Content+Technology July-August 2011

PP: 255003/06831

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 4 JULY/AUGUST 2011

MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

www.content-technology.com

SMPTE11 CONFERENCE EDITION Quinto Puts Optus in View ISSN 1448-9554

An evolution in technology.

A revolution in business possibilities.

T he S e l e n i o M e d i a Con vergen ce P latf orm TM

Every day our industry accelerates its migration from a traditional, broadcast model to a more flexible, efficient IP-based workflow. Productivity demands it — and new revenue is reliant on it.

Enter Selenio ™. The industry’s first media convergence platform.

With Selenio, baseband video/audio processing, compression and IP networking are combined into a single, scalable, space-saving platform.

So go ahead. Expand your channel portfolio. Make that transition to HD. Or move into web/mobile services. Selenio enables you to add new services confidently and cost effectively.

Selenio. An evolution in technology. A revolution in business possibilities.

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VOLUME 8 ISSUE 4 JULY/AUGUST 2011

Also see C+T in PDF at www.content-technology.com

Cover Story – Optus Boosts BOC with Quinto

70 REGULARS 02 04

EDITOR’S WELCOME NEWS Convergence Review, SMPTE News, People Moves, Distribution.

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TAKING STOCK Karl Jansson Networks at the Trade Show; Media Spend Set to Rise – PwC; Outgoing ACCC Chair on Media Landscape; Mergers and Acquisitions.

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CLASSIFIEDS EVENTS OFF-AIR What Happens on Tour, Gets Printed Right Here!

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TIME SHIFTER The Ghosts of Tradeshows Past.

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STORAGE & ASSET MANAGEMENT

FEATURES 18 28

SMPTE11 PREVIEW 3D – THE THIRD DIMENSION Two

TMD Boosts Digitisation for NFSA; DAMsmart Takes on Prime Regional Archives; Video-8 Integrates Cloudbased MAM for ACS; ARRI Holds Archive Workshop; Masstech Patent for Adaptive Cluster Technology.

Into One with 720P – the Tile Format Broadcasting System, Wavetrain Trains in 3D with JVC.

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ACQUISITION Videocraft Improves Definition for Church & State; ARRI Shoots a Few Best Men then Takes to Skies;

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NEWS OPERATIONS AP Opens in Nth Korea; DART Centre for Journalism Expands; Channel NewsAsia links with LiveU; Online Virtual News Agency; Broadcasting Twitter Feeds.

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CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY: ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN: 34 095 653 277) PO Box 259, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel: +61-(0)2-9332 2221 Fax: +61-(0)2-9332 2280 Mob: +61-(0)414-671-811 papers@broadcastpapers.com SUB-EDITOR: Sushil Suresh

AUDIO HD Audio ‘Radiates’ from Auckland; Dolby Digital plus for China DTMB Spec; Audio Description Requirement for Funded Films;

SPORTSCASTING New Trucks for Global TV & Cutting Edge; Olympic Rights Dished Out; Wimbledon 2011; SFS Installs Mobile Panasonic Screen; Isn’t It Time Sport Went Social?

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RADIO UK Considers DAB Switchover EBU Study on Radio Consumption; Automotive Industry Listens to Digital Radio

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TRANSMISSION Singapore DVB-T2 Trial; Optus Boosts BOC with Quinto, Evertz; Intelsat Invests $1.3 Billion in APAC Fleet; Trevini Guidebuilder Helps Austar Grow;

POST-PRODUCTION In Profile: VFX Supervisor David Booth; Imagezone taps Light Illusion for Colour management; Deluxe VFX Takes Shotgun Around World; Bangkok’s Postique Builds DI Backbone with DVS; New engine for KIA.

SALES & MARKETING MANAGER: Daniela Huelsen Tel: +61-(0)410 880 557 dh@broadcastpapers.com PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lucy Salmon Tel: +61-(0)29332 2221 production@broadcastpapers.com DESIGN & LAYOUT: Wide Open Media Tel: +61-2-9690 2835 info@wideopenmedia.com.au PRINTING: Whirlwind Print COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All material in Broadcastpapers’ Content+Technology Magazine is protected under

Australian Commonwealth Copyright Laws.

No material may be reproduced in part or whole in any manner without prior consent of the Publisher and/or copyright holder.

DISCLAIMER: Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for omissions or mistakes made within, claims made or information provided by advertisers.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

Will Convergence Come Together?

By Phil Sandberg

IT’S BEEN THE BUZZWORD FOR OVER A DECADE NOW, at least until social media came along, but the powers that be are still trying to work out what it means. Convergence – the merging of broadcast, telecommunications and the Internet (if that definition still holds) – has been disrupting our lives for a while now and, yet, many of the main players are still far from being on the same page as to what shape future regulation (if any) should take.

The trouble is, the only aspect of the review the various parties are converging on is the audience. Like a neighbourhood undergoing gentrification or other demographic shift, there is a contest over ‘Audience Town’ which has its roots in vested viewpoints, rather than what the neighbourhood could look like or, regardless of one’s aspirations, what it eventually will become. Some 70 organisations made submissions on the draft Terms of Reference for the Australian Government’s Convergence Review (see page 4).

Representing traditional broadcast television, Free TV highlighted key issues which it considers of sufficient urgency and importance. These included: + The future of licence fees paid by holders of commercial TV broadcasting licences, which are “are out of step with international best practice”; + The benefits of technology neutral regulation and the equitable treatment of the same and similar content across platforms; + The appropriate level of oversight and intervention by the media regulator across all media platforms; and + The terms of reference should address innovation and creativity, in addition to efficiency, diversity and competition.

Representing the subscription media industry, ASTRA highlighted its old chestnuts of programme anti-siphoning, increasingly competition from public broadcasters, and copyright. ASTRA said it also did not see a need for the Committee to be tasked to take into account “ensuring industry and government revenue sufficient to produce Australian and local market content”. According to the subscription body, “Such a focus could unnecessarily distort the review towards options to protect existing media business models that may not necessarily be suited to a converged media environment”.

Meanwhile, Commercial Radio Australia stated that “the terms of reference proposed by the Department are wide ranging and appear to be broad enough to cover issues that the commercial radio industry anticipates that it will discuss in its substantive response to the Convergence Review”.

These issues include: + The need to achieve regulatory consistency in the treatment of “traditional” and “new” media; and + The role of the “increasingly inflexible” Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

EDITOR’S WELCOME

CRA went on to emphasise:

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+ The need to put a hold on the issue of any new analogue radio licences at a time when new digital radio services are being planned across Australia; + Elements of the local content and local presence provisions in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which it says are “excessively onerous, prescriptive and interventionist”; and + A review of current commercial radio licence fees.

From the telco world, Telstra stated “the effectiveness of the Review Committee’s work could be improved” by sharpening the focus of the draft Terms of Reference in three ways: + The Inclusion of Additional Policy Parameters such as Regulatory Forbearance and the need to Promote Investment in convergent industries; + The Exclusion of Policy Issues Currently Subject to Ongoing Judicial Action, specifically online copyright infringement; + The Clearer Delineation of Responsibilities Between Parallel Policy Development Processes.

If all this sounds like traditional players looking to protect their old turf, well, it is. Thankfully, however, there is no shortage of protective impulses when it comes to new turf either. According to Stephen Collins, Global Head, Government & Regulatory Affairs, with Skype, “The Terms of Reference focus on content regulation and not on other equally important areas, such as communications services provision and spectrum management.” Collins suggests the TOR should also emphasise the principle of Open Access on a nationwide basis to all layers of the value chain: infrastructure, access and service/application.

In the end, however, “Audience Town” will look like any other town, one where different eras and technologies have all left their mark. There will be new buildings, old buildings and renovated buildings trying to keep up with the fashion of the new buildings. Unfortunately, there will also be abandoned buildings ready for a knock-down. That, despite the Government’s best intentions, is something the audience will decide.

Thanks for Reading Phil Sandberg, Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com, T: +61-(0)2-9332 2221

2011 C+T DEADLINES SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011 VOL 8 ISSUE 5 Editorial/Advertising Bookings Ad Material

August 12, 2011 August 19

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 VOL 8 ISSUE 6 Editorial/Advertising Bookings Ad Material

October 21, 2011 October 28

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.content-technology.com +61-(0)2-9332 2221 or +61-(0)414 671 811. e: papers@broadcastpapers.com Sales enquiries: papers@broadcastpapers.com +61-(0)2 9332 2221.

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

Issues ‘Emerge’ from Convergence Review THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S Convergence Review Committee has released an emerging issues paper as part of the next step in its review of Australian media and communications regulation.

The emerging issues paper finalises a set of principles, highlights key issues raised in submissions and consultations and forms a basis for further discussion with stakeholders.

In April, the committee released a framing paper for public comment containing proposed principles that would guide consideration of issues relevant to the review. Sixty-five submissions and a number of online comments were received from a wide variety of businesses, industry groups, academics and members of the public.

framework for us throughout the review,” Mr Boreham said.

The consultation process resulted in two new principles and refinements to a number of others.

“We wanted to make the deregulatory nature of the review clearer in these principles, and we also added a principle relating to a dynamic Australian production industry,” Mr Boreham said.

The paper released also contains some of the issues that the committee sees as important and require further consideration over the course of the review. These include local and Australian content, media ownership and diversity, content rights acquisition and community standards.

Glen Boreham, Chair of the Convergence Review Committee, said the committee made a number of changes to the principles based on these submissions.

As part of the paper, the committee has issued an open call for submissions to give stakeholders the opportunity to make comments on the emerging issues or raise other ideas and suggestions for regulatory reform.

“We received some very high-quality submissions from many stakeholders. These helped us finalise a set of principles that will be an important

Submissions close on 28 October 2011 and can be made either online through the review website or by email to the Convergence Review Secretariat.

Videocraft Broadens Scope THIS YEAR’S SMPTE SHOW sees Videocraft broadening its range of products and concentrating on acquisition, production, post production and accessories.

NSW State Manager Andy Liell said, “We will have a strong emphasis on live production systems based on Videocraft-owned vision switchers like the Sony MVS6000 and MVS8000. There will be a number of powerful broadcast production switchers on display and many different solutions available to buy or rent including the new BlackMagic Atem 1 ME production switcher with the Hyperdeck Studio recorder.”

Videocraft will also be showcasing its new audio FlyPack at SMPTE 2011. Designed around the Yamaha 01v96 digital audio mixer and console, the new audio FlyPack has integrated patching, processing and audio monitoring and complements Videocraft’s AV-HS400 switcher FlyPack.

Videocraft will also be displaying a wide range of Sony and Panasonic cameras on its stand in an area dedicated to acquisition. In post production area Videocraft will be highlighting the Avid Isis 5000 shared storage system, Visit www.videocraft.com.au

Masstech to Unveil New Emerald MASSTECH, THE PROVIDER OF TOOLS for

NEWS + PEOPLE

media asset management, bridging workflows and high-speed transcoding will showcase the new Emerald version 7.5 Lite Edition and Sapphire v2.0 channel-in-a-box playout server at SMPTE 2011 in Sydney from 19 to 22 July.

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Emerald provides all-in-one advanced digital archiving, HQS transcoding and content management. Doubling up as a mini MAM, Emerald digitally preserves footage using efficient file based archiving where scaling is not required. Emerald comes with active

integration to various end-points including video servers and NLE’s with automated workflows in Production, Newsrooms and mini-MAM broadcast applications.

Integrating tightly into popular Newsroom Computer Systems (NRCS) like AP-ENPS and AVID’s iNEWS via Media Object Server (MOS) protocol, newsroom staff can research archived content, search slugs linked to video archives, browse archived content, and quickly make shot selections without moving from their desk.

Visit www.masstech.com

Convergence Review Committee Chair, Glen Boreham.

The committee will undertake a nationwide public consultation program and release a number of detailed discussion papers on key issues. The timing of these processes will be available soon at www.dbcde.gov.au/convergence.

Magna Showcases IP-Based Solutions MAGNA SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERING will be showcasing products from over 20 different principals at this year’s SMPTE 2011 on stand C44, many targeted at IP-based solutions.

Magna Systems and Engineering CEO David Bowers said, “At this year’s SMPTE show Magna Systems and Engineering is showcasing a wide range of IP-based systems, workflows and media asset management solutions directly targeted at changing the way broadcasters do business and how they monetise their assets. As usual we have the entire Magna Systems and Engineering team in from Sydney alongside representatives from our Auckland and Singapore offices conducting demos on our stands. Without question the move into IP-based systems, workflows and asset management forms a bigger and bigger part of the projects we get involved with and thus the kinds of solutions we have to offer our clients. It’s been talked about for a few years and from Magna Systems and Engineering’s point of view we are now officially right in the thick of it.

IP-based offerings are very much changing the way broadcasters do business and you can see the latest in these types of offerings on our stand C44 at SMPTE 2011.”

To book at demo on the Magna Systems and Engineering stand contact Andrea Martinez on +61 2 9417 1111 or at AMartinez@magnasys.tv

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NEWS + PEOPLE

Datavideo and Boxx TV at SMPTE

Strawberry Flavoured Eureka

DATAVIDEO WILL BE RELEASING its new SE-

AT SMPTE 2011 Eureka Pacific will be launching FlavourSys Strawberry, an intelligent media and project sharing software for collaborative editing designed to accelerate, integrate and improve workflows.

3000 16 Channel SD/HD SDI switcher at SMPTE. The 16 input HD & SD live production switcher’s professional features include a touch screen interface to select effecters, colour adjustment and keying settings.

Other advanced features include extensive 3D DVEs, high quality multi screen multi-view output, chromakey, dual PiP, multi-language support and a full size control panel keyboard as well PC control interface.

The Datavideo SE-3000 includes the “Flex Source” effect, which is similar to having a second M/E, for advanced vision mixing.

Also showing at SMPTE is Boxx TV’s Zenith, a new SD/HD-SDI and Composite wireless system with H.264 Compression for ENG and HD live productions. Visit stand J13

The key functions of Strawberry have been focused on the needs of an editor and include searching, finding, sharing and collaborating.

Strawberry is able to simultaneously search for project names, meta descriptions, filenames and look inside Avid bins.

Self-administered Team Management allows user rights to be setup by administrator so users can freely share projects in real time amongst themselves.

Visit Stand G42 and www.rorke.com/strawberry. cfm

Full JVC Range On Show THIS YEAR’S SMPTE will see JVC Professional show its wide range of HD cameras, monitors and switchers alongside high resolution, 3D capable super contrast D-ILA projectors, the latest 3D LCD panels and its innovative 2D to 3D image converter.

JVC’s GY-HM790E camera, the flagship of the ProHD product line, will be demonstrated alongside the new GY-HM750E, a compact shoulder-mount camcorder that is ideal for ENG news, sports, documentaries, and other location shoots. Both cameras include a 68-pin chassis connector that creates a clean, direct interface with various modules – no external cables needed.

SMPTE11 will see JVC’s GY-HM100E ProHD handheld camcorder that has become an

indispensible tool for journalists.

Also on display and produced in conjunction with Telecast Fiber Systems, is the new CopperHead ProHD KA-F790 fibre optic transceiver for the GY-HM790E. Visitors can see JVC’s Vérité ‘G Series’ professional LCD monitors that are designed for critical image evaluation and feature 3G and duallink HD/SD-SDI (1080p/60 4:4:4) inputs.

JVC professional will also be showcasing the DLA-F110 projector with its 30,000:1 contrast ratio, the DLA-X3 projector with its 50,000:1 contrast ratio and the DLA-X9 projector with its 100,000:1 contrast ratio achieved without using an active iris.

Visit stand D35 and www.jvcpro-australia.com

Techtel Shows Playbox Technology PLAYBOX TECHNOLOGY, a leading international ‘TV channel in a box’ manufacturer will be showcased at SMPTE by Techtel. On display will be:

NEWS + PEOPLE

QCBox - a quality control solution that guarantees the successful playout of media files by AirBox. In addition QCBox can set the audio parameters that can be used by AirBox for level control.

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Multi-Channel AirBox - multi-channel playout from a single server with LIVE IN, audio remapping, Dolby Digital support, new format support including AVC Intra and Apple Pro res.

New router support for BlackMagic Design, Snell and Miranda.

Multi-Channel CaptureBox - multi-channel content ingest from a single server used in the

Fujifilm and Fujinon Build Big

tapeless workflow with manual, scheduled and tape options including batch capture.

Multi-Channel TitleBox 3D/2D - multi-channel interactive CG and graphics from a single server.

New features include an enhanced scripting engine that allows complete control over objects’ properties, sequencing and execution; custom applications development; 3D objects.

FUJIFILM AND FUJINON will use their largest ever SMPTE stand to demonstrate products covering LTO video tape and digital video archiving, 3D cameras, motion picture film, camera systems, camera lenses and software.

The LTO videotape area will include a full digital video archiving solution demonstration of the Datastor X1500 Archive System that delivers cost effective archiving of digital video files to LTO data tape.

Storm Surfers 3D footage shot using the Fujinon 3D lens system will be displayed on a 3D LCD television. There will also be a working Panavision Element Techina Quasar 3D camera rig system complete with Fujinon 3D lens alongside a Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 camera demonstration.

Fujifilm Motion Picture Film stocks on display include the recently added ETERNA Vivid 250D which takes the range to nine different film stocks.

A dedicated cameras and lenses area will showcase a fully functional ARRI ALEXA Plus camera with Fujinon camera lenses for ENG, Fujinon camera box lenses and 18-80mm and 45-250mm Laura Zoom lenses.

In the ENG area the new HA14x4.5BERM-M1 wide-angle lens with a 2.2x extender, HA23x7.6 telephoto lens and new wireless remotes will be demonstrated.

In the box lens area the Fujinon high performance XA88x8.8 outside broadcast lens will be demonstrated. The XA88x8.8 lens was designed to have wide power incorporated into a telephoto lens, to minimise the drop of the F-number at the telephoto end and to prevent any change in optical performance when the shooting distance is changed. Lastly for lenses, in the PL Mount area the HK7.3x24-F cine style PL mount lens will be demonstrated.

Universal Matrix Controller (UMC) - A server application that manages the communications between multiple AirBox playout servers and switching/routing matrices. Together with the Multi-Backup Manager it ensures the correct playout switchover in case of a master AirBox failure.

Finally the ImmerVision 360 camera system, lens and software area will highlight the Panomorph lens from Fujinon and ImmerVision software manipulating a360° image for one camera video surveillance applications. This demo will show the system giving a constant overview of an entire area, detailed analysis of a recorded image, multiple virtual camera views from the same video source, digital pan, tilt and zoom in every Panomorph view, Panomorph image detection and calibration and different view perspectives.

Visit Stand G35 and www.playbox.tv

Visit stand H27 and www. Fujifilm.com

Introducing Ericsson E2E TV™.

Redefining “end-to-end” to ensure that the individual TV experience is desired by people, technologically proven, and profitable.

See more at ericsson.com/televisionary.

E2E TV – that’s televisionary Visit us at SMPTE 2011, Booth G13

NEWS + PEOPLE

Burn, Morgan, Christie Move to Grass Valley GRASS VALLEY HAS ANNOUNCED THE addition of three new industry veterans to support customers throughout the Asia Pacific and Oceania regions. Karlton Burn has joined the company as head of sales for the South Asian territory. In his new role, Burn will be responsible for direct customer interaction, as well as presales activities.

Joining Burn from Avid is Nick Morgan who has been tapped to lead the company’s Professional Services and Customer Support Group for the

Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Morgan brings business development skills and professional services management experience to the team, having worked for more than 25 years in the local broadcast industry.

Matthew Christie has been appointed General Manager of the Oceania region. Christie will be responsible for managing the Grass Valley business and building its market share across the entire region.

Quinto Communications snaps up IPTV Agreement WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY moving towards IP video distribution, Quinto Communications believe they have tapped into this emerging market by signing a distribution agreement with Norwegian based IPTV experts, Snap TV. “We have been asked by a number of customers who wish to convert off-air signals to IP and distribute them around their facilities,” says Quinto’s Alan McIlwaine. “With Snap TV, we found a partner who has many years experience in this type of digital distribution and the quality of their products really impressed us.”

Snap TV is based in Norway and commenced its operations by providing IPTV distribution systems to off-shore oil rigs. From there, they expanded into the distribution of television signals to cruise ships, hotels, stadiums and now television centres.

According to Snap TV’s Mikael Osen, “Working with isolated oil rigs on the North Sea, we quickly learnt that picture quality, flexibility and most importantly, reliability have to be the key features

Video-8 Grabs Glasson for Group Sales Manager

MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT (MAM) specialist Video-8 Media has announced that Sean Glasson has joined the company as Group Sales Manager. Industry veteran Glasson was previously National Sales Manager at Miller and John Barry before joining Video-8.

Video-8 MD Gareth Collins said, “Sean is very much the person we were looking for to complement our team as we move further and further into providing Media Asset Management and workflow solutions to the broadcast and production industries. There are few people as well connected in those industries and who understand them better than Sean.”––– Visit www.video-8.com

of any IP television product. It would be difficult to explain to these offshore oil workers why their television system was not working, and so we invested a lot of R&D into making a solid IP distribution system.”

Royal Appointment for Fujinon

In addition to having the ability to take hundreds of television channels and distribute them to thousands of users, the Snap TV system also offers the ability to record and playback channels.

Visit www.quinto.com.au

Sunita Gloster is Omnilab Media CEO of creative and technical services to the advertising, entertainment, and corporate markets through the brands of Boffswana, CornerPost, Digital Pictures, Flagstaff Studios, Iloura andOmnilab Media [PAX Entertainment].

NEWS + PEOPLE

CHRISTOPHER MAPP, MANAGING DIRECTOR

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of Omnilab Media, has announced the promotion of Sunita Gloster to CEO of the company’s Media Services division.

As CEO, Media Services, Gloster will lead the strategic direction of the division in its provision

“Since her appointment over three months ago, Sunita has brought immense value to the development of a refreshed, market-driven direction for the collective of brands that operate within our Media Services division in Sydney. We are now further enabling her to take a broader national and internal view within our company,” says Christopher Mapp, Managing Director, Omnilab Media.

Prior to working at Omnilab Media, Gloster most recently worked as Managing Director at advertising agency bellamyhayden.

Visit www.omnilab.com.au/

STRENGTHENING ITS COMMITMENT TO the Australian market, Fujinon has announced that Chris Royal has joined its team as Key Account Manager. Royal will focus primarily on business development for new and existing key accounts by building on current business relationships, strengthening Fujinon’s presence in the Australian market, developing new business opportunities and analysing market and sales trends.

Royal will be responsible for the full range of Fujinon products including the new 360-degree Panamorph lenses that have created such a stir in the industry with their revolutionary distortionfree panoramic images.

Royal comes to Fujinon after many years with Amber Technology.

Visit www.FUJIFILM.com.au

Technology – Leading into the future Elemental’s innovative GPU technology allows media companies to deliver live and on-demand video to any device, at any time, all at once.

With unprecedented levels of video processing speed, performance and economies of scale, Elemental’s Live and File servers can drive scalable video delivery to TVs, PCs, tablets and mobile devices.

Perfecting the Media Experience

PAG’s acclaimed PAGLIGHT is now available with interchangeable LED, Halogen and HMI light sources • One camera body – multiple lights • High Brightness • Low Power Consumption • On Board Dimmer

LED Camera Lights

Snap TV. With built-in electronic program guide (EPG)

Autocue iPad Prompter

management, set-top box boot-up and GUI server, Snap TV delivers IP from DVB-T and other sources. This product is much more than just an IPTV gateway; it is a complete IPTV head-end in one box!

– A complete hardware package enabling you to turn an iPad into a portable teleprompter (iPad not included). Available either as a straight-read or full prompter. iPhone version also available.

DVB to IP Gateway

Evertz are the acknowledged leaders in high quality multi-image monitoring • 8, 16 or 32 Inputs • Two Independent Outputs • Subtitle Decoding • Automatic Fault Monitoring And now their MViP is available with IP based multi-image monitoring and display!

Multi-Image Monitoring

Blackmagic’s incredible

range of low cost SD and HD equipment is now available from Quinto Communications • Editing and Design • Test Equipment • Monitoring • Routers • Converters • H.264 Encoding

Blackmagic

QUINTO COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD SYDNEY (02) 9894 4244 MELBOURNE (03) 9558 9377 AUCKLAND (09) 486 1204 Email: sales@quinto.com.au Website: quinto.com.au

Affordable Prompting

JVC’s new G-series of the DT-V studio monitors offer excellent image quality and feature a robust design suitable for a variety of applications • 17”, 20” and 24” models available • Built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope • 12 channel audio scale • Very high viewing angle • Additional screen area for status indicators

Broadcast Monitoring at an Affordable Price

The Snell Kahuna is recognised as one of the world’s foremost vision mixers for seamless SD and HD operation • 1M/E to 4 M/E range • Fully loaded DVE options for 3D effects • Format Fusion – real-time mixing of SD and HD inputs

Kahuna SD/HD Production Switcher

DISTRIBUTION www.content-technology.com/distribution

Corsair Drives Grass Valley Down Under; Acquires Lako Pro

Switch Media Delivers to New Platforms with Magna

CORSAIR SOLUTIONS IS NOW RESPONSIBLE

SWITCH MEDIA IS PARTNERING WITH

for the marketing, sales and support of all product families within Grass Valley’s Desktop and Enterprise Solutions business unit throughout Australia. This includes EDIUS Editing solutions, ProCoder software transcoding, FireCoder hardware transcoding, MediaEdge IP based video distribution and ADVC products.

In a related development Corsair Solutions and Lako Pacific have announced that Corsair Solutions has acquired the Lako Pro business unit from Lako Pacific Pty Ltd. Lako Pro markets and distributes audio and video products that cater to industry professionals, offering professional video streaming and broadcasting solutions to the Pro AV, broadcast, corporate, government, education and communication markets.

The acquisition of Lako Pro means that Lako Pacific’s Business Development Manager, Brad Morton, will be joining Corsair Solutions as Sales Director. The acquisition also extends the reach of Corsair Solutions’ current product lines, as well as providing a renewed focus for the sales and marketing of products from Lako Pro’s portfolio. “It is a win-win situation” said Mark Lampard, Managing Director of Corsair Solutions.

“We have decided to focus on growing our retail brand, Kaiser Baas,” says Evan Kourambas, Managing Director of Lako Pacific Pty Ltd. Current Australian customers of TV One, Viewcast and Pioneer Pro Video should contact Corsair Solutions for any sales and technical support enquiries. Call 1300 562 779 or email sales@corsairsolutions.com.au

Autocue Appoints Blonde Robot AUTOCUE HAS APPOINTED BLONDE ROBOT as a distributor for Australia and New Zealand for their new and pro video product ranges.

The distribution agreement with Blonde Robot includes Autocue’s acclaimed new video server range; its new range of high-end broadcast monitors; and its “Starter Series” teleprompters, lighting and camera support. According to Autocue CEO Frank Hyman, “The appointment of Blonde Robot is the perfect opportunity to further extend our reach in the pro video market for our Starter Series, and also provides an excellent launch vehicle for our new video server and broadcast monitor ranges in this market.”

Autocue’s new range of broadcast quality reference monitors include three main series of monitor, each available in 17” or 24” sizes, and each offering excellent functionality, as well as large format 40” and 46” screens with HD-SDI for studio and gallery use. Autocue’s Linuxbased video servers are effective replacements

for tape machines, as well as an affordable solution for secondary applications within top-end broadcasters. The Starter Series are the world’s leading pro video prompters. At NAB, a new version of the SSP10 and iPad prompter was launched, offering even greater portability and further weight reductions. “Autocue is the acknowledged industry leader in teleprompters, but many may not be aware of their excellent broadcast and grading monitors, as well as their exciting new video server range. We’re looking forward to making a big difference to the level of awareness of Autocue’s expanding product range,” says Blonde Robot Managing Director Eamon Drew. Quinto Communications will sell the complete Autocue product range and continue to be the exclusive distributor for Autocue’s Newsroom and Scripting solutions, as well as the “Master” and “Professional” ranges of teleprompters in the region.

Visit www.autocue.com

IMAGINASIA Provides Link to TV Tech Suppliers

DISTRIBUTION

ASIA PACIFIC SALES AND BUSINESS

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development specialist, IMAGINASIA, has announced new clients as part of its growing portfolio of technology and services for the TV and digital media market. The company brings together senior Asian and industry expertise to provide clients with outsourced sales, business development, marketing and strategy consultancy for profitable Asian business growth. The IMAGINASIA team is working on a number of long-term assignments for clients including

GreyJuice Lab and RRSat, and also on short term strategic projects for firms such as Technicolor.

The company has established reseller and partner relationships across the region in key territories: Greater China, SE Asia, NE Asia, India and Australia/NZ. Grey Juice Lab is an expert in non-linear content.

Grey Juice Lab goes beyond content aggregation to provide customers with expertise on all aspects of the content value chain Visit www.imaginasia.com.hk

Asia Pacific systems integrator Magna Systems & Engineering to deliver scalable end-to-end New Media platforms for the broadcast industry. The partnership recognises a new era in broadcast as content management and delivery extends through the internet to viewers on smart TVs, mobile devices and computers.

Switch engineers develop integrated Media Asset Management, Analytics, Content Protection, Storage and Delivery systems that enable the distribution of programming via the internet. A Switch Media platform enables clients to manage and monitor the delivery of their content to PCs, mobiles, iPads, Android devices and connected TVs. The company uses a hybrid of Cloud based infrastructure and private tier-one facilities to leverage scale, maximise security and control costs. It operates a redundant topology to ensure continuity of service. Switch Media include AUSTAR, the Australian Broadcasting Association (ABC), INSEAD, Disney, Fairfax Media and The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA). The company has its hubs in Sydney, Mumbai and Singapore.

Visit www.switchmedia.asia

Cine Equipment Quantel Post Reseller for SE Asia QUANTEL HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAS appointed Cine Equipment Pte Ltd as its reseller in Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand for its range of postproduction systems. Cine Equipment is a well-established specialist production and post-production equipment distributor and reseller, headquartered in Singapore with offices throughout the region. “Quantel is the most ideal and perfect choice to complete the product range and workflow in Cine Equipment,” said Tng Siew Moi, Cine Equipment Pte Ltd Managing Director.

“Now we are confident and ready to provide a True-Total-Solution to our valued customers throughout the region.”

“With Stereo3D taking off very rapidly, CineEquipment are ideally placed to introduce the market leading capabilities and track record of our Pablo Stereo3D color correction and finishing system to the widest possible audience,” said Martin Mulligan, Quantel Sales and Marketing Director.

Visit: www.quantel.com and www.cine-equipment.com

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Global Media Spend Set to Rise in Next Five Years, Says PwC ACCORDING TO THE LATEST GLOBAL Entertainment & Media Outlook 2011-2015 from PwC, the Entertainment & Media (E&M) industry emerging from the recession has profoundly changed as the consumer migration to digital has accelerated due largely to the device revolution.

“Over the next five years we forecast that aggregate E&M global spending will rise from US$1.4 trillion in 2010 to $1.9 trillion in 2015, a 5.7 per cent compound annual advance driven by economic growth, but masking the accelerating shift of spending from traditional to digital platforms. Currently digital accounts for 26 per cent of all spending but by 2015 we expect digital’s share to rise to 33.9 per cent,” says the consultancy firm. “Advertising, the most cyclically sensitive of the three E&M spending streams, recorded the largest year-onyear swing, rebounding at 5.8 per cent in 2010 from an 11 per cent slump in 2009. Overall global advertising will increase at a 5.5 per cent compound annual rate from $442 billion in 2010 to $578 billion in 2015.

Consumers enjoy playing an active role in shaping their content plus they are happy to pay for privileges to get earlier access to content. The challenge for companies is to turn five attributes - convenience, experience, quality, participation and privilege - into sustainable, profitable and engaged relationships with the consumer.

According to the Outlook, establishing content and brand engagement is one half of the equation. The other is the mechanics of how people will pay for the content or enhanced experience. Various models are being tried including freemium, micropayments and selling bundled access to the same content over a variety of platforms. At the same time, a significant shift is emerging away from payments models that involve buying and “owning” content that is stored on a device and towards paying for the right to consume it on a “rented” basis via streaming from cloud-based services. PwC says the migration of the consumer to smart devices is increasing as wireless network upgrades allow for faster download speeds and the markets for smart devices and mobile apps are now driving

one another. As well as boosting mobile apps, smartphone growth is a key driver of mobile spending on E&M content and mobile Internet.

Advertising agencies are providing clients with new ideas for connecting with consumers via digital platforms even as they are exploring new remuneration models for these digital campaigns, some of which, in effect, involve participating in the risks and rewards of a campaign with the brand owners. These new approaches have helped drive an unexpected strong recovery in advertising led by online and TV. PwC says digitisation is leading towards a new operating model specifically designed for the digital ecosystem - the Collaborative Digital Enterprise (CDE) – an enterprise that is technology driven and dynamic, interconnected and continuously engaged with its entire customer, employee and supplier ecosystem.

The Outlook says Latin America will be the fastest-growing region in terms of E&M spend during the next five years followed by the Asia Pacific. Visit www.pwc.com/outlook

Graeme Samuel’s Parting Thoughts on a Converging World IN HIS FINAL SPEECH as Chairman of

of as fibre to the street corner, as opposed to fibre to the home or premises).

the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, Graeme Samuel used the occasion to reflect on the growth of the ACCC and the evolving media landscape.

“I think I can now summarise that 2006 proposal – which Telstra unilaterally abandoned midway through talks with us – as an ‘illusion’. It was an illusion on cost and on capacity to deliver truly high-speed broadband to end users.

When Samuel first joined the ACCC, it had a budget of $62.5 million a year. That budget is now close to $150 million. The number of staff has increased from something less than 500 individuals to well over 800.

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According to the outgoing Chair, “A significant challenge we are faced with in the future is the rapidly evolving technologies that provide new means to distribute content to consumers blurring the traditional separation between various products and platforms, such as newspapers, television and the internet, is blurring; and this can rapidly alter the competitive landscape. The existence of new forms of distribution such as Internet Protocol Television can raise significant issues in defining the boundaries of relevant markets.

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“In Australia the ‘old’ media sector is becoming increasingly concentrated. But, at the same time, there is potential for competition from ‘new media’. It will be important to understand the dynamics and interrelationships between the different platforms; identify which new, untested ‘new-media’ entrants are likely to become important competitors in the future; and identify whether and how content owners can get content

“In the context of the Government’s original FTTN policy, it is worth noting some revelations from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy in the recent ABC 4 Corners program on the NBN. “If the Government’s fibre to the node proposal had proceeded Telstra could have been entitled to an estimated $15 billion to $20 billion in compensation for the relegation of its copper network to the scrap heap. to consumers.

“Content control is paramount,” said Samuel. “We might have a series of pipes to distribute content to consumers, but if the compelling content is controlled by too few media players, they will have a stranglehold over the competitive landscape in this important area.

“The ACCC has been quite public in noting that it has given independent and expert advice to government on both the telecommunications regulatory regime in general and, in particular, Telstra’s 2006 proposal for a fibre-to-the-node network (which in other words might be thought

“Thus, $15-20 billion could have been spent to build a fibre-to-the-node network; an additional $15 to 20 billion paid to Telstra for compensation; and then Telstra could have taken that money and built a fibre-to-the-home network past the FTTN network but only in the densely populated and thus profitable areas - and stranded 70 per cent of the FTTN investment.

“That’s where we could have ended up. But as a consequence of the debate that has occurred over the past two years, we now have the opportunity to put in place the foundation for a more competitive telecommunications environment.“ Visit www.accc.gov.au

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TAKING STOCK

Trade Shows and Networking Media staff & strategy by Karl Jansson IF YOU’RE FORTUNATE TO HAVE THE CORPORATE WINGS TO recently have taken you from BroadcastAsia (Singapore) to SMPTE2011 in Sydney, then you will more than likely have a reason for doing so.

Some people have multiple agendas that may include reviewing new product releases, securing new clients and/or contracts, networking with industry colleagues, checking out better ways to display your product or service, or you may just want to snoop on your competitors.

Now all this depends if you are a visitor or an exhibitor, or both.

However if you are an exhibitor make sure you are also a visitor, by spending similar time away from the stand as you are on it.

Now speaking from a professional recruiter’s perspective, I network a trade show till my shoe leather is worn down to my socks and my pockets that were bulging on arrival with my business cards are again bulging when I leave.

“

Use the time you have on the stand to evaluate who is best suited to what part of your company, and then use this opportunity to start implementing a plan to grow them into that area.

”

But that’s my agenda, to network with as many of my industry colleagues as I can, because the broadcast community is where I’ve been working for well over 10 years and I share it with suppliers and broadcasters.

So although my approach is more focused on people, I’m also reviewing what’s new and where the hot spots are, which makes a trade show a place of knowledge. Now that’s not a mind bending revelation, it’s just what it is.

However, if you look beyond the nine dots and venture into the beyond of what a trade show is, you can potentially use it as a place to identify and build strengths within your staff.

Now you have a new dimension.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE AN EXHIBITOR, YOU’RE THINKING OUTSIDE THE NINE DOTS!

Ok, you have a great stand, great products on display, but without trade show etiquette you could sink your investment!

(It’s amazing how many companies don’t practice the following basic rules.) + First impressions are important, so set up early so you are ready when the doors open on Day One.

+ A dress code should be set before the show so all supporting staff reflect the company in a professional and consistent light. + Whilst on the stand, eye contact should be maintained with everyone passing by, and as basic as it sounds, an added smile will more than likely prompt a small greeting. + Think of the edge of the stand as a counter in a retail store. If you approach a stand where the employees are in deep conversation with themselves behind that line without any eye contact, it’s perceived as being rude. + When staff are seen eating within the stand’s perimeter, the number of approaches diminish. It’s perceived as rude as well the potential foodspoiled handshake is not seen as inviting anyway! + If you are on the stand alone, resist the temptation to sit working on a laptop, computer, PDA, mobile, or read a magazine or paperwork as it also sends the wrong signals. + Use the principal of being born with two ears and one mouth.

OK, as an exhibitor you will more than likely bring along your sales team to interact with visitors on the stand, because that’s traditionally been the best way, and if your product or service is self explanatory, then all you may need are a couple of hosts or hostesses. Ok, tradition is good, but you are limiting the opportunities, and remember this is an investment, so squeeze as much out of it as you can!

+ Listen twice as much as you speak as it will help work the 4Ps!

Ok, one approach to thinking outside the nine dots is the potential to bring younger inexperienced staff onto the stand, which may consist of technical, engineering or customer service.

Karl Jansson previously owned and managed “J-Curve Broadcast Recruitment”.

He has since merged his business within Interlogic placements. Karl is contactable on:

Whilst they are standing alongside experienced company mentors, who maybe from sales or management, you can now assess their natural abilities to interact with industry piers and customers.

karl@interlogic.com.au or 9922 2711 or 0408 274 413

Some may show an obvious sales approach whilst others are more natural marketers who understand the marketing mix of the 4 Ps. If you can understand the principals of marketing, a sale will naturally occur, so understanding the difference and spotting your staff’s ability to bring it into play is most important.

TAKING STOCK

However, there are some basic Trade Show etiquette tips you will need to implement for all who attend, as it will project a strong corporate image.

TRADE SHOW ETIQUETTE.

The difference is that I’ve replaced my cards with cards collected.

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Use the time you have on the stand to evaluate who is best suited to what part of your company, and then use this opportunity to start implementing a plan to grow them into that area. If they shine brightly, you may also wish to keep them in mind to be included in a succession plan behind current valued employees.

So, a good starting point is the 4 Ps of the marketing mix, which are; Product/Service, Place, Price, Promotion It’s the process of bringing the product or service to market.

If your relatively inexperienced staff are unfamiliar with this concept, then it’s best if you provide some training prior to the event, rather than leave them cold turkey on the stand. Or it can be counterproductive.

+ Avoid wandering into neighbouring stands as it will be a natural invitation for them to be disruptive to you when you are busy.

Remember a trade show is an investment that could provide long-term benefits both financially and with staff retention, so squeeze the most out of it.

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Visit us at SMPTE ‘11booth H 09

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Audion Innovision Announces Ownership Changes

Briefs

AUDION INNOVISION has announced that there will be new ownership with Ban Leong set to take

TV One Acquired by Nortek, Inc.

over operations. The change comes about as former CEO Boyd Dainton retired from Audion Innovision.

Ban Leong has been a brand name in the technology products distribution industry for over 15 years and has been listed on the SGX Main Board since 2005. Till date, they have more than 30 authorised distributorships for over 70 types of products under 45 brand names. Former National Sales Manager Ray Anshuman will now be the Acting General Manager of Audion.

Visit www.audion-mm.com

IMAGINASIA Provides Link for TV Tech Suppliers ASIA PACIFIC SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT specialist, IMAGINASIA, has announced new clients as part of its growing portfolio of technology and services for the TV and digital media market.

The company brings together senior Asian and industry expertise to provide clients with outsourced sales, business development, marketing and strategy consultancy for profitable Asian business growth. The IMAGINASIA team is working on a number of long-term assignments for clients including GreyJuice Lab and RRSat, and also on short term strategic projects for firms such as Technicolor. The company has established reseller and partner relationships across the region in key territories: Greater China, SE Asia, NE Asia, India and Australia/NZ. Visit www.imaginasia.com.hk

Call to Simplify Cross-Platform Music Rights THE EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION (EBU) and the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) have called for adoption of a rights clearance mechanism for musical works that is tailor-made to the broadcasting industry for their non-linear broadcast-like services, such as catch-up TV or radio podcasting. The proposal is intended as a contribution to the European Commission’s work and draft legislation on Collective Rights Management, which aim to simplify the clearance of musical rights for cross-border online usage.

DTS Announces Stock Repurchase Program Audio technology developer DTS, Inc. (Nasdaq:DTSI) has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a plan to repurchase up to one million shares of the Company’s common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, depending upon market conditions, relevant security laws and other conditions. “We believe this share repurchase program communicates our confidence in our long-term prospects as well as our commitment to building shareholder value,” commented Jon Kirchner, chairman and CEO of DTS. This follows the announcement of financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 where DTS revenue increased 23% to US$26.8 million, and net income from continuing operations increased 45% to $5.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.

This compares to revenue of $21.7 million and net income from continuing operations of $3.9 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, reported in the same period of 2010.

Visit www.ebu.ch and www.gesac.org

Visit www.dts.com

UK Integrator Launches ‘Equipment Decommissioning’

Japanese Equity Firm Buys GTA TeleGuam

As TV stations and production companies face the ever-present challenge of bringing their technology up to speed with professional standards, Broadcast Networks is now able to effectively decommission old systems and provide customers with tangible commercial benefits and peace of mind.

TAKING STOCK

Visit www.magenta-research.com and www. tvone.com

Today broadcasters must clear the rights for all pieces of music in their own programming used online, even if they have already been cleared for the original, linear broadcast. According to the two bodies, a simplified mechanism should allow broadcasters to clear the rights, including for cross-border use of musical works, in both their linear and non-linear (broadcast-like) audio and audiovisual online services with the same authors’ society that has granted them the licence for their traditional broadcasting activities. The EBU and GESAC say such a rights clearance mechanism should allow the world musical repertoire to be licensed to broadcasters via one-stop-shop licensing based on the voluntary reaggregation of rights in collective agreements under circumstances that reflect the specific needs of broadcasters.

UK SYSTEMS INTEGRATION SPECIALIST Broadcast Networks has launched a new service aimed at helping broadcasters and media companies to reduce the cost of deploying new technology by releasing the residual value of old infrastructure to fund new projects. Broadcast Networks has extended its design and build offering to encompass full-cycle management, including decommissioning and financial solutions.

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TV One has announced the sale of 100 per cent of the Company’s stock to a subsidiary of Nortek, Inc., a leading diversified global manufacturer. The sale includes all TV One related, wholly-owned companies in the US, UK, Taiwan and China. TV One will be included in Nortek’s Technology Products segment and closely aligned with Magenta Research LTD. The transaction was completed on April 28, 2011.

Broadcast Networks’ decommissioning service is comprehensive and transparent. The process starts with a technical evaluation of all used equipment and an estimated purchase price is determined. The entire inventory is then removed from site so that the customer does not have to spend costly manhours trying to sell or dispose of individual items and prepare for clean-site access for the new system build. All sellable equipment is returned to Broadcast Networks’ UK facilities, where it will undergo a thorough quality assessment and, if necessary, repair or reconditioning. The company will safely dispose of any kit of no-economic sale value, in accordance with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations, and the cost of removal will be deducted from the final offer to the customer.

Visit www.bcnet.co.uk

GTA TeleGuam has announced it has completed the previously announced transfer of ownership to a private equity firm that is poised to provide new investments and lead the company through its next growth phase. GTA TeleGuam provides complete communications services on Guam. These include local and long-distance telephone service, wireless, DSL Internet access, advanced digital television, or IPTV, and carrier-class data circuits. The company also operates a data centre on Guam for offering business data storage and managed wide area networking. GTA TeleGuam’s new owners are funds served by Advantage Partners LLP, (AP Funds), the largest private equity firm in Japan. Visit www.gta.net

SMPTE 11 PREVIEW

www.content-technology.com/smptedaily

Welcome to SMPTE 2011 IF YOU HAVE A CAREER in entertainment technology then SMPTE11 is the place to explore, communicate and network with experts in all fields of this dynamic industry.

THAT’S THE INVITATION EXTENDED by Michael Day, SMPTE11 Conference Chair, to visitors attending the biennial Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Motion Pictures & Television Engineers Australian Section.

+ The Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) panel session on The Production Designer, Art director and the DOP. + the “Sound for Cinema and TV” session, produced by the Audio Engineering Society.

“SMPTE11 is the premier event for showcasing media and entertainment technology in the Asia-Pacific region,” says Day. “With 100+ exhibitors from the major industry brands, representation from our fellow associations ACS, AES, & WIFT, plus a full conference programme including 60 presentations, 23 workshops and 90 participants, SMPTE11 is essential for keeping abreast of the technological revolution that is driving our industry.”

+ Career Corner where newcomers and experienced professionals, can explore job opportunities. Career Corner is for the whole industry and is an initiative of Women in Film and Television.

Day points to a raft of workshops, bootcamps, panel discussions and presentations that aim to provide visitors with the latest information on the tools, technologies and trends to watch. In particular he suggests the following events.

“This year we have introduced a new per-session pricing option, which makes the Conference more affordable and extraordinary value for money,” adds Day. “This new model affords the greatest flexibility in choice of sessions and experiences.

+ keynote speaker Howard H Lukk, the Vice President of Production Technology from Walt Disney Studios will present an open session that should not be missed.

“Our industry continues to diversify and grow in complexity. The job we do as technologists, practitioners and creatives is changing.

Increasingly the key metric by which we are measured is knowledge - and knowledge is power. With this in mind the SMPTE organisation serves its members and the industry as a whole, by delivering access to the latest technology information and education opportunity ina rapidly changing landscape.As the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry SMPTE is helping to guide the future of the continuously developing content business.”

SMPTE11 Conference Sessions will again be held on the Exhibition Floor allowing visitors access to the latest technology displays without missing any other events.

Howard H. Lukk HOWARD LUKK is Vice President of Production Technology at The Walt Disney Studios where he is responsible for helping to incorporate new technologies into the studio workflow.

Previously he was Director of Technology for DCI where he was responsible for researching and documenting Digital Cinema Specifications. Before that he was Chief Engineer at IVC a post-production facility in Burbank.

He has also worked as a freelance engineer on HDTV productions such as Woodstock 25th Anniversary and Major League Baseball.

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

Howard is an active member of SMPTE since 1995 and is also an associate member of the ASC.

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Keep Up With SMPTE11 Online: www.content-technology.com/smptedaily

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

ADEPT ULTRA SLO MO Stand No: E05

ADIMEX DELIVERS NEW SOLUTIONS Stand No: G30

www.adept.net.au/cameras/visionresearch/

www.adimex.com.au

Adept is a specialist in the supply of high speed and ultra slow motion cameras and equipment for Film and TV. At SMPTE 2011 Adept will be announcing and releasing the very latest ultra slow-mo cameras from Vision Research and iMovix – the world’s leaders and industry standards for slow motion imaging. Adept and Vision Research engineers will be available at the Adept booth to answer questions and to demonstrate the company’s stateof-the-art cameras and accessories.

The Adimex stand at SMPTE will feature first-release products including the new NewTek TriCaster 850 Extreme and 3PLAY 820, AJA’s FS2 and KONA 3G for 4K/5K workflows, KUMO switches, Hi5-Fiber converters, and the Ki Pro Mini in RED workflows. Solutions from SANman/Infortrend, Commandsoft and ATTO provide the ideal solutions for both direct connect and shared workgroup storage while Telestream’s Pipeline allows ingest using standard Ethernet networks for file-based workflows. MAXON’s Cinema 4D and BODYPAINT will be demonstrated to provide the ideal solution for broadcast and motion graphics animation and visitors to the stand can enter to win a copy of CINEMA 4D Visualise.

AMBER CUTTING-EDGE WORKFLOW Stand No: G11 & Workshop 3-2

Digital signage will be demonstrated using Nexcom players and Cool-Sign software. Video assist operators should check-out QTAKE HD, which now supports 3D.

www.ambertech.com.au Amber Technology is one of Australasia’s largest and most experienced equipment & service providers to the Broadcast and Post Production markets. At SMPTE 2011, Amber will present a host of cutting-edge equipment & workflow solutions from many of the world’s leading manufacturers including EVS, Snell, Vislink, Vinten and Digital Vision.

Equipment highlights will include the latest generation XT3 8-Channel Production Servers from EVS, Storage DNA archive solutions to LTO5, Perceptive Pixel’s stunning multi-touch monitors for broadcast applications, all-new loudness monitoring & control solutions from TC Electronic, plus all the latest technology solutions from Snell, Vislink, CP Cases and much, much more.

Visit the Amber stand (G11 - right at the main entrance), see some of most advanced technology on show at SMPTE 2011 and round off your visit with a fresh coffee. Amber Technology provides the bridge between state-of-the-art manufacturers and customers who demand the best available.

Both AJA and NewTek are providing key presentations at the theatrette located at Workshop 4-3 on the expo floor.

Full details at www.adimex.com.au/smpte11

ARRI CAMERA WORKS Stand No: H 27 www.arri.com.au According to ARRI Australia GM Stefan Sedlmeier, ARRI Australia will be taking a slightly different approach to this year’s SMPTE show. He explained, “We are showcasing our ALEXA Plus camera and the 18-80mm and 45250mm Alura Zoom lenses on the Fujifilm Fujinon stand H27 in a relaxed and informal way. The camera and lenses are very much there for all to pick up and use, but the stand and our environment will be more like a casual meeting place and discussion area where the equipment speaks for itself.”

ARRI Australia has sold over 60 ALEXA cameras in Australia and New

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Offering solutions to get you ahead of the competition and the support you need to stay there.

SYDNEY +61 2 9906 1488 www.techtel.tv

News Production Tools

Multiviewers and Signal Processors

MELBOURNE +61 3 9899 3032 www.techtel.tv

NEW ZEALAND Media Asset Management

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Broadcast QoS Monitoring

0800 832 485 www.techtel.co.nz

’s!

V T e ppl A 2 1 of visit Techtel at WIN SMPTE stand G35 to enter draw.

Media Transport Networks Complete Head End Solutions

Prizes drawn Wednesday 20th July 12pm and Friday 22nd July 12pm. NSW Permit No. LTPS-11-05481

TEC019

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

Switchers, CGs and Routers

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

True 4K Zealand since its launch, with the ALEXA Plus now also starting to sell. The ALEXA Plus is an upgrade (www.arridigital.com/alexa), adding built-in wireless remote control, the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), additional MON OUT HD-SDI and RS power outputs, lens synchronisation for 3D and built-in position and motion sensors. It shares ALEXA’s exceptional image performance, simplicity of operation, reliability in extreme environments and versatility of workflow.

Sedlmeier added, “I think it’s fair to say that the ALEXA camera has taken the market by storm. We have already sold a number of ALEXA Plus cameras and upgrade packages and there are more orders being received every week. The ARRI/FUJINON Alura Zooms combine the highest optical performance with an amazingly small size, weight and price and as a result, we have already sold five sets of these unique lenses that are perfect for both low-end digital cameras and the ALEXA Plus. We will also be demonstrating the ALEXA Plus camera at SMPTE 2011 with a wide range of Fujinon lenses.”

ARRI Australia will be at SMPTE 2011 at The Darling Harbour Conference and Exhibition Centre from 19-22 July on Fujifilm Fujinon stand H27.

AUSTRALIAN TEL-TEC COAX CONNECTOR Stand No: D36 www.teltec.com.au For 27 years the company has been the leading supplier of innovative audio, video and data patching products in Australia. Featured on the stand will be ADC’s super high density coax patching system designed for video and audio applications, which dramatically reduces space requirements without compromising circuit designation or access. Termination configurations are ADC’s “little coax connector” technology, which terminate like a BNC with standard tools or regular 1.0/2.3 connectors.

For your best practice options see our range of true 75 ohm performance video patch fields, BNC and TRIAXIAL connectors, audio patch fields and normalling data patching. Industry focussed fibre optic patching, management, testing, and cleaning solutions will be demonstrated on the stand.

AVC GROUP: 20 YEARS OF GROWTH Stand No: A17 www.avc-group.com.au In 2010 AVC celebrated its 20th anniversary marking the opening in 1990 of the first AVC office in Zagreb, by Leo Rahelic who in spite of the difficult political and economic environment prevailing at the time launched a company that has grown into an internationally recognised system integrator providing professional audio, video and broadcast systems through a growing worldwide network of regional offices.

See us at

SMPTE

Twenty years has seen the company’s highly skilled and educated team of engineers and industry professionals deliver innovative projects for turnkey broadcast studio and transmission fit-outs, lighting systems, video surveillance, multimedia networks, and AV systems.

It is a reputation for innovation and efficient delivery of on-time and on-budget projects that has driven the AVC Group’s consistent growth and development with offices servicing markets as diverse as Eastern and Western Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia, The Pacific, and Australasia.

pro.sony.com.au

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

BLACKMAGIC QUALITY Stand No: E17

Visit Digistor to win an electric bike packed with the leading tools for digital media production from the market leaders AJA, Avid, Autodesk, HP, SANman/ Infortrend, and Genarts valued at over $20,000.

www.blackmagic-design.com

At the Digistor Theatrette, Workshop 4-3 on the show floor, local and international specialists will deliver informative presentations covering the “hot topics” and latest products.

Blackmagic has grown rapidly to become one of the world’s leading innovators and manufacturers of creative video technology.

Blackmagic Design’s founders have had a long history in post-production editing and engineering. With extensive experiences in high-end telecine, film and post, harnessed with a real passion for perfection, Blackmagic has been an industry leader for a very long time.

BROADCAST ONE END-TO-END TURNKEY SOLUTIONS Stand No: B23 www.broadcastone.com.au Broadcast ONE is the representative for manufacturers including Harris Broadcast Communications, General Dynamics SATCOM (Vertex/Prodelin) Factum Electronics, bw Broadcast, Teamcast, Mienberg, ARG, Miravid, TWR Lighting and Radio Frequency Systems (RFS). In addition, Broadcast ONE sources and supports products from leading manufacturers around the world to provide end-to-end or turnkey solutions.

Broadcast ONE also offers the following services: Broadcast TWO - Systems Integration/Installation Offering fully trained skilled and experienced RF specialist system installation and integration teams.

Broadcast THREE – Leasing Provides brand new end-to-end transmission systems for a minimal monthly payment.

Broadcast FOUR – Hire Assisting your business in the event of equipment failure, extreme weather damage, special events, new technology trials and achieving licence condition on-air dates.

PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION FROM DIGISTOR Stand No: G30 www.digistor.com.au

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

Digistor supplies integrated solutions for broadcast, post and digital content creation and is showcasing leading and first-release products for production and distribution – from web, IP-TV and mobile through to 4K/5K digital workflows. Explore products and solutions while discussing real-world requirements with local and overseas experts from Aspera, Dejero, AJA, Root6 Technology, Autodesk, just to name a few.

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See www.digistor.com.au/smpte11 for full timetable.

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

EUREKA PACIFIC STORAGE SYSTEMS Stand No: G42 www.eurekapacific.com.au Eureka Pacific is the official importer and distributor of the following major storage and related brands: Active Storage: High performance XRAID storage for demanding Apple environments.

Accusys: Worldwide leader in design, manufacturing, and marketing of RAID products.

ATTO Technology: The critical link in storage infrastructures serving world-class organisations.

Bluefish444: Uncompromising broadcast quality capture cards for Windows XP, Mac OS and Linux.

CalDigit: Fast, reliable turnkey RAID storage for creative and media professionals.

DataDirect Networks: Scalable data infrastructure for extreme, content intensive environments.

Falconstor: HyperFS, a high-performance, massively scalable file systems for data-intensive applications.

Fission Software: Tapeless, cost efficient, broadcast automation system.

True Blacks

GB Labs: SPACE The Ultimate Scalable Central Storage Solution for the Video Professional.

Gizmac: XRackPro - best-in-class noise reduction server racks.

Object Matrix: MatrixStore nearline preproduction and archive solution.

Rorke Data: Galaxy Aurora high speed 8Gb Fibre Channel SAN and DAS solutions for post, film and broadcast.

Tiger Technology: High speed file sharing software for workflow collaboration.

A WIDE RANGE OF INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES Stand No: E43 www.interfacetech.com.au Specialising solutions for Digital TV broadcasting our range of products include TS (Transport Stream) Analysis, TS playout, ASI to TSoIP, TS Monitoring from DekTec and DVBControl. Ingest Servers featuring ASI, IP and SDI input from Metus. SDI Routers, Mini-Converters and Video Monitors from Blackmagic Design. MPEG-2 and H.264 SD/HD Broadcast and Contribution Encoders and Receivers from ADTEC Digital.

IRT ELECTRONICS SWITCHERS, DISTRIBUTION AT SHOW Stand No: E41 www.irtelectronics.com For 40 years IRT Electronics has been designing and manufacturing broadcast and telecommunications equipment for the Australian and International markets. Based in Sydney, Australia, IRT has a heavy focus on R&D keeping abreast of current technological trends in broadcasting and telecommunications.

In fact IRT interfaces between the two worlds of Broadcasting and Telecommunication.

IRT’s product range includes analogue and digital (SD/HD/3G) switches and distribution amplifiers, fibre links, protection switching, signal combiners and interface adapters.

Most of IRT’s products are made to the Eurocard format allowing multiple system design within the one frame. Simple Network Management Control (SNMP) is also added to all new designs allowing remote monitoring and control via a Network Management System (NMS).

IRT’s products are suitable for broadcasting and telecommunications companies, especially when these two types of organisations need to interface together, or many other associated types of companies such as for video editing, or microwave interfacing as two examples.

See us at

SMPTE Keep Up With SMPTE11 Online: www.content-technology.com/smptedaily pro.sony.com.au

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

JVC WILL HAVE COMPACT SHOULDER-MOUNT CAMCORDER Stand No: D35

MAGNA SYSTEMS & ENGINEERING: PIONEERING SYSTEMS INTEGRATION Stand No: C44

www.jvc.com.au

www.magnasys.tv

JVC Professional will show the range of HD cameras, monitors and switchers. There will also be high resolution, super contrast D-ILA projectors, showcasing the DLA-F110 projector, the latest 3D technology LCD panels, and the 2D to 3D image converter.

Magna Systems and Engineering is a true systems integrator in the broadcast industry. Started in 1968, Magna Systems & Engineering is a seasoned company, originating from the early days of television in Australia bringing together high-level expertise from senior engineering professionals. The company has a very select position in the marketplace of suppliers to the broadcast and communications industries. Magna Systems & Engineering supplies individual products to plug into existing systems from a prestige range of over 60 quality brands and operates in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. The SI, engineering and operations expertise of Magna Systems & Engineering extends to broadcasting, telecommunications, satellite earth stations, post-production facilities and station automation. Magna Systems & Engineering also provides complete service support for all hardware and software products supplied either as one-off or complete turnkey systems.

Of high interest is the GY-HM750E compact shoulder-mounted camcorder and the GY-HM100E compact hand-held 3-CCD camcorder. They record 35Mbps high definition video and uncompressed audio directly to inexpensive SDHC media cards in both the native Quicktime MOV format (used by Apple Final Cut Pro) and MP4 format for other popular editing software.

The highly acclaimed GY-HM790E studio & ENG / EFP camcorder will exhibit the fibre optic system in a studio configuration.

See the stunning images from the DLA-X3 with 50,000:1 contrast ratio and the DLA-X9 with 100,000 :1 contrast ratio achieved without using an active iris. The true blacks and peak whites are shown in same frame.

PROFESSIONAL PROJECT DELIVERY FROM LUMINA BROADCAST SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA Stand No: B29 www.luminabsa.com

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

www.mediavision.com.au Specialising in Television, Film and Theatre Lighting Equipment, Mediavision Australia will display Location and Studio Lighting Fixtures from renowned manufacturers Ianiro, Leviton Colortran and Balcar plus the range of Lighting Filters and Camera Filters from Lee Filters Limited.

With industry partners we are able to handle large and small projects, offering delivery of leading edge technology, design, commissioning, maintenance and service contracts.

On show will be the latest developments in LED Lighting from Ianiro featuring the Ianiled 6,7 and 54 units. The modular design combined with the low power consumption and the range of Spot, Medium and Flood lenses to enhance light output enable real light on the subject over distance to be achieved. Complementing the LED family of units is the Australian release of the new Aladdin LED on board ENG light.

Our team are industry professionals from the broadcast radio, broadcast television, communications and satellite industries. We are focused, knowledgeable in new technology and capable of handling your projects from design to completion.

Lee Filters have introduced 10 new Designer Series colours with 500 Codes to further extend the colour palette with rich vibrant colours and added another 3 new Technical Filters and 2 new Perforated Diffusion materials to the range.

Lumina Broadcast Systems offer quality broadcast equipment products and services for television broadcasters, radio broadcasters, satellite operators, defence organisations, emergency services and systems integrators.

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LIGHTING THE WAY: MEDIAVISION AUSTRALIA Stand No: F41

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

True Workflow Acquisition

PANASONIC SHOWS SOLID-STATE CAMCORDERS, WORKFLOW EQUIPMENT Stand No: H41 www.panasonic-broadcast.com.au Panasonic is one of the largest electronic product manufacturers in the world and a leading manufacturer of solid-state acquisition, recording and workflow equipment for the broadcast and professional video industries.

Asset Management

On display at SMPTE 2011 will be the extensive range of P2HD and AVCCAM solid-state camcorders, recorders and workflow equipment including the very exceptional AJ-HPX3100G 3CCD P2HD camera and the very popular AG-AF102EN micro-4/3 large sensor camcorder along with samples of the soon-to-be released AG-HPX250EN and AG-AC160EN camcorders. Also on display will be range of production-tough LCD monitors including the eagerly awaited BT-LH910G, the eye-catching 103 plasma, HD switchers, HD integrated remote/POV cameras such as the highly successful AW-HE50S/H and a 3D display demonstrating product flexibility for both 3D and 2D applications.

PROFESSIONAL AUDIO TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM DESIGN, POST-SALES SERVICE Stand No: D10

Archive

www.proaudiotechnology.com.au Professional Audio Technology Pty Ltd is the sales and support agent for LAWO, Bel Digital Audio, Virtual Studio Manager, 4HM, Optocore, Magix - Sequoia, K.M.E., DIS Danish Interpretation Systems and dealer for Audio Technica, Violet Design and Focal Studio Monitors. PAT specialises in complete systems design, pre and post sale support, maintenance and customer specific training.

STATE-OF-THE-ART EQUIPMENT FROM QUINTO COMMUNICATIONS Stand No: F11 www.quinto.com.au Since its incorporation nearly 30 years ago, Quinto Communications has dedicated itself to providing first class sales and technical support for its extensive range of Australian and New Zealand customers.

See us at

SMPTE

Now firmly established as one of the leading regional suppliers of high technology broadcast equipment, Quinto continues to maintain an impressive record of professional sales and after sales support to its customers in television networks, post-production, educational, and government facilities.

Sourcing award-winning equipment from the world’s leading broadcast manufacturers, Quinto Communications offers users a broad range of state-of-the-art equipment. From baseband video to the latest in file-based IPTV and transmission technology, our comprehensive range of products enables users to seamlessly integrate the building blocks of video production and transmission in the most costeffective and resilient manner.

pro.sony.com.au

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

THE LATEST ROSCO AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED Stand No: J29 www.rosco.com Supplying the entertainment industry for more than 100 years Rosco will be exhibiting their latest range of products for use in film and television. Among the products on show will be RoscoView, RoscoShades, the LitePad Axiom and the RoscoTex range of textiles including DigiStretch.

SAE INSTITUTE: ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE Stand No: D31 www.sae.edu SAE Institute is a groundbreaking international network of campuses dedicated to providing exceptional post-secondary education in the field of creative media technologies. Each specialist stream, which includes sound/ audio engineering, film making and electronic music production, distinctively balances a combination of technical, practical and theoretical components - designed to advance your knowledge and technical skills, inspire artistic independence and encourage your creative confidence.

COMPLETE SERVICE AND RENTALS FROM SONNY TECH P/L Stand No: D23 www.sonnytech.com With over 30 years’ experience in the broadcast industry, Sonny Tech’s aim has always been to offer our customers a one-stop solution for Sales, Rentals and Repairs.

Sonny Tech Sales – Provides all professional video equipment as well as all types of innovative accessories.

Sonny Tech Rental – Supplies from small DV cameras to OB system Sonny Tech Repair – Specialising in Sony and Panasonic professional equipment and also cover a wide range of products from, VTR’s, lighting and audio equipment for service and repair.

Syntec International is an importer and distributor of Professional Audio products, with a history of more than 30 years as the home of many fine equipment brands. Based in Sydney, operating across Australia and from a New Zealand office, Syntec is the distribution source of quality professional products for radio or TV broadcasting, production and post production, OB facility, recording and mixing studio, location sound recording for film and Video, ENG crew, live sound production, sound reinforcement and installed sound.

MEASUREMENT, MONITORING BY TEKMARK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD Stand No: F13 www.tekmark.net.au TekMark Australia is a leading supplier of Test & Measurement and Monitoring Technology for Video and Audio. The company is also a supplier of Broadcast equipment including Professional LCD Monitors, H.264 Encoding & Transcoding Systems, Signal Processing Equipment, Routers, Multiviewers and Audio Monitors.

TekMark is the sole Australian Distributor for Tektronix Video Test Products including Waveform Monitors, Generators, Analyzers, Automated QC Systems, all of which will be exhibited at SMPTE-2011 along with several new test solutions including: + Enhanced 3D Measurements + WFM/WVR5200 Waveform Monitors + Picture Quality Analysis Software + Sentry Digital Content Monitors Also at SMPTE-2011, TekMark will display several new products from new suppliers for the first time, including: + Telairity - H.264 Encoding & Transcoding Systems + GeFei Tech - Signal Processing equipment, Routers, Multiviewers and Audio Monitors + Quantum Data - HDMI Test Instruments

www.stagetec.com.au

Visit us at SMPTE Booth F13

Stagetec Mediagroup Australia was recently established in March 2011.

A wholly owned subsidiary of the Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup of companies in Germany, the Sydney office now provides a direct link for customers in Australia/New Zealand to the manufacturer. This facilitates high levels of integration and support, from documentation, and project management right through to installation and commissioning.

COMPLETE SOLUTIONS FROM VIDEOCRAFT Stand No: F17

The company’s products include the Emmy award winning NEXUS digital router, the heart of all of Stagetec digital consoles; ONAIR24, AURUS, AURATUS and CRESCENDO. Included as part of our portfolio in Australia is the DELEC range of products.

Manufacturers of the ORATIS, the TDM engine boasts individual gain to every single cross-point output, making it the perfect engine for commentary, intercom and many other applications!

Come visit us at stand A23.

SMPTE 2011 PREVIEW

www.syntec.com.au

+ BON Electronics - Professional LCD Monitors

HIGH LEVEL INTEGRATION

BY STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP AUSTRALIA Stand No: A23

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PROFESSIONAL AUDIO FROM SYNTEC INTERNATIONAL PTY LIMITED Stand No: E 29

www.videocraft.com.au At Videocraft, whether you want to rent or buy the latest equipment, develop a proven workflow solution, build an innovative integrated system or access over 30 years of industry knowledge and experience, you get the comfort of knowing its all part of the package. Videocraft’s rental and sales fleet includes a comprehensive range, from a single camera to a full multi camera production studio. Videocraft can provide complete turnkey “fly away” production systems, including vision switchers, audio, EVS, VTR’s, character generators, routing and comms. The Company has partnerships with leading suppliers such as Apple, Avid, Canon, Fujinon, Miller, Panasonic and Sony.

Keep Up With SMPTE11 Online: www.content-technology.com/smptedaily

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THE 3RD DIMENSION Stereoscopic production & exhibition

www.3d-day.tv

3D “Tile Format” Broadcasting System THIS YEAR’S IBC SHOW IN AMSTERDAM will see Sisvel Technology demonstrate its 3D Tile Format, a technology it says offers significant advantages over current 3D transmission methods.

Formatting stereoscopic images by integrating two 720p frames within a single 1080p frame, the 3D Tile Format is said to provide better-quality images for 3D content and maintains backward compatibility, allowing viewers not equipped for 3D to view the transmission as 2D images on their full HD sets.

The reconstructed right and left images maintain their original 720p spatial and temporal resolution, giving viewers of both versions the full benefit of the original picture, and the transmission of both D and 3D can be achieved without the need for increased bandwidth.

At IBC, Sisvel Technology will display the whole 3D chain, from 3D live content to video encoding and distribution. Two on-set 3D cameras will shoot live from different angles. The live feed will be linked to a professional panelizer, a mixer, and an advanced encoder to allow the operator to switch online between the two cameras for comparison between the 3D Tile Format

and conventional 3D transmission formats. Several STB and 3DTV devices will decode both audio and video being broadcast in the 3D Tile Format to demonstrate the technology’s superior image quality and efficiency across a range of broadcast equipment.

Sony Launches 3D Awards

3ality Digital Partners with RED

SONY HAS ANNOUNCED that the World Photography Organisation (WPO),

3ALITY DIGITAL, specialist in technologies for creative digital stereoscopic 3D (S3D) acquisition, and RED Digital Cinema have announced a Stereoscopic 3D partnership.

which organises and operates the Sony World Photography Awards, has established its first global 3D awards for video and photography.

According to Sony, 3D video and photography is experiencing exponential growth. Practitioners in the spheres of film, art and photography are embracing new, dynamic 3D technology to push their art-forms further than ever before. These new competitions offer both professional and amateur photographers and videographers the opportunity to become part of this “exciting 3D revolution”.

The 3D photography competition has two categories: ‘3D Panoramic’ and ‘3D Still’. The 3D video competition is open to 3D videos of all genres. Entries will be sought from cameras and video cameras that use true 3D technology.

Commenting on the new awards, Scott Gray, Managing Director of the World Photography Organisation said, “The Sony World Photography Awards are all about being at the forefront of photography, embracing new trends and exploring the possibilities of advancing technology. We’re very excited about the new and dynamic 3D video and photography awards.”

THE 3RD DIMENSION

3ality Digital will be the primary 3D partner for RED Digital Cinema, and together the companies will train professional and aspiring filmmakers on how to create 3D images.

“The biggest tent pole movies shooting on the planet right now, like The Hobbit, are all shooting S3D on EPIC and 3ality Digital,” says Ted Schilowitz, so-called ‘Leader of the Rebellion’ at RED Digital Cinema. “The teams at RED and 3ality Digital have been working together for years behind the scenes.

Now is the right time to integrate education components for the community.”

3ality Digital technology has been used in current feature films such as The Amazing Spiderman and Jack the Giant Killer.

The Sony World Photography Awards are free to enter. Photographers and videographers have until 4 January 2012 to submit their entry.

“S3D is here to stay, and choosing partners at the forefront of the technology that really grasp what true, high-resolution cinema and S3D are all about is essential for business and for the community,” says Steve Schklair, CEO of 3ality Digital. “Educating filmmakers and getting RED and 3ality Digital technology in their hands is a crucial step towards accelerating and facilitating S3D content production and ultimately consumer adoption.”

Visit www.worldphoto.org

Visit www.3alitydigital.com

Dolby 3D Kids’ Glasses

are compatible with Dolby 3D systems currently installed. The glasses come in fun, kid-friendly green and are equipped with Sensormatic and RFID tags.

The glasses are available at a list price of US$12.00 or lower when purchased with a Dolby 3D bundle.

CHILDREN, A LARGE FRACTION OF THE 3D AUDIENCE, but small in the

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Visit www.sisveltechnology.com

head-size department. Dolby Laboratories has come to the kids’party with its next-generation Dolby 3D kids’ glasses. Designed with Dolby’s 3D technical know-how, the expertise of a leading eyewear design company, and 3M’s new multilayer optical film lenses, the glasses provide the same lightweight, reusable design as the adult model, but are optimized to fit the smaller head sizes of children.

New Dolby 3D kids’ glasses provide both performance and comfort:

The eco-friendly glasses deliver a premium-quality visual performance and

For more, email to sscnl@dolby.com.

+ the glasses include 3M’s new multilayer, scratch-resistant, antireflectivecoated optical film lenses, which greatly reduce the weight of the glasses. + wide side temples and a shelf along the top edge of the frames help prevent extraneous light from entering the glasses, reducing internal lens reflections.

Introducing the next generation The GY-HM790E, everything that a broadcast camera should be.

Developed to address the needs of modern broadcast and production facilities by offering the highest level of HD picture quality in both 1080i and 720p formats.

The GY-HM790E features full resolution, solid state recording, genlock, time code in/out and a modular design, offering complete studio configuration with versatile field operability.

ENG

EFP

Featuring dual media hybrid recording, the GY-HM790E covers everything from Full HD to industry-standard SD recording, supporting a range of formats natively including MOV, MP4 and AVI, for broadcast quality performance in any news-gathering situation.

The capability of image capture using multi-camera operations is made possible.

In addition, with the Telecast Copper Head, it's possible to expand your production over an even greater distance.

Copyright 2010 JVC Model picture is the GY-HM790U with optional Accessories. All trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective proprietors. Playback compatibility not guaranteed on different types of products due to variation on supported recording modes *2 MP4 is the compliant format used on the XD CAM EX * SxS is a flash memory card designed for professional video cameras with a high speed PCI Express Interface.

Studio Create a highly robust studio camera setup by attaching the dedicated sled to your studio pedestal, complemented by JVC's high resolution VF-HP790G HD Viewfinder and teleprompter. To lower integration costs, existing 26-pin control cables can be used to connect studio essentials, such as remote control units.

JVC Australia 1300 728 225 www.jvcpro.com.au

THE 3RD DIMENSION

Wavetrain Cinema Trains with JVC 3D Projectors WAVETRAIN CINEMA WORKS WITH some of Australia’s top custom installation companies to provide a complete service, from design concepts to material selections, A/V equipment specification to lighting design and custom themes to calibration of finished cinemas.

Recently, when Wavetrain decided to run some cinema design training courses they chose the new JVC X9 to be their main projector.

Wavetrain Director David Moseley explains, “A portion of the cinema design training is dedicated to video design. Wavetrain is interested in promoting best practice for producing reference grade video for home cinema. Thus we chose the JVC X9 as it is THX and ISF certified, produces greyscale and colour manage adjustments, which means the projected image can be calibrated to meet industry standards, and the hand selected optics ensures maximum contrast and resolution. It is also one of the quietest projectors on the market.”

chose the new X9 projector for their cinema design training as its high level of quality and functionality, particularly its 3D stereoscopic viewing on D-ILA projection and flexible installation guaranteed with +/-80% vertical and +/-34% horizontal powered lens-shift function make it ideal for the home theatre and more.”

The new JVC X9 projector is being used in Wavetrain’s ‘Statement Room’ at its Taren Point HQ as the main projector with an SMX anamorphic masking screen and ISCO IIIL anamorphic lens.

Visit www.jvcpro-australia.com

JVC’s new X9 projector is a full HD D-ILA front projector with 100,000:1 native contrast ratio, 3D viewing, 2x motorised zoom lens with motorised focus, new Clear Motion Drive and picture modes for various video sources.

The true full HD resolution 1920×1080 X9 also has a 1080p input signal capability, 220W ultra high-pressure mercury lamp with the 100,000:1 native contrast ratio realised by the combination of enhanced full HD D-ILA devices and an optical engine.

JVC Professional Australia/NZ National Sales and Marketing Manager Noel Oakes says, “Wavetrain are an innovative company. JVC are delighted they

HD 3D Live Over 4G in Asia

Live Control for P+S TECHNIK Rig

VUE NETWORKS, ZIIMAX, PANASONIC SYSTEMS ASIA PACIFIC & LIVEU

P+S TECHNIK is now offering a

used the recent Broadcastasia show to showcase the first High Definition 3D live mobile broadcast over 4G network in Asia.

compact 3D broadcast live control solution for both its Freestyle Rig and the Standard Rig. It is highly integrated with the Sony MPE200 3D processor and HDFA-200 multiplexer workflow. Designed for live transmissions and broadcasting, the solution adds automated and real time control.

Vue Networks utilises the high capacity 4G mobile WiMAX network from ZiiMax Singapore to wirelessly transmit high-definition and 3D videos. Through strategic alliances with regional broadband providers, the Singapore-based regional media technology company now provides enterprise connectivity solutions in the sectors of security, broadcasting, advertising, education and medical deployments.

The camera used in the broadcast was the Panasonic AG-3DA1 integrated twin-lens Full HD 3D professional camcorder.

The real-time transmission of high-definition video was provided by LiveU’s LU60 portable uplink solution. With RF technology for superior resiliency and sub-secondlatency, the LU60 offers customers a highly cost-effective alternative to satellite solutions. LiveU is the pioneer of video-over-cellular backpack solutions, optimized to transmit broadcast-quality live video over multiple 3G/4G WiMAX and Wi-Fi cellular links simultaneously.

Visit www.liveu.tv and www.onair.com.au

SMPTE Publishes History of 3D THE SOCIETY OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ENGINEERS

THE 3RD DIMENSION

(SMPTE) has published a collection of selected papers on stereoscopy.

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Edited by Michael D. Smith, Peter Ludé and Bill Hogan, this compendium contains over 30 papers published in the SMPTE Journal during the past century from 1919 to 2010. These historic SMPTE papers provide a foundation for understanding the current innovations in 3D stereoscopic areas, including acquisition, content creation, exhibition, distribution, and display technology.

The book contains a wealth of information on the transformation of 3D from its early days of experimentation to current applications in media and entertainment. The Society says, “This book will serve as an important reference tool in any technical library”.

Visit http://store.smpte.org/product-p/3d-comp.htm

Designed for constant equilibration on steadycam systems, the Freestyle Rig keeps camera weights in perfect balance when wireless adjusting the interaxial.

Integrated motors for interaxial and convergence adjustment optimize weight and are compatible with all common wireless remote control systems. A wide range of professional lenses and cameras up to a 9 kg per camera setup can be carried by the Freestyle Rig. A range of ergonomic mounting accessories prepare this rig also for shoulder, crane, tripod and dolly use.

Other features include: + The Motors (convergence and interaxial) of the P+S TECHNIK Freestyle Rigs are connected to a Cmotion Camin. + The HDFA-200 multiplexer box is compactly built under the Freestyle Rig Setup. The whole setup is totally balanced and can go on a regular (250) tripod. + The Camin of the Freestyle Rig , 2x synchronized broadcast zoom-lenses, video signals, genlock, return and power are connected to the Sony HDFA-200. + Only one hybrid-fiber cable goes from rig to OB-Van/vision control. No power cable or wireless connection necessary. + In the OB-Van/control room everything can be controlled through the CCU and MPE-200. The stereoscopic rig-parameters as well as the initial calibration can be handled with the MPE-200.

Visit www.pstechnik.de

Lumina Broadcast Systems are proud to represent these world leaders in broadcast equipment.

WILL- BURT

WTS

Lumina Broadcast Systems Australia Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 1693, Lane Cove NSW 1595 Phone: +61 2 9113 0720 Fax: +61 2 8572 5285 Email: sales@luminabsa.com

ACQUISITION www.content-technology.com/acquisition

Videocraft Brings New Definition to Church & State Videocraft was recently asked to bring its inventiveness to bear on projects for the Australian Federal Police and the C3 Church Sydney. According to Videocraft NSW State Manager Andy Liell, the company’s recent HD installation for the C3 Church Sydney was one of their most inventive yet.

LIELL SAID, “WE WERE APPROACHED BY KRISTIAN ANDERSON of Musikwerks to come up with a full HD broadcast solution for C3 Church. It was going to be a challenging project that required maximum emphasis on quality and cost effectiveness.”

C3 Church Sydney holds seven weekend services across their three Sydney locations and their technical upgrade involved being able to record and broadcast sermons from their Oxford Falls campus in high definition.

Kristian Anderson said, “TV production has always been part of C3 Church’s vision. They produce their own TV show which airs around the world and their services often feature a large visual media component. The idea for the HD upgrade had been around for a while but was cost prohibitive. When Andy (Liell) and James (Taylor) floated the idea of using Sony HDW-750P cameras with Protech adapters, HD suddenly became a real possibility.

Working closely with Andy and his team we were able to up the spec from three cameras to four and expand the scope of the upgrade to include a full control room re-fit.”

Liell continued, “C3 Church were familiar with using SD broadcast studio cameras so, from a workflow perspective, the challenge was to supply them with SD ‘style’ cameras that were HD without them having to spend HD money! That being the case we proposed a solution that was based around the Protech camera adapter system which turns Sony HD camcorders into a full studio camera chain including CCU, comms, tallys and return video.

The Protech camera adapter system also uses the same SMPTE fibre camera cables used with Sony’s HD studio camera system, providing easy integration when additional equipment needs to be brought in, and future proofing if the client ever decides to upgrade the cameras.”

With the control room 300 metres from the auditorium Videocraft employed the services of QVR Communications to run eight cables through a long courtyard.

Videocraft’s Protech camera adapter solution was paired with ex-rental Sony HDW-750P HDCAM camcorders giving C3 Church high quality studio camera heads and also camcorders for their field production requirements.

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Liell added, “This system significantly increased the versatility and efficiency of C3 Church’s production capabilities – in essence we supplied them two solutions for the price of one, thereby keeping the costs down and the quality at the required level.”

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ensured it connected and integrated with the three existing Final Cut suites on the C3 Church campus.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has a wide range of investigation and operational support, security risk management, security vetting and information services. Recently the AFP had a major production and editing requirement for which Videocraft helped provide the solution.

Critically the AFP is also responsible for documenting AFP operations for public information and historical purposes, providing vision and photographs of AFP operations to the media, producing training and internal communication products, and producing national and international television advertising campaigns.

Videocraft State Manager Andy Liell explained, “There were three components to the AFP’s requirements – video production equipment, a post production system and lighting. For the equipment we provided Sony PMWEX3 kits, PDWF800 camcorders, Sony HDCP1 cameras, Triax HD HXC100 cameras, RCP1500s, a Panasonic AV-HS400 vision switcher and Panasonic BT-LH2550 LCD monitors. The editing system was designed around an Avid Unity solution and provides shared storage across several edit suites, a live capture suite for the studio, DVD authoring and very quick turnaround – which is a big plus when dealing with post press conference material. The lighting consisted of the latest in DMX-controlled low power, low heat LED lights alongside some traditional incandescent fixtures that allow different moods and set-ups based on production requirements.

Due to the nature of the AFP’s business, they are often required to travel at short notice to remote locations. It is imperative they have kits that are ‘flight ready’ and they chose the EX3 kits for the durability and mobility they provide. The AFP team are able to grab the Pelican case and tripod bag and go then turnaround that vision quickly and efficiently from the field.”

The AFP work on a huge variety of projects including being with federal agents to document major police operations such as one of Australia’s largest seizures of cocaine, producing national and international advertising campaigns including International Missing Children’s Day and Missing Person’s Week, travelling overseas with the AFP Commissioner and Minister for Home Affairs and Justice and producing internal training, staff information and promotional videos for the AFP website.

Videocraft’s full HD production solution also included a Panasonic AVHS450AE 16 SDI input HD switcher with 4 SDI outputs, 2 DVI outputs and dual-screen multi-viewer, Sony FWDS46H1 46” displays, a Blackmagic 16×16 Micro Video Hub, ClearCom Eclipse PiCo digital comms matrix with four remote panels and full integrated camera comms and a Blackmagic UltraScope for C3 Church’s Technical Director.

Liell added, “The AFP can produce Community Service Announcements and other high-end production work in-house, saving the organisation a lot of money. We worked closely with local Canberra installation company KLM to provide the AFP with the best overall solution and most effective video capabilities. We partnered with Marshall at Barbizon Australia to design, supply and install the lighting system. The editing solution was fully designed and installed by Videocraft specialist technicians.”

Liell said, “The system was designed by our MD James Taylor and he also

Visit www.videocraft.com.au

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KNOWLEDGE / SOLUTIONS / SUPPORT

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ARRI Shoots Best Men, Takes to Skies According to acclaimed Australian DOP Stephen Windon ACS, once the decision was made to go with digital acquisition for his latest movie A Few Best Men, the next challenge was extensive testing to decide which camera to use.

On the set of A Few Best Men.

WINDON EXPLAINED, “We tested all the major options available on the market today to ‘discover’ which camera I thought suited the look, feel, and texture for our film. Efilm Sydney handled the ARRI RAW workflow with Anthos Simon acting as our contact there. Anthos was terrific in setting up a workflow that suited my needs as well as ingesting the data into a format that suited post production. As I was shooting a comedy, I wanted to shoot with multiple cameras. The full-time camera package consisted of two cameras, a full set of Zeiss master primes and two S-two recorders. What I had essentially was the best possible glass at the front end with ARRI raw recording at the rear.

Combined, you have the ultimate in digital image quality.”

For Windon the quality, reputation and ease of use ARRI has applied to the ALEXA were also major factors in his decision to use the camera.

He continued, “One of the best features of working with this kit was how easy it was for myself and the camera assistants (all of us had recently shot HBO’s The Pacific with ARRICAM 35mm) so the ‘crossover’ to this system was seamless due to the ARRI ALEXA menu system and the way all the usual accessories that we needed to shoot a feature film were so compatible.”

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Windon was also tasked with shooting in several different types of environment on A Few Best Men adding, “A Few Best Men was a tough shoot in terms of weather. Mother Nature was not that kind to us. We shot part of the movie to the west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains National Park. The wedding ceremony takes place overlooking a beautiful valley and waterfall escarpment. We encountered record-breaking heat and several thunderstorms over a period of a few days. A testing time for any camera team. I have to say that the ALEXA cameras performed exceptionally well

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under these tough environmental conditions. I also used the kit in various forms, ‘Production mode’ on an ARRI head, hand held and lots of Steadicam.

We mounted the S-two recorder at the rear of the camera, which means we could change our ‘B’ camera to Steadicam in a matter of minutes. It was very fast thanks to the 1st and 2nd ACs. As a result of testing, I chose to rate the camera at 800 ASA for all the exterior shooting. This gave me the most ‘range’, the differences and extremes between the bright ‘whites’ and the dark shadows. My subjects in our film are essentially dressed in typical wedding attire, i.e. white wedding dress, bridesmaids, wedding marquees and black tuxedos, all set in the brutal Australian summer sunlight. A test for any camera, digital or film. My colourist at Efilm, Olivier Fontenay and I were simply amazed at the detail in the highlights and the shadows – interestingly, I rated the camera @ 400 ASA for all my studio photography, where I had control over the lighting. The texture and results I was getting from the sensor was stunning.”

For Stephen Windon the camera and the service he received from both ARRI and his equipment supplier Gearhead also played major parts in helping him achieve exactly the results he was looking for.

Windon concluded, “Gearhead and ARRI were extremely helpful in fulfilling the needs of our film. They worked together to give me the best possible equipment package with the confidence of backup and support as we ventured into ‘foreign territory’. Our production was in good hands. I would highly recommend the ARRI ALEXA camera as a cinematographer, I’m excited by the results. I love the look and the texture of the ARRI ALEXA sensor. It has a film-like look, a film patina.”

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TAKING TO THE SKIES IN QUEENSTOWN Meanwhile, across the Tasman, the New Zealand-based Queenstown Camera Company team of Brett Mills, Ian Turtill and Paul Turtill recently purchased their fourth ARRI ALEXA camera to add to their existing ARRI film cameras.

According to Brett Mills, “We established the Queenstown Camera Company in 2003 and have provided motion picture cameras and camera accessories for numerous film productions in the South Island of New Zealand since then. We have an on-going purchasing program to ensure the camera systems and lens list is always state of the art and as a result, this year we acquired four ARRI ALEXAS; three ALEXAs and one ALEXA Plus. These are more than just digital cameras, they are ARRI-designed and built camera systems that accommodate a wide range of upgrades, extensions and accessories and have the build quality upon which we can rely in the varied conditions we find in Queenstown. In our view they are the best digital cameras available on the market.”

Today the Queenstown Camera Company carries a comprehensive list of ARRI cameras, accessories and lenses to meet the needs of the commercials and feature industry in both the film and digital domains.

The Queenstown Camera Company also use their ALEXAS on internationally recognised helicopter mounts such as the Stab C, Libra and Continental Side mount for aerial shoots working with local Queenstown helicopter companies to achieve the best possible results.

Turtill added, “One of our aims was to provide a camera rental house which catered to every need. As nearly 90 percent of the commercials made in Queenstown are dominated by overseas productions many of whom are looking for aerial shots, with local providers we can cover these requirements too. Thus, in addition to all the great projects our ALEXA cameras are used for on the ground, you’ll also often see them rigged onto a Squirrel helicopter’s nose or side mounts flying around Queenstown and the Fiordland mountains.”

Visit www.arri.com.au

ACQUISITION

Petrol Bags DigiSuite for DSLRs THE NEW PETROL BAGS DIGISUITE DSLR CAMERA CASE (PD610) is a semi-hard suitcase-style carrier with a front lid that unzips quickly to reveal a central compartment contoured to comfortably fit up to two DSLR cameras with lenses attached. Detachable internal dividers help secure contents and create pockets for storing a mattebox, camera plate, follow focus, camera light, viewfinder, cables, etc. With the dividers removed, the DigiSuite can serve as a regular suitcase. On the lid’s interior, a padded pouch can hold a personal computer with up to a 17” screen. Contents are surrounded and cushioned by soft padded red fabric.

Twin brackets on the bottom of the DigiSuite allow for quick connection of Petrol’s Snaplock wheel and trolley system (PA1001). Additional features include cold-moulded laminate panels for extra protection, auxiliary zippered storage pouches for personal accessories, exterior front pocket, top and side carrying handles, and dual-directional easy glide zippers.

Construction is of black 900D and ballistic nylon fabrics.

Visit www.petrolbags.com

High Definition PTZ Camera VIDEO HAS ANNOUNCED the new ClearVIEW HD-19 high definition PTZ camera with SmartSHOT technology. It comes equipped with a 19x optical zoom lens and is built around a 1.3 megapixel, 1/3-Type Sony Exmor highspeed, low-noise CMOS image sensor.

Integrated SmartSHOT technology with Adjustable Image Processing (AIP) provides control of advanced imaging Digital Signal Processor (DSP) functions.

Aimed at live production camera operators it features image stabilisation and iris/shutter control for outdoor events and the ability to shoot video in a variety of changing lighting conditions. The SmartSHOT technology enables the user to set the DSP to the value they need for their venue.

Using an increased pixel aperture size, high frame rate, high signal-to-noise, and column-parallel A/D conversion method, the detail and sensitivity of the sensor are increased and noise is dramatically reduced.

Outputs include component HD in 1080p, 1080i or 720p and simultaneous SD video in 480i. SDI is also available with an optional Slot Card. Control runs via VISCA command protocol or the IR remote that is supplied. Slipclutch robotics enhance system performance with smooth pan/tilt operation for accurate camera movement and control. Minimum illumination is rated at 0.7 LUX. Like all Vaddio ClearVIEW cameras, the HD-19 can be configured as a WallVIEW SR (Short-Range), WallVIEW DVI/HDMI or WallVIEW CCU system.

Visit www.vaddio.com

New GearNex Geared Camera Head OXYGEN DCT HAS INTRODUCED A NEW RANGE of features to the GearNex geared camera head, a product from CineToys LLC designed to give film makers access to Hollywood-style geared heads without paying Hollywood prices.

These features include the Big Tilt, which allows the camera to tilt 90 degrees up or down in a 70 degree range, and a new swing arm that allows more access to the tilt wheel.

ACQUISITION

Geared camera heads are the Hollywood film cameraman’s best-kept secret because they allow much smoother panning than fluid heads.

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Launched in 2008, GearNex was developed by former Hollywood cameraman Bret Allen in response to a significant gap in the market for affordable geared head technology.

Visit http://www.oxygendct.com

Fujinon ANZ Shows 360 Panomorph Lens FUJIFILM HAS ANNOUNCED that Fujinon has signed an exclusive agreement to sell and distribute the new 360° YF360A-2/SA2 Panomorph lens from ImmerVision across Australia and New Zealand.

Fujifilm Australia General Manager Optical Devices Marc Van Agten says, “This deal means that Fujinon are now able to offer our clients the new 360° Panomorph lens, which enables a complete overview and eliminates blind spots. The ellipse image in the 360° Panomorph lens uses the most light sensitive sensor area and offers, in combination with any ImmerVision Enabled Software Solution, a closer look at the image without any distortion.”

ImmerVision is the world leader in panoramic imaging, with a unique Panomorph technology composed of Panomorph lenses and viewing algorithms. The Panomorph lenses can capture 360° images on any camera.

The algorithms allow navigation inside the panoramic image distortionfree on common platforms such as computers, PDAs, mobile phones and other embedded systems. ImmerVision’s core technology covers the whole panoramic cycle, from real-time data capture to visualisation.

Whether live or in recorded mode, the new 360° Panomorph lens can be used with most 1/3” CS-mount cameras offering resolutions from VGA to 2 megapixel.”

Visit www.immervision.com/en/security/security_demo/index.php and www.FUJIFILM.com.au

Anton/Bauer Launches Matrix Cheese Plate ANTON/BAUER HAS INTRODUCED its new MATRIX Cheese Plate mounting bracket that can be used with its Gold Mount Solutions for the Sony PMW-F3 camera; Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D and EOS 60D Digital SLR cameras; Panasonic AG-AF100 series professional HD camera and the RED EPIC. The MATRIX Cheese Plate mounting bracket is for 15mm or 19mm rod systems (15mm or 19mm clamp kits sold separately), to be used with Gold Mounts for: QRC-DUAL PT – Gold Mount with 4-pin XLR and two PowerTap outputs for the Sony F3. It also mounts directly to the AJA Ki Pro Mini as well as many manufacturers’ “cheese plates.”

QR-DLSR – 7/14 Gold Mount for Canon 5D, 7D and 60D. QR-VBG – 7/14 Gold Mount adapter for the Panasonic AG-AF100.

QRC-EPIC – Gold Mount for Red EPIC with auxiliary PowerTap connector, power cable and 6p LEMO power connector.

These Gold Mount solutions can also be used on support rigs such as Cinevate, Shape, Redrock Micro and Genus, among others, or with a pouch.

Visit www.antonbauer.com and www.vitecgroup.com

The Studio that brought you the largest stages now brings you the largest range of lighting equipment Fox Lighting is conveniently located at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney and is now at the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. An extensive collection of lighting equipment is available for MLH[\YL ÄSTZ [LSL]PZPVU ZLYPLZ JVTTLYJPHSZ WOV[V ZOVV[Z HUK ZWLJPHS L]LU[Z IV[O SVJHSS` HUK HIYVHK ;V ÄUK V\[ OV^ -V_ JHU OLSW `V\ JYLH[L [OL TVZ[ S\TPUV\Z LMMLJ[ MVY `V\Y WYVQLJ[ please visit www.foxstudiosaustralia.com or phone +61 2 9383 4139

www.foxstudiosaustralia.com

SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

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Global TV Adds New OB Super Truck “We are excited that HD4 is already slated for action from the moment it becomes fully operational.

“HD4 is Australia’s most technically-advanced and very fast deployment High Definition OB super truck. I congratulate Global’s Engineering Services team and Smiths for setting a new standard for our market with HD4.”

David Newton, Commercial Director at AGSB, says: “Smiths have thoroughly enjoyed partnering with Global Television for HD4, which will be of significant international interest.”

“We look forward to future collaboration with Global and to deploying our experience from this project on future commissions.”

HD4 is Global Television’s third High Definition OB super truck, joining HD1 and HD2 which launched in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

GLOBAL TELEVISION HAS ADDED HD4 – Australia’s first coach-built and “most technically advanced” High Definition outside broadcast (OB) super truck – to its fleet.

HD4 will be ready for client service in September and has already been allocated to a major OB event that month.

HD4 sets a new benchmark for the local market with a shell built to coach standards by A. Smith Gt Bentley Limited (AGSB), a UK-based company internationally renowned for premium build quality.

Boasting superior detail – from functionality to finishes to ultra-fast deployment – HD4 provides an exceptional work environment for any OB project.

Global has just taken delivery of the shell, and the technical fit-out for HD4 is now underway in Sydney under the management of Global Television’s highly experienced Engineering Services team, which has designed the unit from the ground up.

Global Television CEO Keith Andrews says: “Global is proud to have worked with Smiths to create a world-class OB van shell – truly the Rolls Royce of its class, and especially cost-effective at the current exchange rate. This has helped Global continue to give our clients the best production environment, highest reliability and value for money.

Similar to HD1 and HD2, HD4 boasts double-expanding sides and normally accommodates 30 seated personnel, with a capacity for up to 35 production and technical staff.

HD4 has been 18 months in development and commissioning.

In addition to HD4, Global Television’s OB fleet includes three HD trucks and three HD portable/transportable units. Global also offers five Standard Definition digital trucks.

Global TV was recently reappointed as preferred facilities provider to Fox Sports Australia for the broadcaster’s Australian Open tennis coverage.

The new three-year agreement, which commences with the 2012 tournament at Melbourne Park, confirms Global Television’s market-leading technology and expertise.

Over 22 days, 32 skilled Global Television technicians will deliver up to 258 hours of live High Definition Australian Open coverage to Fox Sports.

Fox Sports Australia Outside Broadcast Manager Steve Barnes said, “The Australian Open is one of the leading events on our summer calendar.

“We have extended our relationship with Global Television for the Australian Open because Global has the latest technical resources and their high calibre team thoroughly understands our requirements.”

Visit www.globaltv.com.au

SPORTSCASTING

EVS Provides Past & Present Tennis Action at Wimbledon 2011

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EVS ONCE AGAIN DEPLOYED ITS PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS at The All England Tennis Lawn Club Wimbledon Championships, working with various partners to provide major international broadcasters, including BBC Sport, with host broadcast services.

giving producers access to instant statistics such as rally count, speed of serve, type of serve and winning shot. Producers and editors will use the IPDirector terminals to search for court action and either send the media to their chosen edit platform or directly to EVS servers for playout.

EVS servers also recorded the first ever 3D coverage of the gentlemen’s and ladies’ Wimbledon finals and, working alongside partners IMG Media and Timeline TV, EVS will provide instant searchable access to archive footage from the last four Wimbledon tournaments.

Daniel McDonnell, Managing Director, Timeline TV, said, “Throughout the workflow there is a huge amount of data constantly having to be processed, managed and stored. With the reactivity and reliability of the EVS systems, the content is secure for the entire duration of the tournament. In addition, the IPDirector suite is highly configurable to create any bespoke system that the client requires”.

Since 2007, Timeline TV has provided a large host broadcast solution for the Wimbledon tournament based around EVS servers and EVS IPDirector production management tools. This year the company utilised 16 HD EVS XT series servers to record every televised match, and more than 60 EVS IPDirector terminals to manage ingest control, content management, metadata management and on the fly editing.

Each point played was logged in IPDirector, with the logs combining live statistical information from the on-court scoring system and producerentered classifications to provide colour to the edits, such as shots of players’ actions between points and close-up reaction shots of the crowd.

The EVS system is also directly linked to the Wimbledon scoring system,

Timelime TV provided instant access to highly searchable archive footage from all televised matches from the 2007-2010 tournaments, including supporting material such as press conferences and crowd shots.

IMG Media, a division of global sports, fashion and media company IMG Worldwide, which owns the rights to the Wimbledon archive, allowed access to the fully logged footage on its own EVS servers in Chiswick, West London, directly from Timeline’s IPDirector terminals on location in Wimbledon.

Visit www.evs.tv

SPORTSCASTING

SFS Installs Mobile Panasonic Screen RUGBY LEAGUE FANS at the historic ANZAC Day NRL match between St George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters were the first to enjoy the new Panasonic LED stadium screen located in the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) forecourt.

The widescreen LED panel allows incoming crowds to enjoy the onfield action from outside the stadium. The screen is approximately 45 square metres in total, standing 5.12m high and 8.704m wide. For greater convenience, the screen can be dismantled and moved to the adjacent Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for both sporting and concert events.

Fans at the ANZAC Day NRL match were entertained with a highlights reel of past Roosters v Dragons ANZAC Day games held at the SFS to get them into the spirit of the occasion. In light of the significance of the event, the screen also displayed Telstra’s “Messages to the Troops” as well as a United History television commercial from the Roosters and other targeted advertising for the NRL. According to SCG Trust Chief Executive, Jamie Barkley, the screen was a great success, giving sports fans a richer venue experience thanks to its superior image quality and clean design.

“We are always looking to enhance our fans’ experience and ensure their time at the SFS and SCG is memorable and exciting. The new video screen was well received by Members and fans as they were able to enjoy the match day atmosphere even before they entered the stadium,” he said.

Mark Deere-Jones, Director - Business Systems Group, Panasonic Australia, said the LED screen was the perfect match for the SFS. “With the improved quality of television broadcasts and excellent technology now available in the home, venues must deliver something special,” he said.

The screen’ LED technology enables 281 trillion colours.

Visit www.panasonic.com.au

ROSS VIDEO HPA

SPORTSCASTING

Isn’t it time sport goes social?

By Andrew Frith Social Media Director, The Dubs I AM SURE YOU WILL AGREE that watching a game of Aussie Rules, or Rugby Union, or whatever sport it is you are into, at home by yourself is never as fun as watching it live at the game amongst the cheers and the screams, the boos and the sledging.

the experience. Fans love to talk to each other and relive the experience, and Social TV will amplify this. It will provide the opportunity to link existing fans with each other and become the channel to show support. It will boost emotions and make the traditional viewing experience superior.

Next time you’re on the couch watching a game you will be able to feel like you are in the midst of the action – well as soon as the sporting broadcasters, carriers and content producers start embracing Social TV.

Through the process of immersing people in emotion around a sporting game that they love and have a passion for, fans are often more open to sharing valuable information with a brand.

Social TV is all about peer-to-peer interactions while sharing a broadcast audience. While it has been available for some time, Social TV is only really starting to take off. Most of the Social TV that is being embraced at the moment is based around popular light hearted TV shows and in particular reality TV shows.

Social TV is currently being used to check-in to TV programs, to engage in real-time chat, to vote, for social network integration and to offer exclusive content to users and viewers. It can offer fresh opportunities to enhance the viewer experience, drive interactivity, community and talkability, but most importantly it can be used to leverage a brand.

The average Australian spends 22 hours per week watching TV and a further seven hours on social media sites, so it makes perfect sense for sporting broadcasters to merge two of Australia’s favourite pastimes together and start leveraging on these opportunities.

Peer to peer interactions – banter – is what sport is all about. If you have ever been on Facebook or Twitter in the middle of a popular sporting game you would have seen the feeds on each of these platforms being dominated by conversations about this game.

Sport unifies people, and whether you play it yourself or watch it, there is a huge urge to share

Most people no longer solely concentrate on the TV, but use smart phones, or laptops, swap texts, tweets, and status updates about celebrities, characters and commercials all while they are watching a TV show. They are online while watching TV, so if pushed in the right direction, they could be persuaded to buy things. There are endless opportunities to advertise, create loyalty programs and market a brand.

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Sport provides the perfect opportunity to turn a format into a brand, enable interaction that in the long-term people will be willing to pay for and provide opportunities for merchandising. Social TV is the perfect opportunity to create brand awareness and even sell tickets to the next game.

Social TV also offers ample opportunities for extra media value, measurements and conversion.

However, ultimately Social TV must add to, not distract from, the TV viewing experience.

Sponsors and advertisers involved in Social TV also need to concentrate on adding value as audiences will shy away from Social TV if they feel they are constantly being sold to.

What are they are they all waiting for?

ABOUT THE DUBS The Dubs is a digital engagement agency.

Visit http://thedubs.com/

Global TV, Fox Enter 3-Year Australian Open Deal GLOBAL TV IS PROUD TO HAVE BEEN reappointed the preferred facilities provider to Fox Sports Australia for the broadcaster’s Australian Open tennis coverage. The new three-year agreement, which commences with the 2012 tournament at Melbourne Park, confirms Global Television’s marketleading technology and expertise. Over 22 days, 32 skilled Global Television technicians will deliver up to 258 hours of live High Definition Australian Open coverage to Fox Sports. Fox Sports Australia Outside Broadcast Manager Steve Barnes said: “The Australian Open is one of the leading events on our summer calendar. We have extended our

relationship with Global Television for the Australian Open because Global has the latest technical resources and their high calibre team thoroughly understands our requirements.”

Global Television Sales Director Andy Armstrong said: “Global Television takes pride in delivering exceptional live outside broadcasts. “Having Fox Sports renew our partnership for the Australian Open is testament to the results we have achieved over the past four years. We look forward to working with the Fox Sports team towards another three years of outstanding Australian Open coverage.”

Visit www.globaltv.com.au and www.foxtel.com.au

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SPORTSCASTING

IOC Dishes Up Broadcast Rights THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) has announced broadcast rights for a number of territories covering future Olympic up to and including the 2020 Games.

In its home market, France Televisions has exclusive broadcast rights for the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as well as the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.

France Televisions have acquired the broadcast rights across all media platforms, including Internet and mobile.

Also in Europe, the IOC awarded ARD and ZDF the broadcast rights in Germany for the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

The France Televisions and ARD/ZDF deals mark the first time the IOC has awarded rights to European broadcasters outside of the framework of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

According to IOC Executive Board member Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations, “Traditionally the IOC has negotiated broadcast rights on a pan European basis, however the media landscape is changing quickly and we have adapted our approach in recent years by negotiating directly in certain markets.”

France Televisions, ARD and ZDF are all broadcast partners for the London 2012 Olympic Games through the IOC’s agreement with the European Broadcasting Union.

In the United States, the IOC has awarded NBCUniversal (NBCU) broadcast rights for the XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014) in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (2016) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as well as the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

NBCU has acquired the broadcast rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile. The total agreement is valued at US$4.38 billion.

The IOC has enjoyed a long partnership with NBCU, and this agreement will mean that by 2020, NBCU will have covered a total of 17 editions of the Games, beginning in 1964.

NBCU acquired the right to be the IOC’s broadcast partner for the London 2012 Olympic Games in 2003.

Meanwhile in Asia, the IOC has awarded SBS the exclusive broadcast rights in the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in 2018, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020, the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in 2022 and the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad to be celebrated in 2024, all of which have yet to be awarded to a host city.

SBS have acquired the broadcast rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile.

The agreement also includes a commitment to broadcast the Youth Olympic Games during the same period.

New Events for 2014, 2020 THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE has confirmed the inclusion of ski slopestyle (men and women), snowboard slopestyle (men and women) and snowboard parallel special slalom (men and women) on the sports programme of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The decision follows the inclusion in April of ski halfpipe (men and women), women’s ski jumping, biathlon mixed relay, figure skating team event and luge team relay.

The IOC has also agreed on a shortlist of sports that will be considered for inclusion in the sports programme of the 2020 Olympiad. The sports are: baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, sports climbing, squash, wakeboard and wushu, one of which could be added to the 2020 sports programme to be voted on by the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in 2013. The programme can include a maximum of 28 sports.

Commentary System

SPORTSCASTING

SMPTE 2011 Booth A23

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1st class production ...

MADE BY EXPERTS

STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD. email: australia@stagetec.com.au www.stagetec.com.au

SPORTSCASTING

EVS Goes Live at FIFA Women’s World Cup EUROPEAN HOST BROADCAST ORGANIZATION HBS confirmed its ongoing collaboration with live production technology specialist EVS to supply equipment to enhance live production coverage at the recent Women’s World Cup in Germany.

Match productions involving multiple Outside Broadcast (OB) facilities as well as broadcast companies will rely on EVS solutions for all live replays, highlights and graphic analysis throughout the event.

HBS required EVS technology for all live replays and live editing operations of matches managed by multiple OB facilities involving German Top Vision, Studio Berlin and TVN. Games were played in nine different stadiums throughout Germany (Augsburg, Bochum, Frankfurt, Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Berlin, Dresden, Leverkusen, Sinsheim) and were covered by 16 HD cameras for regular matches and up to 18 HD cameras for top matches.

Each camera angle was recorded on five XT series servers (six channels each) controlled by 5 LSM remotes connected through a high bandwidth media sharing network allowing live operation teams to control any instant shot for slo-mo replays, prepared advanced highlights packages and closers.

All systems were managed by IPDirector, EVS’ production content management system, which allows reviewing and smooth handling of all recorded media and key sequences. The system was used to exchange files transparently via Avid and Apple FCP editing suite for advanced montage.

Initially introduced by HBS in Johannesburg in 2010, the Epsio live graphic analysis system was added to the live OB setup for the replay of litigious actions involving offside positions of players.

Integrated to the XT system and controlled by the LSM remote controller, Epsio manages an auto-detection of the playing field with autographic overlay creation, allowing operators to draw a line in under 5 seconds showing the offside positions of players.

All live program feeds were gathered at the IBCC (Broadcast Coordination Centre) based in Frankfurt mainly dedicated to unilateral broadcast operations. Following the use of last year’s World Cup media exchange platform entirely based on EVS systems, various broadcasters covering this year’s Women World Cup opted for smaller scale workflow based on EVS servers and content management system offering similar capabilities.

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At German broadcaster ARD-ZDF, live incoming feeds were recorded on two EVS XT series servers allowing the production team to create extra highlights and polished edits using EVS live editing tools or Avid suite. Since all media was recorded natively as Avid DNxHD codec based on EVS’ new webservice API, the media exchange between EVS and Avid editing suite could be managed without wasting time or quality-impacting encoding/decoding process.

Visit www.evs.tv

Sports Recruiting Via Video Over IP XOS DIGITAL IS A LEADING PROVIDER of digital asset management solutions for U.S. collegiate and professional sports organisations. The company recently launched XOS PlayerOnDemand, a player scouting system built around Signiant’s content supply chain management solution.

The Signiant technology provides a fast, secure, and reliable platform for XOS Digital to capture video of high school football players in action and other related content, and then distribute the content to college sports recruiters.

The Signiant system enables field capture and distribution of content as well as support for XOS Digital’s video service connecting standout high school football players with college recruiting scouts. XOS Digital has deployed video crews in more than 1,500 locations to film high school football games.

In addition, XOS uses Signiant’s Media Exchange solution to distribute software, database, and media upgrades out to customers.

“Time is of the essence for college recruiters seeking to sign promising new athletes before rival schools. With Signiant, we’re able to offer our collegiate sports customers a vital service

that shaves significant time off the process of identifying, evaluating, and recruiting high school talent from all over the country,” said Gary Howard, general manager, recruiting and scouting services, XOS Digital. “Since Signiant facilitates transfers of large files over an IP network, a process that once took several days and required shipment of physical media now takes only a few hours.

“Signiant is an important member of our internal support team, and its ease of use and flexibility have made it a critical tool for every member of our staff.”

“XOS Digital is a stand-out example of how Signiant can power any type of business requiring fast, seamless, and secure transfer of digital content,” said Tony Lapolito, vice president of product management and marketing for Signiant. “As a loyal Signiant customer for more than three years, XOS Digital is applying our technology in very innovative ways to add value to its rich set of digital media offerings for sports organizations.”

Visit www.xosdigital.com and www.signiant.com.

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SPORTSCASTING

ESPN Star Sports Upgrades with Chyron MAGNA SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERING has announced that it has supplied Asia’s biggest sports content provider ESPN STAR Sports with a new upgraded Chyron graphics solution based on the LEX3 CG and Lyric PRO 8 graphics software.

Magna Systems Singapore Sales Manager Jonathan Khoo says, “ESPN STAR Sports’ requirement was for a spontaneous graphic system that is easy to use, in order to provide quick and fast updates from their current newsroom systems. The Chyron LEX3 CG with Lyric PRO 8 graphics software and Camio complete news graphics management system integrated with the MOS newsroom system benefits ESPN STAR Sports’ journalists and producers saving them time and giving them greater control over the look and content of their news graphics and a streamlined playout operation in the control room.”

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier sports from around the globe featuring some of the most iconic sports events to sport fans across Asia through its 21 television networks and 2 broadband network, each localised to deliver differentiated programming to meet diverse needs of Asian sports fans. ESPN STAR Sports features a comprehensive portfolio of multimedia assets, delivering a diverse array of sports content across multiple platforms, including its television networks (ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS, ESPN HD),

broadband network (ESPN Player), and digital content services (espnstar.com, mobileESPN) with the aim to engage and entertain sports fans anytime, anyplace.

Jonathan Khoo continues, “One of the region’s most innovative broadcasters, ESPN STAR Sports uses the Chyron graphics solution for sporting events, including live events, on player updates, game scores and banners. With Lyric PRO 8 the scriptless creative environment and object multiple timelines for complex scene-toscene transitions is a big plus for their creative designers. ESPN STAR Sports also have Chyron’s CAMIO system integrated into their newsroom application with Lyric PRO software and the LUCI (Lyric Universal Control Interface) application plug-in to the newsroom showing the journalists and producers instantly how the updating of text, graphics and movie objects look prior to going on air.”

Allied Pacific Sports Streams with Edit.TV VIDEO TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS COMPANY Edit.TV has clinched a major deal with Allied Pacific Sports Network (APSN), the Asian internet TV provider of sports media streaming. The deal will see Edit.TV deploy its Edit TV Media Platform to manage, stream and distribute sports content across the Asian region via mobile and internet.

Edit.TV will provide APSN with an innovative and dynamic video service across 28 territories in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Japan and South Korea, showing football matches from some of the biggest leagues in the world.

The Chyron LEX3 graphics solution with Lyric PRO 8 graphics creation and production software is a powerful, continuous graphics rendering engine and the core provider of unrivalled, realtime, high-end 3D animations. The solution also provides adaptable primitive geometry, extended FBX support for 3DSMax, is Adobe XMP metadata compliant and has full interoperability with live data sources and the newsroom.

Among the most applications being provided

by Edit.TV is the managing of sport metadata in real time during the live streaming of a match.

This allows subscribers to the service to flick back and watch events that have happened by icon and then jump back to the live stream. Edit.

TV’s technology also enables matches to be automatically synchronised with relevant game data files to create event driven highlights, while the Video on Demand facility allows for instant search by events or players from a particular league’s VOD channel. The signing of the deal with APSN comes just weeks after Edit.TV’s technology, which is backed by 17 patents, was made available to subscribers to the Liverpool FC TV website.

Visit www.magnasys.tv

Visit www.edit.tv

IBC 2011 9TH TO 13TH SEPTEMBER RAI AMSTERDAM

SPORTSCASTING

Visit us on Stands 7.G41 (main ) and 13.293 ( Connected World )

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SPORTSCASTING

Cutting Edge Introduces Next-Gen OB CUTTING EDGE HAS ANNOUNCED a ‘next

According to Cutting Edge’s Steve Mitchell, “So

generation’ addition to its OB fleet in the form of HD:2, the “very latest� in expanding side broadcast vehicles, and P:1, an expanding side trailer built to provide an adaptable production space for location production.

often we’re asked to bring in rental cabins to

According to Cutting Edge, HD:2 is the most technically advanced High Definition 3G capable OB truck of its kind in Australia today.

add viewing rooms, edit suites or for additional production space. With P:1, we have all of this in an easily located trailer with air-conditioning and furniture already built in.�

P:1 can easily be configured to the requirements of any production; live sport, music and

It features an open, two-row control room with configurable workspaces for greater flexibility and a sixteen-monitor wall with multi-view and quad split technology for in layout flexibility.

entertainment or corporate productions, using

Director of Broadcast Operations at Cutting Edge, Steve Mitchell, said that HD:2 brings a new working environment to Outside Broadcast.

shoots, to a complete Outside Broadcast

“We’ve used the very latest in broadcast technology in HD:2 which is more compact and eďŹƒcient than in the past,â€? says Mitchell. “This has allowed our engineers to come up with a strikingly dierent internal design which provides a more spacious and flexible interior than any truck that we’ve built beforeâ€?.

system that is HD and 3D capable and video

New technology in HD:2 includes an Evertz Xenon router, a Sony MVS7000x 3D HD/SD video switcher and Calrec Artemis digital audio mixer.

Cutting Edge Manager of Broadcast Operations, Phil Goulden, is particularly proud of the integration of the Riedel communications system with the new Calrec Artemis audio desk. “The power of the connected Riedel and Calrec is fantastic,� he says, “it makes very complex audio and comms configurations easy to manage and provides complete integration of comms across our whole fleet.�

HD:2 features fully integrated fibre optic audio, video and communications systems and can connect seamlessly with the existing Cutting Edge HD fleet to handle in excess of 64 cameras on a single OB. The company has also announced the addition of P:1 to the Cutting Edge fleet.

Cutting Edge P:1 is a new approach to adaptable production spaces.

Based on a 16.5 metre expanding side trailer, P:1 fills the growing requirement for flexible location spaces.

a cleverly designed changeable floor plan.

Cutting Edge P:1 can provide everything from a Monitoring Control Room for multi-camera Production Control Room with multiple edit suites, an EVS/VT area and Multi-track Audio

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Recording Suite. P:1 features an internal routing monitoring can be configured to the specific requirements of a project.

The highly adaptable trailer easily works as a standalone production control room, or can integrate directly with Cutting Edge’s large and small OB trucks. “One of the first uses for this trailer is as an extension of our HD:6 OB truck. HD:6 has all of the production power and P:1 will provide the larger production spaces including an executive viewing area at a fraction of the cost and

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inconvenience of using rental huts,� says Mitchell.

Visit www.cuttingedge.com.au

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NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

AP Expands in North Korea Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma Expands

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS ANNOUNCED agreements with the Korea Central News Agency, including one to open an AP news bureau in Pyongyang.

Leaders of the two news organizations held discussions during a New York visit by KCNA executives and this week signed two memos of understanding and a contract.

Under one memo of understanding work begins immediately on discussions aimed at opening an AP bureau in Pyongyang. It would be the first permanent text and photo bureau operated by a Western news organization in the North Korean capital. Five years ago, AP Television News, headquartered in London, became the first Western news organization to establish an office in North Korea.

The second memo of understanding outlines cooperation on journalistic and photo/video technology issues, including a joint photo exhibition by the two agencies in New York next year.

The contract designates AP as the exclusive distributor of contemporary and historic video from KCNA’s archive, providing a new source of video content from North Korea to AP’s members and customers around the world.

“This agreement between AP and KCNA is historic and significant,” said AP President and CEO Tom Curley. “AP is once again being trusted to open a door to better understanding between a nation and the world. We are grateful for this opportunity and look forward to providing coverage for AP’s global audience in our usually reliable and insightful way.”

The Dart Centre’s original mandate focused on providing training and support to journalists in Australia and New Zealand. But the global challenges of reporting human tragedy know no borders. In recent years the Dart Centre has conducted seminars, fellowship programmes and workshops with media professionals from Korea, Pakistan, Kashmir, Cambodia, India, Samoa, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Japan and Bangladesh.

The 2011 DCAP Asia Pacific Fellowship programme held in Bangkok in April drew together journalists from most of these countries and regions for a week-long intensive training session on psychological trauma as it relates to journalism practice and ethics, as a press freedom issue and a health issue.

Kim Pyong Ho, president of KCNA, said, “I hope this agreement contributes not only to the strengthening of relations between our two news agencies but also to the better understanding between the peoples of our two countries and the improvement of the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] DPRK-U.S. relations.”

Visit www.ap.org

Visit http://dartcenter.org/asia-pacific

MediaCorp Turns to EVS for Elections Coverage

Channel NewsAsia Links with LiveU

technology to broadcast Singapore’s recent election. MediaCorp News Pte Ltd owns Channel NewsAsia, Channels 5 and 8, Suria and Vasantham. The broadcast company produces news, current affairs, documentary programs and airs reality TV and talk shows.

For the May 7th coverage of both Nomination and Polling day of the Singapore’s 16th parliamentary election, MediaCorp chose EVS for the entire newsgathering and production workflow to replace existing non-live technology currently used in their newsroom facilities.

All gathered newsfeeds and files were centralized onto an extensive range of seven XT/XS series servers configured for online storage while guaranteeing instant access to browsing, editing and playout operations supported by the advanced dual SDTI and GigE network.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Australasia (DCA), the Dart Centre’s hub based in Australia, has gone from strength to strength, providing training and support to journalists reporting on human tragedy far beyond the southern hemisphere. To reflect its expanding influence, effective immediately, the organisation will now be known as Dart Centre Asia Pacific [DCAP].

In 2008, DCAP collaborated with the Deutsche Welle Training Akadamie to provide trauma awareness training to journalists who would be reporting on the Khmer Rouge trials in Phnom Penh; in 2009, a support mission was conducted in Samoa following the devastating tsunami that rocked the island country. In 2010, a trauma awareness and peer support training programme was conducted in the wake of the Magindanao massacres in the Philippines; in 2011, the Centre collaborated with the Liberation War Museum in Bangladesh to assist journalists who would be reporting on the war crimes tribunal in that country.

SINGAPORE BROADCASTER MEDIACORP chose EVS’ digital production

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SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2004, the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma

“Our preference for an EVS setup was clearly dictated by our priority to have a highly reliable system allowing us to streamline a live operational workflow. EVS’ expertise in live operations and in-depth reliability of its production systems made it the obvious choice for such an important and challenging enterprise,” said Kelvin Ma, VP, TV & Post Production Enterprises.

LIVEU, THE DEVELOPER OF portable video-over-cellular backpack solutions, has reported that Singapore’s MediaCorp transmitted live video coverage of the General Election on its regional station, Channel NewsAsia, using LiveU’s LU60 system.

The LU60 offers cost-effectiveness and mobility, compared to expensive satellite trucks. MediaCorp used the LiveU system to complement its coverage, and it was utilized to cover one of the party press conferences taking place in the run-up to Election Day. MediaCorp’s overall live coverage of the General Election on television on the day attracted over 2.42 million viewers in Singapore.

Ms Norraine Yusof, Vice President of Production Services at Channel NewsAsia, says, “The LiveU system was a good add-on to our coverage of the General Election.

“With so much activity on the ground during the hustings and on Polling Day, it was an effective device that provided a lot of flexibility and enabled us to broadcast videos ‘live’ and on the move”.

Combined with XT & XS series servers, IPDirector offered comprehensive central media management to all journalists and editors who covered the election.

Samuel Wasserman, LiveU’s CEO, said, “MediaCorp represents another important Tier 1 broadcasting customer for LiveU. We’re delighted that we could help supplement MediaCorp’s election coverage and meet their requirement for fast, high quality news coverage. Asia-Pacific is proving to be a fast-growing market for LiveU with cellular-based video technology becoming increasingly relevant for 24/7 newsgathering services.”

Visit www.evs.tv

Visit www.liveu.tv and www.onair.com.au

Come and see us @ SMPTE 2011, Stand H13.

July 19-22, Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour

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Low latency for live crosses, High latency for quality overlay or package filing Advanced load sharing and connection monitoring Unique, patented advanced antenna array Also use Wi-Fi, USB and ethernet connected IP paths (DSL, BGAN, WiMAX, LTE, 4G etc) Intuitive to use, be on air in minutes, with easy to understand controls Fully-integrated self-powered unit in custom backpack.

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SEND IT … to the web Viewcast Niagara, the next generation in Multi-Format Web streaming. … to your network Kyrion CM4101 / DR8400, the first commercially available 4:2:2 / 10 Bit H.264 Contribution Pair.

Includes MPEG2 HD & SD. Migrate to MPEG4 while maintaining compatibility with all your MPEG2 Equipment. … to everyone SMD 989 DVB-S/S2 Satellite Modulator. Supports Multistream with Variable Coding and Modulation (VCM).

MRD 3187B Receiver Decoder. Supports virtually any application with dual-channel processing of MPEG2, H.264, 4:2:0, 4:2:2, SD, and HD video decoding.

For more information, please contact Phone +61 2 8882 7766

Email sales@onair.com.au

www.onair.com.au

NEWS OPERATIONS

SBS Select Autocue Prompters AUSTRALIA’S SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS) has chosen Quinto Communications and Autocue for their studio prompting requirements.

Quinto is supplying four of the new Autocue 17” Master prompting systems, similar to those demonstrated at the recent NAB exhibition in Las Vegas. These ultra-thin highbrightness LED prompting monitors also include several unique features such as in-board cable management and a dimmable tally light. Their camera hoods have a hinged

glass frame for easy glass replacement or cleaning, as well as a tally light platform.

Four slim, light-weight 17” Talent Feedback Monitors complete the package. These widescreen monitors mount under the cameras using Autocue’s propriety “Magic Arm” technology where they provide on-camera talent with precise, live broadcast picture feedback.

Visit www.quinto.com.au

Online Virtual News Agency

Mosart Newscast Automation 3.0

WORLD NEWS ON DEMAND is an Online Virtual News Agency, created

MOSART NEWSCAST AUTOMATION 3.0 includes a range of new features and functions, including a redesigned graphical interface with full user configurability, that further enhance the most versatile and powerful studio automation system on the market. Story elements such as cameras, clips, and graphics can easily be assigned to buttons for simple and quick access.

A range of interface overviews also can be assigned to buttons, making the GUI a shot box for touch screens and adaptable for any TV production.

Story scripts from the newsroom computer system are shown directly in the Mosart GUI, and Mosart operators can store clips and graphical elements in a pool ready for execution on request.

for freelance media journalists and media outlets worldwide by journalists with decades of experience in the agency business.

WNOD provides mass media organizations around the world (Television Networks, Television Stations, Media Production Companies, Internet Portals, Radio Stations, Newspapers, etc.) with fast-download broadcast media content “ready-to-air” and “a la carte”.

World News On Demand founder, Eugenio Hernandez, is a bilingual mass media professional in the fields of international journalism, marketing, and public relations having worked with the likes of The Associated Press, Al Jazeera, CNN en Español, Telemundo, Televisa, and The Voice of America.

According to WNOD, its business model breaks the traditional news agency mould of media content subscription packages offered to media outlets worldwide. Content is available on demand and paid for as it is accessed buyers only pay for the content they want.

For content owners, registration with WNOD is free and “offers the opportunity to start uploading your material and generating revenues the same day”.

From a revenue perspective the value of newly-generated content as well as archive material can be realised multiple times with WNOD’s business model, which does not require rights to be given wholesale to a single purchaser.

Mosart now offers greatly simplified operations in multigallery, multistudio environments through one-time broadcast template creation and by allowing one newsroom script to be aired anywhere, from any studio at any time.

The Mosart industry-leading open-systems compatibility is extended with new support for Dalet News and Annova’s OpenMedia, in addition to ENPS, iNEWS, Octopus, and NorCom. Mosart supports many manufacturers of audio and vision mixers, servers, graphics systems, and camera robotics systems.

Visit http://portal.worldnewsondemand.com

Visit www.mosart.no

Graphics Station with Real time Data

Broadcasting Twitter Feeds

UTAH SCIENTIFIC’S NEW GS-4000 graphics station can now receive

AT SMPTE AUSTRALIA 2011, on the AV Group booth (H17, Hall 4),

automated real-time data feeds and local content updates from CGS’s

Eyeheight will feature TVtweetCaster, a solution for integrating social media into broadcasts.

Scientific and CGS Infographics Automation. Utah Scientific’s GS-4000 works with its own MC-4000 master control switcher to support graphics, including fixed text, multiple text crawls, still and animated logos, snipes, and timeand-temperature displays. Integrated with CGS Newschief, the Utah Scientific graphics station automates the often labor-intensive task of collecting data from multiple sources and merging it with graphics for on-air display.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Mosart also features enhanced handling of macros, sequences, loops, and continue points. The Mosart sequences tool enables separate parallel rundowns that can be executed on a studio back wall. Macros and continue points simplify automation setup, allowing the director to program once and then proceed through multiple events or effects. Looping can now be applied to rundowns, segments, sequences, and clips.

With the WNOD model owners keep the rights to their material and can restrict content in a number of ways when needed, such as placing embargoes on usage time or outlets, defining when the content can be aired or published, detailing if the content must have a mandatory courtesy caption, and whether to restrict countries from purchasing content from inside the owner’s market region.

Newschief system as a result of a strategic partnership between Utah

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Content repurposing/reuse and MAM integration are enhanced with the Mosart delivery of news as-run information to continuity control systems such as Snell’s Morpheus. Through the news as-run integration, continuity and MAM systems are now able to reuse individual stories or events from earlier recorded Mosart productions. Mosart can also be user-configured to query MAM systems for metadata information.

The CGS Newschief Data Feed is a centralised source of automated U.S.centric headlines, weather, sports scores and statistics, lottery results, stock prices, and market indices. CGS can also provide Newschief software to

TVtweetCaster includes a complete software and SD-SDI/HD-SDI hardware package for accessing, filtering and inserting Twitter content into a live broadcast.

TVtweetCaster uses industry standards in combination with application domain expertise to deliver an integrated solution that encompasses CG hardware, data interfaces, user interaction and application-specific automation, which ultimately fulfils a growing user demand in a commercially attractive, highly innovative product.

school sports, and election returns.

Also on show will be simpleText which provides for the insertion of live text data into a broadcast crawler with applications as diverse as displaying breaking news to generating high quality line identifications.

Visit www.utahscientific.com.

Visit www.eyeheight.com

facilitate the collection of local information such as school closings, high-

POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

Profile Visual FX Supervisor David Booth

by Rosemary Reid BA

AWARD WINNING Visual Effects Supervisor David Booth has been working successfully on a variety of challenging projects for over 25 years. He pioneered the use of the digital medium in Australia and gained notoriety as a Digital Artist. His portfolio ranges from film through to high end television mini series.

DAVID WON AN EMMY AWARD on his first project for Framestore: Alice in Wonderland, directed by Nick Willing. He continued to hone his craft at Framestore with Emmy nominated productions: Walking With Dinosaurs, Jason and the Argonauts and Dinotopia.

David returned to Australia to supervise visual effects on projects Farscape, Thunderstruck, To Catch a Fire and Charlotte’s Web for Digital Pictures Sydney and Iloura Melbourne. David also worked on Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Alex Proyas’s Knowing, and Jane Campion’s Bright Star.

Recently Booth worked as VFX Supervisor on James Cameron’s stereoscopic 3D project, Sanctum which screened internationally earlier this year. Here he was given the opportunity to further his skills in stereography and worked closely with Avatar’s visual effects stereographer Chuck Comisky.

DESTINY “I was born into a family that worked in the film industry. My dad was an engineer and he was one of the guys who started up Colour Film Videolab in Sydney. Later he became managing engineer of Sony Broadcast. I remember when I was about fourteen I actually had a one inch machine in my bedroom.

Most people didn’t even have one in their production companies. Dad said here you go, go play and have some fun with your friends.”

Not surprisingly Booth learnt to edit in his early teens and spent a lot of the time trying to convince his school to invest in video equipment.

POST PRODUCTION

He began his career at Videolab where he worked his way up from courier to frame by frame animation on an Ampex VPR 3 using a Quantel Paintbox. The Video Paintbrush Company operated out of the same building and offered David a job in post-production handling editing and visual effects. His work also included time on Harry, the first ever Quantel Digital Editing box.

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On the basement level of the North Ryde facility was a model making and optical printing company called Mirage Effects. The company had a big blue screen at the back of its stage that David, now in his early twenties, utilised whenever he had the chance.

The Video Paintbrush Company owners sold out to Zareh Nalbandian and Chris Godfrey who formed Animal Logic. They relocated the office to Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, the hub of post-production in Sydney at that time. David worked with Video Paintbrush and Animal Logic for eight years before he was invited overseas.

“I was poached to work at a company called Soho 601 in London where I worked for a year. I went back to Animal Logic for eighteen months and then left to work at Framestore in the UK and I was there for five years. While I was working at Soho 601 I became good friends with one of the producers, John Collins. He asked me what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do it and what I was after in life. I said this is what I want to do, Visual Effects Supervision.”

John left 601 to work for Framestore when David left the company to work for Animal Logic. John later phoned David in Australia and said, “I’ve got a position for you, this is the project. Get yourself on a plane and come over and talk to the director and work out how to shoot this.” The production was Alice in Wonderland.

In England Booth experienced the learning curve of onset discipline. To him it was quite logical and he fell straight into it. In England at the time the protocol was that you spoke to the Assistant Director - no-one spoke to the director.

“Luckily for me the director Nick Willing was a really nice guy and he wanted me to talk to him and help work out things. He’d come and ask me questions freely without this protocol and we got on really well.”

David finished Alice In Wonderland and then Willing called up and said, “Look I’ve got another film I want you to work on and I’ll only do it if you’re on it.” David went on to work with him on Jason and the Argonauts.

3D Booth’s background and understanding of compositing, blue/green screen techniques and the gamut of camera technologies meant he was well positioned to adapt his knowledge to stereoscopic productions.

“When we started Sanctum I’d worked on the post side of a stereo film called Cane Toads, but not the filming side. That was handled by Paul Nichola. On the filming side of stereo for Sanctum they threw me a bunch of cameras and asked ‘can you make them work?’ The camera operators and I sat there saying, ‘what are we going to do with this stuff?’

“We built the cameras and luckily we got them aligned and set up correctly.

Certain people work certain ways and put A and B together really quickly and easily and that’s what I do with film. It’s easy and I just adapt to it.”

Continued Page 56

POST PRODUCTION

Imagezone Taps Light Illusion for Colour Management UK SPECIALIST DIGITAL FILM CONSULTANCY

cinematography cameras.

and colour management systems developer, Light Illusion, has provided a range of image management tools to New Zealand-based Imagezone for on-set colour management and look control.

“We have been aware of the advanced colour management tools developed by Light Illusion for some time, and the growth in digital image capture has brought with it a need for better colour management throughout a project’s entire workflow, starting on-set. With the colour management systems from Light Illusion we are able to provide the best possible image look control,” says Dean of Imagezone’s adoption of Light Illusion’s colour management systems.

Specialising in high definition workflow solutions, Imagezone bridges the gap between on-set production and post production, creating what it says are “tangible efficiencies”. The company has branches in Auckland and Queenstown, as the Gold Coast and Sydney, Australia.

Light Illusion has provided Imagezone with a full range of colour management tools, from display calibration and 3D LUT management via LightSpace CMS, to image look control for dailies and editorial through the use of Alexicc and SpaceMan ICC, as well as look cloning and conversion with MatchLight IMS. For Dean Thomas, MD Imagezone, the selection of Light Illusion’s systems was the perfect solution to the market’s growing use of digital

While LightSpace CMS has been adopted globally for accurate calibration of high-end Digital Intermediate and post-production environments, including digital projection and monitors, Dean views colour management as being just as critical during image capture if the best possible end result is to be gained.

“Colour management is not just about setting up a DI environment” adds Dean. “DoPs are now looking for on-set, dailies and editorial colour to be managed just as critically, and the tools

provided by Light Illusion really do provide exactly the control needed.”

For Light Illusion, the needs demonstrated by Imagezone for better look management resulted in the development of a new system for image matching – MatchLight IMS – a tool that can quickly and simply match the look between two or more images, generating a 3D LUT for use elsewhere within the project’s workflow.

“Discussions with Imagezone regarding their need to provide look continuity back from the DI room to on-set viewing showed a requirement to ‘clone’ looks from pre-graded material where no other compatible colour data was available,” says Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion. “These discussions resulted in the development of MatchLight IMS, a system that can accurately extract colour set-up information from a before and after image pair, and generate a 3D LUT to enable perfect colour matching on-set, or elsewhere.”

Visit www.lightillusion.com and www.imagezone. co.nz

Deluxe Weds Global VFX Network with Shotgun SHOTGUN SOFTWARE, developer of the Shotgun web-based production tracking and collaboration system, has announced that the visual effects units of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group have purchased a multi-site Shotgun license to seamlessly connect its global facilities, which include Postmodern in Sydney, Rushes in London, and Method Studios in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York and London.

“We are unifying our pipelines into a single global network that provides our clients with a huge pool of talent and resources,” said Dan Glass, Executive Vice President, Method Studios. “After an extensive review process, we chose Shotgun

as the framework for this pipeline because of its proven track record and the quality of the team behind it.”

“After doing an intensive build vs. buy analysis, we determined the Shotgun platform has evolved to the point where it is both faster and cheaper to build our pipeline on top of it instead of building the entire stack from scratch,” said Paul Ryan, VP Technology, Method Studios. “We look forward to partnering with the Shotgun team on this project and expect the results to provide significant return on our investment.”

“The work coming out of the visual effects studios at Deluxe is amazing, and we are delighted they

chose Shotgun as the basis for building their global pipeline,” said Don Parker, CEO, Shotgun Software. “We are grateful for their support and look forward to a close collaboration.”

Shotgun is a flexible and scalable web-based project management system designed specifically for visual effects, CG feature animation and video game industries, allowing all parties involved in a project instant access to critical data, messaging and real-time project progress. Available in both a hosted (SaaS) and licensed model, large, midsized, boutique facilities and independent artists can all benefit from Shotgun-managed pipelines.

Visit www.shotgunsoftware.com

Modernise your post-production pipeline with Smoke.

With a familiar timeline-based workflow, tight integration with nonlinear editing applications and unmatched creative tools, Smoke helps you confidently deliver your best work.

See Smoke in action and download the trial* at

POST PRODUCTION

autodesk.com.au/smokeformac

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Storm FX Level 11, 61 Lavender Street Milsons Point, NSW 2061 t. 1300 061 007 e. sales@stormfx.com.au

To see how you can benefit from Smoke, call Autodesk Smoke 2012 software offers Storm FX on 1300 061 007 or visit a timeline-based workflow, all in one creative toolset for editorial finishing that www.stormfx.com.au. spans colour correction, keying, tracking, paint, cleanup, tilting and 3D visual effects.

Now growing studios can cost effectively expand their capabilities and gain a competitive edge.

*Trial products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies the software.

Autodesk and Smoke are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Mac OS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at anytime without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

POST PRODUCTION

Bangkok’s Postique Builds DI Backbone with DVS BANGKOK-BASED POST PRODUCTION HOUSE Postique has bolstered its facilities with a range of technology from DVS. Established mid-2008, the e-Film affiliated Postique is an extension of Oriental Post specialising in Digital Intermediate (DI) workflows.

A major storage upgrade for Postique includes four SpycerBox Flex as super-fast online storage, two SpycerBox Ultra as central staging area to interconnect multiple departments as well as a DVS-SAN with 140 TB as reliable near-line storage.

DVS’s Spycer software is used for cross-platform data management, while three CLIPSTER DI workstations handle I/O, DCI Mastering and RAW workflows.

The DVS-SAN with its 140 TB near-line storage is optimised for post production workflows and functions as a key component in the high data rate, shared storage solution. In addition, Postique’s legacy SAN components are being integrated into the DVS-SAN infrastructure – the storage architecture is controlled by DVS’s new metadata server. The stand-alone defragmentation tool Mephisto handles defragmenting and descattering.

DVS Spycer software enables facility-wide, crossplatform data management and speeds up the

data flow. Users at Postique can search the entire network for image data and their metadata and move the content where it is needed.

Three CLIPSTER systems are at the heart of Postique’s DI workflow delivering real-time conforming, real-time processing of RAW files, and faster than real-time DCI Mastering.

With a custom hardware platform and specially developed hardware accelerator, the DVS system manages to decode and demosaic RAW files in full quality at 4K 12 bit RGB mode in real time.

CLIPSTER will also enable the generation of DCI Masters in 3D – the DI workstation merges left eye and right eye image data, creating a

stereoscopic video track in the timeline which can be edited as regular video material.

“As we faced increased bookings and tighter schedules, we chose DVS as a reliable partner to upgrade and enhance our system backbone,” says Bobbie Wong, President at Postique. “Our new DVS equipment completes our DI workflow.”

Eric Augereau, Sales Director Region Asia Pacific at DVS, said “Postique is one of the leading post houses in South East Asia and Thailand’s No.1 facility, not least because they pioneered DI workflows in Asia.

Visit www.postique.co.th, www.orientalpost.co.th

POST PRODUCTION

With six DVS SpycerBoxes altogether, all workstations and grading nodes can access the SpycerBoxes not only as SAN systems, but also as Network Attached Storage (NAS).

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POST PRODUCTION

New ‘Engine’ for Kia According to Engine EP Adam Wells, Kia’s current ad campaign is quite a departure from the car manufacture’s usual style of ads.

“We pitched on the ad through In Ocean and the whole basis of our treatment and the ad concept was about Kia’s deals making sense. The agency thought, what better way to illustrate how something makes sense than by highlighting things that clearly don’t make sense? And the fun started there.”

things people do that just don’t seem to make any sense at all like the man wearing a suit of bees and the annual cheese rolling festival in the UK. In Ocean wanted to explore the possibility of using stop frame animation for the TVCs, incorporate some existing car footage and integrate these into a claymation world, so we had our work cut out for us.”

In Ocean were keen to work with Engine’s Creative Director, Simon Robson, after seeing some of his previous work, particularly his organic animation style and the amount he was able to achieve in camera.

Robson and the Engine team of illustrators, modellers, set designers and stop motion animators set about working to create a stop motion piece in Engine’s in-house studio using highly detailed storyboard animatics to fully conceive and structure the ad before shooting took place.

Kia’s National Marketing Manager Steve Watt said, “Kia is a challenger brand and that gives us permission to do things a bit differently like in the Sportage commercial featuring Grand Master Melle Mel and Scorpio. Consequently we want to bring that same approach to retail advertising, there’s no reason why it has to be boring.”

Robson said, “We really went to town with the Kia ads looking into the crazy

Robson continued, “We also extensively used our 3D department to create and develop some of the obvious detail, like the bees and some of the more subtle ones, like the underlayer of seed shapes for the suit. We created a cartoon-like stop motion world that incorporated rolling cheeses and slow motion and we had lots of fun playing with traditional English stereotypes like yokels and the country gent. We then very carefully created a transition from the surreal world to the real world where the cars could be displayed.

This involved panning off the stop motion set to a full size real world set with theatre props. This was an incredibly involved process that included physical set building, character builds, 3D and Flame, all completed in-house at Engine.”

The car footage supplied by the agency also had its challenges with Engine’s Lead Flame Artist Lee Sandiford having to relight the shots in order that the cars looked their best ensuring the space added to the overall effect. The character of the English countryside was also composited into what became a very complex TVC. Adam Wells concluded, “Stop frame animation is an arduous and precise craft that is rarely used in advertising. The fact that we had all the facilities and resources in-house meant that these ads could be made seamlessly with the flexibility to record and review footage on the go. Our end-to-end approach allowed us to complete 3×30 second and 4×15 second TVCs from brief to delivery in only 6 weeks.”

Visit www.vimeo.com/23666358

Digipost NZ Loads Catapult 2K XDT, A DEVELOPER OF ADVANCED SOFTWARE-BASED SOLUTIONS

POST PRODUCTION

for post production and digital film, has announced that DIGIPOST New Zealand has chosen the Catapult 2K for its next generation file based transfer and review requirements. The 40TB Catapult 2K system will be deployed in its Auckland facility to handle transfers and real-time 2K QA at up to 2GB/s speeds over dual 10GbE networks to multiple clients.

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According to XDT, its Catapult technology “redefines media transfers over local and wide area networks for digital intermediate and post-production workflows. Catapult delivers unprecedented performance for point-topoint media transfers and high-resolution uncompressed frame review over standard networking infrastructure.”

“Our new Catapult has become the hub of our transition to an all file

based workflow. All DPX dailies from digital cameras are loaded onto the Catapult with Slingshot and immediately reviewed and checked with Flipstream in real-time before being archived to LTO-5,” says Matt Cunningham, Technology Manager.

Erik Otto, CEO of XDT, states, “Digipost’s experience make it one of the world’s most respected companies in post production and visual effects today and we are very excited to be working with Matt and his team.”

Opened in 1990, Digipost was New Zealand’s first digital post production facility. In late 2007, it launched a state-of-the-art facility in Auckland.

Digipost has completed thousands of local and international TV commercials, feature film and television projects.

Visit www.digipost.co.nz and www.xdt.com.au

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POST PRODUCTION From Page 50

PROBLEM SOLVING “I try to assess where the problem may be, what might be generating it and then work out a way of approaching it. I have a different way of approaching things, a different way of looking at and a different way of explaining something. You’ll find that with a lot of people who work in the film industry, they think in a different way. It’s not, “add these numbers up and you’ll get a result.”

“It’s each job you do and each position you set up in because within an hour you could have had three different things that have come up, that are totally new and no one’s ever approached before and you’ve got to try and resolve that.”

Booth is constantly thinking about the filming situation and it’s restrictions, whether it’s working out how to set the cameras wide or whether the set-up works on a helicopter when its never been done before. “I’m thinking how do we do this - how do we set up these cameras to work underwater and how do I make a camera that is going to work underwater where I can adjust the interocular? Sometimes when things go wrong you’ve got to be able to say, ‘Ok I need five minutes - I’ll be outside, don’t come and annoy me and I’ll come back in when it’s sorted.’ And then it gets sorted.”

“It’s almost like a high because when you’ve done something it’s ‘wow! Look at this! It’s great and I feel excited about it and its one of those things where you do the job because you are passionate about it and I am.”

Booth has just returned to Australia from a three month stint in India. When he first arrived at the office in India they pulled up Sanctum on their screen and asked him how he did the shot? They knew all about him, what he’d done and where he did it. They had examples and wanted to know how he’d achieved it and what he’d used to do it.

“Those guys in India are just incredible - some of them are just amazing.

They have got the same passion that we used to have ten years ago. I mean serious passion. There are guys there that will stay back and do it, not because they get paid extra because they don’t, they do it because they have the passion for what they are doing. Not all of them but there were a few guys that were really passionate about it. Which is good.”

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

POST PRODUCTION

Back in Australia Booth is concerned about government policies for film funding and the need for a more collaborative approach to post-production.

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“The industry itself needs an overhaul. The government needs to look at the way it is dealing with the arts and the film industry is an art in the arts realm.

We need to look at the industry and try to work out whether we develop our own productions with films that have the emotional ups and downs and a story where you feel emotion for each character. You need a strong script before you have anything else. Apart from how the government spends and the way the states all compete to try to get the work in, there has to be some incentive to bring work to all of them.

“At the moment there are a number of post houses across the country and they do not spread their knowledge and efforts across everything. They need to work together in a collaborative way and an example of that was when I worked at Iloura when we did Charlotte’s Web. Under John Burton’s guidance each post house in Australia would be given a character and they worked with that character. So you had Fuel doing the baby spiders, you had Rising Sun in Adelaide doing Charlotte, you had Iloura doing Wilbur, there were characters all over the place that were happening and other companies doing fix-up work. What this meant was that you got better results because everyone was competitive, they wanted their work to stand out more than the others and they got paid well and the results were fantastic. That is the level the Australian industry should have been at and would now be exceeding but it hasn’t - it’s kind of died off a bit and then picked up and then died off. It makes it really difficult. You look at the work that is going through places like the UK and it’s not cheap. It’s bloody expensive in comparison to here and we can’t even get any of it - I don’t understand.”

The one thing that frightens Booth with the industry is that the film schools are busy promoting themselves and enrolling students to go on and work in the industry but there are no jobs. “There will be people who have heard all theses promises and are wasting their time getting into the industry only to find out there’s nothing there for them unless they travel and go overseas for work.”

However he remains inspired in his chosen field as a Visual Effects Supervisor where he helps turn ideas into shots.

“What I really enjoy is being able to come up with something such as a concept with the art director and the director on how to make something work and what we can do with it. Then actually shooting it and then seeing it all come together in post-production and it looks fantastic or even better than what you imagined. That’s a real plus when that’s achieved.”

D

sign the content + technology of digital signage

D-sign .tv is the online destination covering the Content+Technology of Digital Signage. With regular email newsletter, website and E-magazine, D-sign.tv provides you with timely and relevant information on all aspects of the D-Signage market.

Publisher Phil Sandberg - papers@broadcastpapers.com

Tel: +61 (0)2 9332 2221

www. D-sign .tv

Tel: +61 (0)414 671 811

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT www.content-technology.com/mediamanagement

TMD Boosts Digitisation at National Film & Sound Archive TRANSMEDIA DYNAMICS (TMD), specialist in the development and delivery of solutions and services to the global media, broadcast and archive industries has announced that its “Mediaflex” product has been put into live operational use at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) of Australia.

TMD won a public tender for a system to replace the NFSA’s legacy collection management system, a system that managed the NFSA’s extensive analogue collection efficiently, but proved to be inadequate for handling digital assets.

The NFSA’s digital collection is growing not only because of the increasing uptake of digital production methods in Australia’s audio-visual sector, but because of the NFSA’s own digitisation programs.

However, at current digitisation rates, it would take more than 30 years to digitise the existing analogue video collection, which means that the management of analogue collection items will remain a major part of the NFSA’s operations. Thus, to meet the NFSA’s ongoing core business needs, it was critical to select a system capable of managing both analogue and digital assets.

When TMD was founded, it was clear that many organisations lacked the resources to digitise all of their analogue material promptly and that for organisations with large collections, management of analogue assets would remain an important requirement for many years to come. With this in mind, Mediaflex was designed from the ground up to manage both digital and analogue assets. This comprehensive approach impressed the NFSA. TMD’s implementation of Mediaflex included the migration of significant volumes of data from the NFSA’s legacy system and some customisation of

features necessary to support a Government funded audio-visual archive.

Importantly for the NFSA, TMD understood exactly what was required and so the customisations needed have been incorporated into the base Mediaflex product and will be fully maintained by TMD through the dedicated support facility and available for other Mediaflex customers to deploy.

TMD Chairman and CEO Tony Taylor said, “It is important to recognise in such a significant project that the teams from both the NFSA and TMD have worked diligently together to ensure that the solution meets the current and future needs of the NFSA’s operation. For the NFSA, the main focus is on preserving, protecting and providing access to the rich cultural heritage of both physical and digital assets, which they hold on trust for the Australian nation and indeed the wider world. It’s therefore important that systems designed for archive organisations are able to support both physical media - such as film and tape - as well as digital content, which includes video and audio files, still images and scanned documents. Mediaflex now enables the archivists at the NFSA to better manage and catalogue the vast array of both physical and digital assets it is charged with preserving while enabling the digitisation of a greater proportion of assets to make them, if desired, accessible from the web.”

The NFSA’s Chief Information Officer, Tony Watson, said, “It was important that the creators of our new asset management system understood the complexities of cataloguing and managing information about a national collection of this size and nature. TMD took the time to understand our needs and to enhance the system to meet our requirements.”

Visit www.nfsa.gov.au and www.tmd.tv

DAMsmart Becomes PRIME Mover in Regional TV Archives AUSTRALIAN AUDIOVISUAL DIGITISATION AGENCY, DAMsmart, has been appointed by PRIME Media to digitise and manage the network’s vast archives currently stored at Canberra, Orange, Newcastle and Wollongong.

Since the first days of television in Australia, the Prime network has been capturing the rich history of regional Australia. Prime’s archives are full of diverse and valuable footage that represents a cultural narrative of country Australia.

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

In an effort to maintain and preserve the footage, Prime has commissioned a project to ensure the archives are secure for future generations.

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Gerry Smith, Prime’s CTO, said, “Prime has been entrenched in country Australia for many years, sharing the good times and the bad with many regional communities. We have great audiovisual archives, which contain some rare and unseen footage of major events that have taken place throughout regional Australia. We want to make this footage available in a contemporary format, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the culturally significant collection.

“To maintain the archives they need to be digitised and stored somewhere safe. We contacted DAMsmart as I knew they have been appointed to several specialist audiovisual digitisation projects recently both in the preservation and commercial spaces. After speaking to them it was obvious they had the skills, experience and technology to digitise and manage all of our archives.

They delivered an end-to-end solution to preserve the integrity of the archive as well making it accessible across the network.”

Joe Kelly, DAMsmart’s Media and Preservation Manager, said, “We provided Prime with a total archive solution, from logistics to digitisation

and a hosted access service. We are digitising several thousand hours of footage that is currently maintained on various videotape formats such as 2U-matic, Betacam and DVCPro as well as film including 16 and 35mm before making it accessible to Prime stations through our Hosted Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform. Once in a digital format the archive will reside on DAMsmart’s hosted DAM platform that allows access through a secure web client and integrates seamlessly with Prime’s internal workflows.” DAMsmart is managing the technology and access component of the project as well as logistically managing the physical requirements of the job, relocating the media from the regional network locations back to Mitchell.

Once all the network archives are digitised, DAMsmart will deliver the digital archive to Prime on LTO media. Using a secure web client, Prime will be able to view the footage and request shots. DAMsmart will then deliver the requested files in a production quality format via FTP or external hard drive to the editing team. Over time Prime will also build on the descriptive metadata that already exists, increasing the ability to search the collection with more meaningful and robust results.

Ron Anderson, Managing Director at DAMsmart, said, “It’s great to see private enterprise playing a big role in saving Australia’s cultural heritage and we are really excited to be given an opportunity to be part of it. It is going to be a challenging project for us that will touch all divisions of the business in a true end-to-end archive preservation and management solution.”

DAMsmart has been contracted to provide Hosted DAM services until 2018.

Visit www.damsmart.com.au and www.primemedia.com.au

Enterprise Media Asset Management

Content Ingest Video and File

Post Production

Traffic Scheduling Billing

Television and Radio Linear On Air

Online IPTV VOD and POD

Centralised Hitachi Unified Compute Platform with Orchestration Layer

Hitachi High Performance Enterprise Storage

On Air Hitachi NAS Platform* 24 Hours per Channel Storage

Middleware Archive Management Software

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform or Hitachi NAS Platform

Content Transcode Grid

Edit Suite SAN Tenants 10 Hours Storage per Edit Suite

10PB Hybrid Cloud Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage Virtualized Tiered Archive * Powered by BlueArc速

Legend: VOD = video on demand POD = publish or print on demand

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

Video-8 Integrates Cloud-Based MAM for Kodak–ACS Masterclasses A RECENT KODAK ACS Student Cinematography Masterclass, held at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), was groundbreaking for several reasons, one of which was the involvement of media asset management specialists Video-8 Media who used its cloudbased Media Asset Management (MAM) service - utilising Dalet Enterprise Edition - for data wrangling, storage and editing of the film and video footage of the event.

Video-8 Group Sales Manager Sean Glasson said, “Kodak, in conjunction with their post partner Deluxe, the ACS and the AFTRS, ran a three day masterclass with moderators including Academy Award nominee Peter James ACS ASC and Academy Award winners John Seale ACS ASC and Russell Boyd ACS ASC. Over 80 participants were treated to three days of intense tutoring on the use of film and the latest post techniques with some of Australia’s top DOPs also giving the inside scoop on how they achieve their winning looks. There were two types of shooting covered in the class, a film section shooting on Panavision Millennium, ARRIFLEX 435, Aaton Penelope and ARRIFLEX 416 and a video section which concentrated on the recording of the masterclass itself using Panasonic 502 cameras, with the main idea behind the masterclass to fully explore the film section.

Then all the footage was transferred onto the Video-8 MAM system and edited using Final Cut Pro. When complete all the digital assets will be made available to all ACS members from a desktop PC at their new HQ with a few simple clicks of a mouse.”

Dalet Enterprise Edition is a SOA-based MAM solution with specialised production tools fully integrated within the MAM framework. Video-8 has deployed the Dalet solution across high-end data centres located in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. As a result, customers anywhere in the world can ingest, prepare, QC, store, distribute and archive their content using Dalet production tools and MAM framework hosted in the cloud.

Video-8 MD Gareth Collins said, “This is first in Australia. The Kodak ACS Student Cinematography Masterclass project is an excellent example of Video-8 Media presenting a high-end MAM solution to a high profile and well-respected industry client. In simple terms we have provided the ACS with an instantly accessible and efficient file-based MAM workflow where the digital assets created can be accessed, viewed and used by any member of the society from any desktop PC. We have also delivered enterprise media production workflow benefits at a fraction of the cost of a client-based inhouse solution. This is cloud computing at its best.”

Doyens of the Australian film industry, Peter James, Ron Johanson, Russell Boyd and John Seale.

Dalet’s open platform provides support for a diverse range of 3rd-party products and formats allowing Video-8 to service a wide-range of customer workflows and projects including sports, entertainment, government and corporate. The extensive Dalet workflow features Dalet Web Space for remote access via a standard Windows® client. The intuitive interface allows Video-8 customers to step into and begin working within the enterprise MAM environment quickly. Production tools for ingest, logging and fast editing are coupled with search, QC and distribution tools, integrating the entire workflow under one simple-to-use application. The underlying MAM framework and workflow engine tracks metadata and manages complex media conversions, supporting the full range of production workflows.

ACS National President Ron Johanson ACS said, “The ACS is excited at the possibilities offered by the Video-8 MAM solution and look forward to exploring these fully in the near future.”

Visit www.video-8.com

LTFS Format on LTO-5 ALL OF CACHE-A’S LTO-5 based products now include LTFS capability, including the company’s flagship product Pro-Cache5 and the new highperformance Power-Cache and the cost-effective Prime-Cache5.

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

Based on open source software, LTFS enables users to interchange content across different operating systems, software applications and physical locations.It combines the economy, robustness, high density and low power of tape with much of the functionality and usability of a hard drive.

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Cache-A’s LTO-5 based products with LTFS make an ideal archiving and interchange solution, enhancing both production and post-production workflows as well as improving asset management and interchange.

The open-standard LTFS makes the contents of the tape compatible and accessible to any facility with an LTO-5 tape drive.

As a result, it provides a self-contained content delivery system along every stage of the workflow. This ensures the integrity of the shoot by creating an insurable and bondable media deliverable while providing the standard for content delivery and final archive.

The Cache-A approach eliminates the need for client-side software as opposed to standard LTFS that must be installed on each client system:

+ Cache-A’s appliance provides networked hard disk storage and a layer of software that makes LTFS much easier to use + Cache-A archive appliances are networked and available to an entire facility or workgroup whereas LTFS on a workstation will only work on that workstation + Cache-A archive appliances have a built-in server that does not need to tie up a user workstation to perform archive and restore tasks + The Cache-A appliance includes a built-in catalogue, maintained in a database, that enables users to keep track of every file, folder and tape ever seen by the device; content can be searched and easily located many years in the future Cache-A’s archive appliances also allow fast multi-user access to any archived data so that editors in a workgroup can archive or access assets from any computer on the network. Furthermore, because Cache-A’s archive appliances are platform-agnostic, they provide heterogeneous workgroup compatibility between Apple Mac, Microsoft Windows and Linux/Unix systems.

Visit www.Cache-A.com

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

ARRI Holds Archive Workshop JUNE SAW ARRI HOST ITS SECOND ARCHIVE WORKSHOP at the company’s headquarters in Munich, Germany. More than 150 attendees gathered from countries all over Europe, as well as India, Africa and New Zealand.

Professionals representing various national film archives, post-houses, broadcasters and manufacturers mingled in a non-competitive environment, sharing their experience and knowledge of film archive and restoration.

An exhibition of commercially available archive and restoration tools gave an engineering overview, while more than a dozen seminars addressed theoretical and practical issues such as the contrast between conventional handcraft and modern digital workflows.

Daniela Currò and Ulrich RĂźdel of Haghefilm Conservation in the Netherlands gave a presentation titled ‘Digital Restoration of Stencil Color.’ By referring to historical examples (such as WHEN FLOWERS BLOOM, 1929,

USA) Currò and Rßdel demonstrated the dierent results in preserving the stencil colours of silent films when using analog and digital workflows.

Silvester StĂśger and Fumiko Tsuneishi from the Austrian Film Archive discussed ‘Pragmatic Solutions for Problematic Sources’ - focusing on the conservation of early film materials.

Representing the British Film Institute, Kieron Webb of the BFI National Archive outlined an ambitious plan to restore the nine surviving silent movies directed

by Alfred Hitchcock. The archive’s aim is to preserve the films while also making them accessible to the broadest possible audience.

Another importaint presentation was made by Marc Rance, director of London-based specialist Watchmaker Films, who detailed the complex restoration processes for F.W. Murnau’s silent classic, NOSFERATU (1921).

Visit www.arri.de/archiveworkshop

Masstech Patent for Adaptive Cluster Technology MASSTECH HAS ANNOUNCED that it has won a US patent for its dynamic

thus ensuring smooth continuous operation without human intervention.

Distributed Redundant Adaptive Cluster (DRAC) in-house developed technology. The company’s innovation enables multiple broadcast applications to operate on two or more servers to achieve robust redundancy for mission critical systems in broadcast environments.

The two communication channels include one low cost communication channel, while the other channel is capable of higher data rate (but at a higher cost) communication. DRAC eďŹƒciently separates the high bandwidth data traďŹƒc from the lower bandwidth traďŹƒc and also introduces much desired failover redundancy into the broadcast system.

The invention takes a unique approach to distributing heavy data loads as well as balancing out the risks of potential failure. It utilises multiple servers to provide failover capability and distribute activities along communication channels for eďŹƒciently storing, managing and transferring data load in an archive. Multiple servers can operate in a redundant system failover mode,

Broadcasters can optimise resources more eectively and have the flexibility of the DRAC system scaling to the size, scale and bandwidth requirements of any facility.

Visit www.masstech.com

www.editshare.com

Workflow-Engineered Solutions for the Content Creation Industries

See us at SMPTE Stand C17

Ingest, Asset Management, Playout, Collaborative Storage, and Archive solutions, all from the same family.

EditShare is still the most flexible, scalable, and economical solution for creators of any video content.

From DV to DI, EditShare enables peak performance and now even better collaboration for all fertile minds. sales@editshare.com.au 3K ÞÞ

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

We've been real busy. Now EditShare offers even better breeding to multiply your results.

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STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

New Omneon MediaGrid from Harmonic

Wrangler FlexVTR Disk from 1 Beyond

HARMONIC’S NEW VERSION of the Omneon MediaGrid active storage system combines new scale-out storage hardware, the ContentServer 3000, and a new version (v3.0) of the Omneon MediaGrid file system software that features integrated software RAID for efficient and smart data protection.

1 BEYOND’S ARCHIVING PRODUCTS based on the LTO-5 Linear Tape File System (LTFS) standard allow users to easily record, review, add metadata and catalogue media assets stored in the new LTO-5/LTFS standard.

These advances, combined with online scaling capability and integration with leading media applications, will enable users to deploy central storage without trading performance, scalability, or interoperability for lower storage costs.

Also new is teh Omneon Spectrum MediaCenter — a new multichannel media server with integrated low-cost storage and support for Spectrum MediaPort modularity and scalability. Designed specifically for the needs of local and regional broadcast stations, as well as remote playout facilities, MediaCenter delivers value for operations requiring from four to 12 channels in a single video server configuration.

MediaCenter offers the reliability of the flagship Omneon Spectrum video server, tailored for small and mid-sized stations that require limited channel scalability.

+ To backup and archive in one step on-set. + To preserve deteriorating tape libraries and other media assets to the new universal LTO-5 standard. Users can record from virtually any legacy tape deck or SDI source to over 35 formats.

Also available is the 1 Beyond Wrangler LTO-5 Offload Station for Mac and PC which uses the 1 Beyond Wrangler software working with LTFS for offload directly to LTO-5 tape and hard drive in one step. In addition, an LTO-5 unit can be installed in a 1 Beyond Wrangler Pro, with the same special software to achieve the archival capabilities.

Lastly, the 1 Beyond Wrangler Mini3D DDR/Viewer records from virtually all single and dual HD-SDI cameras including ARRI, RED, Sony, Panasonic, Vision Research, Weisscam and more in 2D & 3D, compressed, uncompressed and RAW.

RadiantGrid TrueGrid Supports ProRes Codec

Spectra Logic Extends Enterprise Tape Library

transformation and New Media Automation service platforms, has announced that the company’s TrueGrid transcoding solution now adds support for the Apple ProRes codec. TrueGrid can now transcode to ProRes faster than real-time rates. This new functionality is free for all existing customers with the recently released RadiantGrid version 6.3.

“With RadiantGrid’s TrueGrid transcoding capabilities, customers can move their media workflows at faster speeds by adding more server capacity,” says Kirk Marple, president and chief software architect, RadiantGrid Technologies. “Customers can execute fully-automated distribution to a variety of outlets as we offer batch and grid-based processing.”

STORAGE + ASSET MANAGEMENT

+ As a tape deck replacement on-set, including direct Sony SRW replacement.

Also available is the Omneon MediaPort 7000 — a series of video I/O modules for the Omneon Spectrum media server system. In a single highly configurable unit, the MediaPort 7000 delivers multicodec support with enhanced media processing functionality to streamline playout workflows.

Visit www.harmonicinc.com

RADIANTGRID TECHNOLOGIES, the developer of transcoding,

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The new 1 Beyond Wrangler FlexVTR Disk and LTO-5 Archive Recorder can be used:

Visit www.1beyond.com

Spectra Logic is offering the IBM TS1140 Tape Drive with its enterprise class T-Finity tape library.

The addition of TS1140 drives extends Spectra Logic’s enterprise tape library offering, which includes the TS1140 drives for high capacity, high duty cycle environments, as well as high value, cost-effective IBM LTO tape drives for all-purpose, open storage environments.

Spectra Logic is currently the only tape library vendor aside from IBM offering the high performance, energy-efficient TS1140 Tape Drive.

The IBM TS1140 Tape Drive provides 4.0 TB native storage capacity (8.0 TB with 2:1 compression) and native data transfer rates of 240 MB/s (480 MB/s compressed). The TS1140 drive can support connectivity to high speed 8 Gb fibre channel environments.

A key component of the RadiantGrid Platform is the combination of an underlying content management solution with integrated metadata indexing and quality analysis. RadiantGrid caches ingested source material and its metadata, which eliminates redundant and wasted processing time.

Offered exclusively with IBM and Spectra Logic tape libraries, the higher capacity TS1140 Tape Drives give organisations the ability to keep the same physical footprint while keeping up with burgeoning data growth and data centre space constraints.

Visit www.radiantgrid.com

Visit www.spectralogic.com

AUDIO Digital soundwaves

NEW ZEALAND-BASED RADIATE SOUND has announced it has set up and launched a brand new full HD audio post production studio located within the Oktobor building in Freemans Bay, Auckland.

Radiate Sound Founder and Owner David Liversidge said, “Radiate Sound has been set up to offer the latest in full HD audio for sound and pictures plus compositions. We have purposely designed the studio and created an ambience, to be a fun and friendly place in which people will want to hang out and make sound magic happen!”

Commenting on the decision to house Radiate Sound in Oktobor’s Sale Street building, Liversidge added, “The move to Oktobor was inspired by the fact that I knew I could offer a more complete package to clients by utilising Oktobor’s infrastructure as this enables us to spend more time exploring the creative ideas before delivery of the final product. Being located in the Oktobor building also brings with it the opportunity to collaborate, learn and get new ideas from others. I want to expand people’s horizons with what is possible in audio. Put simply I can simply offer clients more for their money and it’s very much a win-win situation all round.”

Radiate Sound Founder David Liversidge.

Commenting on the first boutique media

Dolby Digital Plus for China DTMB Spec

Acoustic Room Treatment Kits

DOLBY LABORATORIES, INC. has announced

FOLLOWING ON FROM ITS ORIGINAL LONDON 12 “Studio-In-A-Box” room

that Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital have been selected as optional technologies for China’s recently released national Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) Receiver Specification for set-top boxes and TVs, which will go into effect on November 1, 2011.

The release of China’s national DTMB Receiver Specification adds to the growing momentum of Dolby Digital Plus in China’s high-definition broadcast market. This next-generation coding technology has been adopted by Chinese broadcasters such as Shenzhen Media Group, Jinan Cable, and BesTV on terrestrial, cable, and IPTV platforms, respectively.

In addition, integrated circuit (IC) companies in China such as NationalChip and HiSilicon are incorporating Dolby Digital Plus into their IC solutions for high-definition set-top box products and more than 50 device makers, including Coship, Changhong, Huawei, Jiuzhou, and TCL, have adopted Dolby Digital Plus..

Dolby Digital Plus has already been adopted in many parts of the world for HDTV services.

Visit www.dolby.com.

company to locate its business at Oktobor, Oktobor Group Managing Director Bruce Everett said, “I’d like to congratulate Radiate Sound on setting up their unique take on commercials sound production at Oktobor. There is a growing interest from a number of companies of a similar size who are thinking about joining our growing community and Radiate are a great example of how Oktobor can support small media production boutiques by sharing our resources and great location in Freeman’s Bay.” David Liversidge concluded, “Radiate Sound offers a full range of HD audio services from composition, sound design to post production for all media and we also provide a great visual experience, because I know there is nothing worse for clients then trying to get final sign-off for an ad on crappy TV monitors. We’re delighted with the new HD studio and are very much looking forward to working on cutting edge audio projects.”

Radiate Sound and the Oktobor suites are based at Oktobor’s HQ, in Sale Street, Auckland. The building also houses Dubsat AAV and Oktobor Animation, Oktobor’s innovative CG animation business which services Nickelodeon Studios and creates The Penguins of Madagascar and other US animated television series.

Visit www.radiatesound.com

treatment kit, Canada’s Primacoustic has released two new London Series kits which offer solutions for affordable and professional acoustic room treatment.

The London 8 is designed as a ‘starter’ kit and includes all the fundamental tools required to treat a home recording studio for minimal cost.

This kit will not only improve the acoustics in a room, but additional Primacoustic panels can always be added at a later date as needs expand.

The London 10 increases the panel count for more control and adaptability for larger spaces. This room kit is suitable for treating a project studio, gaming audio facility or post production suite.

All Primacoustic Broadway Series panels are made from premium 6lb glass wool. Edges are resin treated and the surfaces are encapsulated in micromesh. The panels are then covered in

a durable acoustic fabric and offered in choice of three colours. Broadway panels are further tested to meet stringent class-1/A requirements for safe use in commercial buildings.

Each London kit is supplied complete with hanging hardware, screws and wall anchors.

Visit www.ambertech.com.au

AUDIO

‘HD Audio’ Radiates from Auckland

www.content-technology.com/audio

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AUDIO

Film Funding Dependent on Caption, Audio Description IN WHAT IT SAYS IS A SIGNIFICANT move to improve accessibility of Australian feature films for both the hearing and visually impaired, funding body Screen Australia has announced that as a condition of funding it would require films to be delivered both captioned and audio described. It is already an existing requirement for films to be captioned.

This initiative follows recommendations from the Federal Government’s Media Access Review final report and provides some 600,000 blind or visually impaired Australians access to an audio described feature film experience.

Screen Australia CEO Ruth Harley said, “ Better and more equitable audience access to Australian films at a reasonable cost is a benefit for the industry and community as a whole.”

The government is funding a national upgrade of cinemas to be caption and audio description compliant by 2013. The new requirement for Screen Australia-funded feature films to be both captioned and audio described will mean films are available in time for the completion of this upgrade.

TC Electronic Loudness Meters Comply with ITU IN RECENT YEARS, pro audio and broadcasting has been moving away from peak level normalization and towards new, loudness-based solutions. In April 2011, another important step was taken when ITU-R upgraded its BS.1770 standard to BS.1770-2.

The first version of BS.1770 relied on ambiguous speech detection, which can have unexpected consequences trying to control the level of commercials or programs of certain genres. The improved 1770-2 recommendation incorporates a clever relative gate, making the measurement well-defined and practical to use, also across genres.

It is now even relevant for controlling the level of promos and commercials. Further, the new version is completely open standard, because TC Electronic donated core technology to EBU, where it was refined by PLOUD; and now brought back into the revised ITU standard.

TC Electronic has updated its radar loudness meters in System 6000 MKII (v. 5.11), DB4 (v.

3.20), DB8 (v. 3.20), DB4 MKII (v. 3.20), DB8 MKII (v. 3.20), LM2 (v.1.11), TC TouchMonitor TM7 & TM9 (v. 1.14) and for ProTools HD (LM5D version 2) to comply with BS.1770-2.

AUDIO

These machines also have dedicated EBU R128, TR-B32 and ATSC A/85 metering presets.

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Visit www.tcelectronic.com,www.ambertech. com.au

Gun microphones from Sennheiser

“For some Australians it will mean being able to take their children to the cinema and share the experience of the film with them for the first time.

For someone who has recently lost their sight it will mean they will not have to miss experiencing Australian films at the cinema,” said Dr Harley.

The estimated average cost to provide both captioning and audio description for films will be $6-8,000 per film. Captioning currently costs producers between $3,000 and $5,000. The new requirement is in keeping with other countries such as the UK and US that already have strict requirements for both captioning and audio description in their respective markets.

Both captioning and audio description will be required on all feature films applying for Screen Australia investment after 1 July 2011.

Screen Australia will be updating the fact sheets and other information available on its website to provide a reference for producers about cost and processes of audio description as well as captioning.

Visit www.screenaustralia.gov.au

Virtual Linked Intercom System RTS HAS ANNOUNCED the RTS VLink (Virtual Linked Intercom) system, a new, fully interconnected, DHCP-compliant virtual communications solution for RTS intercom systems.

RTS VLink enables remote users to interface with RTS matrix intercoms via the Internet using a simple PC-based application, allowing an unprecedented degree of control and flexibility from anywhere in the world. VLink supports SIP to provide enhanced connectivity.

Two RTS VLink systems are available: the basic RTS VLink-LE system comprises a standalone software/server-based intercom providing limited interconnect functionality into any existing audio feed; the premium RTS VLink system provides intelligent trunking links into an RTS intercom matrix to provide full support for RTS intercom alphas and matrix access for standard communications workflows.

VLink is fully compliant with the EBU Tech 3347 Standard specifying the transport protocols, coding algorithms, encapsulation, and signaling required to ensure interoperability in audio-overIP production intercoms.

Key features, include:

SENNHEISER HAS AVAILABLE two MKH series shotgun microphones that can be used either as analogue or digital microphones. The compact MKH8060 is a versatile short-gun microphone, equally at home on or off camera, while the long MKH8070 rifle microphone is a specialist for more distant sound sources and is the perfect choice for sports reporting and nature recordings.

Both models feature a natural and very lifelike sound, as off-axis sound is attenuated without colouration. Their radio-frequency condenser principle also makes both microphones extremely weather-resistant, ensuring that they can cope even with climatically difficult conditions, such as extreme cold and moisture.

Both condenser microphones work on the RF principle that Sennheiser has been using for 50 years. The benefits are extremely low inherent self-noise, which means that even the finest sound structures remain intact, as well as high climatic resistance and low distortion with relatively high output signal voltages. RF microphones are inherently fully floating and balanced and do not require an additional balancing circuit or transformer to protect them from external interfering signals.

The MKH8060 lives up to its name as a short gun: the microphone measures just 14.5cm and weighs a mere 112g (with XLR module), making it ideal for use as a camera or boom microphone. Its range of applications includes outdoor recordings, studio applications for film and television or as an audience microphone for mixing audience reactions.

Meanwhile, the MKH8070 features an extreme directivity that enables even very distant sounds and events to be reliably recorded. For broadcasters, this microphone will be ideal for sports events, as well as for film and television recordings, both in the studio and outdoors. It is also especially useful for nature and wildlife recordings.

+ Full integration into RTS matrix intercom systems.

As members of the MKH8000 family, both microphones can easily be combined with the MZD8000 digital module, thus turning them into digital microphones according to the internationally agreed AES42 specifications.

Visit www.rtsintercoms.com

Visit www.syntec.com.au

+ Flexible configuration - Scale the system to any number of ports (in eight-port blocks).

Purchase only the capacity you need.

AUDIO

Broadcast Splitter ARX, THE AUSTRALIAN BASED manufacturer of USB, Digital & Analogue interface and signal processors has released the BSX 16 1 or 2 in, 16 out Transformer Isolated Active Broadcast Splitter.

ARX Managing Director Colin Park said, “ARX consulted a wide range of our existing Broadcast users when developing the new BSX16 Broadcast Splitter.

“ARX’s Design Team concluded the BSX 16 would be an ultra low noise 16 output active press/ broadcast splitter with full transformer isolation to eliminate the introduction of extraneous noise and ground loops. Suitable for Radio, Condenser & Dynamic Microphones the BSX 16 also features Dual inputs with individual Gain and Level

controls and Dual Loop Outputs and switchable 48V phantom power.”

“Differing output signal level requirements for the variety of media recording devices now being used are catered for by channels 9 - 16 featuring switchable mic or line levels, allowing the BSX 16 to be plugged directly into the microphone inputs of Broadcast Cameras and Portable Recorders.”

“The BSX 16 also features a balanced XLR PA Output connector on it’s rear panel, allowing

connection directly to† Powered Loudspeakers for Press Conferences etc, eliminating the need for a separate Audio Mixer, additionally, audio output level monitoring is provided by both a LED output meter, and a headphone output.”

“ARX’s new BSX 16 Broadcast Splitter offers an intuitive, ‘user friendly’ layout and delivers the flawless performance today’s Digital and Analogue Broadcast and ENG audio productions demand.”

Visit www.arx.com.au/International/bsx16.htm

Wallblind Acoustic Panels

The Wallblind WBL - Opaque model, and the Wallblind WBLG - Glass model, have different functions but share the same aesthetics and are available in sizes 200 x 120 x 14cm.

Large studio rooms may be adequate to physically house joint takes of a band or group

with all members playing at the same time, but the Wallblind enables engineers to physically divide the musicians or the several sound sources between each instrument or amplifier, thus minimising spill in relation to the individual microphones.

The Wallblind is a portable acoustic blind system and provides a remarkable acoustic division.

Users can choose from two faces with different acoustic and aesthetic features: one side has

a high-density EPS profile, which is hardened with a ceramic painting film, with good diffusing features, while the other side has an optimised profile cut for open-cell acoustic foam, thus being more absorbent.

This versatility offers several loudness and modulation options for good sound recording in the studio.

Visit www.jocavi.net

AUDIO

THE JOCAVI GROUP HAS ADDED two ‘Wallblinds’ to its range of acoustic panels for the professional audio market.

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AUDIO

Cloud-Based Audio Management U.S.-BASED FORDELA CORPORATION, a provider of cloud-based media management has announced the release of the Fordela Platform 4.0, offering robust audio management and secure playlist distribution. Content creators, distributors and engineers are now able to take full advantage of cloud-based management, presentation and collaboration tools.

“We are pleased to announce that Fordela now delivers audio management as a significant extension of our Media Management Platform.

Through our cloud-based system, Fordela’s new audio management tools enable audio consoles to be accessed remotely through any internetconnect device. Playlist creation, Virtual Listening

Rooms and content collaboration portals are just a few of the new features that our customers have requested for managing and distributing their digital audio files as well as video,” said Jason Deadrich, CEO of Fordela.

New features in the Fordela Platform 4.0 include: + Private and secure audio playlist generation and delivery; + Auto-detection of metadata based on ID3 tags, album, artist, composer, etc.; + Batch download and transfer of playlists; + Custom branding and personalisation; + Online audio previews; and

+ Playlist usage reports and analytics.

According to Fordela user Joel Joslin, Digital Media Manager for Stellar Inflight, “The massive advantage to us is that we can now centralise our content repository, which was spread out over several global locations.

“We needed to transition our international storage silos to a completely cloud-based system where the actual video and audio files, along with their accompanying metadata, are one in the same. Now we just upload it into Fordela, create a playlist and send it to our clients. It’s almost instant.”

The Fordela Platform 4.0 featuring audio management is now available. Trial account can be established at www.fordela.com.

Linear Acoustic in Snell Modules

Auralex Free Accoustical Analysis

LINEAR ACOUSTIC, THE PROVIDER OF

AURALEX MADE ITS DEBUT at the 2011 NAB

solutions in television audio control from production to transmission is partnering with Snell for its modular products.

Snell’s new range of IQ modules include comprehensive audio processing functions allowing complete control over external and embedded audio signals for applications requiring channel routing or mixing. An important addition to these standard audio functions is the inclusion of both stereo-to-5.1 upmixing and loudness control technology developed by Linear Acoustic.

“We are excited to be working with Linear Acoustic, a leader in the field of audio technology,” said Steve Cole, product manager, modular products at Snell. “Working together, we are able to bring significant benefits to our customers looking for industry-leading audio control solutions.”

Visit www.linearacoustic.com and www.snellgroup.com.

show with a full line of acoustical products.

The company showcased a range of products including its Studiofoam, Studiofoam Pro and ProPanel acoustic solutions.

The company is offering a free, off-site acoustical analysis services that help end-users solve acoustical anomalies in studio or performance spaces.

Auralex’s team of experts has a wide-range of experience in helping end-users treat their unique spaces such as control rooms, broadcast facilities, vocal booths, home theatres, houses of worship and gymnasiums.

To use the service, download the free Personalised Room Analysis Form that best suits your space (i.e. standard, large room and home theater), fill out the form on the Auralex website (www.auralex.com) and follow the instructions to send the completed version to Auralex’s Application Specialists.

Within 5-7 days, Auralex will advise what products you need and where you should place them, with a CAD diagram to help. The application specialists will walk alongside you through treating your space via phone and email support beyond the free Personalised Room Analysis. This free off-site acoustical analysis service will help broadcast facilities refine their acoustics.

The two most popular absorbtive materials in the Auralex line are high quality acoustical foam (Studiofoam) and acoustical fiberglass covered with specialised fabric (ELiTE ProPanels).

Acoustical foam and fabric-wrapped acoustical fiberglass panels are well-suited to alleviate excessive reverberation and other common acoustical problems in rooms not specifically designed for music recording and performance.

Properly placed and chosen acoustical foam and fabric-wrapped panels can turn even the worst room into a suitable acoustic environment.

Visit www.auralex.com

Audio Monitoring from Wohler DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY to meet the require-

AUDIO

ments of today’s broadcasters, the AMP1-D8MDA-3G from Wohler offers a lower-cost solution for operators who only require decoding of Dolby Digital (AC-3) signals. The AMP1-D8MDA-3G in-rack audio monitor is capable of outputting and/or displaying up to eight channels of encoded audio from Dolby Digital streams decoded from AES and 3G/HD/SD-SDI multichannel inputs. The AMP1-D8MDA-3G is ideal for use in VTR bays, mobile production vehicles, teleconferencing installations, multimedia systems, satellite links, cable TV facilities, and on-air radio studios.

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The AMP2-E8MDA multiformat audio monitor processes and monitors up to eight channels from a Dolby E or AC-3 (Dolby Digital) bit stream, an HD-SDI or SD-SDI bit stream, two sets of four AES/EBU signal pairs (balanced and unbalanced), or eight balanced analog channels. Eight highresolution 53-segment tricolor LED bar graph

audio-level meters provide instant and accurate level monitoring at a glance. A convenient highcontrast LCD display on the front panel shows the user settings and status, type of signal, channel selection, mute status, and phase/correlation.

The unique acoustic design of the AMP2-E8MDA provides optimally focused sound in an ultranear-field (one to three feet) environment, which allows higher SPL for the operator while reducing overall ambient sound and adjacent bay crosstalk.

or rack-mountable loudness monitor with logging that can be employed at any point in the broadcast chain. Accepting and analyzing embedded audio in either SDI or AES streams, Pandora gives an accurate reading of loudness measurements (LKFS/LUFS) over a period of time, ranging from 400 milliseconds to 60 minutes.

Wohler’s new MADI-8 audio monitor, which enables broadcasters to implement the Multichannel Audio Digital Interface (MADI or AES10) in their production workflows. MADI is extremely desirable for outside broadcasters, as it reduces the amount of cable and weight associated with traditional analog- or AES-based audio distribution.

Wohler also has made major functional enhancements to its flagship AMP2-16V audio/ video processing monitor. Highlights include “auto-detect” for 3G/HD/SD and embedded Dolby, which enables customers to perform automatic monitoring in mixed signal format environments; support for SMPTE 2020 metadata monitoring; a menu lockout function that prevents unauthorized changes to the unit’s configuration; and the ability to cycle through solo monitoring of audio channels.

Pandora is a compact and easy-to-read desktop

www.wohler.com.

RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

UK Considers DAB Switchover The UK Government has published a Digital Radio Action Plan (DRAP) the purpose of which is ‘to provide the information to allow for a wellinformed decision by Government on whether to proceed with a radio switchover’.

and spectrum planning group to ‘determine the current level of FM coverage and develop a range of options to increase DAB coverage to match FM’.

Ofcom’s proposed approach to the task includes: + Defining the areas where the aim is to replicate on DAB, as far as practicable, the editorial coverage (or editorial areas) of existing FM radio services; + Defining the underlying technical assumptions used to predict acceptable levels of FM and DAB coverage for indoor portable and in-vehicle radio reception; + Defining the extent of existing FM coverage within each editorial area, for indoor portable radios and for in-vehicle radios on major roads; and + A study investigating the feasibility of different radio switchover scenarios illustrating, from a broadcast network perspective, how increasing levels of coverage can be achieved using increasing numbers of transmitters.

Ofcom stresses that decisions that may follow its work are primarily to be taken by multiplex operators and by Government.

The regulator says that defining FM coverage is not simple. FM radio signals degrade over distance such that it is still possible to receive some kind of signal that some listeners may regard as acceptable over longer distances.

The current internationally-agreed method of predicting FM service coverage dates from the 1950s, and is based on an assumption that listeners receive their radio services using a directional rooftop aerial pointing towards the transmitter (like television aerials). These aerials have the effect of boosting the reception of the wanted signal, whilst rejecting unwanted signals (interference) received from other directions.

Today, the vast majority of listeners instead receive their radio services on portable indoor and in-vehicle receivers. Receiver performance has also evolved and some modern FM receivers are more sensitive than receivers were 50 years ago. They also usually include techniques which conceal reception problems, enabling listeners to listen to weaker signals than used to be the case.

In developing a DAB coverage plan that reflects the level of FM coverage actually experienced, Ofcom says it needs to know whether its computer predictions are representative of the FM coverage actually achieved on modern receivers.

The UK Regulator recently commissioned a review of the factors affecting portable reception of FM services. This produced what is known as a link budget, modelling every stage in the journey from the signal leaving the transmitter to the sound coming out of the speaker.

It concluded that the current assumed level of rooftop field strength (54 dBμV/m) provides a good way of predicting good, indoor mono FM reception on modern portable receivers. However, many receivers will produce what some listeners might regard as an acceptable service at a field strength of 48 dBμV/m, and so this could be used to define variable, indoor portable FM

reception. It also supported the view that variable in-vehicle mono reception can be achieved using a lower field strength of 42 dBμV/m. It is seeking views as to which of these levels it should use to define the FM coverage that DAB should match.

Ofcom says defining the coverage of DAB radio services raises similar technical questions to FM. Here, however, the challenge has been that either a good digital signal is received or none at all. Ofcom commissioned research to establish the planned field strength necessary to provide reliable indoor and in-vehicle reception.

The field strengths it proposes using to predict indoor reception of DAB are significantly higher than previously used for DAB planning. (The previous value was 58dBμV/m; we used 69dBμV/m for robust indoor reception in most areas, rising to 77dBμV/m in dense urban areas, but to retain 58dBμV/m for in-vehicle reception.)

Ofcom believes planning to these field strengths will provide consumers with a better, more robust listening experience than that available at present.

In addition to planning for higher field strength, for in-vehicle listening it has has planned for reception in 99% of locations for 99% of the time.

“This is a deliberately cautious approach at this stage which,” Says Ofcom, “in practice, means we are planning coverage so that a listener would only lose reception in marginal coverage locations if they happened to be sat in stationary traffic during certain atmospheric conditions.

“The robustness of our DAB planning criteria carries a cost in terms of the number of transmitters that need to be built. We will need to do further work to determine if this is necessary or appropriate.”

In its interim conclusions, Ofcom says, “While we have tried to match the consumer experience, FM and DAB are different in kind. We consider both good and variable FM coverage but only good DAB coverage.

“However, the levels are not directly comparable between FM and DAB. Because of the way FM reception fades gradually compared to DAB, the standard we have set for DAB coverage is far higher than for existing FM. “Our plans suggest that good DAB indoor coverage can be built to match good FM coverage, even using our very cautious DAB planning assumptions.

For roads, our strict measure of good DAB coverage shows lower coverage than good FM, but there are indications that successful in-vehicle DAB reception may not require coverage planned for such a high percentage of locations. This, together with other possible changes such as further frequency changes, give us confidence that DAB road coverage can be built to match FM.” Organisations conducting their own planning include the BBC, and the operator of the national commercial multiplex, Digital One. Following its consultation, Ofcom will provide a final report to the UK Government in Q4 2011.

Visit www.ofcom.org.uk

RADIO

REGULATORY BODY, OFCOM, has been asked to chair a DAB coverage

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RADIO

European Broadcasting Union Study on Radio Consumption THE EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION has released the results of an in-depth study on the situation of public service radio and its relation to social media.

maintained a strong average 37% share for their national radio channels in 2010, unchanged from the previous year and this is also due to multiplatform distribution and social media,” says Shulzycki.

The report includes data on international radio consumption from 31 EBU Member organisations in 28 countries. It also features 28 case studies on radio program formats, as well as social- and cross-media strategies in seven European countries France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden plus the USA.

Mike Mullane, Head of News, Sports & New Radio at the EBU, stated that public radio broadcasters were meeting head-on the challenge posed by music-on-demand websites.

The study found that public service broadcasters are successfully exploiting social media to reach new listeners and boost their relevance.

One key finding was that while traditional AM/FM radio consumption is down, most public service radio broadcasters now provide online and mobile services, social media interactivity and smartphone applications that have actually extended their reach. Public radio broadcasters are adapting to and even shaping the new radio landscape by building their cross-platform presence to raise their profile and make their content more accessible.

EBU Head of Research Alex Shulzycki said the data showed that the heightened social media activity of radio presenters and their programs meant public service radio’s relevance was continuing to grow.

“In an increasingly competitive radio market, European public broadcasters

“When these services began to gain a foothold, some people were predicting the end of music-based public service radio. What this study shows is that listeners are still tuning in because they value the interactive human experience that radio offers, but which is not available from music streaming sites,” says Mullane.

The programme case studies showed that European public service radio is engaging with diverse audiences. Programme formats analysed varied from morning shows to cultural magazines and documentaries, but all had social media strategies designed to hold listeners’ attention after the radio is turned off.

All of the data gathered over four months is compiled in a full 200-page report published today, an executive summary of which is attached to this document.

Visit www.ebu.ch www.eurovision.net

Telos New codecs, Phone systems THE FIRST NEW TELOS PRODUCT showcased at the recent Broadcast Asia convention was Z/IP ONE, the new Zephyr IP codec designed to extract maximum performance from unpredictable public IP connections. Z/IP ONE sounds extraordinarily clean and clear, thanks to Telos’ exclusive ACT technology that automatically optimises IP connections for the lowest possible delay and the highest possible fidelity. Z/IP ONE also features a huge list of high-performance codecs – the largest in the industry: AAC-ELD, AAC-HE, AACLD, MPEG Layer 2, MPEG 4 AAC LC, MPEG 2 AAC LC, G.711, G.722 and linear PCM, as well as SIP protocol support for VoIP devices.

New Telos Hx1 and Hx2 POTS hybrids was on display as well. Hx1 is a singleline hybrid, Hx2 is a two-line unit; both are inexpensive, immediate ways to improve caller audio. The new hybrids contain the most advanced Telos digital signal processing ever, and include sweetening from Omnia Audio to automatically manage AGC and EQ, along with a host of standard features like built-in auto-answer capabilities, caller-disconnect detection, audio-

Omnia Adds GPS Clock Sync to Omnia.SG Stereo Generator

RADIO

OMNIA.SG, the standalone stereo generator from Omnia Audio, has been upgraded. Omnia.SG can now be ordered with a built-in GPS clock sync, designed to assist with the synchronisation of stations that are on the same frequency, or on closely-spaced adjacent frequencies. This synchronisation is achieved through the use of a GPS receiver with a 10Mhz clock input, easily deployed at each station’s transmitter site.

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Omnia Marketing Manager Denny Sanders said, “The GPS clock sync can be used when a station puts a booster on the same frequency to fill behind tall object which block the main transmitter, but is in the primary service area.

Unless the stereo encoders are precisely synchronised at both transmitter sites, there will be distortion, noise, and the stereo pilot detector will switch back and forth between the two stations noisily when a listener is in a spot where both signals are receivable equally. The Omnia SG with clock sync option eliminates this problem by synchronising the sites precisely via GPS.” Visit www.OmniaAudio.com

levelling and anti-feedback routines that make the best of open speaker studio applications, call screening and line-hold features, and front-panel meters. A choice of standard analogue or optional AES/EBU I/O is available.

The new VX broadcast VoIP Talkshow System was also demonstrated at the convention. The Telos VX is the world’s first VoIP phone system engineered specifically to meet the demands of radio. VX uses proven IP-Audio technology to move and share lines between studios. Highly scalable and configurable, VX is at home in the largest of facilities with the most sophisticated needs, while also being surprisingly cost effective for even two or three-studio facilities.

The VX system connects to the Telco via standard gateways, giving you the choice of using either POTS or ISDN lines - or VoIP connections, should you choose. VX will handle up to 48 call-in lines, making it the perfect wholeplant solution.

AETA Audio Recording, Live Broadcasting iPhone App AETA AUDIO SYSTEMS has launched eScoop, a complete professional audio recording and broadcasting tool for devices including iPhones, iPads, Macs, and PCs. eScoop provides breakthrough facilities for recording, editing, transmitting, and publishing audio for live broadcasting, allowing users to record and transmit simultaneously through mobile wireless networks and on desk-based IP networks as a client or a server.

Developed in collaboration with the Dutch pro-audio developer Technica Del Arte (TDA), eScoop supports many protocols such as SIP as well as both one-way SHOUTcast/Icecast streaming and two-way streaming when a return channel is required. eScoop also enables the playout of prerecorded material while broadcasting.

Available as an app for the iPhone, iPad, Macs. PCs, and soon Android, eScoop makes it easy to capture live audio instantly and broadcast it with professional quality codecs, without specialist equipment other than an external microphone, if required.

Visit www.aeta-audio.com

RADIO

Automotive Industry Listens to Digital Radio COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA (CRA) brought together nearly 100 motor vehicle industry representatives at recent Sydney and Melbourne automotive workshops to move digital radio listening into more Australian motor vehicles.

Vehicle product managers, engineering planning teams, industry association members, retailers and manufacturers attended the workshops to hear from the radio industry on the status of digital radio in Australia and the progress towards the rollout of digital radio in regional Australia.

Chief executive officer of CRA, Joan Warner said, “Ultimately, the radio industry objective is to have every car sold in Australia factory-fitted with a digital radio. We’re very pleased with the response from the automotive industry to our workshops and look forward to continued communication.”

BMW was the first manufacturer in Australia to announce they would be including DAB+ digital radio as an option.

Internationally, 100 delegates from 65 different companies, including leading car manufacturers Audi, BMW, Honda, Skoda, Hyundai, VW, Daimler and Lotus, attended a workshop held last week in Berlin by WorldDMB. A similar system to Australia is being considered in Europe that would be a pan–European standard of DAB, DAB+, DMB. The DAB+ standard in those vehicles would then function in Australia as well.

Integrating digital radio into vehicles, both in Australia and internationally, will enable the delivery of real-time traffic updates. Radio stations could broadcast text based traffic messages or images to deliver traffic flow

information snapshots directly to motorists’ digital radios and in the future add information about road works, fuel prices and parking station capacities.

The Sydney and Melbourne workshops outlined the digital radio options available to the 16 million already registered vehicles in Australia, including a self or custom fit car adaptor like the Pure Highway or one of a number of the aftermarket products on the market: the Orion, Bluestate, Crystal, JVC and Kenwood.

Managing director of Directed Electronics, creator of the first Australian designed, fully featured aftermarket product said, “We are excited to be part of the digital radio momentum with the first 2-DIN DAB+ unit released, the Orion AVR6.1, allowing consumers to experience digital radio and its features.

The CRA workshops heightened the information level of digital radio to all that attended and hopefully it encourages them to adopt DAB+ in their offerings.”

Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA), state manager – southern region, Lachlan Callaway said, “The AAAA is encouraged by the information from the radio industry and its commitment to making sure the automotive industry is well informed about digital radio. With over 800,000 consumers now listening to a DAB+ service, it is safe to assume this rapidly growing market will also be looking for both OEM and aftermarket DAB+ options for their vehicles. This will provide new opportunities for our industry as this technology continues to evolve.”

Visit www.digitalradioplus.com.au

TV Therapist a Treat for Radio Industry RENOWNED US EMMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR, Kelsey Grammer

by a Lead Actor in a Musical for his role as Georges in this production.

will be the special guest at this year’s Australian Radio Conference and Awards, to be held on the Gold Coast in October.

He is currently filming a drama series for Starz Television, called “The Boss” where he plays the Mayor of Chicago.

Best-known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist, Dr Frasier Crane in the sitcoms, Cheers and Frasier, Mr Grammer will speak at the Radio Conference about the power of speech. He will also present an Award at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs).

This will be Mr Grammer’s first visit to Australia.

Mr Grammer has won five Emmy Awards and also two Golden Globe Awards for his television and voiceover work. The most recent was in 2006 when he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice –Over Performance, for the voice of Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons.

“Mr Grammer’s extensive experience with acting, voice-over work, directing and producing should be highly informative and entertaining. We are greatly looking forward to his participation in our events,” Ms Warner said.

The 2011 Australian Radio Conference will be held at Jupiters at the Gold Coast on October 14.

Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

RADIO

He recently finished a year long run in the musical “La Cage Aux Folles” in New York and was nominated for a 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the industry was looking forward to having Mr Grammer as special guest and welcoming him to Australia.

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TRANSMISSION Signal distribution, test & measurement

Singapore DVB-T2 technical trial THE MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE (MDA) has selected TDF Group company MEDIA BROADCAST to conduct a DVB-T2 technical trial in the city state.

MEDIA BROADCAST will provide technical consultancy to design and manage the technical trial for deriving the suitable T2 transmission modes and technical parameters. From the beginning of August 2011, MEDIA BROADCAST will run a comprehensive trial together with local broadcasters, analysing the quality of in-house, outdoor and mobile reception to define a best-fit specification of the planned T2 network design.

The trial has also seen Singapore’ largest media broadcaster MediaCorp , selecting ENENSYS equipment for its DVB-T2 trial network to prepare for DVB-T2 deployment.

MediaCorp set up a trial network to showcase DVB-T2 MultiPLP capability in delivering SD, HD and 3DTV programs within a single frequency

during Broadcast Asia 2011. The trial network will subsequently be expanded for a DTV-T2 Trial commissioned by MDA.

+ the DVB-T2 Gateway, installed at the Head End site, used to adapt the content to the DVB-T2 standard, to create the MultiPLP, to generate the T2-MI packets and to deliver the content to the transmitter sites in a synchronised SFN environment. + the DVB-T2 modulator, associated to the transmitter, receives the generated streams and configuration from the DVB-T2 Gateway and modulate it to a DVB-T2 signal, managing the different PLP. us to implement the project,” said Mr Tan Sai Yoon, Vice President of MediaCorp.

Visit www.media-broadcast.com, www.tdf-group. com, www.enensys.com, www.mediacorp.sg

THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY (ACMA) has announced

electronic news gathering operations - to 15-year spectrum licences.

the first formal steps towards converting the apparatus licences held by the free-to-air commercial television broadcasters and the ABC to spectrum licences in the mid-band gap of the 2.5 GHz band.

Also in Australia the Attorney-General Robert McClelland has released the terms of reference for a multi-jurisdictional Steering Committee to develop a plan to equip the nation’s public safety agencies with reliable and robust mobile broadband capability.

The Steering Committee includes State and Territory Police Forces/Services, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, the Council of Ambulance Authorities, the National Counter Terrorism Committee and ACMA. Visit www.acma.gov.au

Nine Network Picks Mediaproxy for Monitoring, Compliance MEDIAPROXY PTY LTD HAS ANNOUNCED

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that Australia’s Nine Network has selected LogServer ASI for its compliance logging and monitoring.

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Nine Network has deployed Mediaproxy into new facilities in Melbourne and Sydney, providing monitoring for a total of 30 SD and HD channels using both analogue and DVB-T transport stream sources for recording of both compliance and broadcast quality formats.

The systems will provide easy access to all recorded media via LogServer’s leading edge Silverlight web interface for compliance delivery, ad verification and engineering analysis.

JDA Takes Techtel, Cisco to Expand NZ DTT

In this project, ENENSYS provides the DVB-T2 key elements:

ACMA Seeks Comment on Spectrum Licensing

ACMA is proposing to recommend to the Minister that he designate the frequency range 2570–2620 MHz to be allocated by issuing spectrum licences throughout Australia. If the minister accepted such a recommendation, it would enable the ACMA to undertake processes to convert existing apparatus licences – used for

www.content-technology.com/transmission

Charles Sevior, Network Manager Broadcast Technology at the Nine Network, states, “The advantages of ASI based logging were the major consideration for our next generation logging platform. LogServer ASI is a robust and flexible system that delivers solutions for various departments across our entire network.”

Mediaproxy’s LogServer platform provides 24/7 SD and HD multichannel recording and live monitoring of video, audio and real-time data sources. Content may be reviewed and managed ‘long after the event’ for legal and commercial compliance requirements and competitive analysis.

Visit www.mediaproxy.com

NEW ZEALAND BROADCAST ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY, Johnston, Dick & Associates (JDA) has selected Cisco to install its Digital Video technology through Cisco partner Techtel as part of its contract with the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

The Cisco Digital Content Manager (DCM) will support the New Zealand government’s ‘Going Digital’ initiative that will see all of New Zealand switch to digital television by November 2013.

The Cisco DCM solution will extend digital terrestrial television to audiences in the regional areas of Whangarei, Rotorua, Taupo, Gisborne, Whanganui, Masterton, Nelson, Timaru and Invercargill.

Overall, the coverage of DTT will expand from 75 percent to 86 percent of the population. The programme will be the largest deployment of Cisco DCM in New Zealand.

“After a thorough investigation of the available solutions in the market, the Cisco DCM was the best solution for us as it combined the essential features we needed including automatic backup, transcoding and SI editing components,” said JDA Operations Manager, David MacDonald.

The modular nature of the product will enable service providers to undertake a myriad of content and broadcast functions through one flexible and redundant platform. Cisco DCM technology offers New Zealand broadcast service providers new functionality in managing the re-broadcast of digital television, breaking new ground for space and power efficiency.

These viewers will see not only an increase in the quality and variety of channels that are available, but also the important new capability of re-broadcasting the satellite services through a terrestrial broadcast in the event that the main channels are interrupted for any reason.

This new functionality required both elements of automatic redundancy for switching and detecting problems in the normal feed, plus signal transcoding to provide like-for-like MPEG4 signals for the terrestrial market.

The project is expected to be complete in time for the Rugby World Cup in September 2011.

Visit www.jda.co.nz and www.techtel.com.au.

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THOMSON BROADCAST HAS ANNOUNCED that Indosiar, one of Indonesia’s top three broadcasters, has ordered six new Thomson Inductive Output Tube (IOT) high-power transmission systems for its national television network. The new transmitters replace Indosiar’s existing Thomson transmitters after 17 years of continuous operation, and will be deployed in Bandung, Makassar, Denpasar, Medan, Semarang, and Yogyakarta during 2011 and 2012.

Established in 1994, Jakarta-based Indosiar is available as a free-to-air or subscription channel throughout Malaysia and in other countries in the AsiaPacific region including Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

“Our long-term relationship with Thomson Broadcast has been a happy one because of the superb reliability of the Thomson systems,” said Tandio Santoso, technical director, Indosiar. “These new IOT transmitters will provide the robust performance we have grown accustomed to, together with new features that will allow us to further develop our services.”

Thomson is supplying traditional IOT amplifiers based on the DCX Millennium series.

Visit www.thomson-broadcast.com.

PacTV Extends Reach for Trinity Broadcasting PACIFIC TELEVISION CENTER (PACTV), a Los Angeles-based independent global transmission and production company, has announced that it has completed a platform upgrade for longtime client Trinity Broadcasting. The company has enhanced the U.S.-based network’s transmissions from MPEG2 to MPEG4 to the across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This enhanced capacity will not only improve the efficiency and quality of Trinity Broadcasting’scontent as it is transmitted around the globe, but it will also allow America’s largest Christian broadcast network to increase its footprint.

In order to support the MPEG4 transmissions, PacTV has added two new SES satellites to Trinity Broadcasting’s arsenal – NSS5 and NSS9. The content is uplinked on the NSS5 in Atlanta and then travels to Africa, Europe and the Middle East. There is also a second feed that comes out of Los Angeles and uplinked to NSS9. That content then travels on a global transponder that covers the entire Pacific Ocean region. This means Trinity Broadcasting’s programming will reach the entire Asia-Pacific region including Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Japan and China.

“The new NSS9 satellite has global beam over the entire Pacific Ocean,” says Howard Fine of PacTV Los Angeles. “We have successfully extended the network’s downlink coverage across the entire Pacific region. PacTV and Trinity Broadcasting have a long, solid history of working together.

Visit www.pactv.com.

Thai DVB-T2 Trial Gets Interactive STRATEGY & TECHNOLOGY (S&T) has provided Army TV5 in Bangkok with its TSBroadcaster2 carousel system to play out MHEG interactive applications as part of a DVB-T2 trial that has been on-air for some months.

TV5 are using a selection of set top boxes and integrated digital TVs receivers conforming to the UK DTG DBook 6.2.1 specification for the trial and tests, all of which include MHEG middleware. MHEG applications have been played out from the S&T TSBroadcaster2 system, which is integrated into the multiplex broadcast output.

Latest Products Fibre Optic DDT-4690 & DDR-4690 8 Channel Fibre Link - Takes up to 8 SD-SDI or ASI over a single fibre.

DDT-4624 & DDR-4624 3G/HD/SD Quad Fibre Link - 4 Independent Fibre links on the one card.

- Each link takes either 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, SD-SDI or ASI.

DDT-4620 & DDR-4620 3G/HD/SD Single Fibre Link - Takes either 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, SD-SDI or ASI.

Network Adapters MMM-4682/PC & MMX-4682/PC 4 ASI to STM-1 Combiner/Decombiner with optical - Maintains original ASI rate, packet size and coding.

- Suitable for Single Frequency Network use.

MMM-4730 & MMX-4730 4 ASI to ASI & G.703 Combiner and Decombiner - Suitable for combining ASI signals on either ASI, E3 or DS3 links.

MEM-4552 Ethernet over ASI adapter - Ethernet port automatically set for either 100 Base-T or 1000 Base-T operation.

- Selectable ASI rates from 1 Mb/s to 213 Mb/s.

Distribution & Protection Switching DDA-4009 3G/HD/SD/ASI/STM-1 Dual 1 In, 4 Out (1 In, 8 Out) Reclocking/Non-Reclocking Distribution Amplifier - Selectable for either 3G/HD/SD-SDI/ASI or STM-1 operation.

- Independent dual or single operation.

- Optional bypass relay of one of inputs to one of outputs on loss of power.

DDA-4320 ASI/SDI/STM-1 Path Protection Switch and DA - Selectable for either ASI/SDI or STM-1 operation.

- Can be used as a distribution amplifier on its own, or as a protection switch when paired with a 2nd unit.

OFS-4020 5 x 1 Optical Switch - Cascadable to create a larger switcher.

Participation in the trial was arranged via S&T’s partner in Thailand, VMedia-A, which provides local representation and technical support.

Colin Prior, Director of International Sales at S&T said, “We were pleased to participate in this trial.”

Visit www.s-and-t.com

Ph: +61 (0)2 9439 3744

Electronics

www.irtelectronics.com

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Indosiar Spans Indonesia with Thomson

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Optus Boosts BOC with Evertz Optus has selected Evertz equipment, supplied

by Quinto Communications, to monitor and support the largest fleet of domestic satellites in Australia and New Zealand. Its numerous distribution responsibilities include Foxtel pay television, the national analogue television retransmission feeds for ABC, SBS and the regional commercial networks as well as the equivalent digital service through the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) plan.

THE OPTUS BROADCAST OPERATIONS CENTRE (BOC) is located in Sydney and its staff manage the majority of the country’s video traffic, 24x7, through the Optus spacecraft fleet.

“Our existing monitoring screens had evolved over many years to become a large rack of CRT and mini LCD monitors and we had issues with space, ageing and heat as well as difficulties in adding monitoring capacity,” explained Ian Kane, Manager, Satellite Network Technology & Planning at Optus.

“The idea was to replace our monitoring with flat screens and multiviewer systems that offered lower power consumption and the ability to expand to meet our future needs. We looked at Evertz and competing brands and found the Evertz VIP signal monitoring and display solution was more flexible and cost-effective for our needs. It also has the ability to grow over time by cascading the Evertz cards with up to 32 inputs into one large format monitor. Also, the system’s ability to accept analogue and digital inputs on the same card allowed us to utilise existing older analogue monitoring while allowing a future upgrade path.”

“Our existing monitoring screens had

evolved over many years to become a large rack of CRT and mini LCD monitors and we had issues with space, ageing and heat as well as difficulties in adding monitoring capacity,

”

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The Evertz VIP multiview input card installation utilises a distributed architecture made up of multiple small matrixes that feed groups of outputs.

This configuration combined with redundant power supplies and controllers ensures a robust and reliable system with no one point of failure that would disable all monitoring.

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SECOND STAGE The monitoring refresh project accompanied the construction of a new satellite uplink facility in Hume, Canberra, to support the new Optus D3 satellite. This facility is remotely operated and monitored from the Sydney BOC using a suite of Evertz equipment supplied by Quinto Communications.

“Our monitoring philosophy is to use multipoint monitoring that gives us the ability to switch along a chain and see exactly where in the chain a problem may occur” explained Kane.

“In the case of the Hume operation we have a diverse fibre path to Canberra.

All this monitoring information and analysis is fed back from Hume via the Optus IP network to Sydney and we decide which of those two paths are going to be sent to the satellite.”

Quinto provided this sophisticated level of remote monitoring using Evertz Vistalink control and monitoring software and an Evertz channel cycling system. The latter checks each broadcast transport stream in turn, controlling MPEG decoders to check the services at various stages of the satellite uplink signal path. Evertz Streamlink video streaming cards are used to deliver the monitoring information to Sydney via IP. “The streaming cards enable us to switch back material from Hume that we want to look at in Sydney. Essentially Hume uses the same Evertz mulitviewers as Sydney with many videos on one display so we stream a whole display from Hume to Sydney and we have control of what is switched into that multiviewer.”

CLEAN SWITCHING The task of switching between redundant paths the transport streams take to Hume is handled by Evertz transport stream “clean switch” modules. These are used by Optus to perform transport stream analysis on the incoming feeds and time-align the two streams to allow seamless switching.

The time aligning process introduces a delay that allows time to perform the analysis and if a problem is detected, the Optus operator can switch away to the other path with no disruption to the viewer.

THE FUTURE Future expansion of the Optus satellite network includes the recently announced Optus 10 spacecraft which is scheduled to be delivered in 2013.

The Evertz input cards also enable Optus to handle any combination of aspect ratios and a range of SD/HD formats for display on ten NEC 42” LCD screens.

The successful installation and operation of the Evertz-based monitoring systems has ensured the Optus BOC is now easily able to handle additional traffic as the Optus Satellite Broadcast Network evolves and grows.

The move to digital monitoring also facilitated the installation of a Evertz Xenon 128x128 routing switcher which operators use to switch signals through monitoring and measuring equipment.

“The Evertz systems are so modular so we can expand significantly and the products have also evolved to provide additional features and capabilities,” confirmed Kane.

Visit www.quinto.com.au

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Intelsat Invests $1.3 Billion in APAC Fleet THE WORLD’S LARGEST PROVIDER of commercial satellite services,

New Agreements on Intelsat 10, include:

Intelsat S.A., has confirmed its upcoming launch schedule for four satellites, part of a $1.3 billion fleet investment program in the Asia-Pacific region.

+ Network18 Media & Investments Limited, which owns and operates one of India’s premier bouquets of television channels, expanded its commitment on Intelsat 10 at 68.5 degrees through Television Eighteen India Limited, which is the broadcast platform of the Network18 media group. It intends to use the capacity to launch new programming for Viacom 18 and A&E Networks’ joint venture with Network18 on Intelsat 10, bridging to Intelsat 20 when it launches new SD and HD channels for cable distribution across India.

The program is designed to refresh and expand satellite capacity available for media programmers and communications providers offering services in the region. The program will also deploy a significant portion of Intelsat’s global mobility beams, a Ku-band network designed to deliver broadband services for maritime, aero and other mobility services.

Intelsat’s fleet investment includes four satellites to be launched in 2011 and 2012.

INTELSAT 18 + Launch date: Second half of 2011 + Location: 180 degrees E; replaces Intelsat 701 + Services: Prime video neighborhood; enhanced DTH coverage and network services capabilities to the Pacific islands via C-band and Ku-band platforms

INTELSAT 19 + Launch date: Second quarter of 2012 + Location: 166 degrees E; replaces Intelsat 8 + Services: Prime video neighbourhood; increased Ku-band capacity optimized for DTH; the satellite’s C-band will provide enhanced performance capacity for distribution of international video content throughout the Asia-Pacific region; includes Ku-band mobility beams for maritime broadband services across the Pacific

INTELSAT 20 + Launch date: Second quarter of 2012 + Location: 68.5 degrees E; replaces Intelsat 10 and Intelsat 7 + Services: Premier video distribution and contribution community linking Asia, Africa and Europe with more than 160 video channels

INTELSAT 22 + Launch date: First half of 2012 + Location: 72 degrees E; new orbital location + Services: Includes a Ku-band mobility beam, Asian C-band coverage with direct connectivity to Africa and a UHF hosted payload for the Australian Defence Force.

Intelsat has also announced several new contracts with leading media companies, as the momentum builds in the months leading up to the launches. The agreements provide Asian-based programmers with the ability to deliver content to a variety of audiences through Intelsat’s premium video neighbourhoods.

+ Bharti Teleports Limited also recently expanded its existing agreement for services on Intelsat 10, eventually bridging to Intelsat 20 as part of a multi-year deal. This agreement allows Bharti continued access to India’s cable headend community and helps meet the demand to support distribution for the 75 newly licensed channels in India, in addition to the 525 existing licensed channels.

New Commitments on Intelsat 17, include: + With premier anchor programmers such as Sun TV, Sony Pictures Television and Essel Shyam already on board, Intelsat 17 continues to attract blue-chip customers as India’s new video hotspot. Tata Communications’ Global Media and Entertainment division, part of the Tata Companies, recently entered into a contract for multiple transponders at 66 degrees E, enabling content distribution for broadcasters globally to cable headends across the Intelsat 17 footprint. The multi-year contract further strengthens Tata Communications’ ability to access the community of Asian-themed programming. + Indiasign, a prominent service provider for MCPC broadcasting services in India, recently entered into a contract for C-band services supporting cable distribution for its growing portfolio of tier one media programmers.

Indiasign plans to migrate services from Intelsat’s APR-1 capacity to Intelsat 17 at 66 degrees E in the next few months.

Finally, Intelsat is partnering with Encompass Digital Media to expand its managed media services in the Asia-Pacific region. The companies are developing a new IntelsatONE MCPC platform on Intelsat 17, adding to the Intelsat 8 MCPC platform that was implemented late last year.

The two platforms are highly suitable for new HD and SD channel launches in Asia, offering programmers cost effective DVB-S2 solutions with access to a premier neighborhood of thousands of cable systems, hotels and other distribution sites. Intelsat and Encompass Digital Media have a wide coverage area including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Asia Pacific, as well as the Pacific Islands.

GlobeCast France SAS, an affiliate of France Telecom, recently signed a long-term deal with Intelsat to provide television and radio services for RFO Polynesie in the Pacific Ocean region. GlobeCast France SAS will use capacity on both Ku-band beams covering the region on Intelsat 18 once it launches.

Meanwhile, China Central Television (CCTV) recently renewed its agreement on Galaxy 3C for 27 MHz of Ku-band capacity. CCTV provides DTH service to North America as part of a multi-year contract. The agreement is in addition to CCTV’s current deal with Intelsat to provide C-band distribution on Intelsat 9.

Visit www.intelsat.com

SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY Newtec has launched a new partner driven business programme that it says will change the way end-users and resellers can interact with the company. The programme will see key partners bring added value to end-users locally and enforce the Newtec brand and sales strengths.

Lumina General Manager Peter Warren said, “Having Newtec as an official partner is extremely important to us. We provide equipment, products and services to broadcasters, satellite operators, defence organisations, emergency services and systems integrators in Australia that rely on Newtec products.”

Two of Newtec’s long-term distributor partners in Asia have already signed up to the new business programme - Japan-based Moubic and Lumina Broadcast Systems of Australia.

Visit bePART.newtec.eu and www.newtec.eu

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Lumina Official NEWTEC Partner

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GuideBuilder Helps AUSTAR Gro

By Michael de Marigny Senior broadcast engineer at AUSTAR Entertainment AUSTAR ENTERTAINMENT is the leading provider of subscription television services in regional and rural Australia. With more than 750,000 customers, we are continually developing and testing new technologies at our laboratories in Sydney. We use the AUSTAR Test platform to analyse, verify, and review all interactive applications as well as new decoder software and hardware prior to launch to customers. Decoder engineers, software developers, and third-party developers then use the AUSTAR Development platform to work on new applications, new decoder software and hardware from vendors Finally, the AUSTAR Sandpit platform enables our broadcast engineers to work on Proof of Concepts (POCs), test vendor equipment, and also to cut streams for vendors Within these three AUSTAR platforms, there are a number of vendor systems that rely on private descriptors. Thus, for each platform in the lab, we required a flexible stand-alone SI generator that is easy to navigate, capable of creating private tables and descriptors without system changes, available with a custom schedule engine, and interoperable with our Conditional Access system (CAS). Though virtually every SI generator offers basic DVB/MPEG (P)SI tables and descriptors, few accommodate the private tables and descriptors that decoder vendors and platform operators design and use within their own platforms. We evaluated four different solutions, and at the end of the day, the GuideBuilde® SI from Triveni Digital met all of our requirements for metadata generation.

Over the past three years, we have invested in three Triveni Digital GuideBuilde® SI metadata generators, which each provide DVB-SI data for platforms within our lab. Our implementation of the GuideBuilder has also allowed migration from ASI to UDP outputs, which allows us to embrace

MPEG-over-IP technology that’s not only cheaper, but operationally more advantageous.

Supplied by systems integrator Magna Systems, the Triveni Digital metadata generator supports our Test, Development, and Sandpit platforms,and we can accommodate any vendor’s private data without a costly upgrade or further software development. In addition, this solution from Triveni Digital helps us in meeting our deployment timelines and design deadlines.

As the GuideBuilder SI generates accurate DVB-SI data, it provides our engineering staff with an intuitive interface for managing this information.

tandem with the company’s engineers, we’re in the process of implementing a schedule engine for metadata conversion that will further streamline delivery of data to the CAS. Our ongoing partnership with Triveni Digital not only supports development and testing for linear and on-demand video delivery, but also for the premium VOD (PVOD) services we’re planning to add to the AUSTAR product lineup.

As we move forward, this project will enable us to sync interactive applications, content, and playout — with the schedule engine ensuring timing between the CAS, broadcast system, and applications — so that the user can purchase

“As the GuideBuilder SI generates accurate DVB-SI data, it

provides our engineering staff with an intuitive interface for managing this information.

”

The system can import program data from many different sources including listing services and traffic systems, automation systems, and SI data from off-air/live signals, and it also gives us the ability to enter local and customised data manually. This versatility allows us to run the GuideBuilder SI system as a stand-alone generator and to rely on it to define desired SI tables and descriptors without the need for new code drops or hardware changes.

Though the GuideBuilder SI runs independently of our CAS, members of our staff can use the Triveni Digital system to create, ingest, and support schedules for the CAS. Working in

and access this content through the set-top box.

As we look at other possible service offerings, the engineering resources at Triveni Digital are valuable in assisting our ability to design and test those services.

We chose to work with Triveni Digital because of its robust GuideBuilder hardware and the product’s roadmap, but we have found the company’s responsiveness, flexibility, and skill with software code to be equally valuable. The GuideBuilder SI boasts many great features, as well as robust design, flexibility, and a friendly GUI interface, and the support from Triveni Digital engineering is valuable and impressive.

WIN Adds Pixelmetrix DVB-T Monitoring AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST regional television broadcaster, WIN Television has chosen the Pixelmetrix DVStation Mini2 DVB-T fully featured monitoring probe to monitor DVB-T services at WIN transmission sites across Australia. Supplied and installed by local distributor, Techtel, the DVStation-Mini2 DVB-T systems provide unparalleled visibility into the quality of service reaching WIN’s network-wide audience.

TRANSMISSION

The DVStation-Mini2 DVB-T offers high quality DVB-T RF measurements and in-depth TS analysis, providing WIN with 24/7 operational monitoring and assurance of the quality and continuity of their DVB-T services. The intuitive system will also generate video thumbnails for H.264 video streams in both SD and HD.

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“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with WIN on this project. Joining our DVB-T customers worldwide, they too have immediately benefited from greater visibility of service-affecting issues that our DVStation provides. The unattended remote control capability

is particularly useful across their wide and hostile geographic coverage area,” said Danny Wilson, President and CEO of Pixelmetrix.

With a transmission span covering more geographical area than any other broadcaster in the world, WIN’s digital network required a solution that was able to effectively monitor and log data collected from a widespread selection of monitoring points within their DTT network topology.

“Pixelmetrix were prepared to listen to our specific requirements, even offering to adapt their product to provide the results we needed”, said Transmission Broadcast Director at WIN Corporation, Greg Lederhose.

“Their flexibility, coupled with a product that is easy-to-use and which offered us all the monitoring features we needed was ultimately what lead us to the decision. Pixelmetrix and Techtel installed the systems promptly and have done an excellent job”, he added.

Visit Techtel stand G35 at SMPTE, Sydney Exhibition Centre, July 19-22 to see the latest Test, Measurement & Monitoring solutions from Pixelmetrix.

CLASSIFIEDS

POSITION VACANT Chief Technical Officer – Media Services SYDNEY: Newly created position.

As theCTO for the Omnilab Groups Media Services division comprising eight business units, you will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of the organisations end to end technology strategy.

A primary focus of this role will be on developing a ‘One Resource – One Company’ culture throughout the current business units. Working within complex environments where technology is in place; your role will be to build on these fundamentals to move the company to the next level ensuring leading edge solutions for customers & internal stakeholders.

Providing technical and operations solutions in both Sydney and Melbourne, you will lead & manage a team of approximately 16 - 20.

KEY SKILLS & EXPERIENCE: 10 years’ experience in IT & E with at least the last 5 years in a management role involving leadership and delegated authority to several very experienced technical specialists and managers.

Min 5 years commercial experience in a Network Engineering role; certification and/or demonstrable skills with Foundry, Cisco, Juniper, ShoreTel and tertiary qualifications in IT. ITIL certification would be highly regarded Unsurpassed skills in planning, logistics and organisation Exceptional problem solving abilities together with expertise in switching, routing, firewalls, VOIP. A technical background with the ability to identify opportunities for the effective development and usage of IT systems within the business units.

content+technology+video Catch up on all the behind the scenes action from NAB 2011 and much more with C+TV online video on the C+T web site.

Highly independent, resourceful, intelligent, self-motivated leader, able to work across multiple, simultaneous deadlines. + BA or Masters in Computer Science and or Business + Experience working in the VFX or post industry

APPLY: Expression of interest or for a confidential conversation call Patricia Powell-Hughes on +61 2 9383 4520

Written applications to pph@entertainmentpersonnel.com.au with the subject marked ‘CTO’ Closing date: August 1, 2011

www.entertainmentpersonnel.com.au

Also on the Site: + Whitepapers + News and product information from 27 C+T blog sites + Events

www.content-technology.com

Amber Technology .......................... 17 Blackmagic Design .............................5 Cueword ............................................. 22 Digistor .............................................. 51 Digital Rapids .................................. 44 Editshare ............................................ 61 Entech ................................................. 27 Ericsson .................................................7 Eureka Pacific.................................... 55 Fox Lighting ....................................... 37 GDB International............................ 35 Gencom Technology ...................... 15 Harmonic Inc (Omneon) ...................3 Hatachi Data Systems .................... 59 IBC ....................................................... 77 IRT Electronics .................................. 71 JVC Professional............................... 29 Linear Acoustic ................................. 11

Lumina Broadcast Systems........... 31 Magna Systems & Engineering ......... ......................................................... 13,34 On-Air Systems ................................ 47 Powermedia ...................................... 53 Production Audio Services ........... 69 Quinto Communications ..................9 Riedel .....................................41,43,45 Ross Video ......................................... 40 SMPTE11 ............................................ 19 Sony .........................................21,23,25 Storm FX ............................................ 52 StageTec ....................................... 42,65 Techtel ................................................ 20 Videocraft .......................................... 33 Videopro ............................................ 39 Viz RT................................................... 49

CLASSIFIEDS

Advertiser Index

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CONFERENCES, EXHIBITIONS + ROADSHOWS www.content-technology.com/events

what’s on JULY SMPTE 2011 July 19-22, 2011 Sydney Exhibition Centre www.smpte.com.au

ENTECH 2011 July 19-22, 2011 Sydney Exhibition Centre www.entechintech.com

SEPTEMBER IFA CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW 2-7 September, 2011 Messe Berlin, Germany www.ifa-berlin.com

IBC2011 - RAI AMSTERDAM Conference September 8 – 13 Exhibition September 9 – 13 www.ibc.org

OCTOBER SIMPOSIUM ASIA 2011 18 – 19th October 2011, JW Marriott, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Streaming Media Europe 2011

CONFERENCE & EXPO 18 & 19 October Olympia Conference Centre, London www.streamingmedia.com/europe

INTERNET SHOW SYDNEY 27-28 October, 2011 Sydney Convention Centre www.terrapinn.com/2011/sydney

3-DAY MULTIPLATFORM TV WORKSHOP

CONFERENCES, EXHIBITIONS + ROADSHOWS

3-day workshop in Multi Platform TV 12 - 14 October 2011, Singapore

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THE CASBAA CONVENTION 31st October to 3rd November Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

NOVEMBER 2011 SPAA CONFERENCE November 13 - 16 2011 Hilton, Sydney www.spaa.org.au/conference

INTERBEE 2011 November 16-18, 2011 Makuhari Messe, Japan www.inter-bee.com/en

NAB 2012 - Call for Speakers THE U.S. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Broadcasters is calling on digital and entertainment media professionals and members of the NAB Show content community to become more active participants in the development of the overall education program for the NAB Show.

Tools to accomplish this include an all-industry Call for Speakers, a LinkedIn speaker alumni community, and a Program Advisory Group.

All interested professionals are encouraged to submit presentation or session proposals for the 2012 NAB Show, held April 14-19 in Las Vegas, prior to the entry deadline of October 21.

Submissions must be relevant to the creation and distribution of media and filmed entertainment content, or address emerging trends and their impact on the media business.

Emphasis areas for the 2012 NAB Show program include: broadcast engineering, broadcast management and strategy, content creation and commerce and military/government applications.

As always, the NAB Show educational program will focus heavily on technology. Event organizers will consider proposals on new media for multiple

platforms, new business models, and the impact of new technologies and marketplace realities on existing businesses and creative processes.

For submission contact information and additional information on topics considered for proposal submissions.

In addition to the 2012 Call for Speakers, the NAB Show has launched a Speaker Alumni Group through LinkedIn, designed to provide media and entertainment professionals who have contributed to the NAB Show in the past an opportunity to engage with show organizers and each other throughout the year. To request membership in the group, visit LinkedIn and search “NAB Show Speaker Alumni.”

The NAB Show is also forming a Program Advisory Group, comprising industry leaders and subject matter experts, who will provide feedback on overall conference design and suggest new areas of programming to address the evolving media and entertainment landscape. Nominations for this group may be sent to NAB Show staff via email to DBrasse@nab.org Visit www.nab.org

IBC 2012 - Training Workshops IBC AND FUTURE MEDIA CONCEPTS have announced that they will be offering Apple, Avid and Adobe post-production workshops at IBC2011, RAI Amsterdam, 8-13 September.

“The IBC Certified Training programme highlights IBC’s commitment to serve the needs of individuals within broadcasting and electronic media and to continually provide the platforms to support the industry,” comments Michael Crimp, ceo, IBC. “We are proud to be working again with FMC. The high standards that they deliver, the relevance of their courses and the skills of the presenters will ensure that the programme is a worthwhile investment for any post-production professional.”

This is the second year that IBC and FMC have joined forces with the IBC Certified Training Programme, which this will be year offering two-day Apple Final Cut Studio workshops, two-day Avid Editing workshops and a single one-day Adobe Production Premium workshop.

For attendees’ convenience, the full schedule is offered twice and repeats itself between Thursday 8 and Monday 12 September. Sessions are taught by FMC-Certified Instructors and culminate in an optional, one-hour certification test on either Friday 9, Sunday 11 or Monday 12 September.

“The toolset available for post-production is ever changing, and the top talent in the business is

always pushing the envelope to make the most of what’s available. Software is becoming more complex and the need for cutting edge training has never been that evident,” said Ben Kozuch, FMC Conferences president and co-founder. After last year’s success at IBC, we are glad to have the opportunity to return to IBC for another round of effective Apple, Avid, and Adobe training.”

Presenters include Jeff Greenberg, principal instructor, FMC; Robbie Carman, colorist and vice president, Amigo Media LLC; Abba Shapiro, writer/ producer/director, Shapiro Video & Multimedia; Yossy Tessone, Apple and Avid certified instructor, FMC; Luisa Winters, certified Adobe instructor, FMC; and Sean Casella, Apple certified trainer and Adobe certified instructor, FMC. All sessions are offered between 9:00 and 18:15, with a one-hour lunch break. Apple topics include understanding the brand new FCP X, working with the new colour tools, maximising efficiency, workflow and advanced techniques for FCP. Avid topics will cover advanced trimming techniques, optimising media composer settings for efficiency, tools like Marquee, ScriptSync and PhraseFind and SpeedFX. Adobe topics include Dynamic Link and Round-tripping in Adobe Production Premium, colour correction with After Effects and Premiere, Animating Text in Photoshop Extended and more.

Visit www.ibc.org/ibccertifiedtraining

RAI Amsterdam Conference 8-13 September : Exhibition 9-13 September

The IBC Conference The IBC conference brings together industry experts who present, debate and learn about content related technical, business and creative issues.

Founded in 1967 the conference is well respected for its peer reviewed technical papers and conference streams guided by industry experts.

Whether it be content for broadcast, internet or mobile devices, today more than ever, the industry relies on successful interaction between technology, ideas, skills and business.

Recognising this changing world of content, the IBC Conference presents a broad range of hot topic sessions across its six day, four stream, 60 session, 300 speaker event.

IBC2010 Keynote presenters included: • Gerhard Zeiler, chief executive officer, RTL, Germany • Manolo Romero, managing director, Olympic Broadcasting Services, Spain • Sir Michael Lyons, chairman, BBC Trust, UK • Yoshinori Imai, vice president, NHK, Japan • Ingrid Deltenre, director general, European Broadcasting Union, Switzerland

For more information please visit: We look forward to meeting you in Amsterdam at IBC2011 for what is set to be another exciting event.

IBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK T +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E info@ibc.org

www.ibc.org

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Broadcasters Continue Making Exhibition of Themselves YES, THERE IS SOME TRUTH TO THE OLD ADAGE, ‘THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME’.

Twenty years ago, the broadcast industry’s major conference and exhibition was IREECON. In September, 1991, the SMPTE predecessor had just moved from the Sydney Showground to Darling Harbour to occupy the entirety of the Exhibition & Convention Centre’s Hall 5.

Some 76 exhibitors took up residence for the four days of the show. Since then, some have refocussed on other industries, while some have been swallowed up or passed into history, leaving the remainder to take on the mantle of reliable, consistent and canny.

Of the 76 exhibitors, those companies surviving the 20-year interim to exhibit at SMPTE11 (and still serving the broadcast and production industries), include:

New Sony VTRs, the PVW2800P and PVW2600P for studios, and the EVO9800P Hi-8 VTR, plus professional cameras employing the latest HyperHAD sensors for improved low light sensitivity; The KCH 1000 multi-standard HDTV camera from BTS adaptable to “All proposed HDTV scanning systems”; and The 3M 996 analogue mastering tape, claimed to be “the first analogue audio mastering tape to come close to digital sound”.

+ Australian Tel-Tec

SMPTE11 will be held from July 19-22, 2011, at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney.

+ Canon Australia

+ IRT Electronics

Visit www.smpte.com.au

+ John S Innes

+ Miller Fluid Heads

+ Quinto Communications

+ Sony Australia

+ Synchrotech Systems

+ Syntec International

The blinding light of the digital era was a mere glow on the horizon back in 1991. However, the far-sighted folk from the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters met during IREECON to discuss the exciting potential of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).

Among the luminaries gathered were: Colin Knowles of DoTaC; Neil McCrae, Engineering Consultant to FARB; Richard Flemming, Chief Engineer 2UE; and Des DeCean, General Manager Engineering, Austereo.

According to FARB Engineering Committee Chair, Joe Oost, “Engineers should be aware that while there is an urgent need to keep up to date with DAB developments, its introduction to Australia as a commercially viable mode of broadcasting is a midterm issue.”

Indeed, indeed ...

Meanwhile, at the IREECON conference proper, the weighty issues of the day included: An NEC paper on its new solid state VHF TV transmitter; followed by a presentation on its new Videofile spot replay system which employed magneto-optical disks as the storage medium; The late Neville Thiele with two papers entitled, An Improved Contrast Gradient for HDTV and Low bit rate coding of digital audio signals; A paper from the DoTaC lab on The Implementation of the Bass Strait Ducting Project, a long term research project looking at interference between Victorian and Tasmanian transmitters in Summer due to atmospheric phenomena; and Presentations from Sony Australia’s Chris Middleton-Williams on Industrial Betacam and Serial Digital Distribution.

For those looking to the future of broadcasting and video services, Telecom Research Labs gave a number of presentations on its planned ISDN and “broadband” networks with papers entitled: + National Digital Broadband Bearer Network; + Integrated Video Services on the Broadband ISDN;

TIME SHIFTER

The Ouija integrated digital radio system, Australian “home grown” technology which had been installed at the ABC centre in Ultimo;

+ Amber Technology

+ Techtel

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New Hewlett-Packard products addressing RF Communications, Token Ring and Ethernet troubleshooting and a modular analyser that could test either SONET or SDH equipment;

+ The Provision of Video Services on a Metropolitan Area Network; and + The Impact of Digital High Definition Services on the Broadband ISDN. There was no less excitement on the exhibition floor, with “Pick Hits” of the show including:

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