TVTechnology February 2015 Digital Edition

February 2015 I Issue 1 I Volume 33

Europe

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THE TECHNICAL RESOURCE FOR THE BROADCAST MEDIA PROFESSIONAL

Thinking outside

the box

In search of a modern definition for channel in a box

Buyers’ guides

Drones, transcoders, encoders

Product reviews Camera lenses, audio repair

BVE preview edition

CONTENTS EDITORIAL COMMENT It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the re-launch edition of TV Technology Europe.

Defining a new focus for an established brand is no easy task, but what has always been clear with TV Technology is its evident potential to be a resource of significant value to professionals throughout this marvellous industry of ours.

That’s why we’ve refined our focus to become the product and technical resource for broadcast media professionals of all shapes and sizes.

That means more reviews, interviews, user reports, technical insights and intelligence that will showcase the people and technologies at the forefront of our sector.

Our new quarterly print cycle, and NAB and IBC-dedicated supplements, gives us the platform to cover more of the key news around the major trade shows, as does the launch of our standalone website.

But enough preaching from me.

There’s plenty to get stuck into this issue. We start this year’s review series by looking into the latest camera lenses, as David Fox reports on the flurry of new lenses that are increasingly aimed at broadcast rather than digital cinema.

We also cover audio repair software, and offer the lowdown on the latest drones, transcoders and encoders in our buyers’ guide.

Our cover feature this edition seeks to find some common ground in the search for a modern definition of channel in a box, and assess the impact that the cloud is having on the CiaB market.

Cloud and IP transcoding also features in our new commentary section, plus we bring you our guide to what to expect from BVE 2015.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this edition of TV Technology Europe.

James McKeown Executive Editor

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BVE PREVIEW

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX The first in a new series of roundtable features brings together some of the leading authorities on channel in a box (CiaB) to examine why a common definition of CiaB is so hard to come by, and how the cloud has impacted the space

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Alison Willis, portfolio director for i2i Events Group’s Environment and Broadcasting Division, discusses what we can expect from BVE 2015, while we take a look at a selection of products to be on show at ExCeL London

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PRODUCT REVIEWS The advent of larger sensor cameras, particularly 4K, has brought a flurry of new lenses, many of which are aimed more at broadcast than digital cinema use. David Fox reports

BUYERS’ GUIDE: DRONES, TRANSCODERS AND ENCODERS Flight of the navigator: there are a blizzard of drone filming options but not all are up to production standard. Adrian Pennington surveys the marketplace 03

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SHARPSHOOTER

Barrie Smith meets Sarajevobased cameraman, Emir Dzanan, to discuss his current projects and find out more about the man behind the lens

February 2015 TVTechnology

COMMENTARY

IP and cloud transcoding David Patton, portfolio development director for satellite and media at Arqiva, examines the impact of IP and cloud-based technologies on transcoding practices The technical impacts of transcoding in the cloud The use of IP technology and the cloud today has led to encoding and transcoding solutions becoming much more flexible and scalable.

Designed to process content in a multitude of ways, to suit varying usage profiles from production and post production to traditional broadcast and OTT distribution, IP-centric options include: services running on dedicated physical server hardware in private data centre environments, on virtual machines in shared cloud server environments or even delivered as fully managed services in the cloud.

What’s driving the update in IP and cloud transcoding?

Demand on transcoding services is snowballing due to the insatiable consumer demand for access to content on all devices, both linear and VoD, via a converging world of traditional distribution platforms and new OTT channels.

Platform operators, entertainment brands and content distributors are all striving to match this demand, to maintain brand presence and parity with peers, which has had a multiplying effect on transcode volumes and formats. New end-user devices are launched or enhanced and updated regularly leading to a fluid and ever growing need for a slightly differentiated mix of encode formats (H.264, HEVC), container profiles (MPEG2, MPEG4) and adaptive streaming protocols (HLS, HDS, MSS, DASH).

For broadcasters and content distributors, the move to a flexible IP or cloud-based transcoding approach is being driven largely by these expanding market expectations, which in turn is putting commercial pressure on the costs of operation and delivery. As the broadcast market continues on this path of dynamic evolution, with any time, any place and any device consumption, there is a strong desire to build cost efficiencies and flexibility into processes and workflows.

Content producers and distributors are transitioning away from traditional capitalhungry builds to a more manageable operational service delivery with the inherent elasticity to support substantially increased throughput volumes. Also, these encoding and transcoding services – traditionally delivered in-house using dedicated hardware and supported by specialist video engineers

TVTechnology February 2015

‘Demand on transcoding services is snowballing due to the insatiable consumer demand for access to content on all devices, both linear and VoD, via a converging world of traditional distribution platforms and new OTT channels.’

and infrastructure – are now increasingly being provided by third parties.

The impact of transcoding on content The flexibility and elasticity of the cloud can make such options seem like the ideal solution for transcoding. However, whilst appreciating these obvious benefits, consideration must be given as to what stage in the production and broadcast lifecycle the transcoding is taking place. Additional factors related to the content itself should be considered, such as whether the service includes live content feeds (especially for sports and gaming where latency is an issue), whether the delivery is linear or non-linear in nature, and the access to, and importance of, the video quality of the source and output in terms of bit rate, compressed or uncompressed.

Lastly, as we move to a world where traditional broadcast levels of service are expected, it is extremely important for content producers and distributors to consider not only the impact of both IP and cloud-based transcoding from a cost and end-user point of view, but the important issue of service quality

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and reliability. The cloud can be inherently resilient, but with multiple technology vendors, a reliance on various connectivity providers and many stages in the production lifecycle with differing performance measures, it is unlikely that there will be a single SLA on the service. With multiple parties to contact if there are issues with the identification of where a fault has occurred, establishing responsibility and achieving a suitable resolution can be a complex task.

Making the choice The cloud and the move to IP transcoding services can undoubtedly offer both commercial and technical benefits, but it is important to consider all of the determining factors of the service. The best solution in practice will likely be a well designed and orchestrated mix that uses the cloud and hosted transcoding services where appropriate, but that also includes the connectivity, security and SLAs required to deliver the optimum experience whilst supporting ultimate commercial objectives of cost efficiency and service flexibility.

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COMMENTARY adoption, which is why demand remains high for MADI monitoring equipment. One of the other reasons why MADI regained popularity had little to do with any significant changes to the technology itself, but rather with the trend towards more integration between manufacturers and technologies. Today, it is quite common to integrate the intercom system with a digital audio router system.

With MADI this can be easily achieved between any systems supporting this simple and effective standard.

Broadcasters still mad for MADI

BY PIETER SCHILLEBEECKX, PRODUCT MANAGER, TSL PRODUCTS

For contemporary cuttingedge audio infrastructure, many broadcasters continue to choose AES10 (ANSI S4.43-1991), a.k.a. MADI, to transport up to 64 channels of digital audio over a single coax or fibre-optic cable. While the original idea for MADI was catering to a very narrow recording studio application, the standard has survived to address the expansion of digital production and HD workflow for broadcasters. A few years ago, MADI saw a resurgence at a time when newer IP-based technologies were still a glimmer in engineers’ eyes. Today, audio over IP/Ethernet is a reality with manufacturers offering several flavours such as AVB, Dante, and RAVENNA. So why aren’t broadcasters beating down the doors to buy Ethernet-based audio solutions for production facilities?

There are many advantages to using MADI over analogue/AES, and the broadcast industry’s familiarity with it enables the standard to remain a good choice. While

TVTechnology February 2015

audio-over-IP is making great strides, there are few tools available to suit broadcasters’ unique requirements.

MADI is primarily used in the distribution of audio-only signals within the production environment. For broadcasters, it has found a particular niche in the OB truck market where weight, simplicity, and reliability are paramount. The US OB market in particular has embraced MADI mainly because of the difference in how people use ‘comms’.

Traditionally, every position would have had an audio monitor being fed with eight channels of analogue or AES. Running eight lots of analogue audio to every single position through huge patch bays is very cumbersome, very heavy on the copper, and very old school these days. When MADI was introduced, rather than using eight lots of analogue cables, a single coax cable was used to carry those 64 channels, which can be daisy-chained, with eight groups of eight to the different positions. MADI I/O is now a standard feature on most of the big audio and video routers. This is now very common in the US and finding more widespread global

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WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR MADI? Today, as technology development for IP/Ethernet solutions continues, what is the future for MADI? Beyond pure familiarity, the live production industry is very conservative – for good reason – when it comes to changing technology for mission-critical workflows. If we have something that serves a purpose well and is proven reliable, we’d be fools to go away from that in a hurry, just to try out a new technology with a couple of new features. There’s a lot on the line in a live event, so there’s much more at stake, and only one shot to get it right.

Naturally, this leads to a more conservative mind-set. Audio-over-IP is still an unknown for a lot of people, and seen as inherently risky, in an industry that works very hard to minimise

“While MADI has some time to run, it will eventually be replaced. But for the foreseeable future, it is still a solid choice.” risk; trusty old coax cable is easy to make, and fairly easy to test. There’s typically one interface where users can do all of their video routing, but also all of their audio routing for the entire truck. It’s not yet another piece of software they have to open to start managing streams.

“I have yet to have a request for Ethernetbased audio on the trucks that we build although the IP infrastructure is already there for other reasons,” says Ian Bowker, owner of Icon Broadcasting, a company that specialises in the design and building of OB trucks. “One of our major clients requested MADI be used on the new truck we’re currently building for them.”

It’s a nice flexible standard that works on very cheap cables and 64 channels is a nice number for most people. If you put it on fibre you can get some really nice long distances as well. So, while MADI still has time to run, it will eventually be replaced. There’s no two ways about it. The next generation of trucks being built will probably stay on MADI, but maybe the year after, they’ll likely switch over to audio-over-IP because there are distinct advantages. But for the foreseeable future, MADI is still a solid choice.

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CASE STUDY

Dicentia HQ

Dicentia tests cloud encoding with stellar results This issue, we take a look Scandinavian content ingest company Dicentia’s recent tests in cloud encoding, and how it managed to surmount a 24-hour turnaround of ‘herculean’ proportions With offices throughout Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Dicentia is one of Scandinavia’s leading content ingest companies covering everything from digital post production, DVD and Blu-ray authoring, DCP files, digital asset management and digital delivery to master replication and conversion, as well as sound engineering. Over 25 years, the company has supported the region’s broadcast, film, music and publishing industries in maximising

TVTechnology February 2015

“The Herculean one-off task facing them was to encode, resize and burn the films in local Scandinavian language subtitles, all within a 24-hour period” the value of their content. “Our mission is to support our clients in getting their content out to the consumers on whatever media is

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available from VHS to DVD/Blu-ray and now digital solutions such as VoD, apps, smart TV and other platforms,” explains Kasper Holme Johannesen, managing director of Dicentia.

As part of its digital strategy, the company has developed MediaCloud, an online archive and distribution system that handles audio and video files, metadata validation, subtitles, artwork, and a screening room to send out online screeners. Dicentia is a Netflix

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USER REPORT Preferred Partner, GooglePlay and an iTunes Movie Encoding House and supports clients on a worldwide basis.

THE PERFECT STORM During its lifetime, Dicentia has developed an infrastructure that is capable of providing what it would describe as the right level of technical and operational support to enable its clients to operate exactly as they wish. In doing so, the company has been able to attract some of the most creative staff in Scandinavia and they are supported by state-of-the-art technical facilities.

Dicentia has been one of the region’s biggest Telestream Vantage encoding platform users for many years.

However, even the best-resourced facilities can be sorely tested by extraordinary customer requirements and this is exactly what happened to Dicentia when it was presented with a massive task to meet a customer order. The requirement was to encode 20 feature films in 24 hours in order to deliver the order to one of its VoD customers.

The Herculean one-off task facing them was to encode, resize and burn the films in local Scandinavian language subtitles, all within a 24-hour period.

While the Dicentia team has the skills and experience required to meet these timescales, the big challenge was to source the necessary encoding facilities. Working with Telestream’s local Danish channel partner, Alleroed-based Tech2Net, the team decided their best option lay in Vantage Cloud Subscriptions; a system that was untried, having been launched by Telestream less than a month earlier. Vantage Cloud Subscriptions is a new service that provides a broad range of enterprise-class transcoding and file-based workflow automation for Amazon Web Services (AWS) on AWS Marketplace.

The new service is a natural extension of on-premise Vantage transcoding and provides discretionary capacity for managing demand peaks, prototyping new concepts, and deploying cloud-based media services.

Transcoding farms can be purpose-built and collocated with content libraries stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

“Vantage Cloud Subscriptions saved the day for us. Without this service, we would not have had a product to show our customer the next day,” explained Johannesen.

INTUITIVE CLOUD-BASED OPERATION HELPS FAST IMPLEMENTATION Even though Dicentia was an existing Vantage user, it had no experience whatsoever with Vantage Cloud Subscriptions or AWS. However, the company was quickly able to access the cloud-based service and start working on the encoding task.

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Dicentia’s Kasper Holme Johannesen, left, and Bjørn Petersen

With the ability to securely provision anywhere in the world, content creators can define the scale, location and performance of virtual Vantage domains, allowing them to deliver products and services to their customers and organisations.

Telestream’s new Vantage Cloud Management application allows users to create, monitor and manage Vantage Virtual Domains from any location. When creating a virtual domain, the user selects the appropriate region for the domain, instance types and the optimal number required for the network tasks to be run.

After the domain has been created, it can be dynamically scaled up and down as required while tasks continue to run. For monitoring, a dashboard view provides a health status for each running domain. Snapshots of workflows and configurations can be taken for easy migration and restart of a domain configuration in the future.

“Getting started with Vantage Cloud Subscriptions was very easy. Installing the Telestream Vantage Cloud Manager software on to our system took around 30 minutes, and once installed you don’t notice the difference in operation from our traditional Vantage encoding system,” commented Bjørn Petersen from Dicentia’s engineering team. “It provides a seamless add-on to our existing Vantage platform, taking files from our servers and delivering them back once they’re completed. It worked perfectly.”

As well as providing all the additional encoding facilities that Dicentia needed at very short notice, Vantage Cloud Subscriptions proved to be a highly cost-effective production platform for the facility. “In this situation, where we needed the resources to encode 20 feature films immediately, Vantage Cloud

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“Whether it’s about being first to market or moving content to market faster, cloud-based resources enhance productivity and give companies a greater competitive advantage.”

Jim Duval, Telestream Subscriptions proved to be tremendously good value for the money, and already we can identify many more opportunities to use it within our business operations,” explained Johannesen. “In a facility such as ours, you never know how big your workload will be from one week to another.

Now, whenever we need to, we can open up this cloud service and respond as fast as the situation demands. This is a fantastic add-on for established Vantage users.”

‘Broadcasting in the cloud’ has become a buzz term that many organisations use whilst far fewer really understand the creative potential that it offers. Dicentia’s experiences have provided an interesting proving ground for Telestream. “With the instant provisioning that cloud-based resources provide, media professionals such as Dicentia can hit the ground running whenever a business opportunity arises. They can quickly add to their production resources without committing to more expensive, inflexible premisebased equipment networks,” commented Jim Duval, Director of New Products at Telestream. “This creative spontaneity can energise, motivate and inspire organisations, since they can take immediate action whenever the need arises. Whether it’s about being first to market or moving content to market faster, cloud-based resources enhance productivity and give companies a greater competitive advantage.”

February 2015 TVTechnology

SHARPSHOOTER

Life through a lens

Sarajevo-based cameraman, Emir Dzanan, discusses his current projects and how his work has taken him into some precarious situations

BY BARRIE SMITH

Tell us about your current assignments.

I’m currently working on several projects, the most interesting of which is a documentary series about the highest peaks of Eastern Europe being produced for Al Jazeera Balkans.

For the purposes of the film, the crew climbs to the summits of the highest mountains, which can be dangerous sometimes.

Have you been busy?

I have hardly had a day off in the past two years, which is great. I hope it remains so.

TVTechnology February 2015

How do you travel around the country?

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a small country.

From Sarajevo, it’s possible to get to almost every part of the country and return in one day, so I usually use my own car. Besides being small, Bosnia is a country with incredible tourist potential and my ambition is to make a series about all the things that Bosnia provides for potential visitors: mountains, rivers, cities that are hundreds of years old, a mix of different cultures and religions… these are just some of the things that this country offers. The interesting thing about Sarajevo is that

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within a few hundred metres you can see the mosque, Orthodox and Catholic churches, and a synagogue.

Which are the best seasons to travel around?

Each season has its charms. During the winter, there are the Olympic Mountains just 20 to 30 kilometres away from Sarajevo.

In the spring and summer you can go to the south and the beautiful city of Mostar, famous for the Old Bridge, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are many places in Bosnia that are worth visiting to catch beautiful video. Unfortunately, the

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Profile Name: Emir Dzanan Age: 29 Star sign: Scorpio Hometown: I was born in Sarajevo where I live with my wife and our daughter Languages: Bosnian, English and I understand a little German and French Occupation: Freelance lightning cameraman and video editor Qualifications/training: I finished my secondary school of tourism and studied journalism at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo. As for my work with the camera, I’m selftaught. I can say that we’re lucky to live in a time when knowledge is truly accessible to all, thanks to the internet.

I’ve learnt a lot from older colleagues and, of course, I’m still learning Taste in music: Rock and roll Favourite group: Many of them, from Deep Purple to Alice in Chains Favourite food: Bosnia and Herzegovina is, among other things known for its food, which is really delicious

What was your first-ever shooting job?

My first shooting job was for a local television station. The editor sent me to a government building in Sarajevo to film inserts. Although I had no previous experience of working in television, I somehow got the job done. Of course, what I filmed that day was not very good, but it was a nice start for the camera and me to become friends. The camera was a Sony Beta SP. And what have been your most interesting recent assignments?

One of my most recent assignments was shooting the Al Jazeera documentary channel here in Bosnia. The topic was human trafficking and prostitution after the war in Bosnia and the role of the UN troops in all of that.

What equipment do you use?

I am using the Canon XF100 and Canon 6D and I am very satisfied with the ratio of price versus quality. Of course, there are some

“I prefer to work on documentary films because I like working in small teams. This way, there is more room for creativity and independence”

Dzanan’s work has taken him into many precarious situations, including a minefield

international media are writing about the negative things in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as war crimes, mass graves and a bad economic situation. I hope that will change soon.

What types of productions have you mostly shot?

I mostly do documentaries, but I also handle the production of commercials, various types of events, news, etc.

Which do you prefer?

I prefer to work on documentary films because I like working in small teams.

This way, there is more room for creativity and independence.

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February 2015 TVTechnology

SHARPSHOOTER Emir approaches the summit of another mountain peak

flaws, but I think that Canon has made a real revolution with its DSLR video in recent years.

Other gear you have access to?

Depending on the client’s needs, almost all equipment is now available through rental companies: cameras, lighting, audio equipment; you name it.

What editing hard/software do you use?

I use a PC with i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, 16GB of RAM and a lot of hard drives. Adobe Premiere 6.0 currently meets all my needs related to video production. I have also used Final Cut and lately have been doing a little bit in Edius too. For me, one of the best things that happened in the world of video production is moving from tape to card.

Working with cards significantly accelerates and facilitates the process of editing.

What’s on your equipment ‘wish list’?

The Canon C500 is currently on my wish list, and hopefully soon in my backpack!

What’s the best thing about your job?

Definitely travelling, meeting new people and cultures. There are very few jobs that can enrich a man spiritually and culturally as well as the job that I do.

What are the challenges of working in Bosnia Herzegovina?

Like almost everywhere, the biggest problem in Bosnia is money. The budgets for filming here are certainly the lowest in Europe.

TVTechnology February 2015

“There are very few jobs that can enrich a man spiritually and culturally as well as the job that I do” Clients often expect that for very little money, they can get miracles. But on the other hand, the positive thing is the establishment of Al Jazeera Balkans, based in Sarajevo, and soon CNN for the Balkan region. Their arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina means more work for independent productions and freelancers.

What’s the worst thing about your job?

Although it sounds paradoxical, one of the worst things in this business can be the people. People, who for reasons known only to them, will attempt to prohibit the recording and then, during some protests, try to destroy your equipment and smash your head in.

There are people who will make it difficult for you to do your job in many other ways, and of course, there is another group of people who don’t pay for the work that you’ve done for them.

What are the dullest assignments, and why?

Those jobs where you have to wait and wait: and at the end, nothing happens.

Tell us about your hairiest/scariest assignment.

During the shooting of one of the documentaries, the sound recordist and I had to enter a minefield. At first, I didn’t really think of what I was doing. But then one of the

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de-miners gave me a paper on which I had to write my blood type and sign that I was there at my own responsibility. Then I realised that I was doing something stupid.

Luckily, all ended well.

Also, there was one situation in Libya when the army took me and a fellow journalist at midnight to film Gaddafi. I had one of those big Sony Beta cameras and every time I pressed the record button you could hear a click and the guys who guarded Gaddafi pulled a weapon on us every time they heard that sound. A very interesting evening!

How much 16:9 do you shoot?

All the time. 4:3 shoots look a little weird these days.

What country would you most like to shoot in?

Iran. I’ve heard a lot about the country, about its natural beauty and hospitable people and this is definitely one of the countries that I would like to visit and shoot in. There are also some parts of the USA, Japan and China on my list as well.

Contact Phone: 00387 63 405 863 Address: Grbavicka 11, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Email: emirdzanan@yahoo.com

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PRODUCT REVIEW

ENG-style for cinema lenses The advent of larger sensor cameras, particularly 4K, has brought a flurry of new lenses, many of which are aimed more at broadcast than digital cinema use

BY DAVID FOX

F

ujinon’s Cabrio lenses started the trend for adding detachable ENGstyle servo drive units (for zoom, focus and iris) to cinema-style 4K-capable lenses, to make them suitable for handheld broadcast use, particularly for sports, wildlife and news. They have now been joined by Angénieux, Canon and Zeiss.

The latest PL-mount Cabrio lens is Fujinon’s ZK12x25, covering the most frequently used 25mm wide angle to 300mm on the telephoto end. It uses highprecision large-diameter aspheric elements, with a three moving-zoom group system that minimises aberration fluctuation during zooming, controls image distortion across the zoom range, and delivers edge-to-edge sharpness. Its Macro function lets users approach objects as close as 59cm.

Thales Angénieux has two new hand-held zooms that can use its new servo system. The 16-40mm and 30-76mm T2.8 zoom lenses each weigh less than 2kg, making them particularly suitable for hand-held cameras, and have 2x extenders.

The lenses have an easily interchangeable mount (PL, Canon EF, Panavision) for use with a wide variety of cameras, while the Angénieux Servo Unit (ASU) is compatible with broadcast remote handles, cinema remote controls and wireless remotes such as Preston, and generates lens metadata based on the Cooke /i Technology protocol.

The ASU is also an option for any Optimo Lightweight Cine Zoom, including the Optimo 15-40, 28-76mm and 45-120mm lenses.

Canon also has two new 4K lenses with removable servo drives, including what is claimed to be the longest telephoto cinema lens yet made. The 6.6kg CN20x50 (T5.0-8.9) has a native 50-1000mm focal range that expands to 75-1500mm using the built-in 1.5x extender, making it particularly useful for wildlife or sports. The focus ring rotation is 180˚, to balance the accuracy required for 4K with the speed needed for broadcast use.

The 2.9kg CN7x17 KA S has a focal length of 17-120mm with an aperture of T2.95

TVTechnology February 2015

(17 to 91mm) to T3.9 (at 120mm). Virtual studio use is supported via 16-bit encoder output.

The EF-mount versions of both use Canon’s own lens data system, while the PL-mount models support Cooke’s /i Technology. Both use a 12-pin serial connection for integration with broadcast equipment.

The new Zeiss Servo Unit for its Compact Zoom CZ.2 cine lenses will be on show at NAB, costing between €5,000 and €6,000, and will extend the capabilities of the CZ.2 15-30, CZ.2 28-80 and CZ.2 70-200 T2.9 lenses. The full-frame cine zooms (36x24mm) are suitable for a wide range of cameras, thanks to their exchangeable mount (IMS).

The servo can be controlled directly on the handgrip, through broadcast demands, or via wireless lens control systems, and can be fitted without any tools. The optional focus unit can easily be mounted on the main unit and adjusts quickly to the individual lens during lens changes. It can be powered via a PL-mount with contacts, through the camera interface cable, or externally. Existing CZ.2 lenses require a mount modification.

Controlling interest: The new Zeiss Servo Unit fitted to a Compact Zoom CZ.2 cine lens

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A long shot: Canon’s new 4K CN20x50 offers ENG-style shooting

Alpha bravo: Sony’s full-frame FE PZ 28-135mm power zoom (SEL28135G)

The increasing number of full-frame (24x36mm) DSLR-based cameras, particularly Sony’s compact Alpha 7s low-light 4K model, is attracting a lot of interest, and new lenses.

FULL-FRAME LENSES The increasing number of full-frame (24x36mm) DSLR-based cameras, particularly Sony’s compact Alpha 7s low-light 4K model, is attracting a lot of interest, and new lenses.

Zeiss has its first new F2 lenses for the Alpha 7, 7s and 7r models that offer manual focusing, manual aperture and “maximal image quality”. The €966 nine-element Loxia 2/35 has a minimum object distance of 30cm, while the €713 six-element Loxia 2/50 can focus as close as 37cm. The filter diameter will be a consistent M52 across the entire lens family, and they have a large focus rotation angle of 180˚ for fine focusing.

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An electronic interface transmits lens data (EXIF), recognises focus movements and can activate the camera’s magnifier function.

For video work, users can mechanically deactivate the aperture click stops to allow both progressive and noiseless aperture settings. Not being autofocus lenses makes them more compact, lightweight and quieter.

Sony itself has introduced the first 35mm full-frame lens with a power zoom. The FE PZ 28-135mm F4 G OSS is compatible with all Sony E-mount cameras and its focal length extends to 42-202.5mm (35mm equivalent) when used with APS-C/Super35 sensors, as on the PXW-FS7.

The 1125g lens has a constant F4 maximum aperture, and is designed to minimise breathing, focus shifts during zoom and movement of the optical axis during zoom, while aspherical lens elements suppress unwanted aberration and advanced multi-coating technology boosts contrast and cuts glare.

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Three separate rings offer independent control over focus, zoom and iris, and zoom is claimed to be “exceptionally smooth and silent”.

Sony’s latest full-frame Zeiss wide-angle (16-35mm, F4) full-frame zoom joins its E-mount lens range, alongside the existing 24-70mm and 70-200mm models. It offers a minimum focus distance of 28cm, has a filter diameter of 72mm, and weighs 518g.

IB/E Optics has new 65mm prime and zoom lenses for the Alexa 65. The 50-110mm Zoom 65 and the eight Prime 65 lenses, ranging from 24mm to 300mm, use optics from Hasselblad, housed in robust, uniform lens barrels co-developed with IB/E. It also has two new optical extenders for 35mm PL-mount cameras (the PLx1.4 and PLx2).

GOING WIDE Cooke is widening its Anamorphic/i lens range. Its new 25mm and 135mm Anamorphic/i lenses are being followed by

February 2015 TVTechnology

PRODUCT REVIEW

Wide open: The Arri/Zeiss MA135/T1.9 lens

Fujinon’s new HA18x5.5

completes the Master Anamorphic set

HD ENG lens

A forgiving creaminess: Luma Tech’s new

Visibly superior: Canon’s HJ18ex7.6B is faster,

Illumina S35 14mm PL-mount lens

lighter and longer than its predecessor

180mm and 300mm models, to take its Anamorphic/i range to nine (including 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm: all T2.3).

Cooke is also adding a 21mm lens to both the miniS4/i range (which are all T2.8) and the 5/i series (which are T1.4).

It is also adding sensors for the /i Squared Technology metadata system to all new Anamorphic/i, 5/i and S4/i lenses. The inertial system, developed by Cooke with support from The Pixel Farm and Codex, builds on current /i Technology by supplying position and orientation data, in addition to lens data, to aid post production work, particularly visual effects.

Angénieux now has two PL-mount anamorphic zoom lenses, with a third in development. The new Optimo Anamorphic 30-72mm 2S (2x squeeze) joins the compact 56-152mm 2S, with both claimed to exhibit exceptional sharpness and lower distortion compared to typical anamorphic lenses, thanks to a new optical design that combines spherical and cylindrical elements in the same group. Both are T4 with 320° focus rotation with over 50 focus marks and no breathing.

TVTechnology February 2015

The latest Master Anamorphic MA135/ T1.9 lens is the seventh in the Master Anamorphic family jointly developed by Arri and Zeiss, and completes the highperformance range (including 35, 40, 50, 60, 75 and 100mm). They are designed to be particularly effective wide open (all are T1.9), and are claimed to solve many problems commonly associated with anamorphic optics. The lenses show hardly any image breathing and exceptionally low distortion.

The issue of anamorphic mumps – when faces shot at close range appear wider – is balanced out automatically. This is achieved by positioning the cylindrical lens elements at strategically important points in the lens.

The almost telecentric optical design reduces chromatic aberrations and shading in the corners of the image. They have a new iris diaphragm with 15 aperture blades to create a perfectly oval and evenly illuminated bokeh.

FAST APPROACHING With a lens speed of F0.85, the new €1,799 HandeVision Ibelux 40/0.85 is claimed to be the fastest lens for system cameras currently

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in series production, and ideal for low light.

There are versions with Sony E, Fuji X, Canon EOS M and Micro 4/3 mounts.

It has ten diaphragm blades, to give a pleasing bokeh, and uses ten multi-coated lenses in eight groups, for increased contrast and minimised reflections. Its lateral chromatic aberration is smaller than 6μm, which gives a resolution of about 4K. It was developed by German lens manufacturer IB/E Optics and Shanghai Transvision Photographic Equipment (which makes Kipon branded adapters), and is the first of a new range of HandeVision models, which will include: a wide-angle Ibegon lens; a high-speed telephoto APO mirror lens, the Ibecat; a tilt-shift lens; and a compact fixed focal length lens.

Luma Tech has extended its Super35mm Illumina S35 PL-mount lenses at both ends, adding its widest-angle 14mm and its longest 135mm lenses, both T1.8. The Illumina S35 14mm has a close focus of 25cm and weighs 1.6kg, while the 2.3kg 135mm S35 lens has a 150cm minimum object distance. The other five lenses in the range (18, 15, 35, 50 and 85mm) have T1.3 apertures. All the lenses use Lomo optics

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and are claimed to offer high resolution and contrast, with “a forgiving creaminess”.

The new PrimeCircle XM (manual focus and manual aperture) cinema lenses from LockCircle offer smooth focus action with calibrated (one-to-one) focus scales for precise follow-focus work. The lightweight Italian-made EF-mount and F-mount lenses use Carl Zeiss optics, and are priced from €1,399 to €3,499. They are designed to meet the requirements of 4K cameras, and are available in nine different focal lengths: 15mm/T2.8; 21/2.8; 25/2.0; 28/2.0; 35/1.4; 50/1.4; 85/1.4; 100 Makro/2.0; and 135Apo/2.0. The optics are aesthetically consistent over the different focal lengths, with natural colour balance and skin tones, and are claimed to offer “serious cinematic character” exhibiting a “pastel organic” bokeh.

ENG ZOOMS EXTENDED Fujinon’s A21x7.8 BERM/BERD is “a lightweight 21x lens, but it’s a similar weight to a 18x lens, which is significantly lighter [at 1.6-1.7kg depending on version] than a traditional 22x, so it’s particularly suitable for news and sport,” said Stefan Czich of Fujinon distributor Pyser-

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SGI, which is showing it at BVE and has had a lot of interest in it from news companies.

It has a focal length of 7.8-164mm, or 15.6328mm with 2x extender, maximum relative aperture of F1.8 (7.8-109mm) to F2.7 (164mm), and minimum object distance of 85cm.

It joins the 1.97kg HA18x5.5 2/3-inch lens, which covers 5.5mm to 100mm and uses high-precision large-diameter aspheric

“With the combination of wide angle performance and telephoto reach, this could be the ultimate news lens” Stefan Czich, Pyser-SGI

elements, designed with Fujifilm’s proprietary optical simulation technology, that are claimed to achieve sharpness at the centre as well as all corners for edge-to-edge image quality.

The lens has a minimum focus distance of 40cm, and its built-in 2x extender brings the focal length on the telephoto end to 200mm, allowing it to accommodate a broad range of needs. “With the combination of wide angle performance and telephoto reach, this could be the ultimate news lens,” said Czich.

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Canon’s HJ18ex7.6B IRSE/IASE ENG lens for 2/3-inch cameras is its successor to the popular HJ17ex7.6B. “This lens has been comprehensively upgraded in virtually every area, delivering enhanced performance, specifications and usability, with a reduction in weight [of 20 grams to 1.58kg] also ensuring mobility,” said Canon.

The lens is claimed to offer “superior optical performance”, delivering an increase in magnification to 18x and a longer focal length of 7.6-137mm (plus 2x extender) and a maximum aperture of F1.8. Minimum object distance is just 56cm (10mm with Macro). A new fast start-up digital drive unit provides enhanced usability, system support and operability, and also supports multiple types of image compensation – including lens and chromatic aberration. For virtual studio integration, it comes with 16-bit encoder output.

ADAPT AND OVERCOME MTF Services has worked with AJA to introduce the first lens adaptors for AJA’s Cion camera (which comes with a PL mount). The adaptors include: a Nikon G

February 2015 TVTechnology

PRODUCT REVIEW adaptor with aperture control for both new and old Nikon lenses; an optical system for B4 lenses compatible with any lens with a 2x extender – allowing total sensor coverage with HD B4 lenses as the multi-layer coated optics extend the image from its original 2/3inch size to cover the Cion’s Super35 sensor while maintaining the original angle of view of the lens; and three adaptors for Canon lenses: Canon FD-to-Cion adaptor for old FD lenses, plus two options for Canon EF mounts. The first is a standard mechanical adaptor, for EF-mount lenses with an aperture ring; the second, a version of the MTF Effect range of adaptors for electronic lenses. When used with the MTF Effect Control Unit it controls the iris in 1/8th stop increments, and powers lens stabilisation and focus (for lenses with powered focus).

New IMS Lens Mount Adapters for the Arri Amira and Micro-Four Thirds mount cameras have been introduced by P+S Technik. The seven for MFT offer plug & play mounting for: Professional (Nikon) F; Professional (Canon) EF; Canon FD; Leica R; Panavision; BNC-R; and PL mount, costing from €284 (plus VAT) to €609. They are pre-collimated and shims are available for individual adjustment. There are four for the Amira: Canon FD; Leica R; Panavision; and BNC-R, from €471 to €650.

The new Wide Angle Adapter from Schneider Optics for Fujinon’s 19-90mm T2.9 PL-mount Cabrio zoom lens provides a 30 per cent wider angle than the Cabrio’s 19mm limitation, offering users a minimum focal length of 14.5mm. With its 114mm diameter, it will also work with Fujinon’s 14-35mm T2.9 PL-mount Cabrio. The non-zoom through adapter is designed for quick mounting and removal, using a quick-release lever.

A new system for mounting and controlling Canon EF-mount lenses on high-end digital cinema cameras has been introduced by LockCircle. The Prime Circle XE System is claimed to offer the first lens/ controller/adapter mount integration between DSLRs and cine/video cameras able to be used in photo mode (full automatic aperture) and cine/video mode (stopped down aperture), where the lens aperture can be controlled wirelessly up to 150m. The XE System intelligent mount adapter can be used with a wide range of cameras.

LENS DATA Arri’s new Lens Data Encoder LDE-1, part of its Electronic Control System, uses an encoder that delivers data on the position of the lens ring to which it is attached, and can be used with a manual follow focus unit or third-party wireless lens control system.

It allows lens data to be generated when an

TVTechnology February 2015

B4 and after: An AJA Cion using with MTF’s blue B4 optical adaptor

Mobile control: Apps offer wireless motor control information using cworld

Alexa is used without an Arri lens motor or an LDS lens. Arri has also updated its Wireless Compact Unit WCU-4 to allow easier lens programming, so that lens tables can be generated for any lens, from vintage to modern in less than a minute.

CineMultiTrack is a new distance measurement system that can measure multiple objects, in association with Transvideo’s existing LensReader. The system can measure simultaneously the position of several tags and provides the data to the focus puller on the scale of the lens reader.

The system can also deliver the information to Preston FI+Z lens controls to help focus in difficult conditions.

The latest release of LensReader displays graphic data (focus with depth of field and hyperfocal point, iris, zoom) in real time from intelligent lenses: Arri/Zeiss LDS Master

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Prime, Ultra Prime and Master Anamorphic, Arri/Fujinon Alura Lightweight zooms, Angenieux /i zooms, Cooke and Fujinon Cabrio lenses.

A new wireless interface that allows users to access and edit live lens data has been introduced by Cmotion: cworld allows Cmotion control units and web-enabled devices to be connected so that multiple users can access lens and distance information, firmware updates, and user guides on a cvolution camin. It means that a director could remotely access the iris data and adjust the iris scale through their smartphone, while other members of the crew view other readouts.

A €350 smart range finder application (cfinder) provides a wireless distance read out when cworld is connected directly to a measurement tool, such as cmotion’s cfinder, Arri’s UDM or Cinetape.

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USER REPORT

The audio fixer Jakob Myrman is sound designer and audio engineer at Stockholmbased TV, film, and radio production company, Lillasyster. Last autumn, the facility became one of the first in Europe to adopt RX 4 Advanced, the latest version of an Emmy Award-winning audio repair toolkit developed by iZotope to address the specific needs of TV and film editors Established in 2005, Lillasyster is a production company that supplies content for television, web, radio, and cinema distribution across Sweden. We support every production stage: from pre-production to online and delivery of both pictures and sound. We’ve been using RX for around a year, mainly for general noise reduction. When we heard about its launch last September, the decision to upgrade to RX 4 Advanced was simple.

We’ve been using RX 4 for a couple of months now and it is starting to become addictive. With the new “RX Connect” feature our workflow is so fast: it feels as if any part of the content that hasn’t gone through RX, then it hasn’t been worked with properly.

It is great having the small floating window on-screen all the time. When something is noisy or distorted or if I need fill, then all I need to do is to mark the region and send it to the standalone app. This way, I have more

TVTechnology February 2015

options and direct access to the spectral editor without having to compromise my workflow in Pro Tools by having too many plug-in windows open at one time. When it’s completed processing, I send it back to Pro Tools where it renders on demand.

RX’s spectral editor takes a bit of getting used to but once you figure it out, it is very effective and tons of fun. I recently edited out the sound of a saxophone playing in the background of an interview. The result was amazing: what was left had a couple of artefacts but considering what had been taken away it was very impressive. You can also use it for sound design and create scary voices or unnatural sounds.

RX 4 is great if you want to clean up dialogue recorded in a wide variety of different settings: let’s say inside a car. On the screen, you mark the low end and use the function to only listen to the selected

Jakob Myrman

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USER REPORT frequencies so that you don’t take too much away from the sound you want to keep, and just clean up those frequencies. Also, the EQ Match facility is really useful. On one project, we recorded ADR but had no idea of what microphone had been used on set, so instead we used the Ambience Match facility in RX 4 Advanced.

For quicker mixes, I put the Dialogue Denoiser on my dialogue bus and put the reduction-lever at zero. When a noisy part comes along, I simply automate it to reduce the required amount. Fast, simple, and great sounding.

‘Declip’ is another feature that we think is really good. Just mark the distorted data, slide the threshold, and render. It’s not perfect every time but more often than not it turns distorted to clean, turning unusable material into great-sounding audio. In today’s economic environment, the ability to salvage the audio in rushes is invaluable – the cost savings are really significant.

RX’s Declick is another module that’s easy and fast to use. It’s great for ‘chappy’ voiceovers or even if you have a scratchy lavalier from clothes or hair. You need to tweak it a bit more than Declip but it’s still easy and intuitive to operate. And then there’s Decrackle, which is pretty similar.

I guess that to provide a comprehensive review I need to talk about the things that I don’t like quite so much. The Leveler and Loudness functions in RX 4 Advanced are not my favourites. Instead, I use iZotope Insight® and Waves’ Loudness Meter for measurement because auto-levelling has never felt safe. Dereverb in RX 4 Advanced is also a feature that I use less and less: it seems to take away more of the sound quality than it takes away reverb.

The RX 4 Dialogue Leveler

RX SAVES THE DAY FOR A SWEDISH FEATURE DOCUMENTARY I guess that the big ‘so what?’ about the iZotope RX audio repair platform is its ability to retrieve broadcast-quality audio from content that sounds unusable. Recently, we mixed a feature documentary that was mainly shot on a compact digital camera with no lavs, booms, or ADR. If it wasn’t for iZotope’s RX audio toolkit, it probably wouldn’t have been possible to play the feature in a cinema theatre. This was partly due to noise levels but also because important parts of the film’s audio were totally distorted.

There was one specific interview – that was very important for the story – that was particularly distorted. The producer asked early on if I thought they needed to cut the scene out of the movie and I told him I’d

do my best. The results were mind-blowing: we used RX’s Declip and you wouldn’t know it had ever been distorted. RX enabled the director to tell the story that she wanted despite a lot of quality issues. The RX suite pretty much saved the story.

So, to conclude, at Lillasyster our most valuable resource is our gifted and talented staff. All of the technology in the world is no replacement for creativity, but what we need to do is to support and inspire our editors by providing the best tools to help them in their day-to-day work. I believe that RX is the plugin that makes the biggest difference in sound quality on our projects, especially on projects with difficult production circumstances; be it because of location or budget. Quite simply, RX sets us apart from those facilities that don’t have it.

Myrman at work with the RX 4

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February 2015 TVTechnology

FEATURE

Thinking outside

the box The first in a new series of roundtable features brings together some of the leading authorities on channel in a box (CiaB) to examine why a common definition of CiaB is so hard to come by, and how the cloud has impacted the space Why is it so hard to come up with a universally accepted definition of channel in a box?

Jan Weigner, MD, Cinegy Part of the reason CiaB is so hard to define to everyone’s satisfaction is that the ‘box’ itself is all but indefinable. The box your channel

TVTechnology February 2015

comes in – if it’s a box at all – is irrelevant.

Because we (Cinegy) operate in a softwareonly environment, the concept of a box is a bit anathema to us and the sooner the term ‘CiaB’ dies, along with ‘SDI’ I might add, the better as far as I’m concerned. I can buy a ‘box’ off the shelf from any reliable IT supplier, install some software on it and have a channel playing out

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for you in a few minutes. I can paint that offthe-shelf box in my company’s colours, slap a logo on the side and sell it to you at a premium as a CiaB ‘solution’, but that’s just marketing guff that adds unnecessary cost to the end user for the purchase of a pretty logo.

I wouldn’t want to be defined as a CiaB solution provider, because I don’t sell boxes.

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I sell software. You can run it on any box you want. It therefore depends on how good – or bad – the box you’ve chosen is as to whether you can run one, many or no channels at the same time. I can buy an off-the-shelf box for less than €300, drop an inexpensive SDI card in it and it will run an HD channel just fine.

This is how meaningless the colourful tins with logos have become.

Igor Krol, COO, Veset Over the past decade, a large number of vendors have offered CiaB playout automation solutions. CiaB was originally conceived as an alternative to traditional solutions, offering emphasis on cost efficiency though integration of previously disparate playout, master control and a number of other functionalities.

From that, it would seem to be a logical deduction that, for many vendors, there’s no compelling reason to clearly define, across the board, what constitutes a channel in a box because, from a marketing perspective, there is a promise of CiaB being an all-in-one solution.

However, in reality, customers have to figure out what is inside of that particular box and even more importantly how many additional ‘boxes’ or pieces of hardware or software he has to buy from the vendor to make his workflow work.

We believe that the move to cloud platforms and technologies should bring more transparency to the end users. It is a general trend. The cloud is very transparent.

In the early 2000s, CiaB was a step in the right direction, however, lack of transparency and hidden costs are limiting factors in the business model. It took CiaB 15 years to be adopted; nonetheless, we think that tectonic shifts in television will result in faster adoption of the cloud by the industry.

James Gilbert, CEO, Pixel Power If a universally accepted definition were needed, no doubt someone would come up with it. But the reason there are a lot of different solutions on the market is simply that there are a lot of different requirements. Each broadcaster or service provider is different, and each has its own set of priorities.

Some will simply be looking for the ability to get on-air for the lowest possible price, and so will accept the restrictions of a PC-based system. Others will want complex interworking between traditional and integrated playout architectures. Still, others will place the biggest emphasis on channel branding, and so seek a graphics-based system such as the Pixel Power ChannelMaster.

Channel in a box systems can provide the primary playout for premium channels including manual intervention, or they can be entirely automatic and only suitable for fully planned services. Some choose channel in a box as a disaster recovery

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“The box your channel comes in is irrelevant. Because we operate in a software-only environment, the concept of a box is a bit anathema and the sooner the term ‘CiaB’ dies, along with ‘SDI’ I might add, the better as far as I’m concerned.”

Jan Weigner, MD, Cinegy

Jan Weigner

Igor Kroll

solution to a traditional playout infrastructure, or to provide regional variations of a national channel. There is a common thread, though, which is simplification. Channel in a box systems tend to be easier to deploy and to support through a single vendor.

Operationally, they should be simple too. But the key requirement is to understand precisely what your requirements are: there is no one size that fits all.

Tom Gittins, sales director, Pebble Beach Systems Generally speaking, a ‘channel in a box’ is a self-contained solution from a single vendor which claims to encompass all

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of the functionality required in a traditional broadcast output chain.

These solutions will typically incorporate a control system that controls only the channel functionality within the box.

However, the term ‘channel in a box’ is frequently misleading: many solutions actually comprise multiple boxes, once fully configured.

A number of vendors offer ‘integrated channel technology’, using this broader term to describe solutions that collapse the traditional functionality of discrete playout devices into as few boxes as practical, and using software processing where possible. Many of the integrated channel solutions on the market only work under their own control systems, which are often limited and have little capability to control any other devices. This forces the customer to create standalone islands of channels. In reality, customers often need to deploy this technology alongside existing equipment and systems, and to accommodate specific workflows for subtitling, media, and graphics, etc.

Also, the internal architecture of these solutions can be quite rigid, not allowing the configurability which broadcasters have become used to when deploying discrete devices in an SDI environment.

What the end user really cares about is whether the overall solution will meet their specific channel requirements; whether it offers the graphics, and audio track management they need; whether it can handle the compression and file formats which are being used in acquisition; if it is capable of handling complex reactive channels including unpredictable late changes; and if their capital and/or their operating expenditure will be reduced?

There is also a wider question worthy of consideration in a volatile mergers and acquisitions environment: is it wise to entrust one’s entire playout capability to a single vendor?

It is clear that whilst there is a huge variety of so-called channel in a box devices on the market, the buyer needs to carefully consider which technology will best meet their requirements now and in the future. One size does not fit all.

February 2015 TVTechnology

FEATURE

James Gilbert

What impact has the cloud had on channel in a box?

Jan Weigner, MD, Cinegy Will the real cloud please stand up? Even the definition of the cloud is ambiguous. It can mean different things to different people, largely derived from how it’s implemented.

So, is your fluffy, pristine cloud actually full of boxes? It has to be, if you believe certain manufacturers whose cloud solution means that you have to install a hardware card in a tin box, which to me is a very interesting definition of ‘cloud’.

The IT industry has successfully set definitive technical standards for decades. In the broadcast industry, however, if someone says, “we need to broadcast a channel of DPP compliant video with, say, two or three layers of branding, what do I need for that?”, you’d be hard pressed to make any meaningful comparison between vendor CiaB offerings, but you could spend an awful lot money finding out.

If you don’t want to invest a penny, you can install your content in, for example, the Amazon AWS cloud environment and pay as you go.

That, for me, is the real cloud. If you need your own special cloud with your own special plug-in cards, well, that’s more fog than cloud.

It’s all about commodity IT. And the real test of commodity is, “where’s the free trial version that I can run on my tin box or my own cloud to see how it works?” If a vendor can’t provide this, today, for free, they should get out of the business. In the meantime, good luck with pushing tin.

Igor Krol, COO, Veset Compared to other industries or even its ‘twin sister’ VoD/digital media, the linear broadcast industry has resisted adopting cloud solutions. However, that will inevitably and rapidly change. Very soon, cloudbased playout will disrupt the CiaB space, TVTechnology February 2015

Tom Gittins

“The term ‘channel in a box’ is frequently misleading: many solutions actually comprise multiple boxes, once fully configured.”

Tom Gittins, Pebble Beach all but eliminating the need for a physical or metaphoric box to get a channel on air. With the cloud, there’s no need for a broadcaster to invest in proprietary hardware and/or software and maintain underlying infrastructure, of which a ‘box’ of sorts would be a part. Over time, SaaS platforms that combine linear, catch up and VoD capabilities will run from the cloud. It may sound futuristic for some, but we see how forward-thinking broadcasters are actually moving in this direction.

In the meantime, given its IT nature, cloud playout can actually coexist with traditional broadcast technology. That said, those hardware devices are, one by one, being absorbed into the cloud, and CiaB – at least in terms of the requirement for a card or the box in which it is installed – is eventually likely to become one of them.

I think we’re pretty close to making an important step from CiaB to channel in a cloud.

James Gilbert, CEO, Pixel Power In truth, while there is a lot of talk about the cloud, it is not really the issue today. There are challenges with the cloud – such as reliable bandwidth to move content in and out of the cloud, and security of the content while it is in someone else’s care – which have yet to be fully satisfied.

The real issue is the move from dedicated, bespoke broadcast hardware to products that provide all the functionality required, but in software which can run on a standard computing platform. This is not necessarily an off-the-shelf PC: you may

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need the power that only a multi-processor, multi-threaded share of a server farm can provide.

Successful software implementations then lead to virtualisation. This technique, extremely common in other IT applications, runs multiple processes on a shared processor farm, with an orchestration layer managing priorities and taking resources as necessary. Sensible virtualisation management will allocate to mission critical processes like graphics and playout the resources they need at all times.

Once a channel in a box can be virtualised it could be deployed in the cloud; either the broadcaster’s own private cloud or an off premise commercial offering from a third party.

Tom Gittins, sales director, Pebble Beach Systems The advent of cloud technology has spawned an interesting debate in the playout space, as stakeholders try to define what element of playout can be abstracted into the cloud. Whilst it seems clear that the private cloud offers a level of playout security that the public cloud cannot, it is important to understand what the objective really is. What benefit is the broadcaster looking for in the VM environment? If they want to exploit a processing platform that can flex according to requirements, this brings its own risks, as reactive channels need ring-fenced processing capacity to cater for the most processor-intensive tasks, and these may be impossible to predict when the schedule is subject to late-breaking changes.

To date, cloud hasn’t had a great impact beyond early trials and testing. Its early application will be limited to low revenue channels which are clip-based, and there will be a long period of experimentation and benchmarking before its adoption for (especially) high value linear playout applications. www.tvtechnologyeurope.com

MARKETPLACE – BUYERS GUIDE Drone used by UNIT9 to shoot catwalk show

e h t f o t h g Fli navigator of drone filming There is a blizzard l are up to options but not al d production standar

BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

T

he aerial filming industry is going through a bonanza as low cost drones become the latest musthave item. “It’s a modern-day gold rush,” warns Arland Whitfield, founder of The SkyWorks Project. “Companies are scrambling to put incomplete products to market.”

Producers looking for a unique piece of footage, that may previously have only been obtainable from helicopter, will consider three broad sectors of the market.

These divide budget hobbyist models from more professionals production-ready units from commissioning a specialist aerial filming company.

“While some manufacturers promise systems that can carry huge amounts of weight, they often only stay in the air for up to ten minutes,” says Whitfield.

He suggests that the difference between a ‘hobbyist’ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and a ‘commercial’ drone, lies in payload, battery-life and safety. “Because

TVTechnology February 2015

the industry is relatively new, drone technology is not developed to the point where it is bulletproof. Failures do happen when systems are in the air, and to prevent catastrophic results, commercial drones need effective fail-safes.” Professional outfits such as Skyworks use drones of their own

design (i.e. Carboncore Cortex) which come with a number of fail-safes: redundant motor systems to prevent the drone from falling out of the sky even if a motor fails, and returnto-home modes ensure that the equipment returns safely in the event of a lost radio signal. Pro models are designed to be flown

Parrot’s mini-drone Jumping Sumo

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Onboard image from Fotokite

Fotokite circumnavigates civil aviation UAV rules

by two people: one pilot and one camera operator, under licence.

“Cheaper and lighter weight drones have lowered the barriers to entry and thus enabled experimentation, which can only be a good thing,” says Sandeep Kamal, managing partner, UNIT9 Mumbai. “However, there’s always a trade-off when adopting a particular technical approach. Smaller and lighter drones are naturally limited in the payload they are able to carry and are restricted not only in the type of camera rig they can mount but also the time/range they can achieve when airborne. They are, however, very useful when covering live events where intrusion of public space may be a concern.”

For the Autumn/Winter Fendi fashion show in Milan (February 2014), UNIT9 flew a lightweight drone indoors above the catwalk transmitting footage live via Wi-Fi to a web camera feed.

In traditional rigs there is a restriction of movement in at least one axis but with a drone the range is extended in all axes – even

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The Mavrik drone

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February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE – BUYERS GUIDE The Parrot Bebop costs £430

Tiny consumer drone Zano from the UK’s Tourqing Group coming to market in 2015

DJI Inspire

up to a few kilometres in spaces with an unrestricted line of sight. The movement of the camera can be controlled manually or automated to the extent that it can then be repeated, such as in a motion control system.

“Using waypoint navigation, relative coordinate systems and GPS it is possible to plot paths for the camera to follow with good accuracy,” says Kamal. “This eliminates the need for an experienced pilot and helicam or other

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helicopter-based camera systems for certain types of shot.”

According to Robert Campbell, founder of commercials production agency Outsider, “It’s pointless having a brilliant drone carrying a Kodak Brownie. It’s all about the camera, the lenses and the operator. A helicopter operator earns their money because they know exactly what they’re doing.

If you want something hovering in

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the air, then maybe a drone will work, but if you need to follow the action, then get a cameraman who has worked in the business. I wouldn’t go near a DIY drone outfit.”

Dean Wynton, who runs UK specialist Aerosight, agrees. “There are a lot of cowboys with a GoPro and a drone who undercut the market and give aerial filmmaking a bad name.” He advises producers to check for insurance and a licence. “If a showreel shows shots of fields, trees and churches you can expect little experience of flying to order.”

For anyone surveying the blizzard of ‘fly your own’ options, there are a number of factors to consider. Size will generally dictate the camera payload. Quadcopters (a craft with four motors and propellers) are generally more efficient than an octocopter (a craft with eight). The added motors mean more energy sucked out of already limited battery lives, and the larger footprint makes it harder to transport and fly.

“Crucially, however, they can lift more weight than quadcopters,” says Whitfield. “More motors means more thrust, and more thrust means the craft can carry more weight. This allows you to fly bigger cameras and lenses.”

Live streaming is essential to be able to see what you’re filming. Audio always needs recording separately since these beasts are remarkably noisy. Professional production models will most likely have at least a 3-axes gimbal.

The market leader, which regularly tops polls for usability, is DJI (DJI.com). Its £1,000 flagship Phantom 2 Vision+ comes equipped with a 1080p/30 720p/60 camera, a threeplane gimbal for image stabilisation, and a Wi-Fi extender for control up to 2,000 feet away. It recently launched the £1,600 Inspire, a version which includes a 4K/30fps (1080p/60fps) camera and will upturn its wings on lift-off to avoid line of sight with the lens. Its gimbal will swivel 360-degrees and tilt 125-degrees while camera sensors allow for indoors flying or where the GPS signal is low.

Lumenier (Lumenier.com) offers no-frills airframes with a reputation for judderfree and agile flying. Its QAV400, for example, costs between £800 and £1,500 and targets GoPro Hero carriage.

The £450 Aries Blackbird X-10 (from Adorama) has a 16MP camera, and can shoot 1080p

The Rolling Spider

February 2015 TVTechnology

video at 30fps. It doesn’t have a gimbal, but the company says it uses a combination of a six-axis gyro and GPS to maintain stability.

The Blackbird can be controlled with the remote or an iPhone or Android app.

Steadidrone’s (steadidrone.com) product ranges from the £6,000 (minus batteries and other accessories) Steadidrone X boasting 60 minute flight times and a payload capacity over 8kg, to the £2,500 Mavrik which will fly 18 minutes carrying a Sony NEX7 (or similar DSLR) and lens. The Flare is a budget version of the Mavrik, suitable for GoPros and there are basic carbon fibre airframes too such as the $125 Dash for self-assembly.

Cinedrones’ Action XL+ Hex is a six-motor UAV from £1,600 with streaming video capability but without camera and again more suited for GoPros. It uses a DJI Naza V2 Flight GPS Controller. With payloads of 6lb and cameras such as Canon 5D, C300, or Nikon D800, Cinedrones (cinedrones.net) offers the DSLR Octo while the Cinema X8 Heavy Lifter can carry a Red Epic 6K plus lens up to 17lb. It features an HD video streaming option and a gimbal that can be converted from aerial to handheld work.

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The Parrot smartphone control app

At the fun-sized end of the market, Parrot (parrot.com) sports a number of colourful designs with durable styrofoam frames. Most are steered by apps on your mobile device, to which live images can also be sent.

The Bebop’s in-built 14MP camera has a fisheye lens and records videos in a 180-degree field. It comes with sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, ultrasound sensor, pressure sensor) and takes a still picture vertically every 16 milliseconds to track speed.

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For anyone wanting a good trainer before gravitating to larger machines, the Blade Nano QX is a £50 palm-sized quadcopter and is deemed one of the best.

The technology is reducing in size, and increasing in sensors.

Due this year is a drone on a leash, Fotokite, which circumnavigates civil aviation laws since it qualifies as a kite; the Nixie which can be worn on your wrist; and another tiny consumer drone, Zano, from Wales’ Tourqing Group.

February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE – BUYERS GUIDE

Code masters Transcoding vendors assess key investment criteria for operators including premises vs cloud; hardware vs software; and integration with MAM Telestream Vantage

allow the entire farm to be run in an almost invisible way. Devlin says operators need transcoding systems that can create all of the output formats that their new business model requires, but with a level of automation that allows them to do this without a huge increase in staff. “Automation not only allows operators to do more with their existing staff, but also allows the system to be selfmonitoring, self-adjusting and in some cases self-correcting,” explains Paul Turner, VP enterprise product management, Telestream.

“This fundamentally enables them to offer services which are of importance to their business, while significantly reducing the costs of doing so. The revenue models for these services are starting to solidify, so customers want to be sure that their transcoding systems are flexible enough to handle the ad insertion and recognition process that will become standard practice as these models mature.”

Harmonic emphasises flexibility in transcoding systems, particularly with

BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

O

perators face a daunting task: there is a bewildering array of devices to which they are expected to deliver media in addition to their traditional broadcast outputs – ranging from smartphones to set-top boxes, to smart TVs, UHD TVs and beyond.

This is a significant increase in operational complexity – but for several of these outlets, the monetisation model is not yet fully formed, so the additional complexity is not necessarily matched by a commensurate increase in revenue. In short, operators – the clients of transcoding kit vendors – have to do more work for not a lot more money.

“We see operators tugging in opposite directions when it comes to hardware or software encoding and transcoding, especially when it comes to multiscreen,” says Carl Furgusson, Ericsson’s head of business development, TV compression.

“Considerations such as performance, reliability, costs and resolution requirements will heavily impact decisions that operators make in the coming years.”

TV Technology Europe asks key transcoding vendors for their views on

TVTechnology February 2015

ATEME TITAN

key investment criteria including premises versus cloud; hardware versus software; and integration with MAM. INVISIBILITY, FLEXIBILITY, SCALABILITY It all boils down to invisibility for Bruce Devlin, chief media scientist at Dalet. Essentially, transcoding is becoming an enterpriseinvisible business process, he says. It’s industrialised, and a modern transcoder not only has to deliver great output content, but also management interfaces and controls to

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respect to adaptive bit rate (ABR) packaging and delivery (e.g., HLS, HDS, DASH, etc).

“Many operators are combining ABR and broadcast encoding/transcoding systems (as these are the most stable with respect to standards and configuration) and leveraging a separate ABR packaging and origin stage to manage the volatility of standards and devices on the consumption side,” explains Tom Lattie, Harmonic’s VP market management and development, video products. “With ABR becoming a more

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common consumption method, particularly on big screens, greater emphasis is being placed on the video quality provided by encoding/transcoding solutions.”

ATEME is similarly focused on making transcoding plants as flexible and scalable as possible. “If a new device appears, operators expect their transcoding solution to easily evolve with a software release to address the latter,” says Remi Beaudouin, product marketing director. “If content production ramps up, operators want to quickly add processing resources with a minimum impact on operational layers.”

“On-premise transcoding gives you ultimate control and potentially the minimum operating costs if the system is stable and fault/rejection rates are low” Bruce Devlin ON-PREMISE, CLOUD OR HYBRID? One vital business decision is whether to adopt an on-premise, cloud-based, or a hybrid approach to the operation. Each has cost variables. “An operator with UHD master files transcoding for OTT will have a very different set of cost models to an operator who only transcodes SD content in-house for proxies,” outlines Devlin.

“On-premise transcoding gives you ultimate control and, potentially, the minimum operating costs if the system is stable and fault/rejection rates are low. A fully cloudbased system gives maximum versatility with an elastic cost model that can scale easily as business requirements change. On-premise solutions are hard to scale elastically because servers and storage will have to be procured in order to do the up-scaling and they won’t be ‘sold’ when down scaling. Internal transfers of content, however, are free. Off-premise storage can also lead to complex security and key management challenges when high value material needs to be converted.”

Agreeing that on-premise transcoding requires upfront capital investment, Turner says it can be cheaper in the long run, and can be significantly faster if the source and destination are within your facility. “The downside is that operators have to size their transcode farm to match their peak load.”

Processing in the cloud requires that the media be processed with the end point of the processing also located in the cloud.

This means that media has to be transferred up to the cloud before processing can take place, which has cost implications in both time and money (if operators already store their programmes up on cloud storage – as many do – this cost is somewhat mitigated). “The same is true for the delivery point,” Turner continues. “If the

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Workflow overview for Brightcove’s Zencoder transcoding API

ATEME Kyrion Bruce Devlin,

Harmonic’s

Dalet

Tom Lattie

next step in the overall workflow occurs at some other premises, then the time of transfer of transcoded material must also be considered. While the cost per transcode hour can seem very attractive, operators should also consider just how many hours per year they will use.”

Turner likens this to somebody who needs a truck to move some furniture: if you’re only moving furniture once, then you’ll hire a truck to do so. But if you move furniture all day every day, the rental costs will far outstrip the cost of buying a truck in the first place. “The major positive points for cloud operations are that you don’t have to make significant capital investment in the transcoding infrastructure, and that you can operate a pay as you go method of funding,” says Turner.

Vendors tend toward a hybrid solution where a certain volume of transcode capacity is ‘owned’ and the elastic load capacity is scaled into a private or public cloud.

“Good resource management with business rules implemented in a MAM like Dalet Galaxy should allow the benefits of cloud to be achieved as well as the benefits of on-premise,” says Devlin.

“With a hybrid model, operators can size their on-premise transcode farm to match their typical run-rate load, and handle peak work by offloading some of that additional processing to a cloud extension as and when needed,” is Turner’s take.

HARDWARE-BASED VERSUS SOFTWARE-BASED ENCODING The prevailing technology narrative across the industry is from dedicated hardware to software, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the encoding/transcoding field. Yet, the answer is not as simple as you’d think.

Of course, opinions vary depending on the vendor’s software or hardware-based product.

It can’t be doubted, though, that Moore’s law and the development of GPU assist has meant that standard computer platforms can now match, and in many cases exceed, the speed of their hardware counterparts.

The main difference lies in flexibility, suggests Telestream’s Turner. “Software solutions are generically easier to update than their hardware equivalents, and through the update process can have new features (which weren’t available at the time of purchase) added to them at any time. Hardware transcoders are generally more difficult to update with new codecs and features.”

Dalet argues that many organisations are now looking at the energy consumed by data centres and are weighing up the benefits of some hardware acceleration from an energy perspective. “In transcoding, the format stability is such that hardware is often only appropriate for long-term stable functions such as low level codecs and some image processing,” he outlines. “The rate and ease with which software can be

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February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE – BUYERS GUIDE written and deployed means that it is used for nearly all encode and decode operations.

The exceptions to this rule tend to be in live operations and for the last encode prior to emission. Even those elements today are becoming software functions due to the versatility of today’s software.”

Here is ATEME’s take: “A hardware-based system is tailored for its target, no more, no less, which leads to the best performance and usage,” says Beaudouin. “The downside is that it creates as many processing silos as services: one silo for over-the-top, one silo for the linear channel, one channel for VoD. Software solutions overcome this issue by providing flexibility and ease-of-operation: the same appliance can be used for several purposes as software firmware, as well as virtualisation, allows easy portability to various locations.”

Ericsson says its bespoke hardware, which is designed using the company’s own chipset, has benefits over software when it comes to performance. “If the operator needs to maximise bandwidth efficiency then hardware is the primary choice, and will provide the best performance and network efficiency,” says Furgusson. “For traditional broadcast, hardware will often still be the predominant choice due to the high value of network bandwidth.”

For ABR and file-based environments, however, the story is slightly different. Operators need to quickly adapt their ABR transmissions to accommodate the needs of new devices, which can launch at any time without advance warning. “This inability to know what new device or codec is round the corner has led to the emergence of software as a favourable, flexible alternative which can quicken adoption for new devices,” says Furgusson.

“Hybrid models combining hardware and software can also help to address this challenge, allowing operators to use hardware for the stable core service (HEVC, MPEG4, and so on) but use software when flexibility is required, such as dealing with changes to packaging formats.”

INTEGRATION WITH ASSET MANAGEMENT Multi-platform consumption is causing an explosion in the one-to-many ratio of filebased workflows, resulting in a constantly increasing number of distribution derivatives from each master asset. Tight interaction with the asset management system is critical for a successful file-based transcoding workflow.

“Today, this is mostly used for linking the asset to all of the device-based derivatives,” says Lattie. He points to efforts around BXF (Broadcast eXchange Format) and IMF (Interoperable Master Format) to make this interaction more intelligent and powerful.

“The next opportunity is to automatically scale the creation derivatives, not just based on

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Dalet server racks

Telestream’s Paul Turner

Remi Beaudouin, ATEME

consumption device, but also on contentspecific considerations such as regional or ratings deltas and ad insertion.”

Integration is generally done via API, although as Turner points out, less sophisticated systems may only offer ‘hot folder’ integration, “which as you can imagine offers much less interaction, and places all of the management burden on the asset management system itself.” A lot of content is assembled from new and old footage that may have been shot at different rates. The results do not look good when broadcast on a low bandwidth transmission channel and displayed on a big, bright, flat screen.

That’s where patented frame rate conversion technology from Dalet comes in. “It can fix up many of these problems without resorting to a re-edit of the original content,” says Devlin.

QC is another vital element in the media chain to the extent that the UK DPP mandates it for UK broadcaster delivery. “Modern media files are so complex that no single playback device can check everything so there is now a broad range of products that are able to perform QC on files and streams,” says Devlin.

“These are able to find common design and configuration errors in media files and streams.”

direct monetisation play for our customers, allowing them to create VoD assets in such a way that they can be customised via DAI and therefore monetised.” This hasn’t been possible to date, as all of the necessary pieces weren’t in place. Harmonic is also showing improved ingest support for camera file formats to increase its reach into production workflows.

Harmonic’s software-based offerings include the VOS virtualised video delivery platform, the power and flexibility of which “allows operators to transition services from SD MPEG-2 to HEVC UHD without having to completely replace their infrastructure,” says Lattie. Just prior to press, Harmonic announced the launch of its new Electra X encoder.

Ericsson is highlighting Virtualized Encoding, described as the industry’s first software solution for intelligent utilisation of multiple encoding resources (regardless of technology) and speaking more about this product in the context of TV Anywhere.

Another key topic for the company at NAB is likely to be bandwidth efficiency and the effects of mezzanine links on compression performance. “We will show the considerable improvements this can have on broadcast distribution and delivery to the home, and set the scene for wider discussions on compression performance, and how it underlines everything that Ericsson does,” says Furgusson.

FOCUS ON NAB Telestream is focusing on the creation of VoD assets with support for DAI (Dynamic Ad Insertion) which, claims Turner, “is a

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February 2015 TVTechnology

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Product reviews Camera lenses, audio repair

BVE preview edition

MARKETPLACE – BVE PREVIEW

BVE is back to excel in London To open our preview of this year’s BVE in London on 24 to 26 February, TV Technology Europe sat down with Alison Willis, portfolio director for i2i Events Group’s Environment and Broadcasting Division, to discuss what we can expect from the 2015 event What has stood out for you in terms of industry developments since BVE 2014?

The last 12 months have seen remarkable changes, even by the standards of an industry like broadcast that is constantly evolving.

Take for example the move from tape-based to file-based programme delivery: that was described as the biggest change since the introduction of colour pictures. This shows the level of development we are seeing at the moment.

As part of that shift, we have also seen the almost universal adoption of a common Loudness standard that can be applied to all types of broadcast content. That is another key change and one that will benefit all television viewers, whatever device they are using. For the industry, it means a slightly different way of working and a need to invest in new equipment. As such, there are still some issues to overcome so I believe that Loudness will continue to make a huge noise at BVE 2015, if you’ll excuse the pun.

Looking to the future, the impact of IP on the broadcast chain cannot be understated.

As an industry we are not there yet but very soon the established methods of cabling up studios, OBs, post houses and more could be superseded by standard internet connectivity.

It promises a more cost-effective approach.

Again, there is still work to be done in this area but, now that it is technically possible for live video and audio to be synchronised down computer cables, the change looks inevitable.

4K continues to generate debate, not least because none of the major UK broadcasters have yet committed to broadcasting any content in a format that is four times bigger in resolution terms than HD. Many people now shoot in 4K – and indeed 5k and 6K – but until a broadcaster dips its toes in the 4K water, the talk will continue. BVE will be a good place to learn more about the 4K problems that are left to solve.

At the consumer end, having access to big data is going to be huge for the broadcasters.

By gathering, analysing and cross referencing accurate viewing and user statistics, content providers – in their many forms – will hope to

TVTechnology February 2015

figures, one third (32 per cent) of the online population in the UK uses the web to watch TV at least once a week. This is the highest rate of any country in Europe. That provides you with an idea of the shift that is taking place. But the baby should not be thrown out with the bath water just yet as, according to BARB, 98 per cent of TV viewing in the UK still takes place on a TV set. At the moment this is a gradual change, an evolution not a revolution. Ask me again in 12 months time and I might say something different though!

Alison WIllis

deliver better and more personal experiences across both TV sets and mobile devices. It will require a careful balance of editorial input and sophisticated computer algorithms but the possibilities are almost endless.

What has 2014 taught us about the progression of the industry, and where it currently sits in its evolution?

With all the changes that are happening, from how content is created to how it is viewed, one constant remains: the content itself is still king. It’s a cliché but content is still what matters. Just look at the furore over inaudible dialogue in various period dramas in 2014.

The British public care deeply about TV, it is ingrained in our culture now, and they will always want more and better content. The important thing for the industry is to keep remembering that in its quest to satisfy all the other viewer requirements.

On that note, consumer habits are clearly changing and broadcasters need to continue to not just be reactive to this but also proactive. According to the latest Ofcom

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We hear constantly about the challenges faced by the operators and suppliers in the industry in this stage of its development, but the evolving marketplace must have a significant impact on your business strategy.

What are the main challenges that you face as a key industry event in terms of preparation for both the conference and exhibition sides of the show?

Every industry event faces challenges. Some are more specific than others but the fact that broadcasting, as we know it, is now embracing and dovetailing with parts of the telecoms and IT sectors means we have to extend our reach further to satisfy the demands of visitors. At the same time, industries closer to home, such as advertising, are aligning themselves with content creation evermore. You only have to look at the burgeoning developments in branded content and advertiser funded programming, not to mention product placement.

To bring all these parties on board we are working closely with expert partners and respected organisations that can help BVE to reflect the change in the make-up of what we used to call TV. What differences can we expect from the content of this year’s seminars, and which ones do you think are likely to grab people’s attention?

BVE is recognised as a great learning and networking event, and this will be reflected in the make-up of this year’s show. So, you’ll see more panel discussions and chances to

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USER REPORT

Delegates at BVE 2014

talk with peers and learn from masters of their craft. One example is the new training hub that we are launching. This will sit within the BBC Academy’s Skills and Networking Zone.

4K will be prominent, especially on the acquisition side, but also in terms of problem solving. There are parts of the broadcast chain that are not quite mature enough for mainstream broadcasting. BVE will be a good place to learn more.

Of the other sessions, I think the Raindance Film Festival’s Interactive workshop ‘Producing your indie film-kit’ will be a real hit. As will the panel session ‘Commissioning Drama – What’s important to know in 2015?’

There is a drama production boom in the UK at the minute so this will be essential viewing.

On the technology side I would expect ‘Asset Management: Crucial steps to take in ensuring your content becomes the asset’ to gather a significant crowd as storage and asset management are big news right now.

Sessions on big data, such as ‘Demystifying IT in broadcasting – is cloud, big data and open source the solution?’, and loudness, ‘How broadcasters should go about implementing loudness recommendation EBU R128 for programmes’, will be popular too.

I’m also very excited about the speakers we have assembled. Our keynote sessions will include talks by comedian, actor, writer and director, Richard Ayoade, and American director, Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight).

Vasha Wallace, senior vice president of global acquisitions and development at Freemantle Media, the company behind Idols, The X

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“4K will be prominent in terms of acquisition and problem solving.

There are parts of the broadcast chain that aren’t mature enough for mainstream broadcasting. BVE will be a good place to learn more” Factor, Got Talent and other formats, is a really interesting one. She is a big name and should prove to be a big draw.

Likewise, Peter Robertson is one of the UK’s leading camera/steadicam operators.

He has more than 20 years’ experience in feature film, TV production – including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Edge of Tomorrow and Anna Karenina.

Bruno Mahe, head of technology at Illumination Mac Guff, the film company responsible for films including Despicable Me, The Lorax and Minions, will be presenting a keynote presentation in the 4K Theatre discussing how the rise of 4K will influence the animation space.

And David Gibbs, director of digital media at Sky Sports, will discuss the role of the second screen in maximising engagement across live sporting events, looking at the role of apps and whether personalisation is the way forward for multi-platform sporting experiences.

What else is new for 2015?

There are lots of new things this year but the ones that stand out for me are: Raindance – Live! Ammunition!, a pitching competition for filmmakers; the Skills and Networking

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Zone, which includes master classes from the renowned BBC Academy; and even more cinematic 4K experience in our 4K Theatre.

Where does BVE sit in relation to the rest of i2i’s portfolio of events – you cover a variety of sectors and marketplaces, but where would you say it is in the hierarchy? i2i organises a large number of market leading events and, as you would expect, each is given high priority within the business. We pride ourselves on the quality of our exhibitions and conferences and our efforts to constantly improve and develop BVE mirror that.

In fact, BVE has been given additional focus this year as it is very much a growing show in the i2i portfolio and has huge potential. The 2015 show has 250+ exhibitors including 35 brand new ones and over 90 per cent of the floor space has already been sold. We are very pleased with how it has gone but we can always do better and will strive to do so.

Finally, what sort of progress do you think we’ll see in the marketplace in 2015?

I think we will see four key trends: more suppliers entering the broadcast market from IT and telecoms; more brands becoming buyers of broadcast equipment; a slow but gradual shift to 4K/UHD with more UK consumers buying 4K ready televisions and broadcasters taking the plunge with services; and more viewing of content (both live and on demand) via the internet on either smart TVs, smart set-top boxes or mobile devices.

Exciting times.

February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE — BVE PREVIEW

What to see at BVE New for 2015 will be the launch of the first ever BVE Daily, the event’s official newspaper. Published under the NewBay Media umbrella, TV Technology Europe is able to provide an exclusive insight into a selection of key product releases you can expect to see at ExCeL London

4K Cion goes with the (work)flow

Giving UAVs her best shot: AerialWorx’s director, Stefanie Williams

Drones take to the air There is a big buzz around drones, or UAVs, at BVE this year. One aerial specialist, AerialWorx, is running a free raffle to win a first prize of two days aerial filming, a second prize of one day aerial filming and a third prize of a Quadcopter fully built, tested and ready to fly.

Based in North Wales and the North West of England, it offers aerial filming services for promotional, film, broadcast and commercial projects throughout the UK and abroad, with clients including: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, and numerous independent production companies.

It has recently been awarded BBC approved supplier status, which “will certainly broaden the horizons for us in the future,” said AerialWorx’s co-founder and drone pilot, Stefanie Williams, and it recently filmed the Rickshaw Challenge with Pudsey Bear for BBC’s The One Show.

Aerialworx uses a variety of drones equipped with Ultra HD, 4K or 1080p cameras with live HD 1080p down links.

“We have highly experienced pilots and crew capable of flying in all situations from indoors to extreme conditions,” she added. “We film using the Panasonic Lumix GH4 4K camera, but also have a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Canon 5D. We also use the state-ofthe-art MoVI and also Zenmuse gimbals to ensure the steadiest shots. Our MoVI gimbal is also capable of lifting clientspecific cameras if required.” Williams will be speaking on Wednesday in the Production Theatre.

Stand: C40

TVTechnology February 2015

AJA Video Systems’ new Cion camera has recently started shipping and is claimed to offer the easiest 4K workflow yet. The ergonomic, lightweight Cion can shoot 4K, Ultra HD, 2K and HD, recording Apple’s ProRes codecs, including 12-bit ProRes 444, directly to cost-effective AJA Pak SSD media at up to 4K/60p. It also outputs AJA Raw HFR at up to 4K/120p.

It is claimed to offer more simultaneous on-set monitoring outputs than any other camera in its class, alongside a built-in confidence monitor and LAN browser video tap. Users can choose a combination of 2x 4K/UltraHD and 3x 2K/HD or 8x 2K/HD, check each camera feed in multicam setups through an integrated LAN connection, and monitor remaining recording time all in tandem. Multiple Cions can be set up and controlled via a web browser.

“Cion is the culmination of years of R&D, technical ingenuity and passion,” said Nick Rashby, president, AJA Video Systems.

“It not only delivers an extraordinary filmlike image quality and accuracy, but offers a unique feature set that facilitates a level of flexibility and control in production

Ergonomic controls: Adjusting a focus wheel on AJA’s new Cion

environments unlike anything else before regardless of resolution.”

The sub-£7,000 camera feaures: a 4K APS-C sized CMOS sensor with an electronic global shutter; 12-stops of dynamic range; PL lens mount; multiple 3G-SDI/HD-SDI outputs; HDMI outputs; 2x mic/line/48v XLR audio inputs; 2x LANC control ports; LTC input; USB; Ethernet; and a Thunderbolt connector.

Stand: G20

Dyno soars to XtremeSpeed Grass Valley is showing its new LDX XtremeSpeed (LDX XS) 6x ultra-slowmotion camera system, with the K2 Dyno Replay system, which acts as a pan and zoom interface for 6x replay. This allows slo-mo operators to vary the speed of an XtremeSpeed replay using its AnySpeed technology and to use key frames to zoom in on an area of interest in a critical replay.

Because there is far less motion blur with the LDX XS than with standard 50Hz-frame-rate cameras, there is more detail viewable for zooming in on fast-moving sports action.

Also new are Ultra HD versions of Grass Valley’s LDK system cameras. The B4-mount cameras, use three 2/3-inch sensors, and mean that users can zoom in just as much as they would with a traditional HD camera

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compared to larger-sensor 4K cameras, offering deeper depth of field, which is important for sports production. The cameras will integrate with current camera control systems, via fibre, and include: CLASS4K (Chromatic Lens Aberration and Sharpness Solution) to improve the sharpness of broadcast lenses; and XF transmission for full bandwidth transport. Ultra HD slo-mo cameras are expected soon.

The new CopperHead 3430AP integrates the existing CopperHead 3400 fibre transceiver with the PowerPlus 3000 power adapter to provide a single, more ergonomic, multifunction unit. It supports 3D and duallink operation, and is smaller, with reduced external cabling, than the existing system.

Stand: P06

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In the dock: Ikegami’s new HC-HD300 HD studio camera

Low-cost HC-HD300 studio camera Ikegami’s new “aggressively-priced” HC-HD300 HD studio camera is making its show debut. The compact, flexible docking-style camera can be used with a newly developed control system: the FA-300 fibre adapter and BSF-300 base station, which can provide power to camera via a hybrid fibre cable.

The HC-HD300 has a 1/3-inch bayonet lens mount and employs three 1/3-inch CMOS progressive-scan 1920x1080 sensors, and offers a 58dB signal-to-noise ratio and 2,000 lux sensitivity at F11 aperture in 1080/50i mode. Other features include focus assist and lens aberration correction.

It weighs 4.5kg including FA-300.

Also new is Ikegami’s HDK-97 Arri large-sensor broadcast production camera with internal HD to UHD upconversion developed with Arri. The docking-style camera includes Ikegami’s latest 3G FPGAbased DSP, for complete real-time control of all grey scale, colour, and detail functions.

A new 3G transmission system transports video from camera to CCU, as well as 3G transmission from CCU to camera.

For slow-mo applications, Ikegami has the NAC Hi-Motion II sports broadcast camera, delivering up to 20x slowdown.

Stand: F25

Mark-up for EOS C100 The entry-level Canon EOS C100 Mark II Super 35mm camera has been upgraded to deliver improved image quality, better in-camera recording quality and greater creative flexibility, plus easier operation and wireless sharing. There is also an improved, tiltable electronic viewfinder and a new flip-out OLED display (just one of many improvements that recognise that the C100 is often used by lone shooters).

It is the first Cinema EOS camera to get integrated Wi-Fi, for file transfer via FTP, and can record HD at up to 50/60p in both MP4 (at up to 35Mbps) and AVCHD (up to 28Mbps), or HD and SD, simultaneously to the two SD cards (and upload the lower bitrate version). There is also browserbased camera control via Wi-Fi. It also has an extended ISO range of 320 to 102,400, for low-light use, and a new image processing system (based on the more powerful DIGIC DV 4 processor)

The C100 Mark II has been upgraded to better serve self-shooters

to reduce moiré and aliasing. Its Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology simplifies finding focus and switching between multiple subjects - it also has Face Detection AF for automatic recognition and focus tracking. A built-in microphone has been added to the camera body, enabling sound recording for continuity in the smallest possible camera configuration.

Stand: G12

Lightweight lens extends reach

Shorter, but longer: Fujinon’s new A21x7.8 zoom lens

Fujinon’s “most interesting new lens” at BVE is the A21x7.8 BERM/BERD, which “is a top quality, lightweight telephoto zoom,” said Stefan Czich of Fujinon distributor Pyser-SGI. “This new lens is in the same size and weight category as a standard 17/18:1 lens.

This means that you can use smaller filters.

The lens is around 1.5cm shorter and 400g lighter than traditional 22/23:1 lenses.”

He believes it is “ideally suited to news gathering or sports production where the combination of a long reach and lightweight body make for an easier working day.”

Its focal length is 7.8-164mm (plus a 2x extender), with a maximum aperture of f1.8 (7.8-109mm) to f2.7 (at 164mm), and minimum object distance of 85cm. The four different versions (depending on servo drive unit) weigh from 1.61kg to 1.74kg.

Also new is the 1.97kg HA18x5.5 2/3-inch lens, which covers 5.5mm to 100mm and uses high-precision largediameter aspheric elements, designed with Fujifilm’s optical simulation technology, Stand: H49/D30

Updated XDCAM in demand Sony is showing its newly improved XDCAM range of cameras, including the recently shipping PXW-FS7, PXW-X200 and PXW-X70 models. The FS7, in particular, has attracted “massive interest,” according to Robbie Fleming, product marketing manager, Sony Professional Solutions. “It’s been amazing.

We have a lot of back orders.” The X200 is also much in demand. “We can’t make enough of them.”

The Super35 sensor FS7 is now available with the new 28-135mm lens (as a package – the FS7K). “It comes across as a really good,

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all-round camera for freelance work, because it’s very versatile. It can give a cinematic look or run and gun,” said Fleming.

Being connected is also a key attraction.

“All our cameras are now wireless,” he added, but they aren’t all yet 4K, as there is still a large market for HD. “The 4K ability is only one part of the attraction of the FS7. It also records 180fps slow motion on board,” at up to 600Mbps, and its lightweight shoulder-mounted form factor is also appealing. The X200 has three 1/2-inch Exmor CMOS sensors, 17x zoom lens,

39

Sony’s PXW-FS7 equipped with Arri’s new professional camera accessories

MPEG HD422 (50Mbps) recording, two SxS media slots for simultaneous recording, a versatile new Multi-Interface (MI) Shoe and GPS data recording.

Stand: F50

February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE — BVE PREVIEW Ultra HD gallery in the news If you are building a new studio, even for news, it might as well be ready for Ultra HD. This is the reasoning behind Celebro Studios’ pioneering new 4K news gallery in central London.

“Live news is definitely one of the more demanding live television environments and we saw an opportunity for a 4K ready news gallery in the centre of London,” explained Wesley Dodd, founder of Celebro Studios.

The dry hire studio is based around an UHD/4K live workflow using Blackmagic Design equipment, with fully automated playout server, audio control and camera robotics. “We paired three Blackmagic Studio Camera 4Ks with the Mark Roberts Motion Control, which for us has really unlocked the true potential of Blackmagic’s studio cameras, giving us a facility that rivals that of even the big broadcasters, but at a fraction of the cost.” The cameras can also be operated manually.

It has an optical fibre/SDI backbone, with video and audio distribution via Blackmagic’s 20x20 Smart Videohub router. “All of our inputs and outputs are virtual so we can very quickly route any source, sometimes multiple times, to any output, and it automatically recognises the incoming source and destination so we don’t have to worry about up or downscaling any video,” he said.

All acquisition, monitoring and recording is in UHD until transmission, where it down converts to HD. The three studio cameras and a single ceiling mounted PTZ, are patched via the router into the switcher, where a simple 4K cut is made and then recorded on a HyperDeck Studio Pro broadcast deck or transmitted live. A second switcher is used for virtual studio applications.

Choosing the ATEM switcher and camera combination means it can rack the cameras without a complex CCU chain. “We are using Tokina’s new 4K cine lenses, which are fully manual, and so the robotics provide us with full control over zoom, iris and focus, while the ATEM Camera Control gives us full primary colour correction.”

The company has production contracts with BBC Worldwide and MTV in London and in Moscow, where it has built a similar UHD-ready studio that is currently HD. Stand: K20

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VariCam heads new camera line up Panasonic is showing its modular new VariCam, marking its return to high-end cinematography, as well as two remote cameras making their European show debuts.

The large-sensor VariCam 35 can shoot 4K and uses a recorder, developed with Codex, that can simultaneously record Raw, up to 12fps, plus 4K compressed using AVC Ultra onto Express P2 cards, and 2K and 1K proxies on to the same microP2 card, while the 2/3-inch chip VariCam HS version can record up to 240fps in HD and is being aimed mainly at natural history.

“The take up since we launched the camera in September has been highly impressive and we’ve had lots of positive feedback regarding the camera’s colour reproduction and workflow capabilities,” said Nigel Wilkes, group manager, Panasonic ProAV UK. The new AW-HE130 pan-tiltzoom camera is the successor to the popular AW-HE120. It has optical image stabilisation, three MOS sensors, IP streaming, and can be used for everything from lecture broadcasting to reality TV and documentary production; while the smaller, user-friendly single-sensor AW-HE40, with 30x optical zoom, is aimed at the lecture, conference and leisure

Panasonic’s new VariCam comes in large sensor and high-speed versions

market. Both can be powered via a LAN cable, controlled remotely from a PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone, and have night mode for low light.

The new AJ-PX800 is the lightest (2.8kg) three-chip 2/3-inch shoulder-mount camcorder and offers full networking with the ability to stream from the camera at high quality with latency of less than one second, to do a two-way interview over a 4G network.

The lightweight new HC-X1000 camcorder can record UHD 60p/50p on an SD card, plus Cinema 4K. It has a compact optically-stabilised Leica 20x lens, with 40x intelligent zoom for HD, plus: three manual zoom, iris and focus rings; two-channel XLR audio; ND filters; and dual SD card slots.

Stand: K40

Pro Tools 12 for Cloud Collaboration Pro Tools 12, a new generation of the with other Pro Tools users in the cloud, as digital audio software featuring new flexible if they are all together in the same studio. licensing options, is on show at BVE. Avid Built-in communication tools allow users is also announcing new innovations to to engage with collaborators through support artist collaboration and content text or video chat directly from within Pro distribution Tools. Users can with Avid Cloud invite other artists Collaboration. to collaborate on Pro Tools 12 a session, or find allows customers to new collaborators either subscribe per through the new month or annually, Avid Marketplace or to still buy the Artist Community. digital audio suite Other key outright with a benefits include perpetual licence. the ability to post Avid said the Multiple Pro Tools 12 users can work on the same sessions to your subscription options cloud-based session at the same time own cloud storage allow users to stay space and invite current with future software updates and others to collaborate, as well as share innovations as soon as they are released via audio and MIDI tracks, edits, mix changes, the cloud, at no additional charge. automation. Users can keep track of Avid Cloud Collaboration, initially to be all contributors and version changes accessed by Pro Tools users with others with automatic and fully customisable to follow, will enable artists to compose, metadata tagging.

Stand: F60 record, edit, and mix sessions working

41

February 2015 TVTechnology

MARKETPLACE — BVE PREVIEW New 4KCAM camcorder product line launched The 1RU AMP1-16M offers 16-channel audio monitoring and quick adjustments

Multifunction monitors cover all bases New audio and refined multiformat monitors are on show, offering a comprehensive battery of features.

Wohler’s new AMP1-16M dual-input SDI audio monitor provides high-performance monitoring of embedded audio in two 3G/HD/SD-SDI streams. The 1RU system de-embeds and provides metering and monitoring of any or all of the 16 audio channels in the selected stream.

Bright 2.4in LED-backlit LCD displays enable one-touch monitoring and summing of any selected channel pairs to built-in speakers, headphones, or XLRbalanced analogue outputs.

The AMP1-16M monitor also features remote access for setup and storage of user-defined presets via Ethernet and USB connections.

It offers gain adjustment/trim of individual audio channels with the ability to assign channels as left, right, or centre to the internal audio system and the analogue outputs. It can also offer both pass-through of each SDI input and a re-clocked output of the selected monitored SDI stream.

Refinements have also been made to the AMP2-E16V audio/video processing monitor. The unit features simultaneous multi-format monitoring, quick program selection, instant stereo downmix, loudness monitoring, internal channel mixing and audio delays.

Stand: L01

JVC Professional is showcasing its recently launched new 4KCAM camcorder product line, comprising of three new handheld camcorders and a remote head camera system. The new JVC GY-HM170 and GY-HM200 handheld camcorders feature a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor with a 12x optical/24x dynamic zoom lens, recording 4K Ultra HD and full HD files (H.264 4:2:2) at up to 50Mbps to readily-available memory cards. Other features include built-in ND filters, stereo microphone and 3.5mm audio input, with live 4K UHD output through a built-in HDMI connector. The GY-HM200 adds dual XLR audio inputs via an integrated handle with hot shoe and microphone mount, and is also JVC’s most affordable live streaming camcorder. The GY-LS300CHE handheld camcorder and GW-SP100E remote head

Fancy a new GY-HM200 handheld camcorder?

camera system (comprising camera head, a recording/playback device with foldable/ detachable 7-inch HD LCD monitor and a wired camera remote control panel) each uses JVC’s 4K Super 35mm CMOS sensor with MFT lens mount. They record to nonproprietary SDHC and SDXC media cards in a variety of image formats, including 4K Ultra HD, full HD with 4:2:2 sampling, SD and web-friendly proxy formats.

Stand E16

Multi-camera links via Wi-Fi A Wi-Fi-based camera link for cable-free multi-camera production is being released

by IDX. The CW-F25 uses standard 802.11n technology to keep costs down, but to deliver the quality needed to mix seamlessly with wired camera systems it uses 4x4 MIMO channels with OFDM/64QAM modulation, for a maximum data rate of 300Mbps.

It supports H264/25Mbps high profile video with four channels of embedded audio and timecode data, IDX’s new CW-F25TX is designed for cable free broadcast production

plus a second video stream over the link from an IP camera or the Gigabit Ethernet connector on the receiver, which can be used to route the main feed into an IP server or network. IDX sales manager Neil Marflitt believes that “most suppliers will struggle to show wireless products within the congested 5Ghz band” but expects to see “a very high quality and reliable link” with the CW-F25 as it uses beam forming technology, with the added advantage of increasing its wireless range to a maximum of 400m using the standard antennas. Optional external patch antennas give a range of up to 2km where the delay is six frames.

Stand: L20 Additional reporting: Michael Burns, David Fox, Heather McLean and Philip Stevens

TV Technology Europe ISSN 2053-6674 (Print) ISSN 2053-6682 (Online) is published seven times annually by NewBay Media. ©2015 by NewBay Media.

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