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BROADCAST PRODUCTION BROADBAND SATELLITE MOBILE £3.80 I Volume 32 I Issue 3 I May-June 2014

2014: Modern Sport Coverage Game Changing Remote Production, 4K, Second Screen

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Contents EDITORIAL Editor Mark Hallinger Tel: 1 301 467 1695 Email: mhallinger@nbmedia.com Tech Editor Craig Norris Contributing Editor James Careless Contributors Ann-Marie Corvin, Kevin Hilton, Phil Reed

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Game Changes, Name Changes This issue falls after NAB and before the World Cup. The NAB exhibition, and Q1 2014 in general, was awash in so many mergers, acquisitions and name changes that it’s been hard to keep up. I think I called Imagine Communications ‘Harris’ around 10 times in a 20 minute both meeting at the show, directly to Harris, er, Imagine personnel. Thankfully they had a sense of humour about it, or maybe they just know I’ve had a more than a few concussions over the years.

That specific name change took place less than one month before the show----it takes me a few years to get old names out of my vocabulary. I still call Harmonic’s server products Omneon, at least in my head. I am slowly getting that mistake beaten out of my booth visits finally. The longer you’ve been around the harder it is to change, I suppose. For more on M&A see Craig Norris’ good reflection piece on page 12.

NAB, along with the September IBC show, sort of ‘bookend’ our industry year. This year we’ve got the World Cup between the two, and this big real-world event reflects many of the vibrant, very real tech and consumer trends that made NAB a positive show. Look at Andy Stout’s good World Cup story on page 10----multiscreen, 4K, and remote (cloud) production will all be central to Rio 2014. Those were big trends at NAB, and now they are being implemented in a real application, albeit in trial form for 4K. It’s a positive thing for an industry when ‘show themes’ are actually saving broadcasters money or providing a new income stream fairly quickly. I never would have said this about 3D conversely, which most of us took as a novelty rather than as something driving projects or revenue. There are other big changes that are not as directly tied to consumer trends, such as AVB and the basic desire to make facilities IP-based.

Expect more on that subject moving forward this year: Why do it and when, and how will this inevitable transition take place?

4K certainly seems real, even if it is early days. Within the last few months I’ve seen news releases cross my desk about 4K in terrestrial, satellite, cable and streaming applications.

By July 15, Sony’s new 4K Ultra HD Media Player, compatible with any Sony 4K Ultra HD TV or 4K Ultra HD projector, should be available. The media player has 1 TB of built-in storage. Users can download, stream and store more than 200 titles from Sony’s Video Unlimited 4K service as well as stream 4K content from Netflix. Sony says its library is the world’s largest repository of 4K content and includes such recent titles as “American Hustle” and “The Monuments Men.” Over 50 titles in the library are available to customers at no charge.

I’ve been noticing the news a bit more lately as I’ve been feeding and producing a weekly e-mail newsletter called TV Technology International (with Broadcast Engineering).

This newsletter----called TVTI for short----taps the vast, global resources of many NewBay Media titles, and reaches around 18,000 readers across EMEA and Asia/Pacific.

Watch for it…

Mark Hallinger Editor & Associate Publisher mhallinger@nbmedia.com

Get Connetced TVTechnology @TVTechnology

In this issue 4

TRENDS: BROADCASTING & MOBILE BROADBAND Davide Moro reports on an EBU event that discussed the various ways ‘broadcast’ might evolve

10 SPORT: RIO 2014 What a difference four years makes, says Andy Stout 12 OPINION: M&A Craig Norris reminds us that M&A fever is nothing new, and that it takes time for the dust to settle on a merger.

14 TECH NEWS: DPP D-Day Looms, reports Ann-Marie Corvin 16 BUYERS GUIDE: SIGNAL PROCESSING A user report, and product news 19 SMPTE UPDATE Alan Lambshead reports standards progress on several fronts

Cover Credit: Our cover is of course not from the World Cup in Rio which starts right about when you get this issue. It is of 4K trials conducted by Sony at the Confederations Cup in Brasil last year.

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24 SHARPSHOOTER: IAN O’BRIEN Motorsports & More

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

3

TRENDS

Broadcast Moving Forward

By Davide Moro

T

he FORECAST’13 seminar staged by the European Broadcasting Union late last year focused as usual on what the future might hold for broadcast technologies. This time, the event’s headline – Mission Critical for Public Service Media -- warned about the potential seriousness of the situation for broadcasters.

The event at EBU headquarters in Geneva was well-attended. More than 110 delegates from broadcasters, network operators, manufacturers, national regulators, policymakers and research labs attended.

FORECAST ‘13 opened with a reminder of why the discussions about spectrum use and broadcast technologies are so important.

The reason: Recent World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) have resulted in a potentially progressive reduction path in the spectrum available for broadcasting.

EBU Media Director Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser, in her keynote presentation, reminded the delegates that the EBU’s mission is to make Public Service Media indispensable. She also stressed the importance of a sustainable terrestrial platform in making this indispensability a reality.

Many EBU members rely on digital terrestrial emissions to fulfil their statutory universal coverage, with guaranteed quality of service and free-to-air accessibility. The time has come to consider how to secure the future of digital terrestrial platforms.

The 800 MHz band has already been cleared in Europe for mobile telecommunications and, following last year’s decision at WRC-12, the 700 MHz band is set to follow a similar path in many countries.

According to the EBU, any further erosion of the spectrum available for broadcasting would significantly constrain the ability of DTT to compete and to develop in the future.

Technology convergence actually means more divergence in

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Who will benefit from the money mobile viewers will eventually pay for the service?

distribution for EBU members: More platforms to cover, more types of service to produce and more costs – and all with less funding.

But this is just the lesser threat: Still accustomed to being the incumbent parties safely within their allocated ‘home range’ – that is, their spectrum -- broadcasters need to accept that nowadays there is no safe home range. Moreover, the ever-

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Broadcasters must have a role to play in meeting the demand of wireless data delivery in the future.

increasing pressure on spectrum from mobile services is something broadcasters can no longer address simply through technological solutions.

Speakers called on the broadcasters present to make their voices heard more loudly at the World Radiocommunication Conferences that decide such matters,

TRENDS question still is: Who will benefit from the money mobile viewers will eventually pay for the service?

Currently, end users are typically charged a monthly fee for a mobile data plan: Will broadcasters be entitled to share the revenues generated through their content? Will they run their own mobile viewing system? Or will the mobile business model remain as it now is?

Anyway, the audience agreed that broadcasters must have a role to play in meeting the demand of wireless data delivery in the future.

A “tower overlay” hybrid future could allow a profitable re-use of existing broadcast networks, where (international) frequency co-ordination was already done. and the national administrations who are represented there. There is a strong alliance pushing for more spectrum for wireless broadband -- broadcasters need to work hard to balance this. “If you don’t use it, you will lose it,” was the message at FORECAST’13.

Other items were raised at the EBU session. For instance, broadcast technology is evolving faster than ever, and many questions are on the table. Distribution networks

There is no “single” platform capable of satisfying key requirement demanded by end users and broadcasters. can approach the theoretical limit of what’s possible, but end-user receivers are beyond public service broadcasters’ control.

UHDTV is now possible on distribution networks. But will consumers replace their legacy

Tower overlay demo, spectrum

Western Europe broadband traffic forecast for 2013 Page 6

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receivers way before UHDTV2 becomes a must on the production/ distribution side?

Lots of discussion focused on content consumption on mobile devices. While all seemed to agree on the importance of the issue, the open

HYBRID NETWORK POSSIBILITIES Day Two opened with an examination of the concept of hybrid networks, where a combination of broadcast and mobile broadband techniques might deliver efficiencies and the ‘best of both worlds.’

By focusing on common user cases – VOD, tablet/smartphones viewing, portable reception -- Sudewestrundfunk’s Dr. Roland Beutler tried to correlate broadcasters’ expectations (unlimited audience, linear and nonlinear viewing, QoS, some free-to-air channels, mobile reception) with the possibilities currently offered by available technologies.

Dr. Beutler pointed out that there is no “single” platform capable of satisfying each key requirement demanded by both end users and broadcasters. Moreover, the total amount of data delivered via broadcast networks in 2012 was about six times greater than the total amount of data delivered via fixed+mobile broadband in 2012.

In 2017, it is expected to be about three times greater than the forecasted fixed+mobile broadband data volume; assuming the total data delivered via broadcast will not increase in these five years.

So the convergence of content to a single delivery platform is far away.

According to Dr.Beutler, integrating multiple platforms in order to maximise consumers’experience and seamless availability of content could be the solution. Driving tablet and smartphone manufacturers to integrate broadcast receivers into their devices is one possible solution.

In-home re-transmitting of broadcast content via Wi-Fi is probably a more viable one. In any case, “there is no one-fits-all solution,” concluded Dr. Beutler.

Frieder Juretzek from the Technical University of Braunschweig spoke about the latest developments achieved at his institute with respect to hybrid network innovations.

TRENDS EBU Media Director Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser keynote speech

According to Juretzek, cellular networks will probably not be able to cope with the growing demand for “live” data (like live video) and will not be efficient to distribute live video and audio at “tablet quality” (1.4 Mbps or more) in thousands of networks cells, and possibly by several mobile network operators in parallel.

To remedy this, T.U. Braunschweig’s researchers imagined using DVB-T2 as the physical layer to carry LTE point-tomultipoint (P2MP) carrier traffic.

DVB-T2 Future Extension Frames (FEF) would enable time domain spectrum sharing with other wireless networks, like LTE. Variable length and number of both frame types (DVB-T2 and FEF) would also enable flexible resource allocation, through cooperative spectrum use by terrestrial broadcast and mobile access networks.

This “tower overlay” hybrid future could allow a profitable reuse of existing broadcast networks, where (international) frequency co-ordination was already done. It would be an attractive approach for today´s broadcast network operators, as well as a joint resource for the operators of cellular networks; or a country-wide network provided by an independent (broadcast) network operator.

At IBC 2013, T.U. Braunschweig showcased a demo where a 6 Mbps broadcast video stream was managed as a standard DVB-T2 content and a 2 Mbps mobile targeted video was managed as a LTE-P2MP one.

One hybrid modulator blended the two streams using DVB-T2 FEF capabilities, and a DVB-T2 transmitter was airing them on UHF channel 31 (554 MHz). On the receiver side, one off-the-shelf TV displayed the broadcast-quality content, while a LTE-A prototype receiver (with no DVB-T2 capability) did the same with the mobile-

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DigiTAG DVB-T2 Event

targeted content.

In her closing remarks, the EBU’s Elena Puigrefagut wrapped up the seminar. Assuming that a sustainable DTT future requires certainty of spectrum availability, it’s key to strengthen the horizontal market: consumer electronic manufacturers, content owners, platform owners and operating system designers should all work together, she said.

Broadcasters’ voices should be louder, to reach European and international regulators but also national regulators: “We do a lot of technical work, but not enough on political lobbying!” Puigrefagut concluded.

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

DigiTAG (Digital Terrestrial Television Action Group), the organisation bringing together stakeholders from the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) industry, held a workshop on DVB-T2 in Istanbul late last year as well.

Turkey launched DTT in December, beginning in the capital Ankara, with region-by-region launches and approximately six-month analogue simulcast. The analogue switch-off is scheduled for March 3, 2015.

About 160 delegates from Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia heard from local industry players such as RTUK (Turkey’s regulator), TRT (public broadcaster), Anten AS (network operator) and the commercial broadcasters associations TVYD and RATEM, speaking on introducing DTT using the DVB-T2 standard.

“Turkey is at a delicate phase of the launch of DTT,” said Taha Yucel, RTUK’s Deputy President. “However ,this workshop has shown the positive developments in other markets. We must move forward as it is important that Turkey goes digital. There is no future for analogue. There is the possibility to make digital terrestrial television a success, and we should take this opportunity.”

A broad range of speakers from the DigiTAG membership shared their experiences in markets where DVB-T and DVB-T2 have been established.

Lessons learned included the need for an inter-operability testing environment, interactive standards such as HbbTV, detailed coverage maps, and taking advantage of the flexibility made possible by the DVB-T2 standard (mobile and multiple local regional services included).

The need for a flexible environment, where channels can be shuffled and multiplexes restructured in the future as technology develops, was also a key area for discussion.

“It is exciting to see the broad range and diversity of DVB-T2 deployments throughout the world,” said Simon Fell, the EBU’s Director of Technology and Innovation, and DigiTAG’s President. “The DigiTAG Workshop in Istanbul is an ideal opportunity for members of DigiTAG and others to bring this experience together for Turkish colleagues who can benefit from the developments that have taken place elsewhere, as they prepare for DVB-T2 services throughout Turkey.”

A combination of broadcast and mobile broadband techniques might deliver the ‘best of both worlds.’

SPORT 4K trials were conducted by Sony at the Confederations Cup in Brazil last year.

(Picture from the Confederations Cup courtesy of Sony)

Game Change W

By Andy Stout

hat a difference four years makes.

The last time the world gathered itself together for the FIFA World Cup, the second biggest tournament on the global sporting calendar after the Olympics, all the talk was of 3D. This time round it’s likely that there won’t be a single frame captured in the format.

You have to track back all the way to the Athens 2004 Olympics to come across a sporting event that has been the cause of quite so much panic and uncertainty in its build-up. Bedevilled by significant infrastructure problems that have reached all the way from the airports that will receive the international arrivals to the stadia of the 12 host cities that will stage the games, hamstrung by the communications problems caused by an overloaded telecoms system and marred by protest and unrest, broadcasters the world over have learnt the painful lessons that Modern Brazil is at best an awkward place to operate in.

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In fact, even with the tournament just around the corner as of this writing in early May, there are some significant worries regarding the production of the unilaterals ahead, though happily these have coalesced round the logistics of production rather than the production itself.

As far as that goes the consensus is that host broadcaster HBS has done its usual sterling job, especially in ensuring diversity connections and implementing an impressively redundant form of production that has seen 12 identical, containerised production centres built in Germany and shipped over to Brazil.

Moving equipment around the country, especially after the group stages are over, was always going to be a major problem, and it’s one that HBS has decided it doesn’t want to be involved with. All of which is part of the reason why EVS loaded 234 servers on a container ship bound for Rio sometime in March. But it’s what some of those servers are doing when they’re installed that is probably the real story from Brazil 2014.

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

REMOTE PRODUCTION COMES OF AGE Forget the headlines surrounding the Ultra HD effort, it is with remote production that this year’s World Cup really -- and appropriately enough -moves the goalposts. Not just simply an add on, remote production lies at the heart of the HBS production workflow in Brazil Sixteen EVS XT3 servers are to be installed at each venue and, alongside them, two of the company’s C-Cast Agents which represent the sharp end of its connected content production architecture.

C-Cast Contribution will be used to link the IBC and the twelve venues across the country together, live streams passing through the two C-Cast Agents at each venue where they will then be transcoded and transferred into an Amazon Cloud-based infrastructure. About 45 seconds later at the most they will then hit the C-Cast Central servers, which will then govern the material’s distribution on the network. This means passing the footage on to

the Adobe Premier-based HBS production teams (there are 36 Premier suites in the IBC) and other rightsholders at the IBC and further afield too.

The servers automatically generate proxy files, allowing the various remote teams to access content at low resolutions, create clips and then import a high bandwidth version.

“I think in total there are 75 media rights licenses distributed for the IBC in Rio, and in addition there are offsite production teams that have web browse access from their own home cities, and there are 83 licenses distributed so far for that,” comments Nicolas Bourdon, SVP Marketing at EVS. There have probably been more distributed since too, as this is far more than just a plain vanilla distribution of the nine feeds from each venue round the world.

Mirroring the way the C-Cast second screen app works, the remote teams can add content — including camera angles and highlights — that have

not been made part of the world feed into their coverage, switching it from a gallery as if they were in a truck outside the stadium.

It’s a neat solution, especially for multi-venue live events, and the number of broadcasters deciding to ‘dial-in’ from their home territories into the FIFA MAX server in Rio makes it feel like a genuine game-changer.

THE RISE OF THE SECOND SCREEN FIFA’s estimates are that around 50 million people will be downloading its official application, which is being white labelled and has been picked up by more than 100 rightsholders so far.

“Broadcasters can have a white label app that they can put their own logo on,” explains Bourdon. “Viewers can then access different types of content, up to six live camera angles, clips and key actions from a game, statistics, and a full language translation of all the logs and captions.”

C-Cast Central manages availability of material via APIs, and while the white label smartphone and tablet apps, not to mention a customisable web player (based around deltatre’s Diva system), are proving popular, many of the major broadcasters around the world are

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4K gives the HD production increased flexibility in choosing shots.

(Picture from the Confederations Cup courtesy of Sony)

folding the multiple C-Cast streams into their own fully-featured apps.

Add these figures to FIFA’s 50 million and you undoubtedly have the biggest outing yet for the technology.

Content will reside on an Amazon server farm controlled by EVS from where it will be passed to deltatre’s platform (deltatre is also the main data provider from the tournament). From there it will be either be encoded for delivery using Elemental technology over the Akamai CDN or, if the stream is to be integrated into a broadcaster’s own efforts and a third-party CDN, via the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

Expect to see some interesting

new features crop up too. HBS will be using the as yet unreleased C-Cast 3.0 out in Brazil, with the idea that this will then be productised into C-Cast v3.1 in time for IBC. ULTRA HD TESTS BECOME BROADCASTS Four years ago, Sony was limbering up to broadcast 25 matches from South Africa in stereo 3D. Measured against that, the 4K effort for Brazil 2014 seems relatively minor: a mere three matches being captured in the format, all from Rio’s Maracanã Stadium.

However, the significance is the same: the company is using the World

Cup to seed demand for the format that it hopes will break through to the mass market by the time of the following Olympics. Maybe this time it will work.

4K trials -- indeed trials of pretty much all of the World Cup workflow -- were held at the Confederations Cup last summer and though the Telegenic truck that was shipped from the UK for them isn’t available this summer, the crew will still be sourced from the British OB provider, albeit working in a 4K-capable Globocast truck.

The matches will probably represent the most comprehensive coverage afforded a 4K production yet, with 12 Sony F55 cameras slated for each game and a number of the speciality cameras from the standard HD broadcast also being upconverted for the occasion.

What’s more it seems that the final will now be actually broadcast in the format as opposed to being simply being beamed into cinemas or destined for a souvenir film for online distribution. Names aren’t being discussed as yet, but it seems that there is a queue of interested broadcasters and, according to Sony, “More than one will broadcast the feed.”

How many will be watching is, of course, another matter entirely.

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

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OPINION

2014: A Big Year for M&A

Craig Norris reminds us that M&A fever is nothing new, and that it takes time for the dust to settle on a merger.

T

he unexpected news at NAB this year was the changing of company uniforms and signage on so many booths.

Considering the pattern of the past twenty years, we shouldn’t be so surprised by these announcements of mergers and acquisitions. It isn’t really a new thing. But it’s always an interesting thing.

Perhaps it’s the frequency of company name changes that might be more than we’ve come to expect.

For example, it was only December, 2012, when Harris Corporation announced their sale of the Broadcast Communications division to Gores Group. In February, 2013, they announced the ‘done deal’, after which the new member of the Gores Group family started calling themselves Harris Broadcast, with an awkward fine print disclaimer on all of their outgoing communications that Harris Broadcast is not associated with Harris Corporation.

We all suspected that another name change was imminent.

In January, 2014, Harris Broadcast completed the acquisition of Imagine Communications.

Then, on March 17, allowing just enough time to change all their NAB booth designs, Charlie Vogt announced that Harris Broadcast had undergone a mitosis style of cell division into two separate companies---Imagine Communications and Gates Air. Just as all the ex-Harris staff were adjusting to their new corporate identity on the booth at NAB, Charlie made another announcement that Imagine Communications was acquiring Digital Rapids.

The Imagine Communications family tree is quite a complex thing.

I first came into contact with some of the upper branches of that family tree in 1993 and 1994. I met and had dealings with Ken and Hayley Louth of Louth Automation in relation to STAR TV’s multi-channel automation rollout in Hong Kong.

At around the same time I met some Drake Automation people who were working on BSkyB’s multichannel rollout in the UK. At around the same time I met senior people at Columbine in Denver who were

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working on STAR TV’s new traffic and scheduling systems. Much later I met some Leitch people who were trying to do a deal with Phoenix TV. In a short space of time, and forgive me if I have the wrong sequence here, the following occurred: Columbine merged with JDS to become CJDS, and they acquired Drake Automation and then merged with Enterprise to become Encoda. Meanwhile, Harris Corporation had acquired Louth Automation. Then Harris acquired Encoda, and then they acquired Leitch the following year.

If genetic diversity is a healthy thing, Harris Communications was a picture of health. But then came 2007 and 2008. Nearly every American company lost considerable muscle mass during the recession that followed. And in particular, the broadcast equipment business became “not what it used to be”. It was time for some corporate children to leave the Harris nest.

It isn’t really a new thing. But it’s always an interesting thing.

A similar history can be traced for the MPEG encoding equipment sold currently under the Ericsson brand name. I first met that development group in England when they were called NTL, circa 1995. Then they became DMV when News Corporation bought them, and then then they became a part of NDS after it was launched. They were eventually sold to Tandberg and then finally the broadcast encoder group was sold to Ericsson. NDS has since been sold to Cisco. And Cisco has also bought the teleconferencing arm of Tandberg.

It’s a common pattern, and perhaps it’s all a necessary part of a strategy for corporate survival.

It doesn’t always work. There are many successful and failed examples in every industry for Business PhD students to analyse.

This year, 2014, is particularly interesting though, because in addition to the Imagine

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Communications bloodline story we also have the story of Quantel acquiring Snell, just five years after Snell formed out of a merger of Snell & Wilcox with Pro-Bel. Before merging with Pro-Bel, Snell & Wilcox spun off Amberfin. And this year, Dalet acquired Amberfin.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Snell now merged with Dalet? I’m not starting a rumour, just laughing at the possibilities.

And there’s more. Belden acquired Miranda a short while ago. Belden acquired Grass Valley quite recently. Masstech acquired Playbox, and Vislink acquired Pebble Beach. And Vitec Videocom acquired Autocue. Apologies if I left somebody out. It’s hard to keep up!

Mergers and acquisitions are typically pursued as a way of expanding a business. The product line is usually enhanced. The technology and intellectual property base is expanded. The sales channels are bolstered. In some cases, sales territory is expanded geographically.

Backroom administrative costs can be shared. But these benefits can’t always be realised overnight. It takes significant time for the dust to settle on a merger.

The so-called synergy benefits of bringing disparate but related product groups under one corporate umbrella can take significant time to be realized, because the newly married product groups don’t necessarily integrate perfectly until a lot work is done in that direction.

These “integration” activities are an overhead while they last, not an asset.

And finally, the value of the original brands before they merged is sometimes sacrificed in favour of the older or bigger sibling. Take for example Avid’s acquisition of MAM vendor Blue Order and its good software a few years ago.

Blue Order as a brand disappeared pretty much overnight, and in this author’s opinion, the loss of that brand softened the benefits of the acquisition. But that’s just one person’s opinion, and he’ll be happy to debate it over drinks with his friends at Avid during IBC or NAB---assuming they’ll still be called Avid by then. Again, not starting a rumour, just making a joke.

Why M&A Now?

By Ethan E. Jacks and John C. Bowen

NAB 2014 had more M&A announcements that we can remember in our 15-year history of attending the show. In reviewing activity over the last 18 months, we have noted several catalysts for buyer activity, ranging from operational efficiency and cost rationalization, to addressable market expansion, to improving core strategic capability.

Seller rationales included gaining access to a larger organization’s resources, attaining global marketing reach, and heading off elimination from customer short lists due to size and perceived “vendor risk.”

MediaBridge Capital has recently completed transactions with Pebble Beach System/Vislink, X2O Media/ Barco, Teradek/The Vitec Group, and RadiantGrid/Wohler. Other important transactions in the recent past include Belden/Grass Valley/ Miranda, Snell/Quantel, Imagine Communications/Digital Rapids, and various acquisitions by Ross Video, Dolby, Vizrt, and IBM. All of these transactions reflect the deal logic described above.

Macro and micro economic strength is creating an improved risk environment with a lower cost of capital. More importantly, our industry is in the midst of a significant period of realignment and change driven by the growth of multi-platform and new-media distribution, increasing adoption of IT-based/software architectures, and the emergence of transformative and lower cost, high-performance technologies. The move toward software running on standardized IT platforms, software-defined networks, open standards, and innovative wireless products will drive our industry forward.

Software-based business models enable customers to evolve and adapt more quickly to changing business requirements, and vendors benefit from higher margins and the potential for recurring revenue models.

Ethan E. Jacks and John C. Bowen are Managing Partners with MediaBridge Capital Advisors, a global investment bank with a focus on the media technology marketplace.

TECH NEWS

DPP D-Day Looms

F

By Ann-Marie Corvin

rom October the uptake of a common file format for HD and SD delivery among UK broadcasters, first agreed in principle over two and half years ago, looks set to become a reality.

The date is being dubbed as “DPP D-Day” ---- named after a coalition of UK broadcasters, the Digital Production Partnership, which has been working tirelessly towards achieving take-up of the AS-11 standard.

The self-imposed deadline means that UK broadcasters now require all content to be delivered

by UK programme makers digitally, using the AS-11 standard, a subset of AVCi100 AS-1, the internationally-recognised standard from the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA).

Any suppliers still delivering content on tape this autumn, however, are unlikely to be shown the door, according to Kevin Burrows, DPP’s Technical Standards Lead, who is also CTO for broadcast and distribution at UK terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4.

“There’s not going not to be a cut-off date as such, but it will depend on what the suppliers’ contract cycle is with the broadcaster. But the rules will apply to all new TV shows,” he explains.

The last update to the main spec (Version 4) was announced in October, and according to Burrows, while there is still some fine tuning to be achieved in relation to the QC process, the UK TV industry is “pretty much there” in terms of nailing the standard.

In the meantime, Burrows has been working with manufacturers on a compliance programme, defining the minimum criteria by which vendors can label their kit as ‘DPP-Compliant’.

“A lot of production companies have been asking us: “What can we buy that can help us?’ There are lots of products out there that are capable of creating files, but they might not necessarily be in the right format, so we are working on the compliance now and looking at an AMWA certification process.”

Burrows adds that while the DPP has a metadata app that can create

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digital files in the correct format, there are some manufacturers out there ---- such as Avid and Apple ---which have already integrated this functionality into their latest releases of Media Composer and Final Cut Pro. Initially there was reluctance from some of the manufacturers and playout service providers to engage with AS-11, particularly among those based outside the UK, but Burrows adds that because the standard has gained such a broad following, “they are taking it very seriously.”

As with any standard, there are inevitably areas that will need to be clarified. Bruce Devlin, CTO of workflow software vendor Amberfin and a recently appointed membership director of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) is a keen supporter of the standard. This did not prevent him however, from publically highlighting interoperability dilemmas.

“If you take all the combinations of wrappers, video codecs, audio codecs, track layouts, time code options and other ancillary data and complete a ‘minimal’ in/out test matrix then you end up with a test plan that will take at least 1800 years to complete,” he warned in a statement issued late last year.

Burrows’ sanguine response to this however, is that this is true of any standard ever tested. “If you tested every possible function on Windows software then it would take the same amount of time. We’ve tried to keep it simple. There is an HD standard and an SD standard. In terms of metadata what we’ve tried to do is constrain it greatly ----yes, language can be misinterpreted, but we are aiming to make the process and the standard as bombproof as possible to minimize errors.”

Devlin also highlights the importance of planning DPP deployments well in advance of the looming deadlines and allowing for ‘dress rehearsal’ runs as early as possible.

To this end, Burrows adds that many companies have been trialing out workflows for at least two years, and the DPP already has a test bed set up at the BBC’s R&D facility at Centre House in West London. Another pan-UK broadcaster initiative is being

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

managed by a test manager seconded from ITV. The DPP has also held a number of seminars this year to equip content producers with all the knowledge they need to know about AS-11 file delivery – the sessions were sell outs and all the information has subsequently been uploaded on the DPP’s website.

But what if some companies just aren’t ready by ‘DPP-Day’?

“We will just have to manage that process,” says Burrows. “Broadcasters are ramping up and what we are trying to focus on is October. At this point in time there is no reason to suspect that this won’t happen. The kit is out there to convert files into the right formats.”

So far the signs are encouraging--even broadcasters from much further afield are keeping a close eye on the activities of the DPP. According to Burrows there has been lot of interest from the US and the partnership is in conversation with two of the big networks about the AS-11 file format.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK has also based its working practices on the DPP Technical Standards “It has adopted the SD standard – it will be interesting to see where they are going with that,” Burrows adds.

Looking to the future, Burrows says the DPP may look at archive standards, but right now the focus in on compliance ahead of ‘DPP-Day.’

Contact:

W: www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk/what-we-do/ technical-standards/delivery-standards/

Key DPP developments in 2014: January 13, 2014: TG4 joins the DPP. The Irish Language broadcaster joins ITV, BBC and Channel 4, Channel Five, Sky, UKTV, S4C and BT Sport.

March 31, 2014: Quality Control Guidelines are issued by DPP to help producers carry out the necessary QC checks to ensure they deliver broadcast quality files, which meet the necessary standards. The DPP has taken the EBU definitions and created a minimum set of tests and tolerance levels required for UK broadcasters. Included in the new guidelines are AS-11 file compliance checks, and Automated Quality Control tests for Video and Audio. Examples are loudness levels, and freeze frames.

April 3, 2014: The DPP agrees on an industry document format standard for the exchange of subtitles for the hard of hearing and audio description, aligned with the EBU’s new subtitle document format (EBU-TT). The format is a flavour of XML whose format can be validated using off the shelf tools and extended to meet specific requirements while still being interchangeable

DPP IN FILE TEST At NAB 2014 Digimetrics launched Aurora 5, its next-gen of automated file-based QC product. Aurora 5 dynamic thread allocation for better throughput and scalability for workstations, servers blades, VMs and cloud roll-outs; 64-bit architecture and enhanced GPU acceleration to make 4K workflows fly, with complete support for IMF, including 4K essence and complex CPL; enhanced adaptive bit rate support; 8x faster manual review; and more. Digimetrics also says Aurora also provides a fast and efficient method to test files for AS-11 compliance. www.digi-metrics.com

TECH NEWS DPP IN RADIANTGRID During the 2014 NAB Show, Wohler showcased further improvements to version 8 of the RadiantGrid platform in which a brand-new media processing engine parallelizes complex audio and video processes at great speed.

Along with optimized video pipeline features such as anamorphic video handling, 2K/4K UltraHD support, and bit depths of up to 16-bit YUV, the RadiantGrid platform has been enhanced with the RadiantGrid Detect and Correct video legalization option, which leverages Wohler’s RightHue algorithm to ensure comprehensive NTSC and PAL colour compliance within the file-based domain. RadiantGrid version 8 enables fully compliant over-the-top offerings for leading formats and also introduces a solution for U.K. DPP file support. www.wohler.com

CADENCE CORRECTOR; DPP INGEST AmberFin, acquired by Dalet at NAB, unveiled its Adaptive Cadence Corrector (ACC) software-based system for correcting mixed cadence material back to 24p film and progressive HD video within filebased workflows. AmberFin has also developed DPP-specific media ingest workstations and file transcoders: designated iCR-100-DPP (transcoder), iCR-300-DPP (media ingest workstation) and iCR-500-DPP (media ingest, transcode, playback, metadata entry and QC review), available through ATG Broadcast in the UK. www.amberfin.com

DPP FRIENDLY INGEST & PRODUCTION SERVER Rohde & Schwarz DVS offers its VENICE ingest and production server.

VENICE accelerates production processes and cuts down on the need to invest in thirdparty equipment, as it is optimized for live studio production and centralized content ingest applications. When used in Avid work environments, VENICE offers new key features. Thanks to the seamless integration of the Avid ISIS central storage system and the Avid Interplay PAM system from ingest to outgest, faster and more user-friendly Avid Studio workflows can be realized. HD-SDI sources can be ingested directly in real time into Avid ISIS as well as file-based material from electronic media, such as P2 cards and XDCAM discs, and their metadata. Thanks to the new outgest function, clips and entire sequences can be played out directly or distributed onward once edited – all without the editor having to go through the time-consuming process of exporting the material.

VENICE supports all broadcast-standard file formats – flexibility which has been further increased thanks to the ingest and production server’s support for the new AS-11 contribution format. The AMWA (Advanced Media Workflow Association) developed AS-11 to simplify and accelerate the distribution of finished programming. Indeed, the British initiative DPP (Digital Production Partnership) specified AS-11 as a future base format for all aspects of program contribution. . www.dvs.de

USER REPORT

BUYERS GUIDE: SIGNAL PROCESSING

By Steeve Morales

T

he Swatch FreeRide World Tour by The North Face is one of the most breathtaking winter sport events, with top skiers and snowboarders executing incredible stunts on the very top of the world’s biggest and best mountain resorts. Capturing this is logistically challenging, but our team’s production expertise enables us to live streams rider runs down untouched terrains, at high altitude and at temperatures that drop as low as -25C. At each of the tour’s four European stops, my 14 strong production team uses a helidrop to transport over three tonnes of broadcast equipment to the top of a mountain range. We construct a full, self-contained production unit in just a few hours to live stream the competition direct from the mountain.

This is a critical element of the tour, as

it helps bring the excitement and drama of the event to a global audience.

The production desks are set up in a tent with heating underneath to protect from winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour, and we have an uninterrupted power supply system to keep everything working, even if temperatures plummet.

We use six cameras on the mountain, with six ATEM Camera Converters from Blackmagic Design and more than 3 kilometres of optical fibre cable to set positions at the finish line, judges’ and presenters’ seats.

We then use three wireless cameras that transmit from the start gates and provide overhead wide angle shots from a helicopter. The fibre signals are converted back to SDI using two ATEM Studio Converters and then routed through a Smart Videohub router to an ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher.

IP GATEWAY MODULE Grass Valley, a Belden Brand and incorporating Miranda products now, has expanded its IP portfolio with the launch of the IRG-3401 IP Gateway module, one of two new IP products that join the previously announced NVISION 8500 IP Gateway. The IRG-3401 IP Gateway is a high-density, bi-directional DVB-ASI/IP gateway card, which runs on the Densité modular platform. It provides a transport stream of up to 12 MPEG per card, facilitating an efficient bridge between ASI and IP for multiple workflow applications in broadcast and multichannel service providers.

Miranda says broadcasters transitioning from DVB-ASI to IP-based technology need to keep incoming DVB-ASI signals from remote locations fully operational — and jitter free — while connecting them to new IP networks. Legacy equipment such as DVB-ASI encoders or splicers must also remain fully functional to mitigate the costs of transitioning to IP infrastructure. Compounding the problem is that there are, and will continue to be, a lot of DVB-ASI signals to incorporate.

The new IRG-3401 IP Gateway card resolves those issues. Each bidirectional IRG-3401 IP Gateway card includes 12 DVB-ASI configurable connections. Ten such cards will fit within a single 3RU Densité frame, which equates to a total of 120 IP gateways. The direction of each gateway is selectable with two modes of operation, either as 12 individual DVBASI streams or as six redundant pairs with automatic switch over. The card can also be used for a variety of other applications. www.grassvalley.com

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May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

The ATEM Camera Converters are an essential part of our setup.

Not only are they tough enough to withstand the extreme conditions, but the optical fibre network is also much more reliable and more cost effective than our previous RF link set up. The tally and talkback features give us clear, constant contact with the camera operators, so everyone is aware of which shot is being streamed, regardless of where they are on the mountain, or if cloud cover impedes visual contact between team members.

The vision mixer also takes feeds from a slow motion instant replay system, and laptops with onscreen graphics, visual indents, judges’ scores and the ranking updates, all of which is mixed together on an ATEM 2 ME Broadcast Panel. We also use the ATEM’s SuperSource multilayering, for example, producing multi camera views of a stunt, or picture in picture showing highlights of a run, alongside a live feed of the rider at the finish.

SmartView HD monitors with Ultrascope are on the main production desk to monitor video signal quality from camera sources. The switcher produces a programme output and a clean feed, which has scoring and graphics removed, both at 1080i50.

Both go back through the video router to a series of Teranex 2D Processors, which are used to embed audio feeds into the TX feed.

One Teranex embeds both the clean ambience audio and dirty audio, containing the presenters’ commentary, into the programme output, which is then scaled to 720p50 for live streaming. This is encoded and transmitted via satellite to Red Bull TV, dailymotion and our FreeRide online player.

The remaining two Teranex units are used to create two versions of the clean feed, one with the clean audio embedded, and one with the dirty audio feed. These are fed to two

HyperDeck Studio Pro recorders for two editing workstations to create highlight packages for distribution to sponsors and for our website.

The ability to embed audio with the Teranex and create consistency in our feeds is essential. We are able to manage the programme and clean TX feeds much more smoothly, and we have the formats we need for instant and future distribution.

Flexibility and reliability are critical for us, because we have to balance the safety of our crew and riders with getting the very best footage, but the Blackmagic Design kit has withstood the most extreme weather conditions and production demands. For example, in Fieberbrunn, Austria, the entire production suite was caught up in a terrible storm and the whole tent collapsed. We had to collect the kit in avalanche conditions, and reassemble on another mountain 200 kilometres away, which was deemed safe to ski, in less than 48 hours.

Previously we would have had to rent equipment at each stop, which is not only more expensive, but also doesn’t give us the consistency a production of this scale dictates. You don’t want to be worrying about kit not integrating properly when you’re trying to set up in freezing temperatures.

The Blackmagic Design equipment has given us a fixed infrastructure that we can rely on, whatever the weather chooses to do.

Steeve Morales is Technical Manager, Europe, for the Freeride World Tour.

Contact:

Blackmagic Design www. Blackmagicdesign.com

Picture courtesy of the Freeride World Tour.

Consistent Production Processing

MARKETPLACE NEXT-GEN HDMI MINI-CONVERTER

UNCOMPRESSED BASEBAND OVER IP

AJA Video Systems has announced its new Hi5Plus, its next gen SDI-to-HDMI Mini-Converter.

Capable of handling 3G and Dual Link inputs, Hi5-Plus outputs deep colour 30- and 36-bit video for driving HDMI monitoring solutions. Embedded audio is passed through to the output and a 2-channel RCA analogue output allows easy audio monitoring.

New features include PsF to P conversion; audio delay control, 0 to 7 frames; new USB connection for configuration via AJA MiniConfig software for Mac and PC; compact size; 16-channel embedded SDI and 8-channel HDMI audio; 2-channel RCA analogue audio output; 5-20VDC power; and a 5-year warranty. www.aja.com

Imagine Communications has launched the Selenio X100, the latest enhancement to the company’s facility signal processing and mobile production solutions. The X100 ensures support for hybrid, next-gen TV and production systems by offering a unique architecture future-proofed for unco mpressed baseband over IP and Ultra HD (UHD). The intelligent, dual-channel 1RU Selenio X100 frame synchronizer and converter delivers a broad range of processing capability for video, audio, data and metadata.

From ingest and outbound processing and tape archive to production and postproduction applications, the Selenio X100 processor easily integrates into the signal workflow of any broadcast environment, including mobile production trucks, small stations, production studios and larger networks.

The X100 addresses disparate signal types in the workflow to bridge analogue, digital, SD, HD, and future IP infrastructures. It is also extensively future-proofed, providing support for 10 GigE, uncompressed baseband over IP, Ultra HD and MPEG encoding/decoding. The Selenio X100 also gives the user a single point in the workflow to control and monitor the video and audio essence along with any associated data and metadata. www.imaginecommunications.com

AUTOMATIC LOUDNESS PROCESSING; MODULAR UP/DOWN/CROSS LMNTS (Loudness Manager for N Transport Streams) is Cobalt Digital’s multiple award-winning, unique loudness processing technology that provides a practical and cost-effective path to ATSC A85 and EBU R128 compliance. The easily integrated and streamlined chassis requires minimal space and offers low cost-per-channel, sophisticated neutral loudness processing.

LMNTS achieves automatic loudness processing across many transport streams without the need or complexity of external codecs transferring between baseband and MPEG interfaces,

www.tvtechnology.com

making it ideal for MVPDs and MSOs. Using unique depacketing/repacketing processing and decode/re-encode, LMNTS extracts and decodes audio codec packets from the program stream, performs high-quality PCM loudness processing, and then re-encodes and re-packets the audio with its stream.

An ASI option provides additional ASI transport stream support. Physically, all data connection to LMNTS is via GigE IP or ASI interfaces using an industrystandard IT hardware platform with no intermediary breakouts. Emphasis on pre and post loudness measurements and multi codec support with DD+ and

HEAAC push the ease of integration.

The new Blue Box Group BBG1002-UDX Modular Up/Down/Cross Converter is available in two different formats. The BBG-1002-UDX-AAVAES with universal I/O and character burn provides a high-density standalone modular unit that offers multi-input support, flexibility, and ease of use, with full support of 3G/HD/SD-SDI,

CVBS, AES and analogue audio inputs and outputs. The BBG-1002-UDX model features auto-changeover input, character burn and a web-based user interface. The unit is also available in card format (9902-UDX) for openGear. www.cobaltdigital.com

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

17

SMPTE UPDATE

Standards Progress on Several Fronts T

By Alan Lambshead

he Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is an internationally recognized standards development body. As such, we abide by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) due process for initiating, approving, revising, and removing standards. SMPTE has been the leader in standards for the motion imaging industry, facilitating interoperability and therefore business since 1916.

SMPTE has more than 100 committees and other groups working on a myriad of technical topics to create, approve, revise and remove standards for the industry. Each year, usually quarterly, the Standards groups meet in week-long “block” meetings to report on progress and to move ahead on standards work that is more easily accomplished in face-toface meetings.

In March 2014, nine SMPTE Technology Committees and eighteen subgroups met at Niagara-on-theLake in Ontario, Canada; hosted

by Semtech Corporation. Some 60 members attended in person over five days, and there was additional participation by remote access.

The summary below captures some of the more notable projects.

More information on the current status of the 160+ active projects is available online at www.smpte.org/ standards/meeting-reports.

There has been a change to the Technology Committee (TC) structure, and the Time Labelling and Synchronization TC and its sub-groups have now moved to a Working Group of the Network and Facilities Architecture TC. Two subgroups did not need their allocated time and an excellent high-speed tutorial on colour science

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by Charles Poynton was fitted in at very short notice.

The following new projects were launched at the Niagara Meeting:

Coding of Tactile Essence -adding the “feeling” and “impact” of an event.

Two additional project proposals for revisions related to Digital Cinema Stereoscopic Subtitle and Timed Text rendering.

Two Registered Disclosure Document projects on Dolby Atmos A system for synchronizing auxiliary data in D-Cinema; applications include Immersive Sound and control for Motion Systems.

Two new projects related to Ad-ID. Four new projects have been added to the suite of documents on a new network-based synchronization system. They are Engineering Guidelines on “Introduction to the New Synchronization System,” “Time Discontinuities,” “Facilities Migration Guide,” and “Best Practices for Large Scale SMPTE ST 2059-2 PTP implementations.”

Further revisions projects have been added to the project on extending the code-space for the ST 337 family, as well as new projects for the carriage of AC-4 and a reference document for carriage of Dolby E over AES3.

A presentation was given on a ruggedized optical connector suitable for use with many SMPTE optical standards including the emerging multilink serial digital interface (SDI) interfaces. A standard is proposed.

Integrating IT, UHDTV Progress A substantial piece of work from the SMPTE study group on Media Production System Network

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Architecture has been completed.

Their report “Beyond the Analog to Digital Conversion - The Integration of Information Technology and Professional Media” was finalized.

The Study Group on the ultra high definition television (UHDTV) Ecosystem has added a great deal of material to its initial report, and the Study Group on Immersive Audio Systems: B-Chain and Distribution have completed their work. These reports are all now available online at www.smpte.org/standards/reports A further four documents in the Interoperable Mastering Format suite have now been published, bringing the published total up to six. Work continues on an Output Profile List, an extended format for higher specifications (resolution, frame rate, colour space) and Sample Material Interchange.

There has been good progress in the last quarter on projects aimed at extending the bandwidth capacity of real-time video interfaces.

Three more Parts in a document suite defining how sets of two and four 3Gbps SDI interfaces can be combined are now published.

Six draft standards from a Working Group defining 6, 12 and 24Gbps SDI interfaces (targeting UHD) have passed Final Committee Draft ballot. Further standards in these suites are being drafted.

A project on UHDTV Multi-link 10Gbps interfaces will extend the ST 2036 suite to include transport of 120fps UHDTV-1 and UHDTV-2.

There are currently 14 material eXchange format (MXF) projects in process, adding features to this file-based suite of standards or creating constraints for improved interoperability.

The three High Dynamic Range

Alan Lambshead, VP of SMPTE Standards (HDR) video projects mentioned last time have moved on quickly, with two of them already at ballot. There is also a Study Group examining all the issues involved with creating “better pixels” and how this can fit in with established standards.

The next quarterly Standards meeting round will be held the first week of June in Tokyo, Japan and will be hosted by NHK/ITE. Attendees will also be able to visit the NHK Science and Technology Research Labs. To learn more and participate in the SMPTE Standards Community, please visit: www.smpte.org/ standards/engineering-committees

Contact: Alan Lambshead is Vice President of SMPTE Standards. www.www.smpte.org/standards

MARKETPLACE UNIVERSAL SCALER tvONE, has announced its newest CORIO2 Universal Scaler, which has more input/output flexibility than any other previous tvONE scaler. It can be set up and managed using a new front panel or via a computerbased emulator that allows setup in less than 1/3 the time of the previous generation. It provides high quality bi-directional conversion between a variety of analogue and digital video formats. Inputs and outputs can be SD/HD/3G-SDI, HDMI, DVI, Composite Video, YC, YUV, YPbPr or RGB. An included key feature allows an image to be keyed over another and faded in and out due to the 4:4:4 sampling format for RGB sources, precise keying at the pixel level can be achieved. www.tvone.com

NEW BRIGHTEYES SOFTWARE; HDMI MIXER Ensemble Designs released version 2.0 software for its BrightEye NXT line of Compact Routers at NAB, a software upgrade provided at no charge to owners of BrightEye NXT Video Routing Switchers. This provides dissolves and direct take transitions of HDMI as well as SDI sources, external control via TCP/IP or DB9 connector, and configuration and salvo memory registers.

Also new was an HDMI Mixer for HDCP content. This allows a user to dissolve or cut between HDMI cameras and sources. The new BrightEye NXT 410-H Clean HDMI Router also features built-in frame syncs and a brand new Mix and Direct Take mode. www.ensembledesigns.com

www.tvtechnology.com

NEXT-GEN FRAME SYNC & FRC AJA’s new FS1-X is a compact single rack-mount frame synchronizer and converter designed to match up disparate audio and video formats.

It supports up-, down- and cross-conversion between SD and HD signals ensuring the highest quality output possible. Featuring a flexible architecture, FS1-X simultaneously works with 3G/HD/SD-SDI 10-bit video and incorporates a massive number of embedded audio, AES, MADI and analogue audio channels. It is also available with a Frame Rate Converter (FRC) option. FS1-X’s high quality motion adaptive linear FRC offers smooth motion conversion between a wide range of frame rates, including 1080p 50 to 59.94. www.aja.com

REMOTE HYBRID INTERFACE PLATFORM FOR 10GE As part of Evertz’ SDVN 10GE solution, the 3000REM REMote Hybrid Interface platform forms the optimal SDI interface access points for next generation Hybrid Baseband / IP broadcast infrastructures. With direct conversion of nine signals from electrical to optical and direct mezzanine compression via JPEG2000, the REM series delivers high processing densities.

The 3000REM platform features Evertz 3rd generation ultra low latency, high density JPEG2000 codec technology over 10GE. The platform also provides per input Audio and Video Monitoring, auto-timing, time stamped Ethernet outputs, and multi-resolution JPEG2000 streaming outputs. Evertz’ new 3000REM has been developed to offer massive cable reduction in an economical size and price. A single REM can eliminate up to ten traditional SDI cables all while only occupying a single rack unit. www.evertz.com

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

19

SHARPSHOOTER

Sponsored by

Motorsports & More Name: Ian O’Brien.

Age: 67 years.

Star sign: Pisces.

Hometown?

Wellington, Central West in NSW, Australia; just near Dubbo. Dad had a property out of town with his brother. My mother was a housewife.

It’s all changed since I was there, I can tell you. I haven’t been back for a while.

Occupation?

Basically I’m a television

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cameraman. I used to own a television production company called Videopac. In those days it was the biggest independent production company with OB facilities and editing.

First shooting job: I walked into Channel 9 on the 11th of the 11th, 1964, and I think I was a stagehand first up. Then I moved up to become a studio cameraman.

What are you doing at the moment?

On Thursday nights I do a show on Seven Mate, called SportsFan

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Clubhouse; and on Saturday I cover athletics out in Sydney’s West. Last Sunday I drove to Goulburn and covered Australian Superbikes for ABC. So you’ve been reasonably busy?

Mostly busy. My preference is motor sport or sport in general; swimming, soccer, football.

I’ve even done bocce.

I’m a little into swimming: When I was young I won a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics for swimming. (Editor’s note: Swimming for Australia, Ian O’Brien won the 200 metre

breaststroke in world record time.)

Where have you been shooting over the last year or so?

This time last year I did the V8 SuperCars and they travelled overseas. We did New Zealand and Austin, Texas. We were away for eight days all up, five days shoot and two or more days travel.

To shoot motor sport, what do you think it demands in the way of specialised skills?

You have to know the event, who’s in it, the drivers obviously, and what cars.

SHARPSHOOTER The technique has changed over the years. The lenses are getting bigger and bigger, which makes it easier in some respects - until you get heat haze.

Early on in the Bathurst race, for instance, you had 15, 20 or maybe 30 cars coming up the hill and you couldn’t see through the shimmer in black and white. The director would say, “go with car 14,” because he can see 14 in living colour but your viewfinder was black and white.

In those days there was no return vision, but nowadays you can press a button.

What would the number of cameras be these days?

Well around the track I think we’ve got about thirty-six cameras, plus in-car cameras so you could have 50 or more. Plus cameras in choppers, cameras in curves, cameras on walls, so it’s all happening. It’s changed enormously in the last 35-40 years.

What gear do you own?

Very little now. I’ve got seven cameras stored away that are sort of just sitting there because they’re no longer viable, not the current format.

Why buy, when you can hire the latest technology. You go out and spend a 100 grand on a camera system, then six months later you get the same system for 60.

What’s some of your most recent, interesting assignments?

Shooting jobs with Gearhouse, the V8 SuperCars, that’s exciting. Doing athletics on the weekend is really good. I’m also into super bikes.

www.tvtechnology.com

You shot the Australian Top Gear series?

Oh, that was really great. It was different obviously to the English series. I enjoyed it.

It was great. The guys were really good, the team we worked with and the sound were tremendous What current gear do you use?

If I rent anything, it’s an XDCAM, Sony’s disc-based system, with any sort of lenses from a wide angle lens to a 32x.

Any preference for lenses?

Oh, no, not really. I like Canon and Fuji lenses. I haven’t done a lot with Nikon.

These days you mostly hire.

Who from?

Oh, it’s been great. Gearhouse supply all those, the outside broadcast facilities for the V8 SuperCars, and they do a stunning job. They’ve always got plenty of backup, which is really important; and nothing is a problem with them, they’re one of the best.

If somebody told me they want a 25 camera OB in two weeks time at Ayers Rocks, just ring up the boys at Gearhouse straight away and we’ll be off. And terrestrial links aren’t a problem.

What’s your equipment “wish list”?

Mmm. That’s a hard one. I like to operate a big lens, so probably a Canon 100x. I’m also pretty impressed with the Hitachi systems that Gearhouse have got. The viewfinders are great. That’s a great system for shooting motor sport.

May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

21

SHARPSHOOTER

Sponsored by What’s the best thing about your job?

I enjoy every minute of it. I just enjoy working and I enjoy the camaraderie, all the guys that have done it for years.

What’s the worst thing about your job?

Catching bloody airplanes.

You know, getting out of bed at half-past-three in the morning to go to the airport.

You’ve got to put up with Sydney traffic. The road to the airport the other day was locked solid for 2 kilometres. A five car prang on the freeway. I’ll be catching the train in the future!

What was one of your dullest assignments?

I was recording an archive of a court case in a closed room. A lot of people were being interviewed about what had happened, and the tapes had to be sent to a law firm in the States.

There were two VCRs and you had to roll on the interviews, so you didn’t miss a thing. With a locked-off dual camera recording, no operating at all.

It went on for two weeks.

I think that’s probably one of the most boring jobs I’ve ever done.

Tell me one of your hairiest or scariest assignments you’ve had: You know, I’ve had some dangerous times shooting motor sport where parts have come off cars.

I think the worst one was down in Tasmania years ago and there was a sports sedan race with a couple of Mustangs. My camera was right on side of the track down a hairpin, just down the bottom of the straight.

The next thing I knew, this thing went whoosh past me. I felt heat come off it, and that was a Mustang that had hit the wall.

I didn’t hear it because it had hit an earth bank and it went up, right up the wall and sideways in the air.

As it went past me, I felt the heat from underneath the body. I think that’s the closest that I’ve come to being killed.

How much 16:9 do you shoot?

Everything. No 4x3 at all.

What country would you most like to shoot in?

Australia. I’ve done too much overseas. I’ve travelled everywhere.

What’s your taste in music?

Everything, you know, back as far as the 60s and 70s; a bit of rock’n’roll.

I also like jazz.

What’s your favourite food?

Seafood.

Contact details: P: 62 438 251 309 E: shootoz@hotmail.com

Advertising Index AJA B&H Photo Blackmagic Design Gearhouse Grass Valley Imagine

5 23 9, 13 20 2 7

www.aja.com www.bandh.com www.blackmagicdesign.com www.gearhousebroadcast.com www.grassvalley.com www.imaginecommunications.com

Lupo Light Lupolux Media Excel Telemetrics Tools On Air Wheatstone

15 21 19 17 11 24

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Advertising Sales Representatives Publisher Europe Europe Italy Latin America Hong Kong, China, Asia/Pacific Australia/New Zealand US Central, New England & Canada US West US Classifieds & Product Showcase/ US Southeast and Mid-Atlantic

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May-June 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Steve Connolly Sharifa Marshall Ben Ewles Raffaella Calabrese Susana Saibene Wengong Wang Eric Trabb Vytas Urbonas Pete Sembler Michele Inderrieden

T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +39 02 92884940 T: +34 607 314071 T: +86 755 5785161 T: +1 212 378 0400 x532 T: +1 212 378 0400 x533 T: +1 212 378 0400 x324 T: +1 212 378 0400 x523

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