gamma for HDR picture origination.

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Ikegami will also display the UHK-430 4K camera from its Unicam XE series. Designed for studio or field use, the UHK-430 provides true 4K-imagery. It features three 2/3-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) CMOS sensors with RGB prism optics for ‘Real 4K’ resolution from 24 million pixels (eight million per sensor). The UHK-430 is also switchable between 4K and 2K formats, and can output 4K and 2K simultaneously with a 2K cutout from the 4K-picture. A plug-in output module allows for flexible 4K signal formats including Quad 3G, 12G, and IP.

There will also be the SHK-810 8K ultra high-definition television (UHDTV) camera, co-developed with Japan Broadcast Corporation (NHK), which represents a significant size reduction, lightweight design, and operation comparable to current broadcast cameras. It employs a 33 million-pixel Super 35mm CMOS sensor with PL lens mount, achieving a limiting horizontal resolution of 4000 TV lines which can be viewed on an Ikegami 55-inch full 8K resolution (prototype) LCD monitor.

The company’s HDK-95C HD portable digital, 4K-ready Unicam HD camera, now with optional HDR compatibility also has a spot reserved.

The 4K Super Resolution Converter provides a simultaneous 4K output when the camera is operating in a 1080p format, such as 1080p/59.94Hz, and Ultra HD band image enhancement is provided for the 4K signal.

Visit www.ikegami.com

ACQUISITION

Cooke Optics to Unveil First Panchro/i Classic Lenses COOKE OPTICS WILL UNVEIL the first lenses from its Panchro/i

lenses, like all contemporary Cooke lenses, have modern ergonomics and

Classic range on booth C5414 during NAB 2017. The new range is a modern redesign achieving the same look and feel as the original Speed Panchros, with newly designed housing and PL mounts. Cooke will also present its second front Anamorphic/i zoom lens for the first time, delivering on schedule following its announcement at NAB 2016.

The company will also unveil a new, as-yet-unannounced product at the show. Regular visitors should note that the Cooke Optics booth has moved from its regular spot – the new booth C5414 is near the Grand Lobby/North Hall exit, opposite JVCKENWOOD and adjacent to For-A.

/i technology for frame-by-frame film and digital data capture.

The original Cooke Speed Panchros combined a relative aperture as wide as f2.0, with an angular field of view and definition previously impossible with much smaller apertures. The new Panchro/i Classic lenses are lightweight, making them suitable for handheld, drone, and Steadicam work. While retaining the classic look of the original Speed Panchro, these

The new front Anamorphic/i zoom lens has preliminary specifications featuring 9x zoom front anamorphic, 45-405mm T4.5-22, 1.8m MOD from image plane, and 1.2m close focus from the front of the lens. The colour and contrast will match the rest of the series.

In addition, visitors to the Cooke booth will see the Anamorphic/i SF lens range. Complementary to the Anamorphic/i series, the SF lenses feature a coating that gives cinematographers even more options for anamorphic character with enhanced flares and other aberrations while retaining the oval bokeh.

Cooke will also present the 35-140mm Anamorphic/i zoom and the Sony E and micro 4/3 mounts for miniS4/i and Panchro/i Classic lenses.

Visit http://cookeoptics.com

Miller Camera Support to Showcase arrowFX MILLER CAMERA SUPPORT will commence shipping its new range of arrowFX Fluid Heads at NAB 2017 (booth C7920). The series, including the arrowFX 3, arrowFX 5 and arrowFX 7, is an extension of Miller’s arrowX line of fluid heads, providing a solution for high-definition live television productions where augmented reality effects are inserted into the picture.

The arrowFX Fluid Heads feature robust, high-resolution magnetic encoders integrated into the fluid head. The arrowFX can precisely monitor and communicate, with zero latency, the exact position of the fluid head in real time.

The arrowFX also features an Augmented Reality Interface (ARI) box, which interfaces between the arrowFX fluid heads and real-time graphics engines such as Vizrt, Orad and others. This provides real-time pan, tilt, zoom and focus data, as well as lens geometry information to create life-like precision augmented productions.

“In today’s world, we must evolve our product offerings to satisfy the latest production trends, including adapting to augmented reality effects in real-time,” said Charles Montesin, Global Sales and Marketing Manager, Miller Camera Support. “The arrowFX range allows our customers to achieve higher quality, more realistic and attractive digital effects.”

The arrowFX line features a pan resolution of 1,589,246 counts per 360°, and a tilt resolution of 491,520 counts per 180°. It also features Miller’s CB PLUS, a sequential counterbalance design that takes traditional counterbalancing a step forward, resulting in repeatable, accurate and rapid setup. CB Plus makes the new arrowFX Series suitable for any broadcast where frequent and fast rigging is required.

The arrowFX 3 is designed for lighter cameras and boasts a payload range of 1-19kg, 16 positions of counterbalance and 5+0 pan-and-tilt drag positions. The arrowFX 5 is suited toward larger rigs with longer lenses where more drag is required. It has a wide payload range from 2-21kg, 16 positions of counterbalance and 7+0 pan-and-tilt drag positions.

The arrowFX 7 is best suited for heavier rigs, including in-studio and OB applications, and has a payload range from 6-25kg, 16 positions of counterbalance and 7+0 pan-and-tilt drag positions.

Each arrowFX model comes with a 120mm sliding travel plate to help rebalance changing camera payloads. In addition, it is designed with illuminated controls that allow users to work regardless of lighting or environmental conditions.

Visit www.millertripods.com

Outsight to Demonstrate LED Lighting Technology OUTSIGHT WILL BE DEMONSTRATING its range of LED technology

Outsight will also exhibit the Creamsource Sky. This full spectrum soft

lighting solutions at NAB 2017 on stand C10842, including the

source combines the latest LED technology with sophisticated colour

Creamsource+ range and Creamsource Sky. A new addition to the

management and compact design to deliver a wide and even beam. It has

Outsight range will also be announced nearer to the show.

an array of six LED engines cooled by a silent heat-pipe system.

The Creamsource+ range was launched at NAB 2016, and features a

Outsight’s Creamsource Sky has recently been used on Lucasfilm’s

fourth-generation LED light engine offering greater than 90 CRI/TLCI.

‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ with Greig Fraser ASC ACS relying on the

The versatility of the ‘panel PAR’ provides a spot function that can

Creamsource Sky ability to be used in all weather conditions, finding

soft-boxes. Creamsource+ is available in two sizes: the Doppio+ and the Mini+. The large flat panel array of the Doppio+ creates a flexible fixture that lets the user control how the light is shaped and moulded. The Creamsource Mini+ comes with all the same features as the Creamsource

it especially useful for the raining stage shots. Creamsource Sky was also used on UKTV’s comedy-fantasy series ‘Zapped’ with DoP Pete Rowe praising the flexible lighting solution as they were able to make adjustments to the lighting quickly and easily for each shot during

Doppio+ in a 1×1 form factor, making it suitable for location or outside

production.

broadcast work.

Visit https://outsight.com.au

ACQUISITION

be softened with traditional techniques such as diffusion, lenses and

27

SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

Australian Grand Prix – Under the Bonnet with Riedel

By Brad Watts

SPORTSCASTING

NOTHING IN THE WORLD of motor sport comes close to the FIA Formula One World Championship. Commonly known as the Grand Prix (French, of course, for ‘grand prizes’), the championship tours the world racing across 20 purpose-built circuits and public roads.

The FIA, or Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, is the governing body behind the Formula, strictly overseeing how the fastest race vehicles in the world are structured and appointed. Currently the cars are restricted to a mere 15000rpm, but this hardly stops them reaching speeds of up to 375km/h.

Yeah, it’s dangerous, and where there’s danger you’ll find the best of the best.

Behind the drivers are a multitude of heavily sponsored car manufacturers, again, all vying for the position of fastest car manufacturer. That’s an enviable position, and one which can translate into sales of urban variety domestic vehicles. Then there’s the sponsors tagging along for the ride – a logo on a winning car sells product. With a global audience of around 500 million viewers it’s not difficult to understand the budgets and complexity involved.

Riedel Communications Founder and CEO, Thomas Riedel.

As you’d imagine, the logistics behind Formula One events are immense. Not only are there requirements for global broadcasting, there’s also oodles of communications requirements. Comms are the life-blood throughout each and every F1 circuit. From Jean Todt, the current FIA president, through to the teams responsible for getting the cars on the track and keeping them there.

Since 1993, this formidable undertaking has been expertly orchestrated by Riedel.

Riedel’s expertise is indeed intercommunications. The company, founded

by Thomas Riedel, began as a hire business providing intercom equipment.

From its inception in 1987 the company has grown to become the go-to provider of comms systems for events such as the Olympic Games, Winter Games, Eurovision Song Contests, Super Bowls, Academy Awards, and of course, the Formula One. the media industries also utilise Riedel systems, big players like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. We’ll hear from Thomas later, but for the moment we’ll take a tour of the machinations behind keeping an entire Formula One switched on and in touch. Taking me behind the scenes is General Manager of Riedel Communications Australia, John Bell – a veteran of the media and entertainment industry.

Brad Watts: So, John, how much does Riedel cater to the comms for an event like the Formula One? John Bell: “Riedel do comms to all the vehicles, from the vehicles, and then from there to race control as they have to be able to listen to everything that's going on at a team level. Race Control is the regulatory body. They literally oversee everything, so they want to hear anything and everything that’s going on.”

Okay, so what are Race Control listening for?

“If there's an incident they certainly have to hear that – but it's also about keeping everything equal and sticking to the F1 rules. This year, each driver can hear the other drivers, but only one way, they can only hear what the drivers are saying, not what the teams are saying to the drivers. Race Control need to hear what’s going on with those conversations, too. So, every team member has a Riedel intercom panel, what you call a multifunctional smart panel, Then they've got the guys out on the pit wall all with the same thing, so they're all communicating with each other and the team manager. It's as complex as an Olympics and in many ways more complex because all this stuff moving at very high speeds.”

SPORTSCASTING

So, obviously, the team members themselves are using comms units also?

28

“The teams all communicate among themselves, and between teams, then there’s members in the pits. Every team member has a Riedel intercom panel with what is a multifunctional smart panel, then there’s the guys out on the pit wall with the same thing.”

So how many people are in each team, and how many intercoms and radios are in use?

“There can be up to 50 on a track team, but they have up to 2-300 people providing support from overseas. We've got our own international pipe, they're

Medical vehicle with Riedel comms.

all getting that same feed in real time so they can conference with each other, do the analysis and feed it back here. We're also handling telemetry from the car, so all the vital signs, engine temperature, track humidity, how the driver is, all that stuff is through our network. We’re picking up about five to 8,000 telemetry sensors per team.

“On the pure radio side, we've got 2,000 radios deployed. It's a TETRA network, which is Motorola, technology – we're running that through our system as well. We're handling video, audio and data, plus we've got the CCTV cameras in the pit for Race Control purposes. We also do some switching of video signals for the broadcasters through our network.

So, the infrastructure. Can that be the venue’s own system?

“No. We bring our own network to every race. We have two kits of fibre cables, with approximately 10 kilometres that we’re laying across every racetrack. We know we can fully rely on it. So, we prefer to take everything with us and set it up, usually one and a half weeks before the race. We're using two different types of cables and Neutric connectors. In general, we use two different types of cables and connectors. On one hand, we have Neutric opticalCON QUAD which is a four core fibre with a Neutric connector on it and a real ruggedised cable, and also MTP which contains 12 cores of fibre with a single connector.”

Riedel also provides an entire IT hub to each race. The hub is a transportable air-freight container brimming with technology. Air-conditioned and very slight on space, the IT hub provides a command centre and central hub to the kilometres of fibre traversing the race track. John took me through some of what the control centre is monitoring.

“What we see here is the heart of our fibre network. We have data connections to all the teams. Here we’re able to catch the connections from the garages, for example, to the pit wall, or to our network for Race Control.

The teams are using our MPLS to get to get back to their relevant factories.

They have engineers back at their factories worldwide – those engineers support the engineers on track. So, they get live data, live communications continues p32>>

SPORTSCASTING

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THIS IS STATE-OF-THE-ART WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

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Up to 10 beltpacks per antenna 100 antenna, 100 beltpack system capacity Best-in-class voice clarity “Touch&Go” beltpack registration 6-channel beltpack plus dedicated REPLY button Built-in microphone and speaker for Walkie-Talkie mode Smartphone integration via Bluetooth Ergonomic, robust beltpack design Sunlight-readable display with Gorilla Glass™ Decentralized AES67 IP networked antennas Seamless integration into RIEDEL‘S ARTIST intercom matrix

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SPORTSCASTING

The Gold Coast Diaries – Chapter 3 Behind the scenes of NEP Australia’s broadcast preparations for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

By Jeff Coleman* 8.10AM, 20 FEBRUARY 2017, HOST BROADCAST HQ, BUNDALL, QLD I arrive at the office on a steamy morning with the temperature already at 28°C. Despite my usual swim and then shower at Broadwater I’m ready to jump back in the water. Though it’s not possible for the humidity to exceed 100 per cent, it certainly feels that way.

It’s been full steam ahead inside Host Broadcast HQ as well, as the team picked up in mid-January right where we left off just before Christmas. Our priority has been to lock down third party supplier contracts and we’ve been providing them the latest production requirements so they can produce final quotes. These include the four-point overhead camera system, specialist aquatics cameras and other specialty cameras, helicopters and radio frequency (RF) equipment.

As the pace intensifies so does the size of our team. New staff include Jane Caswell, our third Coordinating Producer, and also our third Coordinating Broadcast Venue Manager, John Downie. With the benefit of more than 30 years working in domestic and international sports broadcasting, Jane’s Gold Coast 2018 portfolio includes Netball, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Table Tennis and Squash.

John will take on venue planning at Coomera Sports Centre, spanning Gymnastics (Artistic and Rhythmic) and the Netball finals; the Gold Coast Convention Centre: Netball preliminaries and Basketball finals; Queensland State Velodrome (Track Cycling); Belmont Shooting Centre (all Shooting disciplines); and the Oxenford venues: Boxing, Table Tennis and Squash.

On the way to my first meeting of the day I catch the latest on the Queen’s Baton Relay. It will leave Buckingham Palace on March 13th and will be the longest and most accessible relay in Commonwealth Games history – an epic 388-day journey through 71 Commonwealth nations and territories. While our team won’t be involved, the launch brings back fond memories for me, as I was the venue technical manager based at The Mall during the London 2012 Olympic Games. It’s also another reminder of how quickly the time between now and April 2018 is passing.

After clearing email and a couple calls to the team in Sydney, I head to a working session to review the world rights holding broadcasters’ (RHBs) proposals for what they plan to build at the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC). Now that the layouts and room design for the Host Broadcast section are final, we know exactly what space is available to RHBs. As our rate card detailing the cost of provided services is essentially final, that has helped the broadcasters settle their own plans. It’s good to have hit these milestones ahead of the next world broadcasters meeting, just before Easter, at which time we’ll provide all the information they need to plan their Games coverage.

Also well on track is our Host Broadcast Training Program, through which we are working with local universities and TAFE students to help develop

SPORTSCASTING

Queensland’s next generation of skilled television technical operators, and

30

will be our legacy after the Games. Last week, led by Head of the training program, Gerry O’Leary, we held a two-day workshop for students from

NEP Host Broadcast Coordinating Venue Technical Manager, Mark Corser instructs students from University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Jake West and Kayla Strange, and Alisha Marfatia from Bond University during CCU workshop.

NEP Broadcast Engineer, Neil Smith, can be seen on the monitor flying his drone for CCU practice.

definition ‘supertruck’ while Coordinating Venue Technical Manager, Mark Corser, and Coordinating Producer Mario Silvestri put the trainees through their paces, teaching them about lenses and how to frame shots. Students developed an understanding of basic colorimetry, colour temperature and its effect on camera picture. They also learned how to build a camera chain from box to operation, the role of camera control unit (CCU) and the technical director, as well how vital a cohesive outside broadcast team environment is to a successful project.

For hands-on experience of what shading is all about, each student performed a basic camera line-up procedure – from white balance, black balance to grey scale tracking, assisted by NEP Queensland-based staff: Peter Collins, Facilities Coordinator, and Broadcast Engineer Neil Smith. Neil provided a program high point and real CCU work for the trainees as he flew his drone high in the sky for them to follow and expose.

Away from the Gold Coast, various members of the team and I have made trips to remote venues including Cairns – where the preliminary basketball competition will be played – and the Nerang State Forest, where we are still working on production plans for the mountain bike event as we await the final course design.

We also continue to rework broadcast compound designs as the parameters continue to be fluid to meet all of the venue operations.

It’s now nearly 5pm and so Coordinating Producer Shane Street and I head over to the apartment building where our fly-in-and-out staff stay during their time here. We recently relocated from the old to new Meriton in Southport, which offers much better views of Broadwater and, depending on the room, breathtaking perspective of Surfers Paradise, the western hinterland and northern coast. We are looking to place one of our four beauty cameras on the building roof to show off the spectacular Gold Coast during Games time, and Shane and I will be heading up there to look at the sunset shot.

But not before a quick stop at Bar150, just a short stroll from the Host Broadcast offices, to talk through tomorrow’s plans, as it will be another busy day.

Griffith University, the University of Southern Queensland, Bond University

* Jeff Coleman is Head of Engineering and Technical Operations for NEP

and TAFE Queensland, Gold Coast Coomera. We took over a section of NEP’s

Australia, Host Broadcaster of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

warehouse at Brisbane’s Carole Park and ‘borrowed’ the company’s HD1 high

Visit http://www.nepinc.com/welcome/nep_australia

SPORTSCASTING

NEP, Fox Sports to Create Remote Production Hubs in Sydney and Melbourne FOX SPORTS AND NEP AUSTRALIA have announced the extension of their long-term relationship with a new six-year deal that will usher in the future of live sports broadcasts in Australia.

Set to be the most technically advanced facilities of their kind in the world on this scale, two new NEP-developed ‘hubs’ in Sydney and Melbourne will enable multiple, concurrent outside broadcasts (OBs) and set a new standard for sports television globally.

Whereas OBs customarily require a dedicated control unit housing production staff and equipment at individual events, the hubs will allow for ‘remote production’ of FOX SPORTS’ tier one sports. This means cameras and microphones will be located at the venue, with the majority of the production team based at the hubs.

There, central control facilities can accommodate up to six simultaneous events, connecting with venues via NEP’s new high capacity/low latency countrywide fibre network. Moving away from traditional cables, each hub will be designed around industry-leading IP infrastructure.

With production talent able to work across codes from a single location, FOX SPORTS will be able to benefit from greater opportunities for upskilling and idea-sharing, with the overall benefit being an enhanced and more consistent experience for fans of all major sports watching at home or in pubs and clubs.

Lower operational costs and greater efficiencies through a reduction in staff time spent on the road, combined with central and inter-hub resource sharing across everything from equipment through to disaster recovery capabilities, will also flow from the new hub model.

FOX SPORTS’ deal with NEP will run for an initial term from 2017-2022 and amalgamates existing standalone code arrangements into one contract.

With initial testing underway, the intention is for both hubs to be fully operational across all venues in time for the commencement of the 2018 NRL and AFL seasons.

FOX SPORTS CEO, Patrick Delany, said of the initiative, “This is the outside broadcast production model of the future, and we’re proud at FOX SPORTS to be leading the way in Australia and the world with a venture of this size and scale. The new hubs will mean better working conditions and opportunities for staff, increased scope for creativity, flexibility and consistency across our productions as well as providing significant savings and future-proofing FOX SPORTS for decades to come.”

NEP Australia President Soames Treffry added, “NEP invests in technology to meet broadcasters’ needs and create the best value production solutions for them. Remote production is the industry’s future: centralised control rooms that can cover more than one project a day from multiple remote locations around the country.

“We’re ecstatic that our longstanding partner FOX SPORTS is the first Australian broadcaster to avail themselves of our Sydney and Melbourne hubs and the efficiencies, flexibility, comfort and on-air consistency they provide.”

Visit www.foxsports.com.au and http://www.nepinc.com/welcome/ nep_australia

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SPORTSCASTING continued from p28

back in the factory – the engineers in the factory see the same data as those on track.

“Everything is of course covered by UPS systems. We’ve got about 12,000 watts in here, up to 15,000 watts at times, so that has to be compensated for in the case of power loss. Everything has redundancy failsafes, if one module or section dies we can quickly revert to the backup systems.

“We've also got about 100 cameras around the track, and they’re sent to this drive array which has about 200 terabytes in total space. All footage is then used mainly for FIA purposes. So in the steward's office, for instance, you can playback and review incidents and examine them in slow motion. Last season we were able to hold the whole season onsite, so you could quickly go back to Abu Dhabi for example and review some situations from that race. But we also have storage here for the FIA, so the most critical scenes are stored here and also transported to Geneva or Paris.”

Riedel's Artist system on site.

Out in the pit lane and alongside the pit wall are control centres for each team. Hewre a team manager can connect anyone in the pit crew to anywhere else using Riedel’s Artist Digital Matrix Intercom systems. This constantly feeds the team managers and chief engineers updates on race time, weather, along with telemetry from both car and driver. Dedicated Artist nodes address alternate feeds to groups such as the pit crew, managers, Race Control, factory support engineers, and to the FIA. This is also where I’m introduced to Thomas Riedel himself – proudly the 100% owner of Riedel, and exuberant about his company’s role in the Formula One roadshow. Thomas gave me his slant on Riedel’s F1 network: Thomas Riedel: “It's a number of different layers we put on top of each other.

Basically, one layer is the fibre optic infrastructure which is used for various applications, but we also piggyback an IT network on top of that, then we piggyback a media network on top of that along with an intercom network with the Artist systems.

“The usage of these different systems, as you have seen, is not one client but many. The FIA, each of the teams, and Formula 1 management. We are kind of a service provider, like a telco. The teams are clients and the broadcasters as well. So with the radios it's about 2,000 of these terminals all encrypted, so one team cannot eavesdrop on the other. But in race control we can listen to all the teams and we record all that information.”

Brad Watts: So, Thomas, please tell me about the birth of Riedel the company?

Thomas Riedel: “I was always interested in show business. I started out with my hobby to be a magician. I did that pretty intensively between 10 years old and 20. I realised I wasn’t good enough for a professional life on stage, so I decided I’d work behind stage. I was interested in light and sound equipment – also as a hobby. By the time I was 18, it turned into a business.”

And what were you doing, hiring out gear?

“Hiring out gear, yeah – light and sound equipment. After a couple of years, I made that officially a business. I bought a few radios for an event, and I realised people wanted to rent radios mostly. So, basically, the communications part of the business was founded then. So, then people started asking strange questions, like, ‘well, can you connect your radios with intercom two-wire and four-wire?’, and I said, ‘What is that?’ I didn’t know intercom. I didn’t know what two-wire and four-wire was. But, I learned and so I connected those devices and the first product was born. The RiFace – a mixture of ‘Riedel’ and ‘interface’.”

SPORTSCASTING

So, how did you go about building it?

32

“Well, basically I just looked at what is a four-wire and two-wire circuit. I knew the radios and thought how can I make that work together – to connect the two worlds of wire intercom and wireless. I asked some friends to help me on the electronic design and while the renting out of radios was the foundation of our service division, building that radio interface was the foundation of the manufacturing division. Today it's about a 50/50 split, and five radios have grown to the 40,000 we have now.

“Then, one day I got a call from the Olympic organisation in Norway. At that time, we had Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and they needed an

Prepping for the big race.

intercom solution for the opening and closing ceremonies. And guess what?

They realised this in December for an Olympics in January. I was crazy enough to say I could do it. It was a much smaller scale than Olympic ceremonies today, but still a big job, and I got it because I was the one who said it's possible.”

So, you just put your hand up and got it done?

“Yeah. Then I was in Norway onsite and did a radio interview with the local radio station, just saying how proud I am to be at the Olympics. And someone involved in this circus [F1] drove down the autobahn past Lillehammer exactly at that time and listened to the radio and said, ‘who the heck is Thomas Riedel?’ That's how I ended up here [F1]. So over the years we've added products, we've added services.”

How did the manufacturing kick off with Riedel?

TR: “Well, it's a 30-year timeframe, but the next thing I did was working on an intercom, a small intercom system with up to 32 users. I saw that as mainly for theatres and I sold a lot of them. Then I wanted to do something bigger and felt that probably I can't do that on my own – intercom for broadcasts. Then RTS asked me to become the RTS sales manager. So I started selling RTS and within two years I became the largest RTS distributor globally. I learned a lot about the business I have to admit.

“Then in '98 I had a new client that I couldn’t service without a new system. I told the client they needed to give me a little bit of time but would get what they wanted and they agreed. So, I left RTS and went my own way. The system was for a nationwide intercom system for Austrian television. Crazy of the Austrians to give a contract to a small company, for a system which doesn’t exist based on some drawings and my nice face. But they did. So, that was the first generation of the Artist Intercom which I introduced in 2000.

“Then in 2007 I got the opportunity to acquire a start-up company called Medianet. So, I invested another couple of million to upgrade that to HD and relaunched that in 2009 and today it’s one third of our product business.

“So, you can call it coincidence, you can call it just hard work – I would just say it's probably a combination of everything. You could say it has all started with magic – and there's very much still an element of magic involved.”

Visit www.riedel.net

SPORTSCASTING

Defining the future of Media Dejero to Bring Remote Broadcasting and Fast Data Transfer to NAB Entertainment Technology DEJERO IS ATTENDING the 2017 NAB show (booth C1307) to

showcase its latest developments in the field of IP connectivity for electronic newsgathering (ENG) and remote broadcasting.

are now available in addition to a fully customised, unlimited use package for multipoint-to-multipoint content sharing scenarios.

Visitors to the booth will also see a demonstration of the new capabilities of Dejero’s LIVE+ Control cloud-based management system. LIVE+ Control Making its official debut at NAB, the LIVE+ Gateway solution enables news enables the management of transmitters, gateway devices, servers, and crews to access media assets, research stories, and transfer large files by With over 80 global global installations installations of ofSoftware SoftwareDefined DefinedVideo Video Networking, Networking, content from a web browser. Users can geolocate and remotely control providing fast, reliable, and secure access to the public internet and private thefield. leader in the the transition to IPwith with itsCOTS COTSsolutions. solutions.

Evertz is the leader in transition IP its transmitters, configure broadcast and cloud servers, view performance data networks in the Leveraging patented networkto bonding technologies, and detailed analytics, preview low-latency feeds, and route live or recorded the creates a virtual network of multiple IP connectionsadvanced with evEDGE, EXE switch fabric, Gateways, advancedpacket packet switches Thesolution evEdge, EXE switch fabric, IPIPGateways, switches content to playout the bandwidth and reliability to enable bi-directional data andnecessary MAGNUM control and Orchestration, allow customers to switch Orchestration and control, allow customers to switch and online delivery workflows. transfers from newsroom and production systems. The complete Gateway January saw Dejero setting up camp in Washington D.C. to support its open-formats that standards based. that are are standards based. services, cloud solution includes in-vehicle equipment, cellular connectivity domestic and international customers as they broadcast the 2017 management, and support.

Inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

IP Solutions

New capabilities of Dejero’s highly flexible LIVE+ EnGo mobile transmitter NHK, ABC7 Los Angeles, CTV and Australia’s Nine Network were among will also be showcased at the Dejero booth. EnGo can be camera mounted or the news crews who employed Dejero’s LIVE+ range of IP newsgathering carried in a sling bag or the new ergonomic backpack. Key features include equipment, including the EnGo and GoBox mobile transmitters. a user-accessible SIM module, global roaming packages, and the ability to Dejero deployed a number of private Wi-Fi hotspots for the Inauguration to transmit multichannel audio. EnGo encodes high-quality video and transmits ensurethe its customers broadcast live in key locations surrounding the DreamCatcher changing face of could production and instant replay. it over multiple IP networks to reliably deliver exceptional picture qualityis with White House, including the parade route, the South Lawn, the center of the extremely low latency in the most challenging cellular environments.

Notnetwork only the pioneer of 4K zoom and Mosaic, DreamCatcher also offers the National Mall, the North Lawn, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

Dejero will also showcase the recent enhancements to itsrobust, LIVE+ Multipoint most scalable and modern IP-based replay system in the industry today.

Broadcasters covering the event used Dejero’s cloud management tool, LIVE+ cloud service. Broadcasters and media organisations can now share live HD DreamCatcher’s rapid editing combined with enhanced production Control, tocapabilities monitor and route feeds and remotely manage the equipment in content simultaneously across multiple locations and between different the field. workflow allow replay operators to be true craftsman in their profession. entities anywhere in the world. New capabilities include multichannel audio Visit www.dejero.com and closed captioning. Group and single event point-to-multipoint packages

LIVE PRODUCTION Solutions

Development Kit for User-Generated Content RF DCASTERS Products before the formal edit.

BROA and programme-makers can now easily incorporate user generated content into their edits and on social media with a new software From LNB to IRD, Evertz offers a range of products development kit available on the Forscene cloud video platform.

After experimenting with

anywhere in the world and included in edits or published to social media directly from Forscene.

engagement. This led to the decision to create MYapp – an Android app that will use Forscene’s Camera SDK to gather content from the What’s Up TV audience. Initially user generated content will be featured on What’s Up TV’s social channels – giving the audience an opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences relating to topics raised in the broadcast.

for RF signal reception, Forscene’s Mobile Upload distribution, routing, fibre transport amplification, slope compensation, App to incorporate behindDubbed Camera SDK, Camera SDK will allow Forscene clients to integrate the-scenes footage into protection switching Solutions are available to cover Forscene’s Mobile Upload app intoand their LNB existingpower. applications – so that content their stories, the producers recorded on mobile devices can be transcoded, to the cloud and made extended, L-Band, over the air uploaded DTV, DVB-S/S2/S2X, 70/140MHz and other saw the potential for using available in targeted projects on the cloud video platform. In this way, high quality signal ingest or can uplink applications. an app to increase audience user-generated content be gathered at speed, reviewed by team members

Camera SDK recently saw its first commercial implementation by UK-based Licklemor Productions to increase audience engagement on its Sky 1 youth magazine show, ‘What’s Up TV’.

IP and Fibre transport

Licklemor Productions incorporated Forscene into What’s Up TV’s workflow late in 2016, primarily as a tool for producersFacilities to create rough of inserts arecuts looking for

Visit www.forscene.com innovative solutions to optimize the transport of video, audio and data signals. They need solutions that are flexible and scalable which allow them to deliver increasing number of signals (from SD, ASI, HD and UHD) over dark fibre, SONET/SDH, and/or IP/MPLS networks. Being leaders in this technology, Evertz Remote Production is the obvious solution for remote digital connectivity.

Sales | Service | Support | Solution Integration

Studiotech Australia Unit 18/45 Leighton Place Hornsby NSW 2077 Ph: +61 2 8911 5100 Email: info@studiotechau.com

‘‘

We’re a customer driven organisation striving to understand and exceed our customer’s needs and expectations.”

Michael Bentsen Managing Director

www.studiotechau.com

SPORTSCASTING

Studiotech Australia has some of the world’s best factory trained Support Engineers, Solutions Architects, Installation Technicians and Project Managers to ensure you, the customer, get what you need and more.

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SPORTSCASTING

Brainstorm Integrates AR/VR at NAB BRAINSTORM WILL BE PRESENT AT NAB 2017, booth SL4616 featuring the latest versions of its product line of real-time augmented reality, virtual sets and motion graphics solutions, as well as showcasing several industry-first technologies.

At NAB 2017 Brainstorm will further enhance its InfinitySet virtual set solution with advanced graphics features. InfinitySet not only integrates Aston projects, but now also includes all the features of Aston so it can now edit, manage and create any kind of 2D/3D motion graphics and CG from scratch. Thanks to the TrackFree technology and its TeleTransporter feature, InfinitySet can interchangeably use real, live or pre-recorded footage as the background set for the chroma keyed talent. This functionality permits a remote talent to become a virtual traveller and be teletransported to any location at any time, and seamlessly interact with real and virtual elements.

This interaction is made possible due to the unique 3D Presenter feature which transforms the talent into a full 3D object which is then able to integrate within the 3D environment as well as an AR world.

Virtual sets traditionally allowed for the inclusion of the talent into a virtual scene. Brainstorm has now taken this technology to the next level thanks to the new VirtualGate feature, which integrates the presenter not only in the virtual set but also inside additional content within it. Yet another development of the TrackFree technology, VirtualGate allows the talent in the virtual world to be teletransported to any video with full broadcast continuity.

At NAB 2017 Brainstorm will also launch VideoCAVE, a Mixed Reality application using multiple monitors in a real set performing as a CAVE multiple window, with virtual elements coming in from the virtual windows to the real scene as viewed from a tracked broadcast camera. Brainstorm has 15 years of experience in successfully developing and installing such systems, and with the latest TrackFree based technology it provides real-time insertion of Augmented Reality elements in the final scene from the viewpoint of the broadcast camera.

Brainstorm will announce support formixed reality hardware such as Oculus Rift, and by supporting this new approach to immersive technologies, Brainstorm will be instrumental in changing the game on how content is viewed at home.

In addition, Brainstorm will demonstrate at NAB its support for third party render engines, with special interest in gaming and architectural engines such as Unreal Engine. These highly complex engines provide very photorealistic scenes. When integrated with the Brainstorm eStudio render engine, the highly regarded and core render engine within all of the company’s products, this allows InfinitySet not only to show excellently rendered and realistic background scenes, but also to integrate graphics elements in the final scene, such as 3D motion graphics, lower-thirds, tickers, CG and many other elements.

Brainstorm will also announce support for mixed reality hardware such as Oculus Rift. In addition, Brainstorm will demonstrate at NAB its support for third party render engines, with special interest in gaming and architectural engines such as Unreal Engine. These highly complex engines provide very photorealistic scenes. When integrated with the Brainstorm eStudio

render engine, the core render engine within all of the company’s products, this allows InfinitySet not only to show excellently rendered and realistic background scenes, but also to integrate graphics elements in the final scene, such as 3D motion graphics, lower-thirds, tickers, CG and many other elements.

Brainstorm has developed a range of template-based solutions all built on its industry leading eStudio render engine and which ensures pristine render quality and real-time performance for any kind of 3D graphics and virtual set templates.

At NAB 2017 Brainstorm will release SmartSet which is a template-based playout solution designed for smaller TV stations, corporate and social broadcasters, which provides virtual wet and augmented reality applications without the need to create the sets themselves. Brainstorm’s template solutions play out content to air which has been created by using pre-defined or purpose-built templates designed on Brainstorm applications. Depending on the complexity, sophistication and flexibility of the template, this in turn dictates how ‘smart’ the set can be.

Brainstorm will demonstrate integration with third party hardware such as Blackmagic, FOR-A and NewTek. Brainstorm and FOR-A enjoy a long and successful relationship which has resulted in the creation of a number of products and OEM solutions for the benefit of the customers of both companies. With NewTek, Brainstorm is supporting software-driven IP workflows using NewTek’s Network Device Interface (NDI). Brainstorm integrates NDI into its renowned Infinity Set family of products to be recognisable as a source by other NDI-enabled applications and devices connected to a standard ethernet local area network. And with Blackmagic, Brainstorm announces an integrated configuration to present a best-of-breed production switcher based solution.

Visit www.brainstorm3d.com

Telstra Innovates for Sports Fans in Special NAB Session

SPORTSCASTING

SPORTS FANS NOW EXPECT to interact with their sport, team, and players across any device, on-demand and wherever they are in the world.

Broadcasters and content providers are being challenged to invest and lead the way in production innovation, driving greater fan engagement opportunities for viewers and partners.

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Hear from industry leaders about their approach to innovation, as they drive greater reach and distribution across channels and markets, increase the value of content and ultimately, get sports fans closer to the game than ever before.

This special Info Session sponsored by Telstra brings together sports production and fan engagement experts from content creation, production, and technology companies to share their insights in an engaging and interactive dialogue with each other and the audience.

Monday April 24th, 2017, 3:30 to 5:30 PM. Room N234/N236, North Hall Meeting Rooms, Las Vegas Convention Center.

Visit www.telstra.com.au

NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

WA Election Delivers Cross-Platform Results for Seven West Media THE RECENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA state government election saw Seven West Media WA embark on a first in Australian journalism with large scale, cross-platform election coverage.

The 2017 WA state election on Saturday March 11 was not only an important day for WA, but also an important day in the history of the integrated Seven West Media WA newsroom.

The collaboration between news and reporting teams across The West Australian, The Sunday Times, Digital and Channel Seven Perth created new cross-platform publishing opportunities, which SWM says allowed it to deliver large scale event coverage that no other newsroom in Australia has ever done before.

“This event brought all parts of Australia’s only fully integrated newsroom together,” said The West Australian Editor Brett McCarthy. ‘It was a demonstration of what can be achieved when our people work with each other to bring our readers and viewers big news events. The coverage across the newspapers, TV and online was first class.”

The now fully integrated newsroom was successful in producing several hours of live, rolling television coverage (WA Decides on Seven), five editions of a newspaper on an election day (The Sunday Times), and running live coverage on two websites (www.perthnow.com.au and https://thewest.com. au)including a custom-built vote counter and live blogs on election night.

“The Seven News special presentation – WA Decides – was a ratings success and a brilliant example what can be achieved technically at Seven West Media WA,” said Channel 7 News Director Howard Gretton. “It drew together some of the best people from Perth and around the network and showcased our great

talent including Susannah Carr, Mark Riley and Geof Parry.”

At The Sunday Times, five different editions of the newspaper were made, and more than 120 live pages produced. Staff from across the entire company including reporters, photographers, sub-editors, graphic artists and the print centre all came together to deliver the best coverage possible.

The highly responsive operations also played a part in making it possible to quickly remake the newspaper with the Mark McGowan win, so the breaking news could be distributed all around the state including areas such as Busselton, Bunbury, Narrogin, Nungarin, Mullewa and Pinjarra.

Editor of The Sunday Times Michael Beach said, “The atmosphere in the newsroom was terrific as we pulled apart and interpreted the election in every which way for our readers and viewers.”

The West Australian, The Sunday Times and Seven Perth coverage, in combination with thewest.com.au and PerthNow, proved to be a successful media mix.

The combined audience of The West and Perth Now reached 430,000 unique browsers on Saturday and 554,000 on Sunday – two of the biggest days on record. The West’s live blog also had 229,000 page views from Saturday night into Sunday.

“The results were nothing short of outstanding,” said Dan Stinton, Head of Digital, Seven West Media WA. Visit www.sevenwestmedia.com.au

Taking Control of News Delivery with Dejero FOR FREELANCE AUSTRALIAN CAMERAMAN Rick Sproxton, Dejero’s LIVE+ EnGo and GoBox mobile transmitters have become the mobile technology of choice when it comes to delivering news to clients such as the Nine Network Australia, Network Ten and SBS. Now using three Dejero transmitters, Sproxton is able deliver live HD broadcast quality content that can immediately go to air due to Dejero’s bonded cellular, Wi-Fi and portable satellite connections. Even in challenging cellular network conditions, the freelancer can deliver exceptional picture quality with extremely low latency to his TV network clients across Australia. Sproxton’s decision to rely on Dejero technology is due to its ease of use, simple menu-driven user interface, and the ability to remotely control the unit through a smartphone.

Sproxton has used his Dejero equipment in a variety of scenarios, including provisioning live G20 summit footage to networks whose trucks weren’t permitted to access Brisbane airport. He also uses it to

shoot footage as part of Network TEN’s The Project, often requiring the shooting of interviews at short notice, with a range of different people, in a variety of remote and built-up locations. Sproxton also uses the Dejero kit to feed live content from A-League soccer matches for SBS. Rick has recently become a licenced drone pilot and with Dejero’s integrated HDMI input and the DJI Inspire 2 broadcast link, he can easily transmit live aerials to the networks in 1080i50 for immediate broadcast. He can also record footage directly on the mobile transmitter and transfer it with the ‘Store and Forward’ feature to the Dejero server without extra video conversion required in the workflow.

Visit www.dejero.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

“With the networks under pressure to cut budgets and reduce costly infrastructure, I decided to be self-reliant and to take control of the whole video delivery chain,” explained Sproxton. “With my Dejero GoBox and two EnGo mobile transmitters I can offer my clients the highest quality footage in the shortest possible time. Being on the road and having the ability to feed vision from the field means I can just roll from job to job, which is especially handy when I have days that are stacked up from 3am to 9pm.”

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NEWS OPERATIONS

Grass Valley Upgrades Solutions at NAB BREAKING NEWS becomes old news faster than ever as broadcasters

Even breaking news programs require editing before broadcast. EDIUS Pro

strive to keep up with each other, the 24-hour news cycle and social media journalists. Grass Valley understands that as the news environment changes, broadcast equipment must adapt to mobile studios, new media platforms including digital and social, and the growing use of usergenerated content (UGC). The upgraded GV STRATUS 5.7, EDIUS 8.5 and Ignite v10 are designed to meet these shifting customer needs.

and EDIUS Workgroup are now faster than ever and able to export, decode

“If you picture a news broadcast 25 years ago you probably imagine one reporter sitting at a desk, reading to a camera on the five o’clock program.

In a very short time news has exploded from a half hour broadcast to 24-hour coverage on TV, digital and social, including up-to-the-minute data and real-time graphics.” said Neerav Shah, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Grass Valley.

Ignite v10 brings more flexibility where breaking and unscripted

As news breaks, broadcasters require flexible, collaborative solutions to keep up with the pace and create quality programming. The latest upgrade to GV STRATUS adds powerful transcoding options to the video and workflow orchestration platform. The XRE Transcoder is now integrated into GV STRATUS, enabling broadcasters to ingest a wide range of UGC, leveraging the concept of ‘edit anything’. GV STRATUS 5.7 also introduces a new web application for desktop and mobile.

redesigned with speed in mind, featuring lightning-fast playlist updates –

and add metadata in more formats than before. Among other usability improvements, the editing platform now includes ‘PQ Gamma’ support of Primary Colour Collection video filter for High Dynamic Range (HDR) editing. EDIUS 8.5’s companion personal content management tool, Mync, has also been enhanced to feature more storyboard export options. productions are concerned and now supports a completely customisable UI, letting users configure a unique layout for every show. Additionally, Ignite PT (Persistent Templates) allow operators to make last minute changes to production events directly inside the Ignite rundown, removing the need to go to the NRCS for changing live broadcasts. The Ignite playlist has been less than one second regardless of rundown size. The combination of these and other version 10 enhancements means that Ignite can handle scripted, unscripted, and chaotic productions where change is a constant.

Grass Valley is demonstrating at NAB in booth SL106.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

Dejero Unveils Remote Broadcasting and Fast Data Transfer DEJERO IS ATTENDING the NAB show (booth C1307) to showcase its latest developments in the field of IP connectivity for electronic newsgathering and remote broadcasting.

network environments.

Making its official debut at NAB, the LIVE+ Gateway solution enables news crews to access media assets, research stories, and transfer large files by providing fast, reliable, and secure access to public internet and private networks. Leveraging patented network bonding technologies, the solution creates a virtual network of multiple IP connections to enable bi-directional data transfers from newsroom and production systems. The complete Gateway solution includes in-vehicle equipment, cellular connectivity services, cloud management and support.

content simultaneously across multiple locations and between different

New capabilities of Dejero’s LIVE+ EnGo mobile transmitter will also be showcased. EnGo can be camera mounted or carried in a sling bag or the new ergonomic backpack. Key features include a user-accessible SIM module, global roaming packages, and the ability to transmit multichannel audio. EnGo encodes high-quality video and transmits it over multiple IP networks to deliver with extremely low latency in challenging cellular

Dejero will also showcase the recent enhancements to its LIVE+ Multipoint cloud service. Broadcasters and media organisations can now share live HD entities anywhere in the world. New capabilities include multichannel audio and closed captioning. Group and single event point-to-multipoint packages are now available in addition to a fully customised, unlimited use package for multipoint-to-multipoint content sharing scenarios.

Visitors to Dejero’s booth will also see a demonstration of new capabilities of Dejero’s LIVE+ Control cloud-based management system. LIVE+ Control enables management of transmitters, gateway devices, servers, and content from web browsers. Users can geolocate and remotely control transmitters, configure broadcast and cloud servers, view performance data and detailed analytics, preview low-latency feeds, and route live or recorded content to playout and online delivery workflows.

Visit www.dejero.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

OCTOPUS 8 Newsroom in Vegas

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OCTOPUS NEWSROOM will demonstrate the full feature set of its

YouTube, send breaking news to Twitter and post teasers on Facebook.

Octopus 8 newsroom solution at NAB 2017.

The Octopus 8 Social Media Hub tracks the feedback from social media

Available for Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems, Octopus can also

followers. It also allows content to be uploaded from the rundown to

be accessed via tablets and mobile phones. That takes efficiency to a new

websites via a integration with CMS such as Joomla, WordPress and Drupal.

level especially for reporters covering large scale events where they need

Compatible with Octopus 8 and Octopus 7, the Octopus Mobile app offers

to concentrate on the story rather than be hindered by hardware issues.

journalists news production capabilities on tablets and mobile phones

Octopus 8 can ingest all incoming source material such as agency wires,

running Apple iOS or Google Android. Reporters and editors working

RSS feeds, emails and SMS messaging. It can also source from, and output to, popular social media platforms. Operators can search and browse content posted in accounts such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. They

remotely gain instant access to all wires, rundowns and assignments.

They can also edit stories within a rundown, preview prompter text, as well as create wires and reports in the field. Octopus Mobile supports both

can also follow specific hashtags or channels and have a streamlined view

Octopus 8 and recent versions of Octopus 7.

organised for immediate reference. Newsroom staff can upload videos to

Visit www.octopus-news.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

ChyronHego’s CAMIO Universe LAUNCHED ONLY A YEAR AGO, ChyronHego’s CAMIO Universe is transforming news operations as broadcasters continue to migrate to allsoftware environments and standard off-the-shelf IT technologies, including virtualised server environments.

At the 2017 NAB Show, ChyronHego will showcase the latest product developments driving global adoption of the CAMIO Universe – including the newest version of LyricX, the Prime Graphics Ecosystem, Metacast weather graphics, and the company’s solutions for augmented graphics and virtual sets – all under the control of playout automation.

Building on the acquisition of Click Effects in 2016, ChyronHego will also showcase its solutions for arena production and in-venue experience technology, all in a software-based, unified workflow running in a standard IT infrastructure.

ChyronHego’s CAMIO Universe is a software-based newsroom production ecosystem that enables a producer-driven approach to news content creation and playout. At NAB, ChyronHego will introduce its newest innovations for the CAMIO Universe, including an improved template-creation workflow and the ability to run the solutions inside a virtualised IT server environment for substantially lowered total cost of ownership and the ability to perform on-demand scaling. In addition, as part of its CAMIO Universe presentation, ChyronHego will highlight the release of the new web edition of the LUCI interface and new features for Axis World Graphics, the company’s hosted graphics-creation solution. Improvements to Axis World Graphics include a local order-delivery feature and the debut of a new Axis Maps user interface.

AN ECOSYSTEM FOR SCALABLE, MODULAR GRAPHICS PRODUCTION ChyronHego will introduce PRIME 2.5, a new high-performance update of the company’s PRIME Graphics Ecosystem.

PRIME 2.5 is a resolution-agnostic software-based solution that leverages advanced 64-bit GPU- and CPU-based technologies for maximum power in rendering graphics and effects. With the ability to output multiple channels of graphics and clips from a single system that formerly required multiple solutions, customers gain more functionality and features at a lower cost.

PRIME 2.5 news at the 2017 NAB Show includes multiple new design features and a brand-new Touch Graphics Module.

ROBUST AND EFFORTLESS TICKER BRANDING During the 2017 NAB Show, ChyronHego will unveil version 5 of NewsTicker, the broadcast industry’s most widely used ticker branding solution. NewsTicker is a web-based platform for managing all content (automated, manual, and viewer-generated) and broadcast automation. With version 5, NewsTicker has

been completely re-engineered with a new user interface. Also, NewsTicker 5 is now optimised for all modern browsers and platforms including mobile devices and tablets.

END-TO-END STADIUM PRODUCTION ChyronHego will showcase an end-to-end workflow for stadium production based on the company’s Click Effects family, working in tandem with ChyronHego’s Live Compositor, PRIME, and LyricX graphics solutions to deliver a live in-venue entertainment experience.

When paired with the graphics, playout, and real-time data management solutions in Live Compositor, PRIME, and LyricX, the Click Effects products offer a full solution in an end-to-end broadcast content creation, management, and delivery workflow.

SPORTS PRODUCTION For live sports broadcasting, ChyronHego will showcase a 4K production workflow based on the Paint telestration and analysis solution and LyricX. In addition, the company will showcase a new generation of ChyronHego’s Virtual Placement family of products, including the latest release of Virtual 1st.

NEXT-GENERATION GRAPHICS CREATION AND PLAYOUT Also at the 2017 NAB Show, ChyronHego will highlight the latest version of the company’s LyricX graphics creation and playout solution. LyricX adds powerful usability enhancements, a variety of new design features, and even greater performance than prior versions of the company’s graphics platform.

LyricX allows users to move between SDI and IP, and between 4K and HD video, all within the same graphics platform. In addition, LyricX provides native support for powering large video walls using built-in video matrix technology.

Visit http://chyronhego.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

CAMIO UNIVERSE UPDATES

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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

A Lot of Resolve for ‘A Few Less Men’ BLACKMAGIC DESIGN RECENTLY ANNOUNCED that DaVinci Resolve Studio was used by Colourist Deidre McClelland, CSI, to grade the hit comedy sequel ‘A Few Less Men’ at full-service post studio The Post Lounge’s new Melbourne facility.

A sequel to 2011’s ‘A Few Best Men’, the film picks up where the original left off. Four best friends, David, Tom, Graham and Luke, are in the process of celebrating David’s marriage, when Luke topples off a cliff. Though they initially find him alive and well, a giant boulder crushes and kills him shortly afterwards.

It’s now up to David, Tom, and Graham to bring their deceased friend’s body home to the U.K., but it proves difficult as they find themselves stranded in the middle of Australia’s uninhabited outback. Let the crazy adventures begin.

Though The Post Lounge is Brisbane owned and based, the company purposebuilt a DaVinci Resolve Studio grading theatre in its new Melbourne facility specifically for this project.

“Given that our philosophy is to provide effective, flexible and ultimately budget-friendly services to the film production community, it’s essential to us that we invest only in equipment which is going to be effective and flexible for us – that is, it must work across as many stages of our workflows as possible, be low-cost, portable and extremely accessible to our operators,” said Steve Cooper, owner of The Post Lounge. “Resolve fits our business model perfectly, as we can utilise it for rushes transcoding, editing, online conforms, grading and even potentially creating final file-based deliverables in both our Brisbane and Melbourne facilities.”

As Deidre noted, “It was great to have the team in Brisbane remote into the session overnight to drop in more VFX or adjust the edit when required. DaVinci Resolve Studio is fast becoming the most ubiquitous and easily comprehendible tool for both editors and colourists, so to have a team of editors and an assistant colourist working in the background or overnight from another state in Australia was pretty impressive.”

Assisting with a few VFX shots herself, Deidre explained that with more and more tools becoming available in DaVinci Resole Studio, the line between VFX artist and colourist is blurring. “I quite enjoy proactively solving problems for my clients in the grading suite rather than waiting for another VFX delivery,” she said. “In one scene, there was the usual dilemma of sunny day vs. overcast sky while the actors were trekking through the desert. Using Resolve to help keep the scene cohesive, I layered some blue sky from a previous shot and keyed

through the white sky with a graduated shape to bring the sky through from another video layer.”

In addition to finessing the ‘A Few Less Men’ colourist, Deidre McClelland. overall look of the film during grading, Deidre was tasked with using colour to help enhance different environments and geographies, create juxtaposition between scenes. “‘Chocolate-box’ was the term we used during the grade. The overall look for the film is warm and colourful, and we wanted it to create a ‘too good to be true’ feeling,” explained Deidre. “Also, it’s the middle of Australia, and the audience needs to feel the heat. There are scenes with hyper-coloured lights and the wardrobe is pretty ‘out-there’ in places too, so enhancing that was important. Juxtaposing that is a dark, almost spooky environment when we visit a stranger’s home, but that ominous darkness is quickly contrasted with a bedroom full of quirky colourful costumes.

“We worked really hard to enhance the warmth, but without creating a general wash of one colour by strengthening greens and blues to help contrast,” she added. “The feeling of the film is strong saturated colour, hot and sweaty, sometimes dark and a little freaky. Colour also defined the different geographical locations; we cut to London a few times, so the colour palette was desaturated, cool and quite dark, which helps the audience sense the coldness of the environment, as well as see the difference from Australia.”

With grading completed in just 13 days, Deidre relied on several of DaVinci Resolve Studio’s tools to maximise efficiency.

She explained, “Once the balance grade was done, I found it very efficient to grab groups of shots and in the ‘post clip’ or ‘pre clip,’ create an overall look for that particular scene. If the client wanted to see the before and after, I could switch the look off and on or create multiple versions. The ‘append node to selected clips’ was also very useful. In one click, a bunch of shots got the same adjustment.”

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

Deluxe’s Iloura Delivers Subtle VFX for ‘Lion’ LION IS THE MULTI-ACADEMY

POST PRODUCTION

Award-nominated Australian film from Director Garth Davis that tells the true story of Saroo Brierley (Dev Patel), who as a five year old child was lost on a train in India and ended up thousands of kilometres away from home and family.

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Saroo learned to survive alone in Kolkata, before being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, he set out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home. The film transports audiences from rural 1980s India to the bustling city of Kolkata and present-day Tasmania. The narrative unfolds across three decades and diverse international locations. To help drive the story and underscore key plot points, the filmmakers looked to Deluxe’s Iloura.

Iloura created over 150 visual effects shots for Lion including the film’s opening butterfly sequence, computer generated (CG) vehicles and

compositing for dangerous stunts, crowd duplication and CG clothing for continuity between scenes as well as crafting subtle environmental elements to recreate 1980s India.

Near the end of the film, a sequence with Saroo’s biological mother required the character to appear as if she had aged 25 years. While the actress wore prosthetics on set to alter her appearance, humid conditions during production proved problematic, so Iloura digitally retouched the shots to maintain the illusion of an older woman.

Project Credits: • VFX Supervisor: Julian Dimsey • Compositing Supervisor: Morgan Jones • VFX Production Manager: Pip Wright Visit http://iloura.com.au

POST PRODUCTION

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POST PRODUCTION

Meet the Colourist: Yoomin Lee IN A CAREER SPANNING OVER 15 YEARS, Yoomin Lee has worked for the likes of Australian companies Frame Set & Match, The Lab Sydney, and Cutting Edge. In September 2016, she was appointed to the position of Senior Colourist with London-based Jogger Studios.

Yoomin, how did you make your start in colour?

“After studying film and working on a film production, I got a job as a runner through a friend who was a 3D animator at Frame, Set & Match, a post house in Sydney.

“I was fascinated with all the machinery. We had ITK Millennium Telecine, Da Vinci 2K and Baselight, and I got to know about colour grading. I used to monitor in the tape room what colourists did to the images and I was fascinated by it. It was like the process of painting - creating light, contrast, mood and texture.

Senior Colourist at Jogger Studios, Yoomin Lee.

“I asked one of the senior colourists, Scott Maclean, if it was OK to sit with him and I started to learn from lacing up film. Then I got promoted to a telecine assistant and I learned a lot from two great colourists - Scott as well as Christine Trodd.

“After that, I moved to several major post houses in Sydney and recently joined Jogger Studios in London.”

You’ve been a colourist in Sydney, London and many other cities.

Has your work changed across those countries?

“It is very interesting to observe how people use colour differently in different cities. One thing I noticed since I moved to London is that people tend to be less obsessed with blue sky.”

Depeche Mode ‘Where’s the Revolution’ music video.

Over the last decade, you have pulled together an expansive portfolio of work, particularly in high profile campaigns. What draws you to these projects?

“I have been pretty lucky to have opportunities to work with very talented and passionate people. It takes time to build relationships with your clients and once you understand each other well, it makes the whole process a lot easier. I was lucky to have regular clients who let me be a part of their projects.”

Are some projects easier to grade than others?

“Obviously, if they are well lit and shot in the way they are intended to look, its easier to grade. But, I feel most of the time, grading is more about communicating. Colour is such a subjective thing, you never know if the other person is seeing what you’re seeing, so it’s easier to grade with clients who I can communicate with well.

“I personally enjoy any project that allows me to give my input, and push myself further. I like working with people who have aesthetically similar views, too.”

Can you name a few recent and upcoming projects, and tell us what’s special about them?

POST PRODUCTION

“I recently graded a Depeche Mode music video directed by Anton Corbijn.

It was black and white, and I totally enjoyed working with Anton who has a great vision as a director and photographer.

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A still from Cadbury UK’s #Cadvent campaign.

“In general, you can push so much with Baselight without breaking the image. It’s very subtle and intuitive in enhancing colours. And tracking is superb.”

What advice would you give to people interested in becoming a colourist?

“The environment has been changed massively since I started.

“These days there are many ways that you can train yourself as a grader with accessible software. However, I would strongly recommend getting into post houses with any entry level position. It is very valuable to learn from experienced colourists, and you get to learn a lot while you assist.”

Who is your inspiration?

“We also recently graded a Cadbury Christmas campaign. There were so many versions with a quick turnaround, and using Baselight was beneficial to help us meet the deadline.”

“There are so many inspiring people around me. I get inspired by people who have great craftsmanship.”

What do you like most about Baselight?

“The Kingdom (Lars von Trier), A Clockwork Orange, Seven, Happiness (Todd Solondz), Fargo, Memories of Murder, Nobody Knows.”

“It’s hard to pick just one feature. To me, Baselight is by far the best grading system out of all the systems that I have used. To achieve the same thing, I can save a lot more time using Baselight with its great functions. Its good to not feel limited or compromised within limited time - especially with TVCs.

What's your favorite TV series and/or films?

What do you like to do outside the colour suite?

“I find myself enjoying woodworking, going to galleries. Being away from television. Actually, I haven’t had a TV for many years.”

Visit www.filmlight.ltd.uk

POST PRODUCTION

Vimond Enhances Audio for Cloud-Based Video Editing VIMOND MEDIA SOLUTIONS has announced that it has enhanced its cloud-based video editing application, Vimond IO, with advanced audio features including rubber-banding, collapsed/expanded audio and solo/mute monitoring.

VImond IO is a frame-accurate, multi-user storytelling tool for journalists and video professionals, which lets users quickly put stories and clips together using a wide range of source material, while completing the video in the cloud by rendering for a variety of broadcast and social media environments.

The audio enhancements build upon existing feature sets. Already compliant with US and European standards of frame accuracy, IO now enables editors to use rubber banding – the manipulation of elastic markers – to change volume on audio key frames. The application also now expands and collapses the multiple audio tracks that are typically found on broadcast cameras, allowing for advanced editing on single tracks. In a related development, solo and mute functionality allows editors to isolate sound to improve production value. In order to create smooth transitions between videos stitched together in IO, one can also apply audio cross fades.

countries and technical platforms. Based on the contractual rights, the license windows can be exported directly to the Content Manager, and the content and metadata ingest process can also be fully automated.

Browser-based, IO provides rapid search tools for finding content stored in the Vimond Online Video Platform, or in the customer’s own MAM system. It leverages the cloud to process and host large video files and, on the client side, gives users a low-resolution proxy file in a familiar layout, with a wide range of audio and video editing functionalities. Since rendering happens in the background while you edit, the story is ready for publishing immediately. IO can publish to a CMS, social media sites, or online newspapers.

New features being launched at NAB 2017 include simplifying the management of geographic regions in order to control global rights, and allowing synchronisation of all content for a given region via the interface. An improved content rights scheduling workflow visualises when content is made available, and ensures it is in line with contract restrictions. Finally, the updated content management workflow makes it easy to reuse the same content in other contracts.

Editors can use IO anywhere they have a computer and an Internet connection.

Voiceovers are the only thing they may need to upload. Highly responsive and collaborative by design, IO is a fully functioning editing tool with all the features that online video editors need to make a complete story.

The Rights Manager module provides a new workflow which simplifies content acquisition.

Vimond Media Solutions is also launching an improved version of its Rights Manager module at NAB 2017. Vimond’s Rights Manager organises the cumbersome and fragmented domain of contracts management into a tightly integrated, automated workflow. With Rights Manager, contract managers can track a contract through its full lifecycle. The module’s user interface allows rights managers to stay on top of the multitude of publishing regions,

Until now, many broadcasters have managed their content rights in external systems, which are not integrated with the video CMS. This results in manual copying of complex data between systems, which is prone to manual error.

In addition, it is difficult for rights managers to maintain a full overview over multiple dimensions such as region, country, and technical viewing platform.

See Vimond at NAB 2017, booth SU10105CM. Visit www.vimond.com

Boris FX Plugs Into NAB plug-in packages, Continuum and Sapphire, along with its new 360/VR tool, Mocha VR, at the NAB Show (booth SL6824).

Technology advancements in keying, motion tracking, and 360 video optimisation drive new features into the Boris FX family of products.

Flagship plug-in package Sapphire 11 will be updated to include integrated Academy Award-winning Mocha tracking and masking technology for creative effects isolation. A license agreement with Photron will bring Primatte chroma keying to all Boris FX products, and development in 360/VR workflows has made Mocha VR a huge success in the emerging cinematic VR market.

Boris FX has licensed Primatte, the Academy Award-nominated chroma keying technology developed by Photron. Primatte’s keying algorithm delivers green/blue screen compositing tools and will be released for Avid, Apple, Adobe, and OFX hosts. Under the licensing agreement, all Boris FX products will benefit from the technology.

Sapphire, Continuum, and Mocha will all support RLM (Reprise License Manager) floating license services for enterprise customers – allowing administrators to share all Boris FX licenses and background render capabilities across a facility.

The Boris FX Suite is a new bundle product making Boris’ three most popular plug-in packages (Sapphire, Continuum and Mocha Pro) available together on one license with cost effective pricing. The Boris FX Suite will be available as a permanent license or as an annual subscription for Adobe, Apple, Avid, Autodesk, Blackmagic Design, and other host applications.

Sapphire 11 will integrate Mocha’s tracking and masking tools directly into all its filters bringing new workflows for Sapphire users. Integrated masking inside the legendary Sapphire toolset, particularly the lighting and glow effects, will open new doors for Sapphire users.

For the first time in Sapphire’s 20+ year history, the Sapphire toolset will be offered as nine individual Sapphire Units. Sapphire Units break down the most popular filters into needful categories, allowing for greater pricing flexibility.

Boris Continuum 11 adds new tools for VFX, motion graphics, and finishing including Primatte’s chromakeyer. New Title Studio features include a real-time 3D particle engine and improved UI for motion graphics and title design, and a new 360/VR Unit based on Mocha VR technology for 360 video finishing includes Reorient, 360 optimised blurs and sharpening, and a Insert 2D 360 filter.

Mocha VR brings visual effects workflows to the world of 360 video content creators. Mocha VR is the first plug-in to bring native 360 optimised tracking, masking, object removal, and horizon stabilisation tools to host applications such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Adobe After Effects CC, Avid Media Composer, The Foundry’s NUKE, and Blackmagic Design Fusion. Mocha VR is available as a plug-in or as standalone application for macOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems.

A special guest demo artist line-up for NAB includes: John Dickinson from Motion Works; Yoram Tal, Online Editor, Dancing with the Stars; Mae Manning, Freelance Editor; Nick Harauz, Apple, Adobe and Avid certified instructor; Evan Fellars, Black Math; and Culley Bunker, Skulley Effects.

Visit https://borisfx.com

POST PRODUCTION

BORIS FX WILL BE SHOWCASING major new versions of its premier

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Blockchained Melodies

By Phil Sandberg Blockchain, posited as early as 1991, is a fundamental ingredient of the online digital currency Bitcoin. Now it promises to deliver greater control to content creators over royalty payments, contracts and more.

A BLOCKCHAIN IS, ESSENTIALLY, a decentralised database maintaining an ever-growing list of records (blocks). Each block features a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchains resist tampering or modification and, via the use of a peer-to-peer network and distributed timestamping server, will run autonomously. They can also be used to record contracts and automatically trigger transactions when certain conditions are met.

One of the earliest segments of the content creation sector to undergo digital disruption, the music industry is now seen as a potential beneficiary of blockchain technology.

Mohammed Jalloh, Co-Founder of digital music platform Zimrii – “We’re looking to increase the efficiency of the way the transfer of value happens between artists and their fans.”

Sydney-based start-up Zimrii Music is one company to identify that potential.

According to Co-Founder, Mohammed Jalloh, Zimrii is aimed at “… independent music artists looking to have a platform that supports their running of a music business in a more effective way”.

For a monthly user fee, musicians will be able to not only manage payments for downloads, but also royalties, and fund raising for recording projects. This is achieved via the use of “Smart Contracts” which are an extension to the blockchain.

“When an action or an event such as sale of music or digital asset occurs, then Smart Contract executes,” says Jalloh. “The actual payment system would be in a different platform, but it’s the actual translation of that information to say, ‘yes, that Smart Contract is executed’, therefore you can execute the payment to the parties.”

In the case of crowd-funding, Jalloh says the blockchain-linked Smart Contracts can be used to encourage investment in a music project based on the incentive of a return on sales.

“If the song does really well, and the artist does really well, then the fans are also rewarded equally as well,” says the Zimrii Co-Founder. “They have a vested interest in not only initially committing to the crowd-funding proposition, but also to promote the band and the artist. The fans do well as well through the rights to the songs.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

“That’s all done automatically through the blockchain and everyone gets paid through the blockchain and through the Smart Contract as opposed to waiting, at the moment, every quarter to receive copyright proceeds which are held by different parties and different bodies in different countries.

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With a scheduled beta launch this August and full commercial release in September, Zimrii is currently working with a number of artists to fine-tune the platform.

“We’re going to be working with a few interested parties and bands. A few have expressed interest in exploring this area,” says Mohammed Jalloh. “So, we’re looking to work with those guys to help us to shape the platform and get a product market going.

“APRA AMCOS is a body that holds the copyright information on behalf of the artists and other bodies in the process and then they also administer the copyright payments according to the plays of the songs, etc. So, they hold the information.

“We have also got a website. We’ve people who have subscribed to our mailing list where we’re keeping people informed of progress and news. I think a lot of music artists would perhaps not know what blockchain is. There’s some out there who do know what it is about and they’re quite excited by the potential of it.

“The blockchain looks to try and move away from central bodies holding information, so it is a method of information distribution. We’re not saying that our platform of blockchain will do away with these bodies, but we’re looking to increase the efficiency of the way the transfer of value happens between artists and their fans in a different mechanism.

“We have foreign investors in the UK. We will have opportunities to talk to music artists in the UK and reach out to users who want to use the platform.

And then, obviously, over time as we grow we can look to expand and have offices overseas to actually generate a more focussed community landing platform in those regions.

“It could be a body like APRA AMCOS uses the elements of the platform to actually increase efficiencies in their processes, but we’re looking to artists to actually field it through the mechanisms of distribution of information, whether it can all be done via different parties, different bands, co-collaborators, composers, music artists, etc., without the need for APRA AMCOS, and other global bodies as well.

“The investors from the UK gave us some good impetus in terms of validation of the idea and I think now, even though BlockChain is still an emerging technology, people are still finding their feet with the technology. In the case of actually starting and putting it out there to people, we have the right attitude, but there’s a lot more talk around BlockChain and its potential. So, I think people are keen to see what it can do and how it can work in a platform, and software and service products.”

“I don’t think that will happen overnight. That’s something that I think the industry will come to terms with as blockchain matures.”

Visit www.zimrii.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Wazee Gets to the Core of DAM DURING NAB 2017, WAZEE DIGITAL will highlight Wazee Digital Core, the company’s digital asset management solution – built from the ground up to operate in the cloud. Core is the centre of the Wazee Digital content management system, the foundation for all of the company’s services and capabilities. Core manages the complex tasks of video content acquisition, effective workflow, universal access, metadata management, and automated delivery to any affiliate or any screen. Core integrates powerful multiscreen video logistics with workflow intelligence to give content owners maximum operational efficiencies and control. Furthermore, Core offers secure cloud storage that scales with the size of the digital library. At the show, Wazee Digital will demonstrate new features such as YouTube publishing, YouTube claiming, enhanced search, and controlled vocabulary.

Also highlighted at the 2017 NAB Show will be Wazee Digital’s Live Event Services, the company’s solution for capturing, amplifying, and monetising sports and live events. Once captured, these moments live forever, offering value to sports and entertainment properties and their rights holders. Wazee Digital’s Live Event Services include content capture, management, and access, highlights production and publishing, an interview and highlights newswire, sponsor activation, and dynamic ingest and licensing.

Part of what makes Live Event Services possible is Wazee Digital Media Hub, a centralised, web-based system that allows host broadcasters to capture live moments and make them immediately available for global highlights, publishing, and syndication as the event is happening. Unlike FTP sites, file-hosting services, and ‘sneaker-net’ workarounds such as hard-drives or thumb-drives, the Digital Media Hub web portal gives broadcasters administration and permissioning capabilities, while stakeholders get immediate access to broadcast-quality content, enhanced, searchable metadata, preview capabilities, and accelerated, one-click downloading all from one central location. Lastly, Wazee Digital Commerce is a portal designed to help rights holders maximise the value of their premium content by connecting with customers who need video. Buyers such as filmmakers, broadcasters, and advertising agencies go to Commerce to search for and purchase clips to use in their projects. Commerce is set for a major overhaul and will be reintroduced to the industry in May. Visitors to the 2017 NAB Show will get a sneak peek at the new and improved Commerce portal.

Visit www.wazeedigital.com

Vintage Cloud Brings Intelligence to Film Archive Digitisation HAVING RECENTLY ACQUIRED renowned film editing table manufacturer Steenbeck and created what it says is the world’s fastest film archive digitisation system, Vintage Cloud has now made it “the most intelligent” – and is showcasing the new capability for the first time at NAB (booth SU14010). Using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology and machine learning, Vintage Cloud’s Smart Indexing brings speed and accessibility to metadata – transforming the value of the asset.

Smart Indexing is available integrated within the Vintage Cloud Steenbeck digitiser, or as a standalone solution that can import and enhance metadata from archives that have already been digitised.

Using a keyframe every three seconds, Smart Indexing is capable of delivering a tagging result in a fraction of a second. AI allows Smart Indexing to automatically recognise over 11,000 objects, scenes and events with an accuracy that is equal to, or better, than that of a human.

More than that, it can even recognise faces (including the emotions portrayed by those faces). Smart Indexing can distinguish ‘known’ faces, or the user can add names to faces and those faces, with their associated data, are added to the Smart Indexing database such that they are automatically recognisable in other assets.

“Smart indexing makes it possible to find your clip using simple free text search on our search engine,” said Peter Englesson, CEO of Vintage Cloud. “It’s as easy as

that. You just search what you’re looking for – and we find the clip for you.”

The Smart Indexing process also automatically searches for a Wikipedia file related to the film title and links to it. In addition, it includes an advanced speech-totext capability, providing an immediate transcript of the audio which becomes part of the asset’s new searchable metadata.

The Vintage Cloud Steenbeck is on show at NAB. It can analyse the picture quality of a scanned film master or proxy to check for out of focus, dust/dirt level and film grain noise level. It is also capable of digitising separate image and audio at the same time at up to 4K resolution and up to 60 fps.

Visit www.vintagecloud.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Signiant to Unveil Major Innovations

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DURING NAB, Signiant will unveil a new transport architecture that brings the company’s acceleration technology to standard HTTP(S) transfers. Designed for a cloud-centric, standards-focused world, the recently patented scale-out architecture is capable of delivering data to cloud object storage at multiple gigabits per second. This standards-based approach allows customers to accelerate transfers via familiar interfaces such as web browsers or CLIs and SDKs from cloud vendors. A further benefit is the ability to optimise delivery of either file-based content or live video feeds over the same link, ensuring speed, reliability and security for all media transfers – as well as compatibility with emerging IP production environments.

For the broadest possible access to content, Signiant is introducing functionality that enables authorised users access to their files from anywhere, on any device, without any special software on the user’s computer. While most users engage with Signiant systems via an installed application or browser plug-in to take advantage of accelerated transport, there are some situations

where this is impractical. By accommodating users who want to use a mobile device or are unable to install software, Signiant enables adoption across the entire media ecosystem. System administrators can maintain full control and visibility of every transfer, while all end users enjoy a simple, uniform experience.

As storage choices continue to proliferate, Signiant says it remains committed to the notion of storage independence. Media enterprises have long relied on the company’s software to access assets stored in traditional on-premises file systems, and its cloud-native offerings set the standard for accelerated transport to public cloud services such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. With local (on-premises) object storage gaining traction due to its scalability and compatibility with cloud architectures, Signiant now offers support for S3-compatible object storage offerings from vendors such as EMC, NetApp, and Quantum.

Visit www.signiant.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Masstech to Launch Disaster Recovery Platform MASSTECH WILL LAUNCH a new disaster recovery (DR) solution for

system automatically synchronises the latest program content, advertising

playout environments at the upcoming 2017 NAB Show (booth SU3202).

Designed to address the growing risks and consequences faced by today’s broadcasters and media organisations, Masstech’s easy and cost-effective DR platform helps customers protect their revenues, minimise channel downtime and maximise long-term viewer retention if primary playout operations are disrupted.

spots and playlists from the primary playout facility, continually keeping the

Masstech’s comprehensive DR solution provides broadcasters, programmers and MVPDs with a fully-automated content replication and playout platform for their secondary playout site. The package includes the powerful MassStore software for communication and synchronisation with the primary playout facility, a reliable, fully-integrated automation and playout system, and terabytes of dedicated, near-line storage to keep multiple days’ worth of content ready for playback.

can be automatically inserted into playlists as a last resort to replace content

XDT Updates Catapult File Transfer Software XDT HAS RELEASED a new updated version of its popular free Catapult high-speed file transfer software. The latest version now includes 50Mbits of free bandwidth, several new features including watch folders and a web-based mobile friendly dashboard.

Catapult delivers an easy to use, high-speed point-to-point data transfer application available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms. Catapult enables companies to efficiently utilise any internet and VPN connection via its built-in TCP and UDP accelerated transfer protocol.

Providing a free alternative to existing FTP servers, Catapult allows broadcasters, studios, post- production facilities and content creators to significantly reduce file

MassStore’s integrated transcoding engine can optionally reduce the bit rates of media files, enabling programs and ads to be replicated faster and more efficiently even on bandwidth-constrained network links. Evergreen material that wasn’t yet transferred to the alternate site, and for news-producing channels, the solution can automatically play an archive of the most recent news broadcast if an outage occurs during a live newscast.

Always active even when the station’s primary signal is fine, the Masstech DR solution is immediately ready to go to air with no startup time required, minimising channel downtime. Meanwhile, a centralised management option enables broadcast groups to host an alternate control site for one or multiple stations.

Visit http://info.masstech.com transfer times and manage data via a simple to use and familiar user interface.

Employing the power of both TCP and UDP Catapult offers an optimal path for any network, regardless of latency or packet loss.

New features include: • Now 50Mbits bandwidth included in free version.

• Control HTML5/mobile dashboard for monitoring traffic on one or more Catapult servers and advanced transfer reporting.

• Watch folders with forward syncing functionality.

• Several user interface enhancements and server management updates.

Catapult is now available for free download via the catapultsoft.com website.

Visit www.catapultsoft.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

While rudimentary DR solutions depend on replays of generic, ‘evergreen’ content to keep channels on-air or online, such approaches fail to meet stations’ obligations to their advertisers and content license holders, and such programming will not hold viewers’ attention. In contrast, the Masstech DR

backup playout environment as up-to-date as possible.

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Tedial Revolutionises Storage Management at NAB TEDIAL WILL DEBUT Evolution Augmented STorage, a new concept in storage virtualisation systems to be demonstrated in Booth N 1420 during NAB 2017.

Expanding its platform, Tedial introduces Multiverse, a tight integration between Pebble Broadcast Systems’ Marina Automation and Tedial’s Evolution MAM. Evolution Augmented STorage (AST), is a new concept in Storage Virtualisation Systems that expands and extends the paradigm of Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM). AST provides a heterogeneous ecosystem to handle any type of multimedia content regardless of its physical location, and facilitate media operations such as editing based on timecode or efficient management of large UHD or low/lossless compression files across multiple sites. Treating content as an object that includes a minimum metadata packet allows storage to operate independent of MAM solutions, able to archive and publish content and easily integrate with third party systems.

AST virtualises file locations enabling multi-site operations, cloud workflows or hybrid scenarios. For those customers managing a multi-site, distributed operation, AST can transparently manage the same content in multiple locations, automating task assignment and data transfer across multiple sites as needed.

The platform is built around resilient and scalable architecture and provides high security and content protection by requiring authentication. Different groups are assigned different access levels, and retention policies can be easily defined to protect the content and limit the access.

Meanwhile, Multiverse is a tight integration between Pebble Broadcast Systems’ Marina Automation and Tedial’s Evolution MAM that delivers a flexible cross-

platform media preparation and delivery solution. The platform creates a seamless workflow between the MAM, playout systems and VOD services, efficiently solving distribution challenges for linear and non-linear channels. Because it processes media once for all platforms, Multiverse unifies and speeds on-demand and linear content workflows and allows easy management of media assets and automation of tasks such as live production turnaround to VOD while significantly reducing operational costs by minimising the number of systems required.

For media asset versioning and replacement workflows, different versions of media assets for playout can be created and automatically added to Evolution MAM, which in turn triggers Marina Automation to delete old media from its playlist and transfer new assets to playout, all without human intervention.

Visit www.tedial.com

New TMD Asset Management Enhancements TMD IS INTRODUCING additional software bolt-on to its media service applications at NAB 2017 (booth N6227). These are built on the MediaflexUMS (Unified Media Services) architecture, a powerful solution for all aspects of software-defined workflow management.

Three new bolt-ons are being demonstrated at NAB and can be added to any of the current media service applications. MediaPackages provides complete workflow management for the creation and delivery of packages to non-linear/ OTT platforms. MediaMiSR provides sophisticated integration with third-party scheduling systems, automatically raises workflows based on those schedules, reports on missing content and manages cache storage for transmission-ready content for playout systems. Finally, MediaLines provides complete management for the scheduled recording of live feeds.

These bolt-ons add functionality to the existing range of media service

applications. For example, MediaPackages can now enhance the functionality of OnPoint, the post production management solution, to deliver non-liner packages directly from post production. MediaPackages can also now be added to Paragon+, the content management solution, to provide complete workflow management for non-linear delivery. MediaMiSR can be added to Paragon+, to drive workflow management from your program schedules.

Also new for NAB 2017 is the introduction of TMD’s media service application for media logistics. It provides tools that allow you to manage your production supply chain from commissioning and ordering through to program delivery. TMD will also show Mediaflex-UMS Analytics which are fast-reporting, workflow-data dashboards with real-time analytics to monitor operational efficiency and identify bottlenecks quickly.

Visit www.tmd.tv

SGL Broadcast’s Latest FlashNet AT NAB 2017, SGL will showcase the latest version of its flagship FlashNet content management system, which includes the following key features:

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

• Enhanced Disaster Recovery: SGL is introducing new tools to enable multiple sites to stay in sync with each other, even when every site is running its own production processes.

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• A Major Revision to the FlashNet Watch Folder Service: The Watch Folder Service now manages projects, offers efficient Incremental Archiving, monitors vast numbers of watch folder files and supports Mac and camera storage workflows.

• Full Support for Sony’s latest Optical Disk System – ODS 2: FlashNet’s ODS 2 support provides speeds that approach 2Gb/sec writing and 1Gb/sec reading.

• Integrated Amazon Cloud Archiving: Amazon’s S3 and Glacier platforms can now be used as archiving destinations. FlashNet’s life-cycle rules engine easily moves assets between each platform.

• Support for AXF: FlashNet can read and process AXF objects providing greater flexibility for customers, ensuring long term availability of content in the future regardless of technology evolution.

• Support for Sony Ci: SGL supports Ci, Sony’s cloud-based service that allows media professionals to collaborate on the creation and sharing of high quality, high resolution content. Both workspaces and archive destinations are supported.

The company will also be highlighting SGL FlashNet Lite, SGL’s entry-level archive which comes in four configurations: FL Disk, FL Tape, FL Hybrid and FL Optical Disk, providing options for content storage that is disk only, tape only, optical disk, or a combination of disk and tape.

• FlashNet Infinity User Interface: SGL will highlight the latest developments to its FlashNet Infinity User Interface. Providing media companies with a dashboard that simplifies the management of media archives, Infinity delivers a toolset for archive and restore functionality, system health, monitoring, analysis and more. New features include: A Navigator tool to explore the entire set of archived assets in their original folder format, support for watch folder projects, advanced metadata support, and capacity analysis. FlashNet is available as a free upgrade to all SGL FlashNet users covered by a current support contract who are running FlashNet 6.6 or later.

SGL is also highlighting: • Pre-defined drives for specific archive roles: FlashNet allows customers to allocate a pre-defined number of drives within their library for a specific role, such as archiving Avid jobs only, or restoring/archiving material at a certain time of day.

• Support for DPX Format: FlashNet supports DPX-format assets – a standard format for cinema-oriented media. DPX media has one file per frame. Support includes partial file restore.

Visit www.sglbroadcast.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Crucial DDR4 DIMMs Boost Server Performance CRUCIAL HAS LAUNCHED its latest DDR4 server DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules). With speeds of 2666MT/s (megatransfers per second), new Crucial DDR4 server memory modules allow for increased performance and bandwidth within data centres and hyperscale environments. They’re also available in a variety of server module types and densities, ranging from 8GB to 64GB. New Crucial 2666MT/s 8GB-based server memory modules are approximately 11% faster than the previously 2400MT/s DIMMs. Additionally, the newly expanded portfolio of Crucial server memory will support cloud and enterprise environments that are migrating to next-generation Intel server platforms.

“Improving system performance in the data centre is one of many priorities

organisations are looking to address as the need to meet ever-increasing and

How to keep up with the speed of change.

more demanding workloads evolves,” said Michael Moreland, Crucial Server DRAM Product Marketing Manager. “Crucial’s new 2666MT/s server modules can help data centre and hyperscale customers reduce performance burdens by using faster memory to help advance the efficiencies of their server systems.”

The new modules are available for purchase via Crucial’s web site and through select global partners. All Crucial memory is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Visit www.crucial.com/memory-server

Lexar 512GB Pro Memory Card for 4K Capture LEXAR HAS DOUBLED CAPACITY for the Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 memory card, providing the capacity and speed thresholds needed for cinematographers, filmmakers, and content creators to capture the highestquality 4K and ProRes video and RAW photos.

The Lexar Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card line, specifically optimised for ARRI cameras, will also double in capacity to 512GB in the first half of 2017.

Features include: • 512GB Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card provides read transfer speeds up to 525MB/s and write speeds up to 445MB/s.

• Captures highest-quality 4K video and beyond with next-generation, cinemagrade video cameras.

• Provides high-speed file transfer that accelerates workflow.

• Also coming soon, 512GB Lexar Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card optimised for ARRI cameras.

Micron Consumer Products Group Marketing Manager – APAC, Mathew Luu said, “As professional imaging technology continues to advance, it’s crucial

that memory storage formats keep pace with data needs. When shooting 200fps on a production-level camera, it’s easy to fill a 256GB card in just 17 minutes. The 512GB 3500x CFast 2.0 card can capture more than twice that.”

The Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card also includes a lifetime copy of Image Rescue software to recover most photo and select video files, even if erased or the card is corrupted. The card is also backed by expert technical support and a limited lifetime warranty. The new card capacity will be available in Q1 of 2017.

The Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card line is also available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities. In addition, the Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card line is available in 128GB and 256GB capacities.

Visit www.lexar.com

SMPTE 17, Australia’s leading exhibition and conference for the broadcast and technology industry will showcase what all of us will be utilising in the coming years, the future is focused on integration and workflows that create connected environments where content and information are easily shared.

To stay ahead of the game register today at www.smpte.com.au To enquire about exhibiting contact dawn.sullivan@expertiseevents.com.au or call 02 9452 7548

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

18 – 21 July, 2017 International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) Darling Harbour

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AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

AES to Explore Audio for New Realities THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY’S Technical Council (AESTC) has formed a new group to advance the science and application of Audio for New Realities. The group will serve the needs of the audio community working in Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality environments.

“New realities” covers a whole gamut of application areas including film, games, music, communications, medicine, forensics, simulations, education and virtual tourism. The technical requirements for new realities cover obvious areas such as spatial audio and synthesis but extend beyond into audio networking, semantic audio, perception, broadcast and online delivery. There will therefore be a need for good cooperation with existing AESTC Technical Committees providing leadership in related disciplines.

The group will initially operate under the Audio for Games Technical Committee. Technical Council Vice-Chair Michael Kelly says, “This is an exciting and new area for the AES as an organization. A large number of our society’s members already have strong expertise in this emerging area. The Games Technical Committee is a great starting point for the group, but it is not the end-point. We are seeking expert stakeholders in all application areas. We are looking at synergies across these areas but also at what makes them unique.”

Dr. Gavin Kearney, researcher and lecturer at the University of York, has been appointed as the group leader.

“We’ve asked Gavin to lead this group, as it is an area close to his heart, and also as he is well connected with key industry members while retaining a degree of objectivity in his academic position,” says Kelly.

“A core responsibility of the group will be to define a roadmap for the AES to address emergent applications in new realities”, Kearney comments.

“The group will consist of industry professionals working at the forefront of commercial technologies for virtual, augmented and mixed realities as well as key academics in the field whose audio research crosses new multidisciplinary boundaries.

Our initial objectives will include collating the state of the art in audio for new realities across recording, composition, sound design, spatial audio, environmental analysis and auditory scene synthesis, in order to develop technical workflows that are practical and relevant to the industry and creative practitioners in the field.”

AES President Alex U. Case says, “The AES has a legacy of embracing emerging audio applications and markets. That includes audio for virtual, augmented and mixed reality, where there’s so much excitement and progress. Beginning with the landmark AES AVAR Conference, AES has focused the expertise,

Sounding out new realities, Dr. Gavin Kearney, lecturer at the University of York.

knowledge and skill of its membership on the vast range of creative possibilities to be explored and the breadth of technical challenges to solve in this fledgling market sector. Conference chairs Andres Mayo and Linda Gedemer did a great job of engaging the best minds in audio with the rich pool of talent involved in new reality production. While the field is so young and dynamic that people don’t even know yet what to call AR/VR/MR, we’re continuing AES’s market leadership with two solid tracks at the Berlin and New York conventions. Expanding our Technical Council to address these new realities, with leadership by Dr. Kearney, is further evidence of AES’s commitment to the future.”

Visit www.aes.org

Telos Leads AES67 and AoIP Education to NAB 2017 THE TELOS ALLIANCE has announced that it will be leading four AES67- and AoIP-centric sessions at NAB at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 22–27.

The Telos Alliance sessions span both the Radio and TV sides of the broadcast industry, and will include the following topics: Loudness Compliance in an AES67-Equipped Facility - April 22, 2017, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Room N258.

As video facilities migrate from SDI embedded audio to an increasing number of IP-based standards such as AES67, maintaining loudness compliance remains as important as ever. Markus Hintz, VP, Global Sales and Business Development for the TV Solutions Group of the Telos Alliance will explore approaches for maintaining consistent loudness compliance and dealing with audio management challenges in facilities making the transition between SDI and AES67 infrastructure.

AUDIO

Faster, Cheaper, and Better: The Rapid Adoption of AES67 and AoIP Lets You Have All Three - April 23, 2017, 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM, Room N256

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Telos Alliance Chief Technical Officer Greg Shay – AoIP expert and architect of Livewire, the first

AoIP standard specifically for broadcast – will help the audience navigate the IP transition to catapult them down the path to faster, cheaper, and better networking, audio, and operations, helping them understand and implement AoIP and AES67 in their own facilities. In addition, Shay will also illustrate how, using AES67, the audio quality of telecommunications and intercommunications can be as good as in-studio audio.

Virtual Talkshow Production: Now Here Can Be Anywhere - April 25, 2017, 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM, Room N260 For some years, clever engineers have accommodated on-air talent’s nomadic tendencies, allowing them to host their shows from home, on the road, or even from exotic venues. Now “talent portability,” a new application of SIP, VoIP, and other protocols, is positively disrupting content creation workflows. In addition to the talent contributing from almost anywhere, now the call screener, producer, and even the originating studio can be nearly wherever convenience or necessity dictate. While this has always been possible, now it’s practical and even advantageous. Telecom technologies like SIP/VoIP are becoming more ubiquitous and less mysterious. Along with fast Internet and VPNs, they not only enable flexible

workflows, they enable alternatives to singlestudio or expensive remote solutions. Moreover, cloud services enable easier, secure connections among talent, producers, and callers. Here, Telos Alliance’s Director of Multimedia Marketing Kirk Harnack and Project Manager Joe Talbot demonstrate some clever implementations in use now, as well as preview strategies and techniques for achieving efficient and effective talkshow workflows.

Updating Television Broadcast Telephony and Communication Using SIP, VoIP and AoIP - April 26, 2017, 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM, Room N258 Martin Dyster, Vice President of Business Development, TV Solutions Group of the Telos Alliance, explains how the integration of a digital telephone service, delivered via SIP from the station PBX, and cutting-edge network audio technology, have provided interfacing of broadcast audio and voice circuits between local and remote field operations across a distributed network architecture. He will detail how the automated and virtualised IFB matrix ensures seamless forward routing and reverse path backhaul switching based on COTS network hardware while using the legacy control system.

Visit www.telosalliance.com

AUDIO

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AUDIO

RTW to Unveil TM3 RackMount Solution RTW IS SET TO DEBUT a 19-inch rack-mount incarnations of its TM3 and TM3Primus series of products at this year’s NAB show (booth N7220). Also on display will be RTW’s TM7/TM9 TouchMonitors featuring upgraded firmware.

The TM3 RackMount comes in two versions that integrate with either the TM3 TouchMonitor or the TM3-Primus TouchMonitor by swapping out the necessary hardware. The TM3-2U is a mounting system for RTW’s TM3 series products, including the TM3, TM3S, TM3-3G and TM3-3GS. With the appropriate mount, the TM3-Primus may also be used in this configuration. The TM3-Pri-2U is the rack-mount for RTW’s TM3-Primus, allowing mounting for the TM3-Primus into an appropriate mechanical environment.

Designed for workstations and edit suites, the TM3 TouchMonitors come with a 4.3inch touchscreen interface allowing for vertical and horizontal operation with a full set of instruments for level and loudness metering. The TM3-Primus is the world’s only USB audio monitor and features RCA-type two-channel analogue and digital (S/PDIF) loudness and level meters.

Also on display will be the latest firmware version for RTW’s TM7/TM9 TouchMonitors.

The firmware offers up to four parallel instances of the stereo vectorscope, allowing simultaneous monitoring of transmission streams. A 1/12th octave filter bank has been added to the RTA (Real Time Analyser) feature set for an more refined graduated frequency distribution analysis. A custom selected password feature has

also been implemented for security against unauthorised adjustment changes.

Firmware version 6.0 also supports four-channel operation of a TouchMonitor, even without the presence of the multichannel license. This allows attractive combinations in operation with RTW’s TMR7. Additionally, adjustments have been made to adhere to recent changes in the global loudness standards. The new firmware can be installed into all RTW TM7 and TM9 series instruments, as well as into TMR7 units. TM7 and TM9 ‘TC Electronic’ devices can also be updated to cover bug fixes. To access all new features and functions these devices must be upgraded with the SW20021 TC Conversion Kit. RTW will also be showing its software and hardware products at its NAB booth.

This includes the company’s Continuous Loudness Control (CLC), MasterClass plugins: Loudness Tools and Mastering Tools, SurroundControl 31900 and 31960 series, and its full range of TouchMonitors.

Visit www.rtw.com

Pliant Exposes Lightweight Pro Comms Headset PLIANT TECHNOLOGIES is displaying its compact SmartBoom LITE headset at NAB 2017 (booth C12721). Along with the complete line of SmartBoom PRO headsets, the SmartBoom LITE series features exceptional comfort, audio quality, advanced features and design enhancements, including the proven SmartBoom technology, which allows the adjustable microphone boom to act as an on/off switch for fast muting.

“The versatile SmartBoom series of headsets is designed to meet the needs and industry demands of broadcast professionals in the most challenging production environments,” said Gary Rosen, Global Sales Manager for Pliant Technologies. “The SmartBoom LITE headset incorporates all these features into a smaller, lightweight design perfect for enhanced mobility and flexibility.

The headset is designed with an ambidextrous swivelling mic boom that fits the diverse needs and preferences of those working in the field.”

Orban to Introduce Orban HiFi ORBAN HAS ANNOUNCED its entrance into the consumer market with a surround sound application for smart devices – Orban HiFi. A complete 3-D audio experience, the Orban HiFi app creates rich, dynamic surround sound through any smart device (phones, tablets, game consoles) using any type of wired or Bluetooth headphones. Audio content delivered by this technology, regardless of the source, will sound cleaner, crisper, wider and more dynamic to listeners.

Utilising Orban’s patented Holographic Imaging and Xponential Loudness algorithms, the Orban HiFi app delivers a captivating sound field without relying on artificial ambience or special encoding to create 5.1 surround in headphones.

Orban originally designed this technology for industry use by broadcasters, production houses and recording studios. According to the company, ‘this

The SmartBoom series of communications headsets are specifically designed for comfort and durability. In addition to the SmartBoom on/off microphone muting feature, its closed back on-ear design and a single-ear lightweight form factor provides enhanced acoustic isolation.

The mic boom is flexible and has a dynamic noise-cancelling cardioid microphone optimised for voice communications.

Visit http://plianttechnologies.com game-changing breakthrough ensures consumers the same world-class quality, without the hefty price tag’.

“We designed the Orban HiFi app to be integrated by OEMs into their smart devices and by automotive suppliers for in-dash automotive applications,” said Mike Pappas, Orban’s VP of Business Development. “Several leading worldclass suppliers are beta testing Orban HiFi now, and are planning to deploy this embedded application in their next product releases. Our OEM customers are leveraging Orban HiFi’s unique sonic advantages to drive sales of their products.”

Orban will debut Orban HiFi at the 2017 NAB Show, booth N3203. NAB attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to hear demonstrations of this new technology throughout the convention in mobile and automotive settings.

Visit www.orban.com

Wisycom to Debut MAT244 Programmable RF Combiner

AUDIO

WISYCOM WILL BE INTRODUCING its new MAT244 Programmable RF Combiner at this year’s NAB Show (booth C865). This solution is a four-channel version of the company’s MAT288. Also on display will be the MPR50-IEM and mainstay Wisycom equipment.

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With four available area controls, the MAT244 is designed to combine RF from four separate locations on the fly thanks to a matrix of solidstate switches. It operates on a bandwidth from 150-840MHz and can be managed remotely via ethernet. Each input offers programmable attenuators, and antenna boosters can be supplied on every input

independently.

Also on display will be Wisycom’s MPR50-IEM. Designed for in-ear monitoring applications, the MPR50-IEM features an easy-to-navigate user interface with components requested by established Wisycom users. The main addition to the MPR50 is the ENS compander, which significantly increases the quality of audio transmission during the transfer of complex data, including high-dynamic audio inputs.

Visit www.wisycom.com

AUDIO

Jünger Audio Gets Smart with Audio JÜNGER AUDIO WILL BE PRESENT at two locations at NAB 2017: on its own booth in North Hall (N4831), and on its US distributor’s stand, Independent Audio, at booth in Central Hall (C3036).

While Independent Audio will concentrate on presenting the company’s processor products, Jünger Audio’s own booth will highlight ‘Smart Audio’, which encompasses high quality and automated audio production, particularly in live broadcast and production environments.

‘Smart Audio’ implies investing in complementary, reliable and future-proofed equipment that can deliver audio content amongst automated as well as nonautomated workflows, while maintaining high quality. The concept has already been adopted by broadcasters including Input Media in London, Germany’s ARD Tagesschau, and Sky Sports.

Independent Audio will represent Jünger’s full range of loudness control and audio processing solutions. The company will demonstrate each processor’s capabilities via web server technologies and specific user interfaces on desktop computers.

Alongside intelligent and adaptive processing algorithms, the introduction of Smart Audio also allows broadcasters to choose devices that are interoperable with others and can seamlessly integrate with both playout automation

systems and logging and monitoring processes.

Jünger Audio will also show its full range of D*AP products, all of which incorporate a collection of adaptive processing algorithms. They also employ the industry standard Ember+ remote protocol that enables integration with an increasingly wide range of compatible equipment. The range includes natural sounding products for loudness control, audio monitoring, audio conditioning and metadata management, and Dolby decoding, encoding and transcoding.

Among them are the D*AP8 MAP EDITION surround monitoring audio processor; the D*AP8 CODEC EDITION processor that provides a replacement for discontinued legacy Dolby hardware processors, the D*AP4 VAP EDITION two-channel voice audio processor and the D*AP8 TAP EDITION television audio processor, which ensures consistency of loudness and sonic ‘character’ across multiple programme sources.

Visit www.junger-audio.com

Studio Technologies Expands Dante Belt-pack Range NAB 2017 WILL SEE STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES introduce its new Model 371 Intercom Beltpack (booth C8849). The unit combines the features offered by broadcast-style, two-channel party-line intercom user devices with a single-channel listen output and a four-pin male XLR headset connector. The unit allows production crews to use their existing inventory of headsets such as models from Clear-Com and Telex.

The flexibility of Dante and its inherent support of standard IP networks mean multiple Model 371 units can be used in PL intercom applications with help from audio matrix units such as the Studio Technologies Model 5422 Dante Intercom Audio Engines. Model 371 units can also be directly interfaced with ports on compatible matrix intercom systems.

A highlight of the unit is its ability to be configured for specific applications.

Switches allow control of the microphone preamplifier gain and talk button

Nugen Audio’s Halo Downmix AT THE 2017 NAB SHOW, Nugen Audio will demonstrate new downmixing technology for creating stereo mixes from original surround audio sources. The company will also showcase its post-production and broadcast audio tools for loudness, upmixing, and batch processing, and a range of products for creative sound design, enhancement, and sound-stage correction.

Nugen Audio is set to unveil Halo Downmix – for downmixing of feature-film or 5.1 mixes to stereo. Halo Downmix gives the engineer hands-on control over relative levels, timing, and direct/ambient sound balance within the downmix process.

operation. Each button can be configured for push to talk or push to talk/tap to latch operation. An integrated call function allows Model 371 users to send and receive channel-specific visual alert signals. Additional features include integrated sidetone, remote microphone off, and firmware updating via USB. Model 371 units interface with twisted-pair ethernet local-area-networks using standard RJ45 patch cables. This LAN connection provides both power-overethernet and bidirectional digital audio signals.

Using a low-noise, wide dynamic-range microphone preamp and a VCA-based dynamics controller input, audio quality is preserved and the chance of overload is minimised. The resulting signal is routed to an analogue-to-digital conversion section supporting 48kHz/24-bit. The digital audio signal routes through a processor and on to a Dante interface section where it is packaged for transport over ethernet.

Visit www.studio-tech.com

Nugen will also demonstrate its latest update to Halo Upmix, the company’s solution for upmixing stereo audio to 5.1, 7.1, and 9.1 surround. The update includes algorithmic improvements designed to enhance multichannel-tomultichannel mix and upmix adjustments using the Halo Upmix technologies to further enhance existing surround recordings.

In addition, AMB is a new solution that expands on the concept of Nugen’s loudness management batch-processing technology for high-speed audio loudness measurement and correction. AMB enables post-production facilities to accelerate workflows and reduce delivery times, with separate modules available for upmixing and loudness management.

Visit www.nugenaudio.com

Calrec RP1 for Centre Stage CALREC WILL OF COURSE BE EXHIBITING during this year’s NAB, with the recent RP1 taking centrestage alongside the company’s compact Brio console. The RP1 remote production unit is a live-broadcast product that addresses increasingly prevalent requirements for high-quality content from remote locations.

The RP1 core embeds audio into existing video-transport mechanisms, while its modular I/O backbone accepts any of Calrec’s I/O cards. This means the RP1 can connect via analogue, AES, MADI, SDI, and the latest AoIP solutions from AES67, Ravenna, Dante, and SMPTE 2022.

Visit http://calrec.com

AUDIO

The RP1 remote production engine is a 2RU core that contains integrated FPGA-based DSP, which enables a console surface at another facility to control all mixing functionality. The RP1 core manages all the processing for IFB routing and remote monitor mixes, and it does so locally with no latency. This level of integration and remote control makes it simple for any remote mix engineer to set up IFB mixes and eradicates any delay for remote listeners and presenters.

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RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

Logitek Forms R&D Centre in Australia LOGITEK ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS has partnered with its long-term Australian distributor, Logitek Australia, to open a new research and development facility. The facility is based inside Logitek Australia’s Sydney office, which has dedicated spaces for development, support, equipment testing and demonstration. The new engineering centre will initially focus on software and applications, having already commenced a ground-up rewrite of Logitek’s suite using the latest software development tools.

Led by Paul Dengate, Managing Director of Logitek Australia, the team includes software and application designers with years of experience in broadcast audio.

Max Healey has joined the Logitek Australia research and development team as System Architect, heading up all software development and documentation. Healey has been writing software and web applications for radio and satellite syndication since the 1990s. His solutions have won him three Australian Commercial Radio Awards for Engineering Excellence.

Phil Hertenberger, meanwhile, has been promoted from within Logitek Australia to take on an Application Developer role. Phil was previously responsible for writing configurations and scripts for Logitek Australia’s ABC regional roll-out.

For Managing Director, Paul Dengate, the association with Logitek has been a long one, beginning as a user in the early 2000s at Sydney’s 2UE, to system consulting, the first roll-out of Logitek technology to ABC regional radio, to the establishment - following talks in 2007 - of Logitek Australia.

“This NAB is the sort of 10-year anniversary of Logitek Australia’s existence,” says Dengate. “And that was the start of the deeper partnership with Tag Borland, the President of Logitek. The goal was really to have a better presence in the Australia and New Zealand market and have local support going on in the time zone here, be able to do local repairs and, for the customer, just have one point to go to.

“They didn’t really need to go back to the manufacturer for anything. And that was very successful for us. We’re now doing a second rollout of Logitek to the ABC, which is sort of testament to how well it’s worked for them in their regional areas. The fact that they’re prepared to put it in again and modernise it really speaks for itself.”

So, how did the R&D agreement come about?

RADIO

“The last couple of years, we’ve been looking at our future, Logitek looking at theirs as well, and we started just talking about ideas. I had a lot of ideas for what I wanted to do with the product. Craig Wilson, who is the General Manager of the Logitek Australia division here, he’s got a lot of ideas for what he’d like to see in the product and what other things it could do. So, we really started talking over the last couple of years to Logitek about what can we do together, and we decided last year to keep it fairly simple. We won’t go through any sort of complex changes in ownership or anything like that. We’ll just get together and we’ll start developing some products together.

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“We sat down and worked out what products did we need to make, what resources do we need, what skills do we have that we can bring to the table, what’s the special thing that Logitek have that we can free more of their time up to focus in those areas? What it pretty much came to is we’re now doing more of the software side of the products, and that allows Logitek more time to focus on the hardware development, so the physical stuff, and the embedded firmware, the DSP. “The real key to being an audio manufacturer is that whatever your

New R&D and APAC focus: Paul Dengate, Managing Director, Logitek Australia.

software suite looks like, you’ve still got to have some complex DSP going on under the hood. And, there’s not very many people that really understand that in great detail. We saw our benefit was we’re getting really good at software, and for Logitek, they really know the hardware and the DSP really well. So, it’s a great combination.”

In terms of products and software, is there a firm sort of road map?

What are the priorities?

“So, the priorities for NAB, we can’t talk too much about exactly what we’re releasing, but there is a are two target products that we should have at the show that are going to move Logitek in a very touch-enabled direction.

So, our focus for this show is touch-enabled devices. There’s going to more screen-based control and more flexible screen based control.

“The way the radio studio is going is changing a lot, so the presenters and operators have less time available to be thinking about pressing the buttons and controlling consoles. They’re really focused on what their content is and now delivering it out to multiple platforms. The workload on the people in the studio is becoming greater and greater all the time and the industry worldwide. The focus is on people who are delivering content.

They’re not being employed for their technical skills, they’re being employed for their ability to engage with an audience. So, the technical level of skill has naturally fallen over many decades to the point where I don’t think the console is the big focus of the studio like it once would have been.

“And that’s also happening where studios are becoming more multi-media driven as well, so radio studios will have cameras in them. They might be just doing clips and pieces or what is becoming more common is actually doing a full web stream of a show. We’ve really seen those changes in the market, and we’re looking to release products that help the customers meet those challenges.

“They still need a way to control audio, so the need to control audio in the studio hasn’t gone away, but I guess the way in which people are trying to do it is starting to change, and that’s where we see the console sort of being pushed to the side a little bit and more of these features will be automatic.” continues p55>

RADIO

Vehicles Tipped to Drive Australian DAB+ Take-Up PROJECTIONS BY PWC FOR DAB+ digital radio show that nearly 60 percent of new vehicles sold in Australia in 2021 will be fitted with a digital radio, forecasting nearly double the number of current new vehicles fitted with the technology. PwC projects that close to four million new vehicles fitted with DAB+ will be sold by the end of 2021, up from 862,426 at the end of 2016.

Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) released the PwC forecast and announced DAB+ digital only station listening figures would now be distributed eight times a year. As of Tuesday the 21st of March, and for the first time since the launch of DAB+ digital radio broadcasts at the end of 2009, audience numbers for all DAB+ only stations will be released one week after the official metropolitan GfK radio ratings.

CRA Board Chair and COO of Macquarie Media Limited, Adam Lang said, “Radio companies in Australia are exploiting the opportunities being delivered by the digital radio DAB+ platform. There are now more digital radio only stations than ever, giving increased choice to the audience and to advertisers. The release of DAB+ figures each survey is another milestone in the growth of digital radio technology and the PwC vehicle forecast supports the ongoing growth in cars over the next five years. GfK radio audience subscribers can analyse data for the digital only stations in the Gold Standard accredited software, making it even easier to incorporate these stations and a full network offer in a media plan.”

Chief Executive Officer of industry body, CRA, Joan Warner said, “The radio industry is committed to a digital broadcast future via DAB+, combined with

and complemented by online. Releasing DAB+ only station figures eight times a year will highlight the new opportunities the industry’s additional free-to-air DAB+ only broadcast stations now provide for agencies and advertisers.”

In-car listening remains one of the most popular ways for Australians to listen to radio and growing audiences on the road are expected to contribute to the significant growth of DAB+ over the next five years.

Last year saw vehicle brands Honda and Mazda adopt DAB+ digital radio in Australia, joining the 33 other brands to include the technology. Further announcements of additional popular motor vehicle brands incorporating DAB+ broadcast technology are expected in the next 12 months.

Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast and Hobart are next in line for permanent DAB+ digital radio services. Commercial broadcasters are working closely with the ABC and SBS on regional rollout plans, coordinating launch dates, with permanent digital radio services expected to commence by early 2018.

Figures currently show that 3.6 million Australians, or 27 percent of the population in the five capital cities, listen to digital radio via DAB+ devices each week.

There are now more than 45 extra DAB+ only stations on offer in the five metropolitan capitals, including targeted formats such as talk, news, sport, children’s programming, country, chill-out, dance music and short term popup stations focused on events or particular seasons.

Visit www.digitalradioplus.com.au

Radio NZ Reassures the Pacific After ABC Closures RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL (RNZI) has announced it will

provide independent, timely and accurate news, information and weather

continue to serve people across the Pacific region, delivering essential day to day news and information and providing a vital lifeline in times of natural disaster.

warnings as well as entertainment to its Pacific listeners,” he said individual listeners across the Pacific region.

Around twenty Pacific radio stations relay RNZI material daily, and individual short-wave listeners and internet users across the world tune in directly to RNZI content.

Paul Thompson has emphasised the importance of RNZI’s 25-year relationship with New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours.

The RNZI signal can sometimes be heard as far away as Japan, North

“Remote parts of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu who may be feeling the loss of the ABC can rest assured RNZI will continue to

online users through its website.

America, the Middle East and Europe. RNZI also provides content for Visit www.radionz.co.nz/international

Professional FM/DAB+ Monitor Receiver The PLUS1 family of FM/DAB+ broadcast receivers responds to demands from the professional market and fills the gap between a low-cost consumer and a high-end measurement unit.

With the PLUS1 FM/DAB+ Monitor Receiver from PROFline, you can measure and monitor your DAB+ and FM broadcasts.

Bringing together a unique, High Power, Low Noise RF front-end designed for both FM and DAB+, the PLUS1 provides professional grade monitoring, alarming and local audio streaming.

The PLUS1 includes an intuitive front panel that makes the unit extremely easy to operate. All functions are fully remotely operated by a browser and SNMP

pa c i f i c

PLUS1 Dual Tuners (DAB+ and FM) Simulcast Operation 2 Antenna Inputs with Matrix Switch Stereo Monitor Speakers Digital, Analog and Streaming Audio Out High Res Front Display MPX Output for Rebroadcast RDS Data Decoding Network Port for Browser Control and SNMP Alarms and Log facilities for RF, Audio, BER, FIC

www.pacificlivemedia.com | +61 2 8458 0701 | sales@pacificlivemedia.com

RADIO

RNZ CEO, Paul Thompson, has confirmed that there will be no reduction in Radio New Zealand’s commitment to its Pacific broadcast partners. His reassurance comes as Radio Australia closes its international shortwave transmission service to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

RNZI broadcasts in digital and analogue short wave to radio stations and

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RADIO

Digigram’s New Cloud Applications and AoIP Technology DIGIGRAM HAS DEDICATED decades to developing secure solutions for handling high-quality content. At the 2017 NAB Show, Digigram will highlight its professional analogue, digital, and IP sound cards, along with audioover-IP codecs dedicated to outside broadcasting and program distribution.

The company will highlight how it now provides cloud applications that simplify remote contribution, as well as codec management with secure SIP infrastructure for outside broadcasting applications.

CLOUD APPLICATIONS DEDICATED TO BROADCASTERS Digigram continues to evolve its solutions to better meet the needs of broadcasters. The company’s new cloud technologies meet increasing demand for simplified access, and serve as solutions that address complete use cases, eliminating the need for specialised hardware systems or expensive capital expenditure.

IQOYA *CLOUD WEB APPLICATION NOW IN SAAS MODE IQOYA *CLOUD, the codec-management system from Digigram, is now available in SaaS (software-as-a-service) mode, which makes it affordable for small and medium-size broadcasters who pay only a monthly recurring fee instead of investing in significant capital expenditures. Accessible from anywhere via the web browser of any connected device, the application simplifies deployment and day-to-day operation of a codec fleet of any size. Built on Digigram’s secure SIP broadcast infrastructure, which includes the stream relay, session border controller (SBC), and presence server, this application provides real-time control of all registered ACIP codecs across a network.

MPX OPTION ON IQOYA *LINK AND IQOYA *LINK/LE STL AOIP CODECS Digigram is now able to transport MPX directly from the studio to the transmitter, thanks to the integration of an additional software option to its IQOYA *LINK and IQOYA *LINK/LE codecs. These codecs enable transport of composite MPX signals over IP, building a smart solution for broadcasters and

tower companies. They support both analogue MPX and digital MPX over AES/ EBU at 192kHz. IQOYA IP AUDIO-STREAMING TECHNOLOGY OPEN TO ECOSYSTEM PARTNERS Digigram is making its IQOYA AoIP technology accessible as middleware to ecosystem partners for creation of their own live streaming, processing, and encoding systems. In introducing its IQOYA *VIP engine, Digigram allows development partners or system integrators to focus on providing their own value-added applications.

IQOYA *VIP AUDIO-OVER-IP ENCODING, TRANSCODING, AND STREAMING During NAB, Digigram will introduce its new IQOYA *VIP audio-over-IP (AoIP) software, which provides multiple encoding, transcoding, and streaming functions for both Windows and Linux applications. IQOYA *VIP combines Digigram’s IQOYA IP audio streaming and encoding engine, built on the company’s FluidIP technology, and key real-time AoIP protocols in a solution tailored for broadcast development partners and system integrators.

IQOYA *X/LINK SYSTEM The IQOYA *X/LINK integrates multiple IP audio codecs and protocols to facilitate low-latency distribution for studio-to-studio links, studio-totransmitter links, DVB radio, and web radio programs from low-latency, AES67compatible synchronous audio-over-IP (AoIP) sources. Compared with IQOYA *LINK and *LINK/LE, it supports an increased number of multi-unicast/multimulticast destinations, performs transcoding, offers four decoding priorities per output program, and is fully scalable from one to eight stereo channels through software options.

Visit www.digigram.com

Comrex Poised on IP Path COMREX WILL BE DISPLAYING at booth C1633 at NAB 2017. New products will include ACCESS NX, the latest audio IP codec in its ACCESS line, and Opal, a new IP audio gateway.

Other products on display will include: ACCESS 2USB and Rack, BRIC-Link II, LiveShot (Comrex’s video-over-IP acquisition and distribution tool), VH2 (a VoIP two-line hybrid), and STAC VIP. ACCESS NX features a hardware platform optimised for running CrossLock, Comrex’s custom reliability layer. CrossLock enables both powerful error correction and network bonding, and intelligently monitors and dynamically adjusts network connections in real-time. ACCESS NX’s updated interface improves user experience with faster processors and a five-inch capacitive touch screen that doesn’t require a stylus. Other notable new features include a new second mic input and an added second ¼-inch headphone jack.

Opal allows remote guests to deliver ‘studio quality’ sound, without the need for any special equipment on their end. Opal is ideal for hosts who need to coordinate call-ins with non-technical remote guests – guests can simply click a link, and connect instantly. Opal establishes the link using the Opus encoder.

Additionally, Comrex is featuring ACCESS and BRIC-Link II, its line of versatile and reliable IP audio codecs that have been adopted as an industry standard. It will also be demoing VH2, a two-line hybrid designed to provide superb audio over VoIP phone lines, and STAC VIP, a VoIP call management system for larger scale talkshows (between six and 12 callers). Comrex will be displaying LiveShot, live ENG technology which delivers high-quality two-way video and audio in realtime over IP networks.

Visit www.comrex.com

Comrex to Introduce ACCESS NX COMREX WILL INTRODUCE

RADIO

ACCESS NX, the latest portable audio IP codec in its ACCESS line during NAB 2017. ACCESS NX builds on the ten-year legacy of the original ACCESS Portable, but adds an audio channel, a larger touch screen, and a digital mixing stage.

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New features include a five-inch capacitive touch screen that doesn’t require a stylus, which simplifies set up and operation. ACCESS NX includes a dedicated stereo line input in addition to a pair of XLR switchable audio inputs. ACCESS NX will also be compatible with an ACCESS clip-on channel mixer – a new accessory which adds four mic/line inputs and headphone outputs.

ACCESS NX includes CrossLock, Comrex’s custom reliability layer that enables both powerful error correction and network bonding. CrossLock intelligently monitors network connections and adjusts data allotment in real-time.

Other features include: • Two USB jacks for 3G/4G and Wi-Fi connectivity, ethernet port, and compatibility with POTS modem (sold separately).

• Two stereo headphone outputs with individual control.

• Digital mixing and headphone busses.

• Digital peak limiting.

• Field-changeable internal lithium battery with built-in charger (five hours of power).

• Serial data and four contact closures.

Visit www.comrex.com

RADIO continued from p52

As well as the R&D activities, you also have an expanded APAC role.

What does that entail?

“In Australia, we probably haven’t seen as much of that necessarily in the

“For Logitek Asia, the concept is that we can build on what we did in Australia in terms of support and local service. We want to build on what we’ve done here, which is our deep understanding of the product and how to put it together and how to make it work best for the customer, offer more of that into the Asian markets, but still have room for the local dealers and integrators in various Asian countries to do what they do best. They’re obviously in touch with the customers and they know the opportunities coming up. But, like with any sort of complex video or audio routing system, you often need the manufacturer to come to the table with some pre-sales support and a bit of system design and integration ideas.

you can save money and effort on installation is thought of favourably from

“That’s the role we see we’ll fill for the Asian market, still in the office here in Sydney, so it’s in the right time zone for emails, calls, Skype, whatever. Then having more of a presence at the shows, so Broadcast Asia being the first one, and that’s really a, going to be an opportunity for us to meet existing dealers in the market as well as talk to new ones who may not have thought of Logitek or may not have been interested because there’s no-one available in their local area to be able to assist them.

You mentioned changes in studio workflow. Are those sorts of issues common throughout different markets?

“It certainly does depend on the market. If you look at what some of the US customers are doing, they often have some quite traditional needs in the studio in terms of having a consult with an operator or a jock. The US guys have been very focused on keeping their installation costs down, so that’s where audio-over-IP has really come into the forefront in the US, because it’s a way to have less cabling and therefore less cable labour in a system going.

commercial market. In more of the commercial and smaller stations any way customers. In the Asian region, I know there’s probably lower labour costs and I guess they’re probably a little bit more focused on what the actual equipment costs, and there’s quite a variance in the way of their sort of trade arrangements with importing, depending on where things are made as well, so I think they’re very focused on what the actual upfront cost is. But, I think what we see everywhere is both customers and system integrators are not wanting to have to go to great lengths and efforts just to get a system going. They want to be able to plug it in out of the box, have things kind of get up and running and they don’t mind doing some configuration and some bits and pieces to it, but they don’t want it to be this big tortuous type of project.

“That’s what we’ve really got in mind with all of our R&D efforts, is taking what we do well, making it easier, making it so you get something out of the box and you can just get it up and running. Generally speaking, for media, no matter where it is, there’s pressure on costs, there’s looking for ways to do things more efficiently. It doesn’t mean they’re not spending money but they’re certainly looking for the value in what they spend. And I think the big rebuilds you might have had in the last decade or so are probably going to pave the way for people doing smaller projects, so they’ll be looking for equipment and assistance to integrate with what they have rather than just say ‘yep, we’re going to rebuild that entire, we’re going to move and rebuild that entire station from the ground up’.”

Visit http://logitekaudio.com

Lawo to Present on Virtualising Radio Studios

Lawo, a thought leader in this rapidly-converging field, will present a white paper at BEITC entitled ‘Virtualising Radio Studios: Broadcasting + IT = AoIP 2.0’, co-authored by Michael ‘Catfish’ Dosch, Director of Virtual Projects, and Stephan Türkay, Senior Product Manager, Radio On-Air. According to Türkay, “It’s only natural that radio wants to take advantage of the huge power available in today’s PC platforms. We eliminated tape machines and carts 20 years ago in favour of PCs, and PC power has doubled many times over since then, but we still use it in the studio just for playout!

There’s a lot we can do with that power.”

“Virtualisation has been a dominant trend in Information Technology over the past years,” notes Dosch. “IT has found that moving processes to Virtual Machines results in more scalable systems, more reliable infrastructure, and systems that can be quickly diagnosed and administered remotely. Moving audio mixing, codecs, phones, audio processing and other tools out of hardware, and into the virtual domain along with playout, will help broadcast studios to become more reliable, serviceable, and scalable too.”

“That’s why we refer to virtualisation as ‘AoIP 2.0’”, Dosch says. “The first wave of AoIP united physical devices – the mixing console and audio peripherals – via ethernet. The second wave will take the software apps that replace those physical devices and unite them, using IP inside a virtual machine environment.”

In their white paper, Dosch and Türkay will discuss the computing power now available to broadcasters, examine already-existing software tools that can be used to shift studio infrastructure from racks to the cloud, and give real-

world examples of what such convergence looks like in modern broadcast plants.

The paper will be presented during the Radio Technology session at NAB 2017, on Monday the 23rd of April at 10AM. At NAB, Lawo will also unveil upgrades for R3LAY, its suite of software that virtualises broadcast studio tools. Using R3LAY, broadcast professionals can move traditional hardware-based studio tools, such as mixing consoles, multichannel sound cards, and patch bays, into the virtual domain using today’s COTS computing platforms.

All R3LAY software is AES67 / RAVENNA AoIP compliant, and multi-touch optimised for easy, intuitive use on touchscreen PCs and laptops. This collection of virtual broadcast tools includes: • R3LAY VRX8 8-fader and VRX4 4-fader Virtual Radio Mixer software.

• R3LAY VPB Virtual Patch Bay software.

• R3LAY VSC Virtual Sound Card software.

New features found in R3LAY v3.0.0.102 include support for Unicast streaming, with routines that help maintain Unicast connections and report broken links. There are also program enhancements which decrease the CPU load of host PCs, as well as the inclusion of Microsoft-signed network and WDM drivers for broadcasters using R3LAY on Windows 10 computers.

R3LAY VRX mixing software is aimed toward in-studio use, where its AES67 compliance allows operators to mix local or networked audio streams and send out a ready-for-air program stream. Installed on a laptop and paired with a Lawo OnAir 4 audio interface, R3LAY VRX makes a perfect grab-andgo mobile broadcast kit, complete with VST-based EQ, dynamics and other processing tools.

Visit www.lawo.com

RADIO

AS RADIO FACILITIES BECOME increasingly computer-centric, savvy radio engineers have been actively seeking IT technology that complements and enhances broadcast operations. This trend is so prevalent that NAB has renamed their tech conference at spring NAB, now calling it the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference.

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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/delivery

Ericsson, Telstra and Fox Launch Content Delivery Solution ERICSSON, TELSTRA AND THE FOX Innovation Lab at 21st Century Fox used the recent Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona to unveil a content delivery solution that the partners say will pre-position personalised, premium movie content directly onto consumer devices, with no impact to device performance or consumer data plans.

Participants receive notifications when the latest movies that match their interests become available. The movies are pre-positioned on the consumer’s device and are available immediately for purchase or rent and play in full 1080p HD and high quality audio without interruption, both online and offline, and irrespective of network connectivity.

Andrew Penn, Chief Executive Officer, Telstra, said, “Running this pilot in collaboration with innovative partners is a great way for us to test and learn how we can improve the customer experience while at the same time achieving network efficiencies. It has the potential to offer our customers a truly distinctive video customer experience, delivering studio sanctioned

picture and audio quality. The solution will use Telstra’s Media Optimised Network, including LTE-B capability to pre-position content, and therefore have limited impact on overall network traffic with little to no additional infrastructure cost.”

The one-month pilot included a closed number of Telstra, Fox and Ericsson customers who were given a mobile device with a trial app, giving them instant access to new release movie titles provided by Twentieth Century Fox, in full HD 1080p quality.

The solution is said to be the first service offering of its kind in the market, offering a one-stop solution for media ingest, processing, distribution, monetisation and consumption. It leverages Ericsson MediaFirst’s cloud based media store for content processing and origin, Ericsson’s Unified Delivery Network for global content delivery, and Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform.

Visit www.ericsson.com

Southern Cross Austereo in Online Video Revamp BRIGHTCOVE HAS ANNOUNCED that Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has selected its Video Cloud platform as the foundation for its online video offering. The partnership solidifies Brightcove’s position as the online video platform of choice for Australian and New Zealand media companies.

With Brightcove Video Cloud, SCA can now publish videos faster through a single, integrated video platform to manage its entire content workflow. It can publish direct to any device, anytime, and Brightcove Video Cloud’s custom analytics allows SCA to gain critical insights into how its video content is consumed across its multiple brands, including the Hit Network and Triple M. These insights will also form the basis of future content strategies to ensure SCA is publishing engaging content for viewers.

In addition, SCA is leveraging Brightcove’s integration with leading ad servers to increase the performance of ads inserted in video content.

In its first week of deployment, SCA had already seen an increase in engagement from an average of 40 percent at best to a rate of 75-80 percent completion compared to its previous video platform provider.

Using Brightcove Social, the industry’s first end-to-end social video management and distribution solution, SCA can now easily edit, publish, and track videos in the native playback environments of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and company websites from the Brightcove Video Cloud portal. Streamlining workflow and increasing social video return on investment through Brightcove Social is a crucial differentiator for SCA. “We turned to Brightcove because we needed the best-in-class video platform and we needed it fast,” said Paul Strasser, Director of Digital Video Product, Southern Cross Austereo. “The migration process was incredibly quick – within a week, we were up and running on the new platform with our entire video library, which meant we could see results almost immediately. Beyond just the technology itself, the level of engagement and support from Brightcove is incomparable to our past experiences. We’ve already seen a significant improvement in the way we manage and publish video content to our audience, and are positive we’ll continue to see even greater results.”

Visit www.brightcove.com

Village Island Releases 4K Over 3G-SDI Appliance VILLAGE ISLAND, the APAC video equipment supplier and integrator headquartered in Japan, has announced VICO-4, a new encoder/decoder appliance enabling UHD smart transport over SDI. VICO-4 is powered by TICO, the high-efficiency compression engine from intoPIX. The new VICO-4 appliance allows transport of 4K base-band video over a single 3G-SDI, without losing any noticeable video quality and with zero-frame delay.

The VICO-4 Encoder takes in 4K as 4x 3G-SDI or 1x 3G-SDI and converts it into a single 3G-SDI. The VICO unit can be easily switched between Encoder and Decoder.

The VICO is powered by TICO, the high-efficiency compression engine from intoPIX enabling 4:1 Visually Lossless compression with a total delay (encoder plus decoder) of only a few video lines (less than 1ms).

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The VICO-4 is designed to enable:

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• Broadcasters moving towards 4K to make a use of their current SDI facilities.

The resulting 3G-SDI code-stream signal can be interfaced with 3G-SDI uncompressed traditional devices such as Distribution Amplifiers, Storage/ Playout system, Optical Transmitters, Matrix-Switchers and Routers, etc.

• Broadcasters transport the 4K video as raw data (or equivalent to raw quality) and with near-to-zero delay.

• Use of SDI connections when IP is not an option or when the existing IP network brings with it inadequate constraints or complexity.

• Resolution of 4K SDI cabling issues related to limitation of space and of distance between devices.

The VICO-4 offers mission critical hardware that is simple to configure without requiring additional peripherals or software. It comes ready-to-integrate into OB vans, studios and contribution systems.

The VICO handles 4K video as 4x 3G-SDI in both 2SI (2 Sample Interleave) and SQD (SQuare Division) modes, in Level A and B. It also supports 12G-SDI which makes it a suitable gateway for new 12G-SDI devices.

The SDI transport of TICO video data is done according to the SMPTE RDD 35 specifications. This enables interoperability with third-party vendors which follow the same specification. Several interoperability tests have been conducted successfully. According to the spec, the resulting 3G-SDI code stream sees the SDI video active area replaced with the 4K compressed data. The complete ancillary data (ex: audio, time-codes, sub-titles and proprietary information) is transported as is. intoPIX TICO Visually Lossless compression that enables the original video quality to be preserved without any artefact detectable by the human eye. The VICO is also available as OEM and ODM .

Visit http://village-island.com/en/villageisland/hardware/vico-4/

RADIO

RADIO

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SBS Australian First with Two Nationwide HD Channels SBS HAS BECOME THE FIRST Australian free-to-air broadcaster to provide two nationwide HD channels to audiences, following the launch of SBS VICELAND in high definition (HD) on Saturday 8 April, on channel 31.

SBS has made changes to the way it uses its available television spectrum, utilising MPEG-4 technology to allow it to launch a new HD channel, while also making upgrades to its existing SBS HD channel available on free-to-air channel 30.

Noel Leslie, SBS Chief Technology Officer, said, “At SBS, we want to give audiences the best viewing experience possible. Whether that’s watching the best international football and cycling events like the Premier League and the Paris Roubaix, fantastic dramas like The Night Manager or high quality documentaries like Testing Teachers, viewers can continue to watch our main channel SBS, and now SBS VICELAND, in high definition glory.

“We have a continued focus on innovation in how we deliver our channels and platforms to audiences, and we are delighted to be the first free-to-air broadcaster in Australia to offer two HD channels, nationwide.

By leveraging new compression capabilities, we are able to get more from our spectrum and deliver better services to our audiences.”

The changes mean that Australians will also be able to watch SBS’s coverage of the Hyundai A-League finals starting Friday 21 April, in high definition on SBS VICELAND HD. As a part of the changes that SBS has made, it also recently launched its 24/7 Arabic language radio channel, SBS Arabic24, on digital TV. Listeners can now hear SBS Arabic24 on DTV channel 36.

Some viewers may be required to retune their televisions in order to receive the new SBS VICELAND HD channel, and the upgraded SBS HD channel. Some digital TV equipment will automatically detect changes to the channels and retune itself, or may prompt viewers to retune.

Viewers without an HD/ MPEG4 compatible television will continue to be able to watch SBS and SBS VICELAND in standard definition (SD).

Visit www.sbs.com.au

ABC to Boost Regional and Remote Services THE AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION has announced its biggest ever single investment in regional and remote Australia, to expand the broadcaster’s coverage of news and information for audiences across the country.

The Connecting Communities package builds quickly to an extra AUD$15 million a year ongoing, with almost $4 million more to be spent on new tools and technology.

Up to 80 new jobs, delivering regional news and information, will be recruited within 18 months as part of a broader content fund announced by the ABC’s Managing Director, Michelle Guthrie.

“We want to ensure that the stories, issues and interests of the one-third of Australians who live outside the capital cities are well-represented across the gamut of ABC services and have a stronger voice in national conversations,” she said.

“The new jobs will boost video and digital reporting, increase coverage of local events and breaking news on weekends and enable reporters and program makers to spend more time in remote areas of the country.”

The Connecting Communities package will: • Boost digital and video reporting capability in the regions; • Increase coverage of local events and breaking news on weekends; • Enable reporters and program makers to spend more time in remote areas; • Work with regional communities to tell their distinctly Australian stories; and • Train and equip regional teams to develop new content, including audio and video on-demand.

Visit www.abc.net.au

Av-Comm Partners with Intelsat for Solomons HDTV Delivery AUSTRALIAN INTEGRATOR AV-COMM has announced it has signed a multi-year agreement to deliver High Definition television content for Telekom Television in the Solomon Islands via Intelsat’s C Band capacity on IS-805 at 169°E. The project includes the use of several new complementary technologies to drive an unmatched level of bandwidth utilisation, designed to maximise the number of television channels on the content delivery platform.

Av-Comm has selected Novelsat’s NS series modems with NS4 waveform, and DUET CEC (carrier-echo-cancellation) technology to provide a satellite link efficiently in excess of 4 bits per hertz, allowing for up to eight HD video circuits

into the Solomon Islands and a single HD video circuit in return.

Additionally, Av-Comm’s Pacific Content Delivery Platform utilises HEVC video encoding to complement Novelsat’s advanced modem technology to provide a greater return on Telekom Television’s investment in satellite bandwidth on Intelsat 805.

The delivery of television content via satellite is a critical requirement for the Solomon Islands as satellite is the country’s sole method of accessing the interconnected global community.

Visit www.avcomm.com.au

Bluesky Partners Huawei to Serve Fastest Broadband in the Pacific HUAWEI, AS AN EXCLUSIVE network provider for Bluesky, announced

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a partnership with the Pacific Islands telco operator to deploy a 4.5G LTEAdvanced network solution, upgrading from its existing 2G/3G network, to meet increasing demand for mobile applications and services in American Samoa, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. The network is designed specifically to accommodate mobile internet and data more efficiently. During a live test performed at the recent Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA) 21st AGM and Tradeshow 2017, held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, the network recorded 500Mbps single user throughput speeds.

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Phillip Henderson, Country Manager of Bluesky Cook Islands, said, “In many parts of these islands wire-line deployments are not feasible from a logistical and cost perspective, so using LTE-A will bring mobile internet to areas that previously had no or limited internet access. By delivering high speed, low latency, and huge capacity, the innovative LTE-A solution from Huawei will enable us to provide an ultra-fast mobile broadband experience

for consumers and businesses, crucial for social and economic growth. For the Cook Islands in particular, it enhances our Universal Service offering and ensures that the Cook Islands’ users have access to the most current technological offering available, supported by a world class partner in Huawei.”

The 4.5G LTE-A network features carrier aggregation, enhanced use of multiantenna techniques and support for Replay Nodes (RN) to help operators boost network capacity and performance to offer high quality voice and data services. Strengthening the value proposition of LTE-A is the WTTx solution which enables Bluesky to offer fibre-like broadband to businesses and homes, even in geographically challenged areas. WTTx can tap into existing mobile base solutions without having to pull cables, thereby allowing faster deployment without added investment in infrastructures.

Visit www.huawei.com

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Utah Scientific Presents Axon Digital 4K and IP Solutions UTAH SCIENTIFIC, WILL SHOWCASE 4K, HDR and ethernet infrastructure solutions from Axon Digital Design at NAB booth N4506. As the US distributor for a range of Axon products and production tools, the team will demonstrate tight integration between Axon, Utah and other broadcast manufacturers.

Two basic models are available, each in two versions (SDI I/O or Ethernet I/O).

These versions can be mixed and matched to build a hybrid multiviewer with up to hundreds of inputs and eight 1080p heads (on SDI) or two heads with UHD/4K resolution. Multiple connector panels will be available to allow for different I/O configurations. Compared to earlier systems, SynView’s feature-set has been enhanced, with double the amount of inputs, eight times the amount of outputs (heads), UHD/4K/60Hz output resolution on display outputs and a six-fold increase of processing power. The system can now scale, position, deembed, overlay and process eight video channels.

During NAB, Utah will also highlight Axon’s latest Synapse signal processing product line and demonstrate how its solutions are shaping the future of 4K production, particularly in a live environment. The range now includes 4K up and down converters and production ‘tool boxes’ that support Vanc and Hanc data such as timecode and embedded audio as well as Dolby E encoding and decoding. These products have been at the heart of many game-changing productions worldwide including Europe’s first UHD live sports production for BT Sport.

As the battle for TV audiences intensifies across platforms, picture quality is in sharp focus and broadcasters are looking to move from stand dynamic range to high dynamic range. Making that move is done by by Look-Up Tables (LUTS). In order to accommodate this Axon has developed new products that can handle LUTS and these will also be on show at NAB: the U4T200/240, a 4K (UHD) four-wire toolbox with LUT based colour space and dynamic range converter and the UXU400/410, a 4K (UHD) format converter with LUT based colour space and dynamic range converter.

A key part of any broadcast infrastructure is control and monitoring, and here Axon has the solution in the shape of its highly-advanced Cerebrum control and monitoring system. Now more open and flexible than ever, this versatile software can now support products from Everzt, AJA, AXIA, Allen and Heath, Panasonic, Ross, Yamaha, Rohde and Schwartz, Quintech and Black Magic making it simpler to monitor and control multiple devices on one interface. The team will demonstrate Cerebrum’s integration with Utah’s S2022 IP router, which delivers SDI (including UHD) and S2022 content, in compliance with the AIMS roadmap for the transition to IP operations.

Visit www.axon.tv and http://utahscientific.com

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Leading the line-up is Axon’s new SynView Multiviewer solution. Capable of handling both 4K and any IP video formats, SynView is ideal for a wide range of applications and from small to extremely large monitoring walls. In line with Axon’s strategy to remain format-agnostic, customer-focused and pragmatic, SynView is ready for the future because it can support whatever video transport mechanism the industry chooses to adopt.

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Integrated Microwave Technologies and Vislink Join Forces XG TECHNOLOGY HAD ANNOUNCED that its Integrated Microwave Technologies (IMT) and Vislink businesses will be jointly showcasing an array of

• Vislink UltraLite – the world’s first end-to-end wireless 4K UHD live video solution.

products and solutions at NAB 2017 (booth C8008).

• IMT DragonFly – a highly-miniaturised wireless video transmission system.

xG Technology acquired Vislink with the goal of merging Vislink’s operations with

• IMT Nulinx-IP Compact – a self-contained, point-to-point bi-directional microwave link that supports current ATSC 1.0 and future ATSC 3.0 standards.

those of IMT. The addition of Vislink product lines to IMT brings together the a comprehensive range of wireless video capture, transmit and receive systems.

George Schmitt, Executive Chairman and CEO of xG Technology, said, “Since completing the acquisition of Vislink we have begun to aggressively drive the integration of their operations. The joint appearance of IMT and Vislink at NAB 2017 underscores this commitment. The impressive synergies between their product lines allows them to offer a wider and richer set of capabilities than

• Vislink Newsnet – a new approach to ENG operations that brings studio workflows directly to the field.

• Vislink ViewBack – a lightweight, low power, low latency, dual channel diversity receiver-decoder that enables quicker production, more efficient editing, and more effective collaboration between camera operators and studio teams.

enforcement, public safety and defence markets.”

• Vislink SatWare – a high-performance embedded computing and routing system designed to provide enhanced capability and simplified use of broadcast equipment in the field.

Among the key products IMT and Vislink will be presenting at NAB 2017 include:

Visit www.xgtechnology.com and https://imt-solutions.com

previously available to customers in broadcast and media, as well as in law

LYNX Technik Launches New greenMachine Apps LYNX TECHNIK AG has announced it has developed four new APPs for its greenMachine platform. The new APPs, as well as the new titan greenMachine hardware platform, will be showcased at NAB, booth SL10321. greenMachine takes a three-prong approach to product definition and function.

Rather than a fixed, application specific box, greenMachine is a combination of general purpose hardware, software apps and control software.

NAB 2017 sees the launch of four new apps including: • Color Matching – This image processing APP provides colour matching with gain and offset adjustments. It is suitable for adjusting the output to the monitor being used and resolving colour accuracy issues.

• SwitchOver – Two-channel changeover switch which can be automatically triggered when an input fails or manually triggered. It is suited to applications requiring an emergency switch for backup or clean switching between two video sources.

• DolbyE Decoder – Enables the decoding of all eight audio channels contained in a Dolby E Stream to PCM audio. Two instances of this APP can be used per greenMachine simultaneously.

• Teletext Viewer – Enables the remote monitoring of teletext content within a video stream.

Visit www.lynx-technik-greenstore.com

Leader Reveals Latest LV5490 4K Waveform Monitor Enhancements LEADER INSTRUMENTS will be exhibiting at 2017 NAB. Centrepiece of the demonstration on booth C9021 will be recent additions to the LV5490 multiscreen waveform monitor.

The Leader LV5490 offers 4K, UHD, 3G, HD and SD test and measurement features. Waveform, vector, five-bar and picture display can all be viewed simultaneously via a nine-inch LCD monitor. The monitor is 1920 x 1080 HD resolution with a wide viewing angle and high colour reproduction. A 1920 x 1080 HD DVI and HD-SDI rasterised output is also provided to feed larger monitors.

The LV5490SER07 HDR option enables the LV5490 to measure both 4K and HD HDR in ITU.BT.2100 Hybrid Log Gamma, Dolby PQ or Sony SLOG-3

protocols. With version 3.2 software, the LV5490 incorporates five-bar display capabilities. Incoming SDI signals are converted into five cyan bargraphs providing simultaneous display of maximum and minimum luminance, red-, green-, blue-component, and composite levels.

Version 3.2 software is now part of all newly delivered LV5490 instruments and is available as a free download to existing customers.

Leader’s CINELITE II toolset also comes as a standard feature, allowing assessment of relative exposure and overall luminance. A focus assist option allows accurate on-set adjustment of camera focus to match the 4K format’s ability to handle very precise image detail.

Visit www.leader.co.jp

Harmonic Showcases Vision-Driven OTT and Cloud Innovation HARMONIC WILL SHOWCASE its vision for the future of media processing

VIDEO COMPRESSION FOR CHANNEL SHARING AND ATSC 3.0

at NAB 2017. Harmonic’s software-based solutions empower operators to navigate ever-changing media environments. A key highlight will be Harmonic’s OTT and cloud-based solutions which enable operators to launch broadcast, live and on-demand OTT video quickly with quality at low cost, while improving operational orchestration, elasticity and agility.

North American broadcasters are facing disruption on two fronts: the spectrum repack and the transition to ATSC 3.0. Harmonic’s Electra X media encoding and ProStream X stream processing solutions address both challenges. At NAB, Harmonic will demonstrate how broadcasters can compress existing ATSC 1.0 channels with greater efficiency, as well as transition to ATSC 3.0 advanced services.

CONTENT DELIVERY

IMPROVING OTT QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE

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Harmonic’s EyeQ video compression optimisation solution delivers superior video quality and bandwidth reduction of up to 50% for OTT distribution, dramatically improving quality-of-experience (QoE) for OTT services through the use of comprehensive analytics. As an optional enhancement for Harmonic’s software-based Harmonic PURE Compression Engine, the EyeQ solution enables a more consistent viewing experience with less buffering. Harmonic will also showcase new low-latency capabilities that allow OTT viewers to enjoy the same QoE as with traditional broadcast.

MOVING TOWARD AN ALL-IP BROADCAST WORKFLOW Harmonic is easing the transition to an all-IP infrastructure through its involvement in AIMS and a software-based approach to video production and delivery. Select AIMS members will join Harmonic in its booth to showcase a SMPTE ST 2022-6 workflow for IP playout and delivery, including live switching, graphics and effects, as well as broadcast and OTT encoding.

Visit https://www.harmonicinc.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

GatesAir Halves Bandwidth for Uncompressed Digital IP STL Transport GATESAIR WILL INTRODUCE a new intelligent IP networking solution at NAB 2017 that marks a convergence of traditional Intraplex strengths with innovations that reduce costs and bolster the opportunities associated with radio program transport over digital IP studio-to-transmitter links (STL).

Foremost, the Intraplex IP Link MPXp is the first FM MPX IP codec to support AES 192 digital and analogue composite signals over an IP path. With built-in bandwidth reduction technology and signal parameter selection, broadcasters can transport uncompressed AES 192 signals as low as 1.8Mb/s.

GatesAir’s dynamic stream splicing technology to mitigate IP packet loss and

The IP Link MPXp codec offers a codec to support analogue composite transport – and AES 192 composite transport. Its dual-domain capability allows the broadcaster to install a newer audio processor and have it interoperate with exciters supporting only an analogue composite signal interface.

eliminate off-air time – the Intraplex IP Link MPXp offers several industry firsts.

Visit www.gatesair.com

The Intraplex IP Link MPXp codec is the next-generation codec from GatesAir. While this codec leverages many of the IP Link codec strengths – notably

Crystal Vision’s Frame System and IP Gateways BOOTH N3010 AT THE 2017 NAB SHOW will be showing Crystal Vision’s Vision frame system – suitable for SDI, IP and 4K – which is now shipping, along with its core interface cards. Crystal Vision will be discussing its future-proof IP gateways – initially supporting the SMPTE 2022-6 and SMPTE 2022-7 protocols and including PTP as a timing source option, they can be reconfigured via a software upgrade for newer emerging standards.

The Vision frame system is designed for broadcast engineers planning installations that will include IP and 4K, or those benefitting from the extra Vision features on their SDI products. With the ability to handle high bandwidth signals, the Vision 3 frame offers a high packing density with the

ability to house 20 vertical cards in 3RU. The initial 12 interface products from the Vision frame system – all shipping – will be available for demonstration. The UP-DOWN-A-VF, UP-DOWN-ATXVF, UP-DOWN-AS-VF and UP-DOWN-ATXS-VF up and down converters can perform two different conversions between SD, 720p, 1080i and 1080p simultaneously while offering features such as four group embedded audio handling, AFD insertion and reading, audio routing, timecode conversion, teletext and closed captions handling and downstream video synchronisers.

Visit www.crystalvision.tv

Appear TV Features New X10/X20 Modules APPEAR TV WILL SHOWCASE three new modules for its X10/X20 video networking hardware platform at NAB 2017 (booth SU3602). These modules support IP centric architectures. Appear TV will also showcase its Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) packager and modular XC5000 chassis at the show.

Appear TV’s X10 and X20 platforms assist broadcasters in the transition from SDI to IP centric operation. Both platforms offer a programmable option with modules that alternate between SDI and IP in either the compressed or lightly-compressed domain. With new features, including core IP security as a firewall, video monitoring, video routing and video re-multiplexing, the X10 and X20 operate as the foundation of an ultra-flexible, ultra-low delay, highly secured broadcast network. The code agnostic platforms bridge both the natively encapsulated and MPEG_TS worlds. The three latest modules allow for customisation, giving users the ability to meet specific requirements: a high-speed IP card that delivers both compressed and uncompressed video, a high-density SDI card, and a scrambling card for operations that require secure content delivery.

Appear TV’s ABR just-in-time packager will also be highlighted at NAB. The ABR is an integrated software solution combining a video segmentation engine, high-performance storage DRM engine, and origin server as a suite of complementary elements. When running on a customer’s preferred server architecture, the solution enables both operational capacity and redundancy provisioning to be re-defined by adding more hardware, either physically or via the cloud. The software supports a variety of deployment architectures, including edge deployments without CDN support, and is encoding vendor agnostic, allowing for integration with third-party encoders.

Appear TV will have a complete XC5000 chassis on display at the show. The company’s modular approach enables the user to adopt the system to meet future requirements. The unified head-end chassis can hold a wide range of purpose-built cards to handle reception from IP, ASI, DVB-C, ISDB-T, 8VSB, DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2, descrambling, encoding/transcoding, scrambling, multiplexing and all common output formats.

Visit http://appeartv.com

Artel to Demo Multimedia IP Delivery Solutions Hall, booth N4511. the company has expanded its booth to showcase more real-time, multimedia delivery solutions to meet the changes and challenges facing the broadcast industry. Here’s a quick preview highlighting some of Artel’s IP- and fibre-based video, audio, and data solutions being showcased at the NAB Show.

DUAL-PORT L-BAND DEMODULATOR AND SATELLITE SCANNER WITH CARRIER ID Satellite operators and engineers can scan, and locate quickly and accurately, active signals on a satellite with Artel’s DLC510 L-band satellite demodulator and automatic satellite scanner.

• Fully integrated into the InfinityLink platform enables ASI to IP conversion and ASI routing using other modules in the InfinityLink chassis, DigiLink chassis, or FiberLink products for transport over IP or fibre networks.

INFINITYLINK BROADCAST MEDIA TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS The InfinityLink platform provides transport of video, audio, and data over IP- and fibre-based networks for 3G/HD/SD-SDI, DVB-ASI, and ethernet and is ideal for broadcast, sports, higher education, government, and related applications.

• 1RU chassis with internal routing and SNMP management.

• Transporting video, audio, and data over IP and fibre.

• Dual RF inputs, DVB-S2X support, and ETSI Carrier ID transmission coding.

• 3G/HD/SD-SDI, DVB-ASI, ethernet.

• Functions as a test-and-measurement system for satellite operations or engineering.

• Low power consumption and quiet operation.

Visit www.artel.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

ARTEL VIDEO SYSTEMS will be exhibiting at this year’s NAB in North

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INDUSTRY FOCUS

Fujifilm LTO7 Eco Pack

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INDUSTRY FOCUS

LTO Cine Labelling System 015 >> CANON C700 CAMERA LAUNCH

>> 016 >> CANON C700 CAMERA LAUNCH >> 017 >> CANON C700 CAMERA LAUNCH >>

Figure 1. Traditional broadcast playout.

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Figure 2. IP-based playout.

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CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS BroadcastAsia2017: Top 5 Tech Trends This year’s BroadcastAsia exhibition will showcase top technologies from across the broadcast spectrum. Some of the must-see trends at BroadcastAsia2017 include: VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) Besides a dedicated Virtual Reality Zone at BCA, there will also be an “X-periencing Virtual Reality @ Innovation Hub” for visitors to check out demos on VR for consumers, technical challenges, and the latest developments in Audio VR. MOBILE VIEWING: TV EVERYWHERE! ZONE At the dedicated TV Everywhere! Zone at BroadcastAsia, visitors can explore the latest technologies from our exhibitors, including archive management, content delivery networks, and interactive TV apps.

SALES DIRECTOR BROADCAST & MEDIA, SINGAPORE

See how video analytics will affect the entire broadcasting ecosystem and the latest innovations that revolve around it by joining BroadcastAsia’s Themed Guided Technology Tours or Customised Self-Guided Trails.

IP BROADCASTING IP broadcasting is redefining the broadcasting industry, providing more operational flexibility and a higher capacity, making it easier to create and deliver interesting content. The IP Inter-Op Lab at BroadcastAsia will include a live broadcast studio, content editing and distribution to OTT, all IP in real time.

Visit www.broadcast-asia.com reproduction & storage systems, digital film distribution and/or encoding & multiplexing solutions.

• Reporting on market trends.

• Leading a group of sales managers and presales engineers.

• Planning and executing regional marketing activities and exhibitions.

• Demonstrated success in driving and achieving sales revenues and achieving financial targets • Appropriate negotiation regional experience and advanced written & spoken English language skills.

• Providing regular reports and updates to Regional Headquarters and Munich head office.

• Ability to travel extensively.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE INCLUDES

Applications in the form of CV and cover letter to Linda Green, Head of Executive at EP Australia LPG@epaustralia.com.au or email to obtain a full position overview.

• Experience in managing and marketing complex capital goods in the Asia Pacific region with specific experience in companies operating in the studio and/or broadcast industry • Solid technical knowledge in the areas of TV

TO APPLY

(EP Australia is the leading specialist Recruitment & Executive Search Company for the broadcast, media & Entertainment industry in Australia.)

BroadcastAsia 2017

Siggraph 2017

National Radio Conference

23-25 May

July 30-August 3

13-14 October

NAB Show 2017

Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre

Los Angeles, California, USA

Melbourne, Australia

22-27 April 2017

www.siggraph.org

JUNE

www.commercialradio.com.au

SEPTEMBER

PALM EXPO 2017

IBC 2017

1-3 June

15-19 September

25-27 October

MAY

Bombay Exhibition Centre

RAI Amsterdam

Jakarta International Expo

KOBA 2017

www.palmexpo.in

www.ibc.org

www.broadcast-indonesia.com

16-19 May

JULY

Seoul, South Korea

OCTOBER

SMPTE Australia 2017

www.kobashow.com

Broadcast India 2017

July 18-21 July

12-14 October

Sydney

Bombay Exhibition Centre

www.smpte.com.au

www.broadcastindiashow.com

APRIL

Las Vegas Convention Center www.nabshow.com

CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS

VIDEO ANALYTICS

• Management of sales activities and performance of the sales team.

We are now looking for a senior Sales Director for their regional headquarter based in Singapore (Hong Kong is also an option), to provide both strategic and tactical sales & marketing activities across the Asia Pacific region.

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At the dedicated Cinematography/Film/Production zone, visitors can view the latest innovations in animation, cameras and lenses, editing and motion graphics, among many more.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF RESPONSIBILITIES

Our client is a global organisation and a market leader in the provision of equipment, technology and ground-breaking solutions for the constantly-evolving broadcast and media industry. They are a customer-focused, privately held organisation with over 10 thousand employees around the world.

What’s On

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Broadcast Indonesia

Advertiser Index SMPTE17…………………………………..47

Magna Systems & Engineering …………………………9

Professional Audio &Television……………Cover, 17, 31

MediaProxy…………………………….43

Quantum…………………………………OFC

On Air Solutions………………11, 59

Riedel………………………………29

Jands………………………………………..49

Ooyala…………………………………….57

Ross Video………………………………..19

Techtel……………………………….….7

Lawo………………………………………..21

Pacific Live Media……………37, 53

Seagate………………………………..5

Village Island………………………………..6

AJA…………………………………………..3

Fujinon Fijifilm……………………62, 63

Amber Technology………………….39

IHSE GmbH Asia Pacific……………8

ARRI……………………………………....23

IRT Communications .……………..12

BroadcastAsia2017……………IBC EMC………………………………………..15

Snell Advanced Media..…………..13 Studiotech Australia…………IFC, 33

LEVEL 3 – 6, SUNTEC SINGAPORE T U E S D AY - T H U R S D AY

NEW VENUE

www.Broadcast-Asia.com

Bigger and Better!

Network with over 600 international brand owners and solutions provider

Pre-register your visit online before

Discover over 200 product launches

15 May 2017!

:V\YJL LɉJPLU[S` MYVT key thematic zones Gain insights from 80+ renowned speakers at the Conference Participate in free fringe activities PR

DUCER C O N N E CT

Check out the website for the full information. www.Broadcast-Asia.com

Hop onto the free shuttle service to also visit CommunicAsia at Marina Bay Sands.

Organised by:

Held concurrently with:

www.CommunicAsia.com @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

SES A part of:

Hosted by:

#BroadcastAsia2017

CommunicAsia & EnterpriseIT incorporate:

www.EnterpriseIT-Asia.com @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Endorsed:

www.Satcomm-Asia.com

Supported by:

Held in:

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