AVID CHANNEL Al Ikhbariya streamlines newsroom operations
TOUCH OF FINESSE Cinepost enhances DI workflow with Lustre
A TALE FROM BEIRUT Digital ital Studio goes on location with indie filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour in Lebanon An ITP Business Publication 1 Licensed by International Media Production Zone
Vol. 12 Issue 1 January 2010
JANUARY 2010 VOLUME 12 ISSUE 01 CONTENTS
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NEWS Tek Signals bags first 3G project in the Middle East / Future of AMG’s TV facility hangs in the balance / Saudi TV licenses first international format / DIFF Muhr awards recognise top filmmaking talent / Saudi Arabia to launch four new channels / DIFF confirms new Arab film distro initiative
14
COVER STORY
20
CASE STUDY — KSA
24
POST PRODUCTION — EGYPT
28
LOCATION SCOUTING
Vijaya Cherian speaks to Lebanese filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour about the making of Teta, Alf Marra.
Al Ikhbariya news channel enters 2010 with a brand new HD news studio and a multi-million dollar Avid installation.
Egyptian post-production house Cinepost adds Lustre to its DI and RED workflows.
A look at some of the major locales in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain for producers.
30 INDUSTRY FOCUS
The cost and complexity of designing HD and SD graphics simultaneously has been reduced significantly thanks to open platforms, says Chyron’s Phil Carmichael.
38 TECH UPDATE — MICS
Digital Studio brings you a guide to help you choose the right mic to achieve both natural sounding recordings and unique sounds for special applications. We also look at some of the top mics in this market.
44
44 SPECIAL REPORT
Sony woos customers with Power of Images event.
47 PRODUCTS
The hottest launches in the market!
48 www.digitalproductionme.com
VOX POP Visitors rate the sixth edition of DIFF.
JANUARY 2010
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COMMENT JANUARY 2010
Let the nominations begin! Digital Studio always likes to begin the New Year with good news for its readers and the Middle East’s production and broadcast industry. We are happy to announce that the sixth annual Digital Studio awards will be held on March 3rd at a five-star venue this year. Every industry professional qualifies to participate so I urge each one of you to visit www.digitalproductionme. com/dsawards and nominate companies or individuals you think deserve to win. There are 14 categories this year that mostly recognise contributions in the production or broadcast sectors. In the past, several award winners have shared how the Digital Studio Industry Leadership Awards have raised their profile in the regional marketplace. These awards were designed to acknowledge innovative contributions from both big and small players. We’re looking for quality nominations. Submissions that do not meet the requirements stipulated in the online nomination form will be disqualified. Digital Studio reiterates that it will go by the quality of nominations to select a winner rather than the quantity. Submitting the same nomination several times will not increase your chances of winning. Nominations for best productions, animations etc must be accompanied by a showreel on DVD. This year, we have roped in one segment of the industry that we were unable to include in the past as they were outside the periphery
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AWARDS 2010 Nominate now at: digitalproductionme.com/dsawards
of what Digital Studio covers. For 2010, we are happy to announce the launch of a new award titled Best Content Delivery Service Provider in association with our sister title, Digital Broadcast. This award is open to telcos, broadcasters and other companies that are actively involved in new media platforms. In addition, the Short Form Film of the Year category, which is open to any TVC, corporate video, animation or other shorts that are less than 10 minutes long, will be held in association with our website, www.digitalproductionme. com. You can send us links to your footage on YouTube or send us the file in MPEG 4 format. A select few will be uploaded on our website as well. Submissions close on January 7 so let the nominations begin!
CEO Walid Akawi Managing Director Neil Davies Deputy Managing Director Matthew Southwell Editorial Director David Ingham VP Sales Wayne Lowery Editorial Senior Group Editor, Broadcast & Media Aaron Greenwood Tel: +971 4 435 6251 email: aaron.greenwood@itp.com Editor Vijaya Cherian Tel: +971 4 435 6296 email: vijaya.cherian@itp.com Advertising Commercial Director, Broadcast & Media Fred Dubery Tel: +971 4 435 6339 email: fred@itp.com Sales Manager Gavin Murphy Tel: +971 4 435 6369 email: gavin.murphy@itp.com N.American Advertisement Director Michael J. Mitchell Tel: +1 631 673 3199 email: mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv Japan Representative Mikio Tsuchiya Tel: + 81 354 568230 email: ua9m-tcy@asahi-net.or.jp Studio Group Art Editor Daniel Prescott Designer Martin Staniszewski Photography Director of Photography Sevag Davidian Chief Photographer Khatuna Khutsishvili Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Thanos Lazopoulos Staff Photographers Isidora Bojovic, George Dipin, Lyubov Galushko, Jovana Obradovic, Ruel Pableo, Rajesh Raghav Production & Distribution Group Production Manager Kyle Smith Production Manager Eleanor Zwanepoel Managing Picture Editor Patrick Littlejohn Image Retoucher Emmalyn Robles Distribution Manager Karima Ashwell Distribution Executive Nada Al Alami Circulation Head of Circulation and Database Gaurav Gulati Marketing Head of Marketing Daniel Fewtrell ITP Digital Director Peter Conmy ITP Group Chairman Andrew Neil Managing Director Robert Serafin Finance Director Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Board of Directors K.M. Jamieson, Mike Bayman, Walid Akawi, Neil Davies, Rob Corder, Mary Serafin
VIJAYA CHERIAN Editor EMAIL: vijaya.cherian@itp.com
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ON THIS MONTH’S COVER Vijaya Cherian speaks to Lebanese filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour about the making of his documentary. Read the full story on page 14.
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NEWS REGIONAL UPDATE
FUTURE OF AMG’S TV FACILITY HANGS IN THE BALANCE Dubai-based media giant Arab Media Group’s (AMG) Noor Dubai TV and radio staff have shifted to Dubai Media Inc. (DMI). Between 80 and 100 people from AMG’s TV arm, Arab Television Network (ATN), who work on the technical and operations side of Noor Dubai’s TV and radio facility, were relocated to DMI last month. Late last year, some of AMG’s assets including its newspapers and Noor Dubai were transferred to rival state-backed media giant DMI giving the latter a significant advantage over the former. With the relocation, the fate of ATN’s state-ofthe-art TV facility in Dubai Studio City hangs in the balance. The ATN building in Dubai Studio
City.
Unnamed sources within both companies confirmed that talks were ongoing to see what could be done with the equipment. “At this point, we are not sure whether some of that equipment will be absorbed by DMI or the facility will be completely dismantled,” commented a source close to both companies. “There is also the option of outsourcing the facility to a third party at Studio City,” the source added. In the meantime, AMG continues to retain the licences to Nickelodeon Arabia and MTV. It has also retained ownership of Arab Radio Network (ARN), its radio arm, which is based in Dubai Media City (DMC). AMG’s TV and radio staff remain uncertain about their future role in DMI’s broadcast operations although it is expected that they will be absorbed into the company, according to inside sources. Previously, several industry sources questioned the feasibility of having two state-backed media giants within the emirate of Dubai. With increasing economic pressure on media organisations in the last year that forced the likes of pay TV operators such as Orbit and Showtime to merge, a potential consolidation between the two state-backed organisations cannot be ruled out in the future.
IN BRIEF SAUDI TV LICENSES FIRST INTERNATIONAL FORMAT Saudi TV has purchased the rights to develop a local version of the Dragon’s Den show. This is the first time the state broadcaster has purchased the rights to an international format. The show has been licensed by Sony Pictures Television via Saudi TV’s partner, Creative Edge International, with production scheduled to begin this month. The series will be on-air in February with a 26-episode run. The programme sees five business leaders — the dragons — grill contestants over their frequently unconventional money-making schemes, opting to invest in the ideas that they feel could be successful, and slating those that are less so. Creative Edge has revealed that all five of the local version’s dragons have been selected from within Saudi Arabia and include one female representative. A Lebanese version of Dragon’s Den is broadcast on Future TV.
TEK SIGNALS BAGS FIRST 3G PROJECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST Al Jazeera Network has contracted Abu Dhabi-based systems integrator Tek Signals to build two 3G (3Gbps) studios including a related master control room (MCR) and central apparatus room (CAR) for its sports channels, Digital Studio can reveal. This will be the first ever 3G installation in the Middle East. The two studios will be based entirely on 3G infrastructure as Al Jazeera Sport will invest in high-end 1080p cameras for its new news and production studios. Transmission, however, will continue to be in Standard Definition (SD) for now. 3G is the next big technology to be desired following 1080p adoption. Also known as SMPTE 424M, 3G allows for bit-rates of 2.970 Gbit/s and 2.970/1.001 Gbit/s to be carried over a singlelink coaxial cable. These bit-rates are sufficient for 1080p video at 50 or 60 frames per second. 3G offers a significant enhancement over the 1.5Gbps bandwidth and provides greater picture fidelity and resolution than standard HDTV solutions provide. Tek Signals declined to comment on the contract.
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SON OF BABYLON AT SUNDANCE Mohamed Al-Daradji’s latest feature Son of Babylon is the only Arab film to be selected for competition at next year’s Sundance Film Festival. Son of Babylon will compete with entries from countries including Canada, the UK and Spain in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. The film is co-produced by UK entity Human Film, Iraqi firm Al-Rafidain and PyraMovies, the film production unit of Abu Dhabi-based media company, Pyramedia. The film’s worldwide sales agent is Roissy Film (FR) and its Arab world distributor is Sunnyland ART (Egypt).
JANUARY 2010 5
NEWS REGIONAL UPDATE
IN BRIEF ROTANA AND FOX SIGN $26.7M DEAL WITH DISNEY Rotana Media Group, which provides Arabic and English television content in the Middle East, and Fox International Channels have signed a US $26.7 million content licensing agreement with Walt Disney Co. Disney content will be aired in the Middle East on the Fox Movies and Fox Series channels under the terms of the four-year accord, according to a statement by the companies. “This deal reflects our vision to bring the broad range of content within our portfolio to wider audiences in the Middle East,” Francesca Tauriello, senior vice president, programme distribution for Disney’s media distribution, B2BGroup, EMEA South told local newspaper, Arab News. “The agreement builds upon our longterm relationship with Fox International Channels and Rotana, and the content covered under the terms of the agreement is a fantastic strategic fit for their channels and audiences. “The deal also provides the opportunity to build additional areas of business together such as local productions and to customise marketing-promotional activities,” she added.
VITAL STATS 20% of TV sets shipped in Europe this year will have internet connectivity, according to Futuresource Consulting.
DIFF MUHR AWARDS RECOGNISE TOP FILMMAKING TALENT
Some of the DIFF 2009 Muhr award winners: Zeina Daccache for best Arab documentary, Bassam Ali Jarbawi for short film and dirececec tor Mohammad Aldhahri, winner of the short film award and Fiprisci Prize with DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma (national dress).
The sixth edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) concluded last year with a glittering award ceremony that honoured the finest acting and cinematic talent from the Arab world, Asia and Africa at the Muhr Arab and Muhr AsiaAfrica awards. In all, 28 prizes were distributed for excellence in acting, cinematography, editing, music and scriptwriting in addition to the jury general excellence awards. DIFF received entries from more than 62 nations across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia and Europe in the documentary, short film and feature film categories. More than 900 entries from the Arab world, Asia and Africa competed for US$575,000 in prize money. The Muhr Arab competition, open to directors of Arab nationality or origin, drew around 437 entries, while the Muhr AsiaAfrica competition, currently in its second year, received more than 513 entries. The winners of ‘Movies in Motion’, a pan-Arab talent contest for budding filmmakers in the Middle East, organised by MBC, were also awarded. The third prize winner was Diab Ghazi; the second prize went to Dani Hasecic and the first prize was won by Mohammed Al Badri. Ouail Mohammed won
the People’s Choice Award in the two-minute two minute movie competition, which received 550 entries. The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the foremost body of film writers, academics and critics from more 60 countries, presents the annual ‘Prize of the International Critics’ for Arab films screened at DIFF. The winner of the award for the best feature film in the Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema went to Merzak Allouache for Harragas (Algeria). FIPRESCI’s award for best shorts in Muhr Arab Awards was clinched by Mohammad Aldhahri for Shrouq/Ghroub (Sunrise/Sunset - KSA). The People Choice Award for 2009 was clinched by Zeina Daccache for the documentary 12 Angry Lebanese. Emirati talent was highlighted at DIFF when three awards were presented at the closing ceremony. The prize for Best Emirati talent went to Mohammed Hassan Ahmad; the Most Promising Emirati female filmmaker was Manal Bin Amro and Most Promising Emirati filmmaker was Nawaf Al Janahi. For a list of all the winners, go to www.digitalproductionme.com/article-2117-diff-muhr-awards-recognisetop-filmmaking-talent/
THE RIYADH MEDIA AND MULTIMEDIA MULTIME SHOW IN PICS
TThe Riyadh Media and Multimedia Technology Show that was held in Saudi Arabia from December 6 to 9 attracted 51 exhibitors from across the Mdidle East.
6 JANUARY 2010
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NEWS REGIONAL UPDATE
IN BRIEF SONY TO CLOSE VIDECONFER ENCING BIZ ONLY IN EUROPE Top officials at Sony Corporation have addressed a report published by US-based market analyst Wainhouse Research that claimed the manufacturer planned to abandon its videoconferencing business in the Europe and Middle East markets. “This information is only partially true,” Masahiro Soga, senior GM, marketing division, B2B solutions Business Group, Sony Corporation, told Digital Studio. “We have not seen much interest for these products only in the European market so we will discontinue the range in this sector by the middle of next year,” he stated. Takashi Miura, GM of Sony Professional Solutions ME, clarified, however, that the videoconferencing business in the Middle East will not be discontinued. “In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) sector, we will continue to roll out this line as it has been profitable in the region,” he confirmed.
VITAL STATS
$200m is the capital available as part of an international film fund launched by Al Hashemi Group in Qatar.
SAUDI ARABIA TO LAUNCH FOUR NEW CHANNELS Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) has announced that four new TV channels will be launched from the Kingdom at the start of the new Hijra year. Two of these channels will focus on the Holy Quran and Sunnah and be broadcast from the holy cities of Mecca and Medinah, Abdul Aziz Khoja, minister of Culture and Information announced. He commented that the two channels “are a gift from King Abdullah [Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques] to the Islamic world”. The other two channels will focus on economic and cultural issues. The former will seek to highlight Saudi Arabia’s position as one of the largest producers and exporters of oil while the latter will look to bridge the cultural gap between the Kingdom and international players. Five new private FM radio stations are also scheduled to launch this year from the Kingdom.
Dr. Riyadh Najm of Saudi MOCI stated that qualifying organisations would be contacted soon.
Saudi’s Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) has shortlisted 15 companies for five licenses. Dr. Riyad Najm, assistant deputy minister for engineering at the MOCI, commented that selected companies would be asked to make their offers for the next phase of the qualification process.
MARQUIS BROADCAST TO HOST SEMINAR IN DUBAI Marquis Broadcast will host its next Broadcast Forum Technology seminar titled Cost-Effective Multiplatform Delivery along with Omneon, Blue Order and Grab Networks in Dubai on February 2. The event will demonstrate to attendees how to integrate digital solutions to create efficient and profitable multi-platform broadcast workflows from ingest through to distribution. Guest speaker Norbert Funk, broadcast media consultant and owner of Vision 5 Media, will discuss multiplatform integration from an independent viewpoint, and provide feedback detailing real experiences of a
variety of companies that have recently migrated to digital processes. He will also illustrate how efficient digital workflows have been achieved despite additional challenges presented by HD technology, Dolby 5.1 and higher data rates. “This seminar offers an opportunity for broadcast professionals looking to migrate to new digital workflows or for those interested in expanding their existing digital technology to encompass enterprisewide business workflows,” commented Granby Patrick, technology director of Marquis Broadcast.
WORKSHOP ON THE WEISSCAM M HS HS22 HOSTED BY AMARANTHINE
Aki Schirmer at the demo.
Fariborz Kamrani (left), MD of Ama ranthine with technical director, Shahram Aderangui.
Dubai-based distributor of P+S Technik cams, s Amaranthine recently held a workshop at its facility in n Dubai to train tr t DoPs and cameramen in the region on the manufacturer’s new Weisscam HS-2 camera. Aki Schirmer, a representative from P+S Technik was at the event to train industry pros on the new Weisscam HS-2. Amaranthine’s MD Fariborz Kamrani and technical manager, Shahram Aderangui, were also available to answer any queries.
8 JANUARY 2010
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NEWS REGIONAL UPDATE
IN BRIEF
Mohannad Bakri with Shivani Pand
ya.
DIFF & JORDAN’S RFC INK DEAL Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and the Royal Film Commission (RFC) of Jordan have signed a formal agreement to promote filmmaking links between the two organisations. As part of the first collaborative deal between the two organisations, four screenwriter graduates from Rawi – The Middle East Screenwriters Lab, an RFC programme undertaken in conjunction with Sundance Institute – have been selected to attend Dubai Film Connection to develop their projects further and network with the industry. DIFF MD Shivani Pandya commented that both organisations “share the same goals of promoting filmmaking from the Arab world, and the partnership will further lend impetus to achieving our objectives”. “This partnership will enable sharing creative ideas, and enhancing chances for further infrastructure and financial support.” Mohannad Bakri, RFC’s capacity building manager commented that the two organisations have worked on several initiatives in the past although this is the first time they have formally inked a deal.
VITAL STATS 3100
screenings were made for industry buyers at the Dubai Film Market at the 6th edition of DIFF.
10 JANUARY 2010
DIFF CONFIRMS NEW ARAB FILM DISTRO INITIATIVE A part of its efforts to give greater visibility to As Arab cinema, Dubai International Film Festival has A partnered with two Dubai-based companies, Front p Row Filmed Entertainment and The Picturehouse, the R aarthouse cinema at Reel Cinemas in Dubai Mall. The partnership will see DIFF identify eight feature length films or documentaries from past and present le eeditions of the festival for distribution on DVD. Some of those movies will also be screened for a period of o ttwo weeks at The Picturehouse. The inaugural DVD that will be brought out as part of this partnership will be Le Grand Voyage, the opening gala of the first-ever DIFF in 2004. The DVD will be distributed through Virgin Megastores across the Middle East. “Eighty percent of the entries at DIFF from the Arab world this year were made on 35 mm,” explains Masoud Amralla Al Ali, artistic director of DIFF. “We rarely get to see films made in the Arab world, especially Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and so on outside of the festival circuit. They do not get the kind of visibility that Hollywood or Bollywood movies get although some of these Arab directors have a history in cinema with more than 10 to 20 feature films to
Shivani Pandya (l) with chairperson Abdulh Abdulhamid hhamid amid Juma (r) (r), and Ali Mostafa (2nd pic) pic), the first Emirati filmmaker to have had a gala screening of his film at DIFF ‘09.
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan led the Cultural ral Bridge pro programme gramme at DIFF this year year.
their credit. Unfortunately, no one knows about them because their movies are only seen at festivals. We now want to give greater visibility to those films and bring them to the public eye so that there is greater mass appreciation. We are starting this partnership in Dubai but hope to strike deals with partners in other regions as well,” he added. Shivani Pandya, managing director of DIFF stressed that the DVD distribution was independent of the theatrical releases. “By February 2010, we hope to identify eight films that will be distributed on DVD. Some of these features and documentaries will be shown at Reel Cinemas as part of our agreement with The Picturehouse but the DVD distribution and the theatrical releases are independent of each other.” She added that these partnerships were “an extension of DIFF’s commitment to ensure that our goal of creating a strong platform for regional filmmaking is supported by year-long tangible initiatives”. Gianluca Chacra, MD of Front Row, added that the screenings will currently be for features shot on 35 mm only as footage shot on digital format create technical difficulties in the event of censorship issues.
PALESTINIAN COPRODUCTION WINS NS DIFF AWARD A Palestinian-UK co-production has taken out this year’s US$25,000 Desert Door DIFF Work in Progress Award. Zindeeq, directed by Michel Khleifi and produced by Omar All Qattan, tells the story of an exiled Palestinian filmmaker who returns home to face his fears. The production house will spon-sor three more such awards at the next three editions of DIFF. Mohammed Kateeb, GM and MD of Desert Door Productions, said the award aimed to “encourage talented Arab filmmakers”.
i and Masoud Amralla Al Ali flanked by director Khleif
Zindeeq. producer Al Qattan with the Muhr award for
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NEWS REGIONAL UPDATE
MOVERS & SHAKERS
WATAN TV, KUWAIT Ihab El Baba has resigned from Kuwait-based Watan TV and moved to Alif Alif, a new Saudibacked channel that will be based in Dubai Studio City. As CTO of Alif Alif, El Baba will head the technical team and be responsible for the operations of the channel.
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ALL DAFRAH TV TV, ABU DHAB DHABI Graham Day has resigned his post as group consultant at Al Dafrah TV in Abu Dhabi. Day oversaw a state-of-the-art HD installation for the Abu Dhabi Group, which has a full HD studio based in Dubai Studio City. Day will return to Dubai in the New Year and will look to pursue new 1080p HD or 3D projects in the Middle East.
RROYAL FILM COMMISSION, JORDAN GGeorge David, former deputy general manager of the Royal Film Commission m of Jordan (RFC), has been promoted to general manager. ge David, who graduated with a degree in film production from California State University – Northridge, headed St the organisation’s production department for several years and has th also worked on many film and television projects in the United States al and Jordan. an “The RFC provides production services for local and international cinema aand television projects,” commented David. an “It also provides training workshops in all fields of filmmaking and organises screenings all over the Kingdom. I hope to help develop the organisation further,” he added. RFC recently established a film house, the first of its kind in Jordan. The film house hosts regular workshops, seminars and film screenings in the Kingdom. It includes a film library, an editing room and an equipment bank that loans cameras, sound-recording and lighting equipment to filmmakers in the country.
JANUARY 2010 11
NEWS DPME.COM
MOST READ DS NEWS STORIES:
1
SAUDI TV LICENSES FIRST INTERNATIONAL FORMAT Saudi TV has purchased the rights to develop a local version of the Dragon’s Den show. This is the first time the state broadcaster has purchased the rights to an international format. The show has been licensed by Sony Pictures Television via Saudi TV’s partner, Creative Edge International, with production scheduled to begin this month. The series will be on-air in February with a 26-episode run.
The programme sees five business leaders – the dragons – grill contestants over their frequently unconventional moneymaking schemes, opting to invest in the ideas that they feel could be successful, and slating those that are less so. Creative Edge has revealed that all five of the local version’s dragons have been selected from within Saudi Arabia and include one female representative.
2 3 4 5
Top 10 broadcast installations of 2009 Google’s iPhone killer breaks cover DIFF confirms new Arab distro initiative (pic above) Top 5 Middle East AV projects of 2009 DIFF Muhr Awards recognise top filmmaking talent
EDITOR’S CHOICES IN PICTURES
TECHNOLOGY
DIFF 2009
MIDDLE EAST’S TOP 10
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VIDEO
TECHNOLOGY
FINANCING FILMS
TOP FIVE AV PROJECTS
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Memorable images from this year’s film festival
Arab filmmakers debate the impact of the recession on the industry
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Showcasing the best broadcast projects of 2009
Sound & Stage looks at some of the top AV installations in 2009
JANUARY 2010 13
COVER STORY A TALE FROM BEIRUT
A TALE FROM BEIRUT 14 JANUARY 2010
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COVER STORY A TALE FROM BEIRUT
Vijaya Cherian goes behind the scenes of a documentary shoot in Beirut Independent filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour recently embarked on an experimental journey with the production of a documentary on his 83-year-old grandmother, a feisty old Lebanese woman, who has outlived all her neighbours in the old neighborhood of Hamad in Beirut. The documentary, titled Teta, Alf Marra (Grandmother, a 1000 Times) revolves around Hajje Kaabour, who has lived a long and rich life but is now lonely. She rarely leaves her house anymore and often reminisces about the times she spent with her famous violinist husband, Mahmoud Kaabour (Sr.), who passed away 20 years ago. Filmmaker Kaabour is no newcomer to documentaries. Four years ago, the Lebanese filmmaker made headlines when he produced a documentary entitled Being Osama, a look at how life changed for some Arabs with the name of Osama in Canada post 9/11. Since then, he has worked on several corporate videos and TVCs, and presently runs a production house based in twofour54, Abu Dhabi. Teta, Alf Marra, however, is a more personal journey that makes its filming a lot more challenging, says Kaabour. “Teta chronicles my grandmother in the minutest details of her everyday life in a flat, where generations have come and gone. We film her hanging her laundry, making a sheesha, and gossiping with other veiled ladies across balconies,” explains Kaabour. “On a superficial level, she seems to be physically captive in a flat of ancient architecture, outside Beirut’s present. But in the course of our interviews with her, we gradually unravel a much larger world filled with unique routines memories that invoke loved ones all around and m her,” he adds. As the t old lady tells the stories of her husband, Mahmoud Kaabour (Sr.) and his travels to Mahm Palestine and Egypt to perform with divas like Palesti Umm Koulthoum and Sabah, she also simultanestories of her grandson, Mahmoud ously shares s Kaabour (the filmmaker). She talks of his upbringKaabo ing in tthe local neighbourhood and his love for cinema that compelled him to move to Canada, cinem where he lived for seven years, before returning
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Filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour looks out of the balcony with the DoP behind him (top pic) and second, Grandma Kaabour, the protagonist of the documentary.
to the UAE, where he was raised. The stories of the two men intertwine and at some point, grandfather and grandson merge into a single “Mahmoud” and are accompanied by poetic visuals of the latter playing the former in parts of the B-roll: posing in his room, playing his violin, and sometimes, wearing his old hat. Grandma Kaabour also breaks the illusions of cinema throughout the film, according to the filmmaker. “She often talks directly to the camera woman about her beautiful face and stops in between interviews to ask for retakes. While her stories alone recreate an entire city that is now no more, her unabashed Beiruti character often pulls the attention back to herself,” he says. Grandmother Kaabour is filmed haggling over the price of potatoes with street vendors from her balcony and lifting up her purchase with a basket and a rope. She also has enough clout to get the owner of the aluminum welding store below her house to shut down for an hour whenever she feels like a nap. What makes the production of this documentary unique is that it is not time bound. As a result, the filmmaker feels there is greater liberty and flexibility to experiment with the documentary genre. However, dealing with a conservative Arab lady also brought with it several challenges. On the one hand, an all-woman team was required to undertake the shoot. “On a typical shoot for this film, we have had three people – an all woman crew comprising a lighting assistant, a DoP and a sound engineer,” explains Kaabour. “I’m working with Muriel Aboul Rouss, an award-winning DoP from Lebanon for this film. As a women, she’s able to interact with my conservative grandmother in a very unique way.” Like most other independent filmmakers, Kaabour has also had to keep his budget low. This meant working with entry level cameras rather than going for high-end options. “In my opinion, any camera can be used to serve a story,” justifies Kaabour. “We started with the Sony Z7 because it met the requirements of this shoot. We also have an adapter so we can use digital beta zoom lens on the Z7. This gave us more margins for close-ups and less depth than the usual Z7 lens or video cameras would generally,” explains Kaabour. JANUARY 2010 15
COVER STORY A TALE FROM BEIRUT
DOCO TITLE
TETA, ALF MARRA
BUDGET
US $150,000
However, the filmmaker’s company Veritas films recently acquired the PMW-EX3, which he plans to use for the rest of the shoot. “I believe it’s the best HDV camera I have used so far along with the Panasonic HVX200. It’s a great toy in that it has better lens, better image resolution and many options in the menu that allow us to get the image we want without relying heavily on post. We hope to continue the rest of the shoot for the documentary with this camera,” Kaabour says. Although shooting in Beirut was not difficult, DoP Rouss confesses that filming a very old person meant adopting different measures in terms of lighting. “Beirut is both a beautiful and an ugly city that I am very attached to so I did not have any trouble shooting there. The bigger challenge was dealing with the subject,” explains Rouss. “We had discussed Teta in great detail. As an old woman, any upfront lighting would not just have annoyed her, it would also have made her lose her spontaneity. Therefore, we agreed to keep the lighting minimal and as natural as possible. As a backup, we had a sungun (a spot that works well on battery and power) and a Kinoflo although we didn’t use this,” she explains. Kaabour adds that the natural lighting 16 JANUARY 2010
The team preferred to shoot in natural light to ensure less reliance on electricity in Beirut, where power outages are common.
approach worked in the team’s favour as appr they we were less dependent on electricity in Beirut, where power outages are a common phenomenon. “We were still able to shoot during an outage
that we are shooting in the first week of January and this is not common in documentaries. I’m going to interview my grandmother in her favourite chair in her room but we are going to pitch a green screen behind her. On that green
Filmmaking as an art form ... is at a pivotal change and people ... [will] go back to having that very intimate connection with the projects they are making as opposed to being separated from what they are doing by layers of producers and crews ... — Mahmoud Kaabour, independent filmmaker as long as we didn’t need artificial ‘fill’ lights. Such scenes we had to leave till later. Paradoxically, whenever power returned in Beirut, we had to deal with noise. Shops reopening … TV sets coming to life … noises erupted from every direction. I have long accepted that the noise of the Hamad neighborhood will be part of the film’s ambience; yet we still had to make sure to record samples of all the noises in the back of the dialogue, for our sound edit. And such noises were numerous,” explains Kaabour. As the documentary has no specific deadline and is not looking to enter any film festivals soon, Kaabour has exploited the opportunity to experiment with the form. “We have been experimenting with one idea
screen, you will see the usual background, which is a curtain in her living room but depending on how the conversation goes, the green screen will help bring the world to her home. We’re going to start seeing Beirut in the 60s as a background, and then, her and my late grandfather in some flash back. Then we will flash forward on the screen to some of the things we will potentially film without her years later. So I’m going to be interviewing her about some things she imagines about the future and on the green screen, I hope to project some of that. This is possible if you have a film you can keep in production over a long period of time,” explains Kaabour. Although the ending is presently open ended, the team is clear about the rest of the project.
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COVER STORY A TALE FROM BEIRUT
For instance, Kaabour believes he will have all the material by June 2001. “It is still open ended for now. I don’t know if we want to go for the usual poetic ending. However, I would like to revisit this film and her home after my grandmother passes away,” explains Kaabour. The filmmaker anticipates that the team will have a total of 50 hours of footage at the end of the shoot. “50 hours is not that much. Being Osama had around 100,” says Kaabour. The team is also presently scouting for an Arabic-speaking editor to edit the documentary. “We need an Arabic-speaking editor who can weave all of this together into a piece that is not in chronological order. I’m too involved to be able to see it objectively or do justice to it,” Kaabour says. Thus far, the filmmaker, has put aside a small portion of his income from each of the projects he has worked on to do this documentary and estimates that he should be able to complete it with a total budget of US $150,000 . However, he also points out that documentary making will return to smaller budgets with
18 JANUARY 2010
Mahmoud Kaabour with his all-woman team at the filming of Teta, Alf Marra.
the th current economic situation. “In the last couple of years, everyone has been talking co about millions and shoots that required huge ab crews and infrastructure. However, it might be a long time before the world went back to that mode again. Filmmaking as an art form and as a medium is at a pivotal change and people will have to go back to the old method of filmmaking. It will inspire people to go out and make it on their own. It doesn’t mean that everything will w look low budget but people will go back to t having that very intimate connection with the t projects they are making as opposed to being separated from what they are doing by b layers of producers and crews and multiple la intermediaries, which is quite exciting bein cause even if the final product may not look ca like lik a million dollars, the content is probably going go to be very inspiring,” Kaabour adds. The film’s soundtrack will be compiled from violin vio improvisations recorded on audiocassettes set by Mahmoud Kaabour (Sr.) in his home between 1980-1988 and remastered in Monbet treal trea in 2004.
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CASE STUDY AL IKHBARIYA, KSA
AL IKHBARIYA TAKES THE AVID ROUTE Saudi TV’s Al Ikhbariya news channel enters 2010 with a brand new HD news studio and a multi-million dollar Avid installation. Vijaya Cherian reports. Saudi TV’s Al Ikhbariya news channel recently completed a multi-million dollar installation that included putting together a brand new six-camera HD news studio as well as undertaking a turnkey Avid installation to streamline its newsroom operations. Systems integration for the project was undertaken by Saudi SI, First Gulf Company. “What we have today at Al Ikhbariya is state-of-the-art and easily rivals some of the best newsrooms in the Middle East,” claims Abdalrahman Mohammed Sahelly, assistant 20 JANUARY 2010
of general director for production and technical affairs, Al Ikhbariya news channel. With the addition of the new six-camera studio, which was designed by FGC in conjunction with a German company, Al Ikhbariya now has a total of three studios that support HD and are linked together. The new studio is equipped with Hitachi 720p cameras, the Studer Vista audio console and a seamless back projection solution from Christie that allows the channel to use it as a single screen or multiple screen based on its needs. The studio is equipped
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CASE STUDY AL IKHBARIYA, KSA
Al Ikhbariya’s new six-camera studio.
CLIENT
AL IKHBARIY A NEWS CHANNEL, K SA
SI
Sahelly is the assistant of the general director for production and technical affairs at Al Ikhbariya news. ws.
with six cameras on the floor and a seventh is fitted on a crane. It boasts two sets including one for news and the other for business. Interestingly, the newsroom is located within the new news studio at the back of the presenter and includes 36 LCDs for monitoring content from different sources. At the newsroom, Al Ikhbariya now has the latest version (v2.8) of the Avid iNews system and will be able to upgrade freeof-charge to the next version that will be released soon. The project includes the installation of several additional solutions from the manufacturer that help provide an efficient, tapeless workflow while also placing greater content and editing control in
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FIRST GULF COMPANY, K SA
KEY INSTALL S
AVID US VIZRT US $ $2 MILLION 1.32 MILLIO N
the hands off the channel’s ’s journalists. “We have acquired around nd 60 licences for Avid iNews, ws, of which about 35 to 40 are used by journalists rnalists and the rest are used by producers, the management and so on. We primarily required a system that would allow all the content to be recorded onto the server so that the journalists or editors could then edit everything straight from the server. This solution allows us to do that effortlessly and enables the journalist to operate independently,” explains Sahelly. A significant element of this project is the
JANUARY 2010 21
CASE STUDY AL IKHBARIYA, KSA
Avid ISIS, which presently has a capacity of 64 terabytes for centralised storage and can be expanded in the future. The ISIS is a turnkey solution that connects all the different solutions including the iNews and the graphics. Besides this, Al Ikhbariya has installed four Avid Newscutters in addition to the four it had. It has also installed six of Avid’s new Airspeed Multi Stream solutions at the channel. Four of these Avid Airspeed Multi Streams ingest directly to the ISIS centralised storage system while two more Airspeed Multi Stream solutions have been included in two of Al Ikhbariya’s studios for playout. Together, the four Airspeed Multi Streams currently offer eight ingest channels for SD signals. However, when Al Ikhbariya switches entirely to HD, the Airspeed Multi Stream will be able to support double the number of ingest channels, claims Mounzer Bechara, sales manager for Avid Middle East.
22 JANUARY 2010
Al Ikhbariya has deployed six Avid Airspeed Multi Stream solutions at its facility.
“When you switch to HD, the same Airspeed Multi Stream offers the end user double the number of ingest channels. This is unique to Avid. With other manufacturers, when you switch to HD, the number of ingest channels supported by their systems will be cut by half,” Bechara says. The workflow at al Ikhbariya begins with all the content, whether news feeds, agency material or data from other sources being ingested directly to the ISIS. Once the material is ingested, it is ready for all the clients including the Media Composer, News Cutter and Instinct to edit. Al Ikhbariya news channel has acquired 20 licences for Avid Instinct as part of the new project. “The Avid Instinct will allow the journalists at Al Ikhbariya to edit the stories, record the voice over etc. and make it ready to go on air,” explains Sahelly. “The Instinct, in turn, communicates with the iNews and the ISIS.” Once the editing is completed, any
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CASE STUDY AL IKHBARIYA, KSA
At the heart of the Avid solution is its Interplay media management system, which also links the news to Saudi TV’s newly-commissioned archiving project.
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authorised person at the channel can send the material to playout from any of the desktops in the newsroom. “One command will control the server, the graphics as well as the teleprompter,” explains Avid’s Bechara. At the heart of the Avid workflow is the manufacturer’s Interplay media management system, on which all the other solutions run. Interestingly, this media management system also allows Saudi TV to link its news to its newly-commissioned archiving project. The news channel is now undertaking another key multi-million dollar installation with Vizrt. The graphics solution will be integrated with Avid. “This will allow the journalists to sit at their desktops and edit their videos as well as make their own CGs and graphics,” explains Sahelly. More than 40 journalists and producers are presently being trained to use the Avid system at Saudi TV.
JANUARY 2010 23
SPECIAL REPORT CINEPOST, EGYPT
ADDING LUSTRE TO
EGYPTIAN FILMS Cinepost enhances workflows for DI and RED in Egypt. Digital Studio reports. Egyptian post production house Cinepost, one of the first in the country to provide a digital intermediate workflow, recently upgraded its Autodesk solutions to enhance its DI offerings as well as provide more efficient post production services to Red camera users. The post house, owned by Hany Halim, who is also technical director at Cinepost, is one of the first in Egypt to have provided DI services as early as 2008. “Egypt is at the heart of the Middle East film industry, but DI is still very new to the country,” says Halim, a keen Autodesk user, with Lustre, Smoke, Flame, Maya 3D animation and Apple Final Cut Pro being the key solutions at his facility. “Until a year ago, we used to send all our scanning, printing and grading work to London. But since founding Cinepost, we’ve done the DI for ten feature films in just ten months,” he claims. When Halim upgraded his solutions, he had two objectives in mind. Firstly, he needed to enhance his DI workflow; secondly, he was also keen to provide sophisticated and efficient post production solutions for RED ONE users. In fact, the company also invested in a RED camera last April. “We are one of the first to introduce the Egyptian film and video industries to the RED camera,” claims Halim. “Since we bought the RED camera, we have been renting it out at least once a week. The RED is very new to Egypt but it’s already proving very popular for shooting commercials and music videos because it offers very good quality. We’re also trying to get it into the feature film market,” he adds. Adopting the latest version of Lustre, which supports REDCODE RAW, had its benefits. 24 JANUARY 2010
eBfore and after images from aFwzya and nOe-eZro
, two films Cinepost work ed on.
“Prior to this, Cinepost had two different workflows for working with RED files. We would edit QuickTime proxies from the camera and then calibrate these edited files with Lustre or we’d use Lustre like a telecine machine and grade all the footage before doing the editing and visual effects,” says Halim. “With the latest version of Lustre, we can read the files directly from the RED camera, which provides major time savings. A commercial with about 300GB of 4K material would take about two days to transform into DPX files. Now, we can start grading as soon as we get the RED files in,” he claims. Besides grading several commercials and music promos shot on the RED camera, Cinepost also used Lustre late last year to grade The Shoemaker, a short film shot on the RED by Aahed Saleh, a Saudi Arabian director who lives in New York. The short focuses on the life and relationships of an Iraqi shoemaker after his release from Abu Ghraib prison where he was held during the US invasion. ”From XML EDL files, certain shots were selected to be conformed and graded in Lustre, which included relighting footage shots in the middle of the day to make it look like the sun was going down in the evening,” explains Halim. Providing benefits for the RED camera, of course, was secondary. Using its newly upgraded range of applications meant that Cinepost was able to streamline its DI workflow and provide a more efficient post production service to clients, explains Halim. “The biggest challenge the company faces across all its DI projects is time. We usually have a maximum of ten days, but often less than that. By using Smoke for finishing and visual effects while grading at the same time with
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SPECIAL REPORT CINEPOST, EGYPT
Cinepost’s owner and technical director, Hany Halim, (below right) claims that he is able to offer a more efficient DI workflow with the help of Lustre.
Lustre, we save a lot of time. This has saved the day many times!” Cinepost raked in the benefits for the first time when working on Asef Ala Al Izaag (Sorry For The Disturbance), a comedy-drama by Khaled Marei about a troubled young aviation engineer (Ahmed Helmi) who starts dating a beautiful girl (Menna Shalabi), only to have his life turned upside down when he finds out he’s suffering from schizophrenia and has been hallucinating about his late father and girlfriend. “The film was shot in Egypt using lenses which gave it a warm look,” explains Halim. “We used Lustre to enhance the warm feel throughout most of the film, and to create a colder look for the end of the film when the main character takes his medication.” Cinepost had just six days to complete the grade, and the film went on to be a major success at both film festivals and the box office, claims Halim. “It was one of the two highest grossing films in Egypt and won first prize at the Egyptian National Film Festival. It also took home Best Film, Best Director, Best Script and Best Produc26 JANUARY 2010
tion at the Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival,” he adds. Lustre was also put to the test on a particularly challenging scene in the recently released One Zero. Directed by Kamla Abu Zikri, the film has several sub-plots about different characters from various walks of life, brought together by the 2008 African Cup of Nations final between Egypt and Cameroon. A dinner scene had been shot in daylight so Cinepost was tasked with making it look like night time. “We usually use Smoke to create masks to use in Lustre, but for this we created the masks in the latter,” says Halim. “We had to mask most of the people sitting at the table, and after spending two days on the scene, you can no longer tell that it was shot in daylight.” Halim claims clients were initially sceptical that an Egyptian facility could create the same quality of work as European facilities. “Most clients couldn’t believe that what they saw on the monitor could be reproduced on the big screen. But once they saw the end result, they were very happy with the quality they got in Egypt.”
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LOCATIONS ABU DHABI
RECCE IN ABU DHABI Little is known about some of the key locales for shooting in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Digital Studio goes location scouting.
AL AIN OASIS Al Ain Oasis is a huge big date palm oasis divided into numerous sections for date farming. It is owned by various sheikhs and other nationals. All the plantations in the oasis are walled off and irrigated by falaj, an ancient irrigation system of narrow waterways that was first used as early as 1000BC. The water for this comes from the mountains about 30 kms away. The city, due to its fertility, was an important part of the ancient trading routes.
AL AIN MUSEUM The discovery of a Bronze Age site on the Island of Umm an Nar and the excavations at other archaeological sites in the eastern region of Abu Dhabi some 45 years ago, led Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi, to establish this museum. A must-visit.
AL JAHILI FORT Al Jahili Fort, one of the largest forts in the country, is a symbol of power and control, as well as a royal summer residence. Work on the fort began in 1891 under Sheikh Zayed the First and was completed in 1898. After the death of Sheikh Zayed in 1909, his elder son Sheikh Khalifa continued to live in the fort with his family and farm the area. In the early 1950s, British forces came to Al Ain and requisitioned the fort as a base for a unit of the Trucial Oman Levies. Barracks and other buildings were added within a new enclosure which incorporated the earlier fort and tower. The original part of Al Jahili Fort consists of two buildings, a square fort and a separate round tower composed of four concentric tiers.
28 JANUARY 2010
The design of this round tower may reflect an ancient tradition of fortification in Al Ain, for a circular tower of similar construction, excavated at Hili some ten kms away, dates back to the third millennium BC. Attached to the square fort is a mosque which has recently been restored. In 2007-2008, Al Jahili Fort underwent an ambitious rehabilitation project implemented by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). Today, it is one of the most beautiful spots for open-air concerts. The inner courtyard offers up to 450 visitors an atmospheric setting for chamber music; seating at the large stage is provided for some 3000 concert goers.
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LOCATIONS ABU DHABI
LIWA DESERT
JEBEL HAFEET
The Liwa area, which lies on the outskirts of Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) is the biggest sand desert in the world that stretches between Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the UAE for a hundred thousand square miles. It boasts some of the most challenging sand dunes in the Middle East.
Jebel Hafeet is a mountain located on the outskirts of Al Ain. The mountain actually straddles part of the border with Oman. It rises 1240 metres and offers an impressive view of the city. Jebel Hafeet was a well-known landmark throughout the area’s history and is a contemporary tourist attraction. An extensive natural cave system winds through Jebel Hafeet. The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road extends for 7.3 mi (11.7 km) up the mountain, rising 4000 ft (1219 m). With 21 corners and three lanes, the immaculate road was called the greatest driving road in the world by Edmunds.com. The road scales the mountain and ends at a parking lot with only a hotel and a palace belonging to the country’s rulers. Part of the Climax of the Bollywood film Race was shot in the Jabel Hafeet mountain. Built by Strabag International Cologne,Germany, Jebel Hafeet Road poses a challenge for cyclists who frequently go there to train.
YAS ISLAND SHEIKH ZAYED MOSQUE Sheikh Zayed Mosque is the largest mosque in the UAE and the eighth largest in the world. The design of the mosque has been inspired by Mughal and Moorish mosque architecture, the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca being direct influences. The Mosque can accommodate 40,000 worshippers.
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Yas Island, the site of a US$36 billion development project, occupies a total land area of 2,500 hectares, of which 1,700 hectares will be claimed for development. The island hosts the Yas Island Circuit, which is the size of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009. It will feature several attractions such as Warner Bros Movie World, a movie theme park, the Ferrari theme park, hotels and more in the future. Yas Island was named the world’s leading tourism project at the World Travel Awards in November 2009.
JANUARY 2010 29
INDUSTRY FOCUS ON-AIR GRAPHICS
GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING The cost and complexity of designing HD and SD graphics simultaneously has been reduced significantly thanks to open platforms. Chyron’s Phil Carmichael explains. There are many benefits to installing a good on-air graphics system, such as speed and ease of operation as well as the ability to read different industry graphics formats from other platforms. But the bottom line is that it’s never been more important than now for broadcasters to produce the highest quality graphics for both channel branding and programme information purposes. When a broadcaster is shopping around for an on-air graphics system, integration with current and future on-air graphics requirements is a must. This, together with the ability to expand storage, the price of storage expansion and ease of media management and backup management satisfies the majority of requirements. 30 JANUARY 2010
With the advent of High Definition, it’s no surprise that many broadcasters are looking to incorporate HD graphics capabilities. The cost and complexity gap between HD and SD graphics has been narrowed to the point that it is no longer difficult to obtain a cost-effective system to produce both HD and SD graphics. That has been true for a while with routers, distribution and cameras. It now applies to graphics as well. The key to this performance jump has been the transition, industry wide, to software-based character generators and graphics running on high-performance open platforms. The benefits of an open platform are clear. First, there is no longer the need for expensive custom hardware that was typical of the last generation of graphics products. This
speeds the time to market and lowers the cost to the end-user. The other major benefit is that the open platforms are growing in performance at a tremendous rate. The next generation of GPU, CPU, storage technology or data bus have improved system performance at a rate much faster than the broadcast industry has experienced in the past. Remote production trucks are being built with HD-ready infrastructure, and in many cases, that now includes the graphics equipment. Much of the graphics produced today for HD sports production, for example, is still upconverted from SD, because oldergeneration HD graphics equipment had severe performance limitations in terms of animation and speed compared to SD.
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INDUSTRY FOCUS ON-AIR GRAPHICS
Most broadcasters agree that degrading the resolution by upconverting was less objectionable than degrading the look of the graphics by attempting to render in HD. With today’s new generation of equipment, that is no longer a problem. Some broadcasters may use a character generator plug-in to carry out offline work using a nonlinear editor; character and graphics generation is performed by the software plug-in. Many of the NLEs in the market now use open PC platforms, so they too have made a fast transition to HD, and there are many powerful and inexpensive systems available. Having said that, it is important that the plug-in is resolution-independent so that it can operate over a wide range of HD and SD resolutions, and that it can work with many open image file formats. With an increasing number of channels on cable and satellite platforms, channel branding has become an ever-more-important component of broadcasting. It has evolved from a simple stationary logo in the lower right corner of the screen to sophisticated animations, sometimes with sound, running under complex automation control. Quality and high resolution is also important, so upconversion is usually not an option. One advantage here, though, is that branding bugs are usually small, much less than full screen. This simplifies the design and lowers the networking storage requirements considerably. HD files are large, particularly video clips, which are often used as animated backgrounds. Full-resolution, uncompressed RGBA is 250Mbit/s or 0.9 Tbytes/h. This amount of storage is not trivial, even with today’s large drive capacities. In rough figures, it takes three times real time to transfer a clip over Gigabit Ethernet, and users are often finding it faster to “sneaker-net” a firewire drive from one machine to another rather than transferring the files via network. Most programmers these days will find themselves broadcasting in HD and SD simultaneously, which means that they have to create graphics content for both standards; and therefore generally try to avoid having to create every graphic twice. The biggest problem here is not the resolution, since most graphics 32 JANUARY 2010
With more programmes being broadcast in HD and SD simultaneously, programmers have to create graphics content for both standards and here, the challenge is aspect ratio.
applications are resolution-independent and can scale an image up or down easily. The real problem, regardless of whether upconverting or working in native HD, is the difference in aspect ratio. The most popular solution to this problem is to create all the graphics templates in 16:9 with a 4:3 protect. All important information, images and text are kept in a 4:3 area in the centre. Backgrounds, lower-third banners and other similar graphic elements can be extended to the end of the 16:9 area. When displaying in 4:3, the graphics system is programmed to crop the unused side panel area. This matches the technique most commonly used for camera shots that need to be used in both standards. Keep in mind that generating animated computer graphics is a good stress test for an upconverter. If an upconverter allows for ad-
justments, be sure to take the time to optimise it for your graphics, as the settings are often significantly different from a general-purpose scene. Look for spatial and temporal filter artifacts: Up- and down-conversion require digital filtering in order to interpolate the missing data. Spatial filtering causes ringing that is most noticeable around character edges and uniformity of colour problems, which you may see on the character face. Temporal filtering, or motion compensation, can sometimes cause severe artifacts on rolls and crawls, visible as filtering or hanging dots. The ability to produce and transmit programmes is now available to all types of facilities. Armed with the correct information, a broadcaster of any genre can produce outstanding graphics for its viewers. Phil Carmichael is director of Product Marketing at Chyron
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INDUSTRY FOCUS ON-AIR GRAPHICS
TOP ON-AIR GRAPHICS SOLUTIONS Digital Studio reviews some of the key solutions in the market.
WASP3D WASP3D, a major workflow-based interactive 3D broadcast graphics solution, has increasingly gained popularity among Middle East television broadcasters and was recently deployed by Kuwait TV and Lebanon’s Future TV to cover the elections in their respective countries. Perhaps one of the most remarkable features of the 2009 edition of WASP3D is WASPi Mimosa, a touch-screen based application that gives the anchor/ presenter extreme flexibility and total control over the graphics system. Instead of using a mouse, the presenter can use his hands to point, click and create an interaction on the screen. Besides being anchor driven and offering non-linear interactive presentation a touch screen; inbuilt 3D animation and design effects such as refraction, real-time reflection, bump
maps, x-ray textures, real-time cloth are noteworthy features. WASP3D 2009 also comes with a special UBT (Unified Basic Templating) feature that largely helps in speeding up the workflow by allowing graphic artists to create the design interface in the Drone Designer module. The solution supports both High Definition and Standard Definition video formats. In short, WASP3D provides a more intuitive surface for interactive use and provides a rich and engaging solution for viewers. Besides KTV and Future TV, WASP3D has also found favour with Ten Sports (Taj Television), Al Rai, Al Watan, Press TV, Al Baghdadiya, Al Quds, Duniya TV and ARY Network among others. www.wasp3d.com
CHYRON
VIZ CONTENT PILOT 5.3
Chyron’s HyperX3 is a powerful and cost-effective realtime 2D/3D character generator and graphics platform. Driven by Chyron’s Lyric PRO 7 advanced 3D creation and playback application, it includes an advanced feature set of software for easily creating 3D pie charts, bar charts and financial line charts. HyperX3 has power to spare to playout some of the most complicated graphics used in production today. Now, two channels of real-time HD graphics can be played out together, including full frame Quicktime and avi files, further improving ROI and greatly enhancing production flexibility. Three HyperX3 systems were recently installed to handle the graphics requirements of the world’s largest video board plus close to 3000 LCDs throughout American football’s new Dallas Cowboys stadium complex in Arlington, Texas. www.chyron.com
The newest version of Vizrt’s Viz Content Pilot 5.3 templatebased graphics solution comes with significantly expanded features to facilitate the creation of on-air and online graphics in the newsroom. Three new features from Viz Content Pilot 5.3 are noteworthy. A new unified search feature allows users to search, edit and use images, videos and audio clips from both Viz Object Store and Viz Video Hub. The search results can be edited and added to graphic templates for on-air playout or online publication. This feature bridges the gap between traditional graphic workflows and video workflows. Viz Content Pilot 5.3 also comes fully integrated with the Escenic Content Studio 5 online and mobile publishing platform. Graphic elements can be published seamlessly to the web, either as on-demand images or as fully animated, interactive animations. The online editorial staff can share the same graphic templates as the on-air newsroom staff or use web-specific ones. Developed specifically for online publishing workflows, Viz Content Pilot 5.3 features a Vizky-powered preview as an alternative option to the Viz Engine–powered desktop preview. The embedded Vizky preview allows journalists to preview their graphics in real-time as they fill-in the templates and, it allows them to test and experience all of the graphics’ interactive capabilities. Saudi TV’s Al Ikhbariya News is currently undertaking a major Vizrt install at its facility. www.vizrt.com
34 JANUARY 2010
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INDUSTRY FOCUS ON-AIR GRAPHICS
MONARCH INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
PIXEL POWER
Monarch DScript 3D offers a feature rich design system for creation of 3D graphics and animation made exclusively for the broadcast industry. It is a CG Live on-air graphics system that is powerful yet cost effective and comes with a host of new features for the CG platform. It provides a complete graphics solution including a character generator, sequencer and key frame animation editor, subtitler with multiple layer compositing and playout capabilities. Based on GPU processing architecture and DirectX 3D technology, it provides powerful 3D real-time rendering performance. Monarch claims that integrating seamless presentations and graphics for entertaining yet informative programming is very easy. DScript 3D is available in SD and HD variants. Main features include an exclusive main and look-ahead preview channel, multiple-layer compositing and playout, dynamic 3D animation, automatic real-time information updates and powerful text effects. www.monarchinnovative.com
Pixel Power’s BrandMaster combines master control switching with channel branding to raise graphics quality while lowering playout cost. By combining a complete master control switcher with broadcast graphics for channel branding, the playout chain is significantly simplified with graphics able to be injected directly at the point of transmission. With all functionality contained in a single device, the need for additional equipment is eradicated, power consumption is reduced and, therefore, costs are lowered. Available in three versions – BrandMaster, BrandMaster Clips and BrandMaster 3D (all of which support SD and HD) – single channel to complex multichannel playout can be managed allowing broadcasters to create precisely the identity they require for each channel. Control is provided by soft panels with optional touch screen, multi-colour LCD button panels or a dedicated hardware panel. BrandMaster uses an upstream router for cross-point switching and can work with local master control routers or busses on the main station router via serial or TCP/IP Ethernet. Further easing integration, all versions are also plug-and-play compatible with all leading automation systems. Graphics content is managed remotely using the Pixel Power Management Console (PPMC) or Pixel Promo. www.pixelpower.com
WTVISION wTVision primarily focuses on sports production and has solutions for more than 40 different sports. In the Middle East, wTVision Football Stats CG is its most popular product. This complete real-time on-air graphics turnkey product includes a real-time on-air graphics application controller and scouting system, which supported by a graphic platform, allows a TV broadcast to manage autonomously and in real-time an on-air graphics sports broadcast. Key features include real-time statistics with collection of all teams and players actions, an intuitive and fast-working user interface for scouting and on-air graphics playout, creation of real-time statistics reports, real-time monitoring with screenstats users interface and the ability
36 JANUARY 2010
to easily create a personalized look-and-feel for the graphics. Add-ons such as Sports Commentator (statistics and reports are provided in real-time to support TV commentators), Intellistats (cross-data advanced analysis), Sports Manager (centralises, stores and manages all sports’ related data, useful for tournaments) and Design and Creativity of Graphics are available. wTVision also offers a sports on-air graphics full service, which includes graphics look-and-feel implementation, hardware, wTVision software and real-time operation (gathering of statistics data and on-air graphics play-out) during sports events. www.wtvision.com
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TECH UPDATE MICROPHONES
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MIC Understanding and choosing the frequency response and directionality of microphones can improve pickup of desired sound and reduce pickup of unwanted sound. The following guide is designed to help you choose the right mic to achieve both natural sounding recordings and unique sounds for special applications. There are three main considerations when choosing a microphone for recording applications: operating principle, frequency response, and directionality. Operating Principle – A microphone is an example of a transducer, a device which changes energy from one form into another, in this case from acoustic into electrical. The type of transducer is defined by the operating principle. In the current era of recording, the two primary operating principles used in microphone design are the dynamic and the condenser. Dynamic microphone elements are made up of a diaphragm, voice coil, and magnet which form a sound-driven electrical generator. Sound waves m ove the diaphragm/voice coil in a magnetic field to generate the electrical equivalent of the acoustic sound wave. The signal from the dynamic element can be used directly, without the need for additional circuitry. This design is extremely rugged, has good sensitivity and can handle the loudest possible sound pressure levels without distortion. The dynamic has some limitations at extreme high and low frequencies. To compensate, small resonant chambers are often used to extend the frequency range of dynamic microphones. Ribbon microphone elements, a variation of the dynamic microphone operating principle, consist of a thin piece of metal, typically corrugated aluminum, suspended between two magnetic pole pieces. As with moving-coil dynamics, no additional circuitry or powering is necessary for operation. However, the output of ribbon microphones tends to be quite low. Depending on the gain of the mixer or recording device to which the microphone is connected, additional pre-amplification may be neces38 JANUARY 2010
sary. Note that ribbon microphones are not as rugged as moving-coil dynamic microphones. The ribbon element itself is typically no more than a few microns thick, and can be deformed by a strong blast of air, or by blowing into the microphone. Also, phantom power applied to the ribbon microphone could be harmful. Ribbon microphones are highly regarded in studio recording for their “warmth” and good low frequency response. Condenser microphone elements use a conductive diaphragm and an electrically charged backplate to form a sound-sensitive “condenser” (capacitor). Sound waves move the diaphragm in an electric field to create the electrical signal. In order to use this signal from the element, all condensers have active electronic circuitry, (often referred to as the “preamp”) either built into the microphone or in a separate pack. This means that condenser microphones require phantom power or a battery to operate. However, the condenser design allows for smaller mic elements, higher sensitivity and is inherently capable of smooth response across a very wide frequency range. The main limitations of a condenser microphone relate to its electronics. These circuits can handle a specified maximum signal level from the condenser element, so a condenser mic has a maximum sound level before its output starts to be distorted. Some condensers have switchable pads or attenuators between the element and the electronics to allow them to handle higher sound levels. If you hear distortion when using a condenser microphone close to a very loud sound source, first make sure that the mixer input itself is not being overloaded. If not, switch in the attenuator in the mic (if equipped), move the mic farther away, or use a mic that can handle a higher level. In any case, the microphone will not be damaged by excess level. A second side effect of the condenser design
is that it generates a certain amount of self-noise which sounds like a “hiss” when recording very quiet sources at high gain settings. Higher quality condenser mics have very low self-noise. Most modern condenser microphones use solid state components for the internal circuitry, but older designs employed vacuum tubes (also known as “valves”) for this purpose. The subjective qualities imparted by vacuum tube electronics, often described as “warmth” or “smoothness,” have led to a resurgence in the popularity of vacuum tube-based condenser microphones. These sonic advantages come at the expense of higher self-noise and fragility. Vacuum tubes typically have a limited life span, and eventually need to be replaced. Most vacuum tube microphones require an external power supply, as standard 48V phantom power is not sufficient. Some power supplies offer the ability to switch polar patterns remotely on microphones that feature dual-diaphragms Frequency response is the variation in output level or sensitivity of a microphone over its useable range from the lowest to the highest frequency. Virtually all microphone manufacturers will list the frequency response of their microphones as a range, for example 20 - 20,000Hz. A microphone whose response is equal at all frequencies is said to have a “flat” frequency response and these typically have a wide frequency range. Flat response microphones tend to be used to reproduce sound sources without colouring the original source. This is usually desired in reproducing instruments such as acoustic guitars or pianos. It is also common for stereo miking techniques and distant miking techniques. A microphone whose response has peaks or dips in certain frequency areas is said to have a “shaped” response. This response is designed to enhance a frequency range that is specific to a given sound source. A microphone’s response may also be reduced at other frequen-
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TECH UPDATE MICROPHONES
cies. Although dynamic microphones and condenser microphones may have similar published frequency response speciďŹ cations, their sound qualities can be quite dierent. Directionality. This refers to the sensitivity to sound relative to the direction or angle of arrival at the microphone. Directionality is usually plotted on a graph referred to as a polar pattern. The polar pattern shows the variation in sensitivity 360 degrees around the microphone, assuming that the microphone is in the centre and 0 degrees represents the front or on-axis direction of the microphone. There are a number of dierent directional patterns designed into microphones. The three basic patterns are omnidirectional, unidirectional, and bidirectional. The omnidirectional microphone has equal response at all angles. Its “coverageâ€? or pickup angle is a full 360 degrees. The unidirectional microphone is most sensitive to sound arriving from one particular
Curious?
direction and is less sensitive at other directions. The most common type is a cardioid (heartshaped) response. This has full sensitivity at 0 degrees (on-axis) and is least sensitive at 180 degrees (o-axis). Unidirectional mics are used to isolate the desired on-axis sound from unwanted o-axis sound. The bidirectional microphone has full response at both 0 degrees (front) and at 180 degrees (back). It has its least response at the sides. The coverage or pickup angle is only about 90 degrees at the front (or the rear). It has the same amount of ambient pickup as the cardioid. This mic could be used for picking up two sound sources such as two vocalists facing each other. It is also used in certain stereo techniques. OTHER DIRECTIONALRELATED MICROPHONE CHAR ACTERISTICS INCLUDE: Ambient sound sensitivity – Since unidirectional microphones are less sensitive to oaxis sound than omnidirectional types, they
pick up less overall ambient or room sound. Distance factor – Since directional microphones have more rejection of o-axis sound than omnidirectional types, they may be used at greater distances from a sound source and still achieve the same balance between the direct sound and background or ambient sound. O-axis coloration – A mic’s frequency response may not be uniform at all angles. Typically, high frequencies are most aected, which may result in an unnatural sound for o-axis instruments or room ambience. Proximity eect – For most unidirectional types, bass response increases as the mic is moved closer to the sound source. When miking close with unidirectional microphones (less than 1 foot), be aware of proximity eect: it may help to roll o the bass until you obtain a more natural sound. This excerpt is taken from www.shure.com and is based on an extensive guide oered by Shure engineers to mic users.
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JANUARY 2010 39
TECH UPDATE MICROPHONES
DIGITAL STUDIO LOOKS AT SOME KEY MICS IN THE MARKET BEYERDYNAMIC
ELECTROVOICE
Beyerdynamic MC 900 small-diaphragm condenser microphone series features a tremendous diversity due to the sound neutrality and painstaking construction of its models. Designed for both the studio and stage, the models MC 910 (omnidirectional), MC 930 (cardioid) and MC 950 (supercardioid) are ideal for all applications where high-quality pickup or transmission of acoustic signals is crucial. The MC 900 microphones are particularly suitable for natural pickup of choirs, orchestras (as main microphone in various stereo arrangements or as a spot microphone) and solo instruments (e.g. guitar, wind instruments, drums). With the WS 101 wind screen, the models MC 930 and MC 950 can be used as microphones for speech and vocals. Special features of this series include a high open-circuit voltage and a wide balanced transmission range without a narrow-band resonance rise. In the MC 930 and MC 950 models, the switchable bass roll-off filter (6 dB/octave below 250 Hz) compensates for the proximity effect. All models operate from a phantom power supply of 11-52 V and can hence be used with nearly any microphone amplifier for studio and live applications. www.beyerdynamic.de
The RE20 is a professional-quality dynamic cardioid microphone created specially for recording, broadcast and sound-reinforcement applications requiring essentially flat response over a very wide frequency range. The wide frequency response, coupled with excellent transient response, make the RE20 easily comparable to fine condenser cardioid microphones and an easily operated “bass tilt down” switch corrects spectrum balance for use in longreach situations or other applications where bass attenuation is needed. The RE20 offers greatest rejection at 180º off axis - directly to the rear of the microphone. Pattern control is so consistent that the frequency response is nearly independent of angular location of the sound source, creating virtually no off-axis coloration, yet providing greatest possible rejection of unwanted sounds. An integral
blast and wind filter covers each acoustic opening on the RE20. In recording sessions or on stage, singers can “close talk” the microphone, singing with their lips almost touching the grille screen with no worry of “P-pops” or excessive sibilance. Part of the filter also shock mounts the internal microphone element, reducing the transfer of vibrations from external sources. The exceptional performance of the RE20 is achieved by using a large Acoustalloy diaphragm in combination with an exceptionally low-mass aluminum voice coil. Using this diaphragm assembly, the RE20 is capable of reproducing extremely high sound pressure levels with no fear of the overload and distortion often experienced with phantom-powered condensers. The RE20 will also continue to function flawlessly in high humidity and elevated temperatures that would seriously degrade competitive condenser microphones. www.electrovoice.com
SHURE Shure has enhanced its KSM series of microphones with two new ribbon models – the KSM353 and KSM313, two ribbon microphones intended for capturing vocal and instrumental performances, both in the studio and on stage. The new KSM353 and KSM313 use a patented ribbon material known as RoswelliteTM, which offers higher tensile strength and more resilient shape-memory properties than a traditional foil ribbon. While conventional ribbon microphones can be damaged by loud sounds, the ‘shape memory’ of Roswellite ribbons enables it to withstand very high sound pressure levels over extended periods of time without damage. Hand assembled in the USA from state-of-the art transducers, transformers, and metals, the KSM353’s ribbon
40 JANUARY 2010
assembly provides rich low frequency response, natural midrange, and a rising response in the upper range for superior presence. And, it’s bi-directional polar pattern is extremely uniform and symmetrical. The KSM313 uses a “Dual-Voice” ribbon assembly, which enables the user to choose from two different sound signatures – addressing the front of the microphone delivers a warm, full sound that is ideal for many instruments while addressing the rear of the microphone results in a bright, articulate sound that compliments vocals. www.shure.co.uk
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TECH UPDATE MICROPHONES
RODE
AKG
The NTG-3 provides the professional broadcast and ďŹ lm industries with an aordable yet uncompromising microphone, claims Rode. Using a technology known as RF-bias, the RĂ˜DE NTG-3 is almost completely resistant to moisture, making it a signiďŹ cant option when recording in any demanding environments where condensation is an issue. In addition to its robust properties, the NTG-3 combines very low weight (163g), a durable anti-glare ďŹ nish and incredibly low handling and self-noise (13dBA) to become RĂ˜DE’s premier A/V microphone. When not in use, the NTG-3 can be stored away in the included weather resistant aluminium storage cylinder, providing additional protection when travelling and storing the microphone. Key features include ability to withstand adverse environmental conditions, 50% less self-noise than the majority of shotgun microphones, true condenser (externally RF biased) features, extremely low handling noise, high level of immunity to radio frequency broadcast and superior broadcast sound quality. www.rodemic.com/
AKG’s new C 414 XL II is the successor to the C 414 B-TL II. It reects the unique sonic signature of the popular AKG C 12 which enables lead vocals and solo instruments to be placed even in a dense mix. The up-front sound is also well-known for distant miking applications like classic music recording or drum ambience miking. The XL II version differs from the XLS version in one major respect - the capsule. Both, the slight presence boost and the impressive spatial reproduction is similar to the legendary C 12 microphones. AKG claims that its C 414 family is one of the world’s most widely-used and respected studio and stage microphones in audio history. The new models C 414 XLS and C 414 XLII oer nine pickup patterns which enable to choose the perfect setting for every application. For live-sound applications and permanent installations all controls can be disabled easily for trouble-free use. A Peak Hold LED displays even shortest overload peaks. The C 414 comes complete with carrying case, pop ďŹ lter, windscreen, and spider-type shock mount. www.akg.com
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JANUARY 2010 41
www.cabsat.com
The Leading International Digital Media Event for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
2 - 4 March 2010 Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre CABSAT MENA, the third largest regional industry event recognised globally, will showcase the latest products and services from the entire spectrum of the digital media industry from content creation to management and delivery. The event is the perfect platform to network with the industry, explore opportunities and forge partnerships with broadcasters, production companies, hoteliers, system integrators, distribution channels and many more. CABSAT MENA will be held in conjunction with Satellite MENA, the dedicated event for the region’s satellite industry.
CABSAT MENA 2010 will feature •
Networking opportunities with more than 700 exhibitors, spread over 15,000 sqm of exhibit space attracting more than 10,000 visitors
•
Market leaders confirmed include: AEC, AMT, ATG, EVS, Everts, Harris, Hitachi, Salam Mediacast, Sony, Tek Signal, UBMS, Vitec and many more
•
Knowledge Exchange - In association with ABU, don’t miss a two day conference on "Going HD - Business Plans and Technology Options"
•
Technology focused areas for IPTV/Mobile TV as well as a Radio and Audio Pavilion
Co-located event
The Definitive International Satellite Event for the Middle East, Africa & South Asia www.satellitemena.com
Book your space now!!! Organised by
CABSAT MENA supported by
For more information, please contact us
CABSAT MENA Dubai World Trade Centre LLC, PO Box 9292, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 308 6077 / 6282 • Fax: +971 4 318 8607 Email: cabsat@dwtc.com • Website: www.cabsat.com
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union
Arab State Broadcasting Union
International Association for Broadcasting Manufacturers
TECH UPDATE MICROPHONES
NEUMANN
DPA Neumann claims to have defined a new generation of studio microphones with the launch of the TLM 102, which is both compact and cost effective. Inside the mic is a newly developed large-diaphragm capsule (cardioid) with a maximum sound pressure level of 144 dB which permits the recording of percussion, drums, amps and other very loud sound sources. However the most important applications are in the realm of vocals and speech; a slight boost above 6 kHz provides for excellent presence of the voice in the overall mix. Wolfgang Fraissinet, President of Marketing/Sales at Neumann Berlin commented: “Due to its flexible field of application and price, the microphone will certainly be at home in ambitious home recording and project studios, as well as in the broadcasting area, particularly if priority is given to clear lines of sight to the speakers. We have recently received an increasing number of requests for this type of capability.” The TLM 102 is available in black and nickel, with a stand mount. www.neumann.com
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The DPA 5100 is a new mobile surround microphone that is designed to bring surround ambience to sport events, documentaries and other ambience applications especially in HDTV production. No external signal processing is required. The versatile 5100 can be mounted on a camera or microphone stand, suspended, or simply handheld via a hand grip. Extremely lightweight and portable, the unit sports a robust build quality that is also highly resilient to inclement weather conditions. A completely self-contained “plug and play” solution for 5.1 audio capture, the 5100 employs five miniature pressure transducers that exhibit extremely low sensitivity to wind and mechanical noise, low distortion, highly consistent low frequency response and large dynamic range. Appropriate channel separation and directionality are achieved through a combination of DPA’s proprietary DiPMic (Directional Pressure Microphone) technology, which mounts interference tubes on the L/C/R omni capsules, and the use of acoustic baffl es that further preserve the accuracy of levels between the discreet analogue output channels. www.dpamicrophones.com
JANUARY 2010 43
REPORT POWER OF IMAGES, DUBAI
SONY WOOS END-USERS AT POWER OF IMAGES EVENT Digital Studio reports from the Sony roadshow event in Dubai As part of its aim to work more closely with end users in the Middle East, Sony Professional Solutions hosted an event titled Power of Images (POI) last month in Dubai. The event was previously staged in Spain, France and the UK and will travel to other countries in Europe, Middle East & Africa. Sixty key players from the Middle East attended the event on the first day and several regional professionals visited the event subsequently. POI, which ran from December 15 to 17, was designed to familiarise end users with the manufacturer’s products while educating them about some of the new terminology in the marketplace and providing a platform for end users to network. Masahiro Soga, senior general manager, marketing division, B2B solutions business group, said the company was seeking more intimate discussions with end users in the EMEA marketplace. “We decided that instead of participating at IBC this year, we would take our products to different countries in this region through the POI event, where we would be able to spend more time with end users. This region is especially important for us as we have experienced 20% growth in the Middle East in 2009 and had continuous success here over the last five years. “A setting like POI allows us to have closer relations with our end users than at a show. However, this is not to say that we have abandoned trade events. We will be exhibiting at CABSAT and NAB in 2010,” Sago clarified. The POI event primarily focused on HD technology and tapeless workflows. A range of products that catered to these requirements was showcased. “Customers have now reached the next stage of High Definition (HD) and are look44 JANUARY 2010
Several products were displayed at the event and below right is the brand new HD OB van delivered by Sony to Dubai Media Inc.
SONY ANNOUNCED Takashi Miura (l) and Masahiro Soga (r).
ing for something new,” commented Takashi Miura, general manager, Sony Professional Solutions Middle East. “We have a lineup of solutions that are re 3D and 3G ready at the event including the HDCAM SR and some switchers. This has generated a lot of interest. As more end users go for HD technology and explore HD transmission or 3D production, 3G will become an increasingly sought-after technology in this market,” he explained. Besides this, Sony also showcased its new line-up of cameras in the XDCAM range at the event. “The PMW-EX1R and the PMW 350 had
20%
GROWTH FOR 2009 IN THE MIDDLE EAST
ttheir th h Middle East debut at this tth hiiss event,” Miura commented. me m ent nt replaces the EX1 TThe Th he PM PPMW-EX1R MW and offers SD and playback capability as well while the 350 is a shoulder-mounted camera. “The PMW-EX1R is SD/HD switchable. The EX1 did not offer this flexibility. We have already started selling this new camera in this market,” explained Miura. Sony also showcased a prototype of the NXCAM, a new proprietary format and the SONAPS network production system, which it has demonstrated for the first time in the region.
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REPORT POWER OF IMAGES, DUBAI
Several production and broadcast professionals congregated at the Westin Hotel in Dubai to learn more about new products from Sony at its Power of Images event event.
Hideaki Nakamura, regional director, Sony Professional Solutions ME.
Vivian Saldanha, head of broadcast sales, Sony ME.
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David Bush, Sony, UK.
David Bush, director of marketing, PSE Marketing, Sony added that the manufacturer has also planned several activities such as master-classes to be part of the POI event. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At these master-classes, accredited freelancers who use our products will hold training sessions for end users. We have already done a few master-classes for the HDCAM and hope to do some more for other formats. By the time this campaign is over, we hope to have conducted at least 600 master-classes and few more conventional roadshows,â&#x20AC;? Bush added. JANUARY 2010 45
PRODUCTS WHAT’S HOT
ANTON/BAUER TAKES CHARGE Anton/Bauer’s new Tandem 150 Modular Power System is the smallest and lightest charger and on-camera power supply package available on the market. It is designed for remote and on-location shoots. A fully automatic system, the Tandem 150 operates as a DC power supply once a camera or other device is connected and turned on. It functions by separating the power/charger device from the power supply, allowing a user to simultaneously charge a battery and power a camera. When the 75 watt draw is exceeded, the system automatically stops charging and performs solely as a 150 watt power supply. Likewise, if the camera is turned off or the load is reduced below 75 watts, the Tandem 150 system instantly resumes normal operation. The Tandem 150 Modular Power System also allows for high power applications, a feature previously unavailable with the Tandem 70 system. The Tandem 150 (5.2” x 4.03” x 2.19”) provides maximum flexibility, giving the user the option of operating the system from the AC Mains (90 to 250 volts AC, 50-60 Hz); the charger via a car’s cigarette lighter or with the award-winning Anton/Bauer Solar Panel.
WEB: www.antonbauer.com TEL: +971 4 2827171
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QUANTEL OFFERS SI-2K CAM SUPPORT Quantel has announced the release of V4.1 Rev7 software for Pablo, iQ and eQ. The new release includes native support for the CineForm RAW files produced by the Silicon Imaging SI-2K camera. This development opens up the Quantel workflow to projects shot on the SI-2K camera. “Our customers are working on an ever-increasing number of projects that have been digitally captured,” commented Quantel’s director of Marketing, Steve Owen. “More and more of those customers have asked us to help them build an efficient post-production pipeline for SI-2K shot material. Our new development includes CineForm compression and its Active Metadata(tm) workflow, making it fast and easy to work on SI shot projects.”
David Taylor, co-founder and CEO of CineForm claimed that “CineForm RAW was the industry’s first compressed raw format and quickly earned a reputation as the solution in the industry for extremely high image quality”. “This partnership represents a significant win for Quantel and Silicon Imaging customers alike. We share a common vision of quality throughout the workflow and with this new development, customers are now assured that source image quality is maintained from camera through post-production to finished project,” he added. WEB: www.quantel.com TEL: +44 1635 48 222
VIEWBITS LAUNCHES COMPACT REMOTE CONTROL PTZ 1080I CAM
Viewbits has launched its new HD PTZ (pan tilt zoom) camera for pro video users. Verio HD is an inexpensive, 1080i and 1080p camera that pans, tilts, and zooms on command, via a wireless remote control or an optional keyboardjoystick. It is designed for broadcast studios, houses of worship, corporate training as well as several other applications. Verio HD accommodates a wide variety of video formats. The output can be HD-SDI at 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, HDMI, YPbPr, or CVBS (composite video). Controlled by a wireless hand-held remote control with a range of up to 2,000 feet (609.6 meters), the Verio HD moves smoothly. The camera pans and tilts at a speed of half a degree per second to 80 degrees per second, and features a built-in 10x zoom lens. The
camera is compact – 8 and a half inches wide (216 millimetres). The optional keyboard/joystick provides intuitive control for video shots, and lets users store up to ten configurations. Preset pan and tilt speeds are 80 degrees per second. “Verio HD makes it easy to smoothly pan from one individual to another. It is ideal for video shoots of group presentations such as seminars and panel discussions,” commented Ray Asturias, sales engineer at Viewbits. “The robotic features of Verio HD help our customers to be even more creative.” The Verio HD PTZ camera is now shipping. WEB: www.viewbits.com TEL: +1 858 613 1818
JANUARY 2010 47
VOX POP DIFF ‘09
HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE 2009 INSTALMENT OF THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL? Very good! This is the first time I’ve attended the Dubai International Film Festival and I must say it is a very Nicolas Wadimoff interesting event. I have made some really good con& co-producer of Fix Me d. an erl tacts here. My film, Fix Me, which is a co-production itz Sw , owner of AKKA Films between Palestinian, Swiss and French filmmakers a shot on HD, was screened at DIFF and we had a and very good response. The film will also screen at Sundance. W have had a lot of proposals abroad but were looking We s if we would get better deals here. We have had to see som fruitful meetings with sales agents at the Dubai some Fil Market. Film I’m originally from Switzerland but have had a close pe personal link with the Arab world for many years now an work closely with Palestinian producers. I believe and cinema works in a way in w which politics cannot. We won a cash prize for Fix Me at DIFF two years ago so it was good to screen the film this year at the festival. We are also working on my next film entitled Aisheen. I came here especially to participate in the Film Connection and was interested in one of the films introduced at this edition of DIFF. I may be a co-producer for a project that was introduced through Dubai Film Connection this year. I hope to come back next year to DIFF.
Shirin Neshat
Iranian Film director based in New York.
48 JANUARY 2010
Very fulfilling! The sense of organisation and hospitality is far here better than at most of the European festivals. The European ones are chaotic. What I like about DIFF is that we see a lot of diverse talent; Arabs, Indians, Asians, Europeans. We always show our films in New York and Europe but it is to a different kind of audience with a different mindset. But we also have this deep desire to communicate with the East and this is why I wanted to come to the festival. This is the first time I’ve shown my film to a Muslim community and r the response has been phenomenal. We see that people here h are hungry for movies. I didn’t realise that there was a large Iran community out here. It was really good to see that Iranian man of them came to see the film and many of them asked many ver intelligent questions. very ( (Neshat’ s film Women without Men screened at DIFF to a pa packed house and won the silver Lion at the Venice Internatio Film Festival.) tional
I love it! It’s my first time at DIFF and was there from December 9th to the 13th. I now regret that I’m not staying here any longer as I have found this to be a really useful event. I’m an aspiring filmmaker. I have made some small stock but not enough to call myself an established player. I have met some very nice people and seen some amazing work at the event. I go to a few festivals. I went to Cannes this year and it’s painfully huge. DIFF is more comfortable and less stressful for filmmakers such as myself. I am currently working on a trilogy of sorts and hope to shoot one part in Dubai, so I hope to explore this city further.
Great! I’m here on an exchange programme from the Torino Film Lab in Italy. I’ve been to DIFF before and it’s always good to see the way this event supports local filmmakers. I’m essentially here to package and give my film Wajda, which is in development, further exposure. DIFF has matured tremendously and given local talent a great chance for visibility. Saudi Arabia, where I come from, is also now getting its own film festival and althoughh we come from a culture that is underrepresented, it is gradually gaining importance. I’ve realised that in the business of making movies, there’s a lot of marketing and talking involved. I’m here to do that. (Al Mansour won the US $100,000 Shasha Grant from the Abu Dhabi Film Commission in 2009).
Al Sikander
Aspiring filmmak er an actor from London d .
Haifaa Al Manso
ur Saudi filmmaker an d winner of the Shahsha Gran t from ADFC
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