NZVN September 2013

SEPTEMBER 2013

Vol 195

The Pro Audio Show hits Auckland The Pro Audio Show is the only show in New Zealand for our industry and it’s always well worth a visit. It’s not a biggie but it’s a great opportunity to see a range of specialist product in one place and have a chance to talk with colleagues and attend free seminars. This is the third show I will have attended and reported on this year and, when you read this, I’ll be on my way to IBC for more. But that’s next month.

For now, what was going on in the Auckland event?

There were all the people we know and love, Sound Techniques, Protel, Syntec and Now Sound, but also a number of other manufacturers of audio equipment, a lot of mixing desks and speakers, road cases, all sorts of things and microphones for the audio professional as well as for the “audio for video” person. So in some ways, it’s not all our market, but there are certainly items here that are valuable for us. I suppose at the moment there would be between 80 and 100 people here, cruising round, talking to the suppliers and testing the equipment to see what works for them. All in all, a very valuable show to come to.

Now we’ve found a gap in the traffic at one of the Protel booths, this one looked after by Rene Bullinga.

Ed: Rene, you’ve got what looks like a very nice Avid T -shirt on?

Rene: Yes, I do.

Ed: But you’re in the Genelec stand?

Rene: Well sort of! What we’ve done this year is we have segmented our stands, so that we have a live sound area with David from Avid; here we have our music production, music creation and postproduction with myself; and then in the neighbouring stand with Rob

Paris, we have our production sound, location audio and things related to that. So rather than being just Protel, we’ve tried to present our wares in a bit more market specific way, so that people get a good idea of the products for that particular market.

Ed: But that’s it, this is a pro audio show and there are different market segments within pro audio?

Rene: That is correct and you may notice that, in amongst all our other product ranges, we have had very little space to represent our more broadcast focused brands, it’s more focused on that pro audio or creation market at this event.

Ed:

Excellent … and a good response so far?

brings a lot of benefits to these guys. Moving from the 32 bit world into the 64 bit world basically gives them a great deal more processing on the same equipment than they had before – anywhere up to twice as much performance as what they had in the previous systems. There are also some fundamental workflow benefits in the new system – being able to do multiple bounces to disc in faster than real time really will speed up a lot of workflows for the guys doing production.

Ed: So again it’s a case of well, you can do it, this is the cost, these are the benefits, it’s your choice?

Rene: Yes it is a bit like that. You are never compelled to do an upgrade; there always needs to be a …

Ed: Business case?

Rene: That’s right, there always needs to be a business case and a good reason for doing that and I think again with the Pro Tools 11 release, there is actually a very good business case in this instance.

Ed: Because if you don’t do it, somebody else will?

Richard Thorne calling the troops to a seminar.

Rene: Yes, we love it. It’s at an excellent new venue; and of course being a host exhibitor on the organising committee, we’ve been partly responsible for getting this thing off the ground again for the 4th time now! We’re very happy with the response here and at the seminars.

Ed: Now people can come into your offices in Auckland or Wellington any old time, but they still come to the shows?

Rene: Yes, one of the reasons we do the shows is that they are an industry event, designed for the suppliers of the industry to actually gather people together. People can meet people they haven’t seen in a long time, share ideas – such as the seminar that’s going on at the moment about wireless use in the country … really important stuff for the industry as a whole to know what’s going on, and have the opportunity to share in.

Ed: And also have a play with the product as well?

Rene: That always helps … one thing, audio guys love is the toys!

Ed: But having said that, there is some crossover product, because I see here you’ve got Pro Tools 11, and this is something that we certainly use in the video production industry … this is a big leap forward. I saw this at NAB and I thought wow, it’s quite a sea change, but it’s not a cheap sea change I understand?

Rene: For the general user and certainly in the audio production market, it can be quite a cheap upgrade.

For the professional market in broadcast production and postproduction where they have the hardware based systems, there are some hardware requirements for the upgrade as well. But it is a significant technological leap forward, and as such

Rene: Oh it’s not even that, it’s just you will get better productivity out of this software than you will out of the previous version.

Also in the Protel camp, we have Rob Paris. Rob is looking after the Zaxcom section here, and for those of you who might have missed the ad, Zaxcom is …

Ed:

Rob, well what is Zaxcom?

Rob: Zaxcom is a New Jersey-based company that makes digital encrypted wireless systems for location audio mixing and recording. Their systems also support remote control of the transmitters and wireless distribution of timecode and IFB audio.

Ed:

Okay, so for a soundie system it works well?

Rob: Yes, there’s a large amount of Zaxcom used daily in New Zealand including reality TV, feature films, documentary making and TVC. Ed: But what if you haven’t got a soundie, you’re just a lone operator, have you got a bodypack and receiver system that will sit on a camera?

Rob: Yes absolutely. The bodypack is this TRX900, and the receiver a QRX100Q. We actually sold the last one before the show yesterday, so it’s not here! The QRX is able to receive from two different transmitters simultaneously and all TRX Series transmitters have patented on-board recording so a backup file is always recorded.

Ed: Okay, but in a seminar that I went to with one of your opposition companies, the question came up about scanning, and the Zaxcom that you offer also has this scanning capability … just tell me about that?

Rob: It does. The QRX receiver has the ability to scan and demonstrate all available channels and whatever

Go www.finnzed.co.nz and follow the link to NZVN for more news.

P16 WUNZ update P22 Why buy when you can rent?

P25 Avid Interplay at TVNZ Page 3

DISPLAY & CLASSIFIED ADVERT BOOKINGS BY WED 9 OCT ADVERT COPY BY FRI 11 OCT UP ON THE WEB BY FRI 18 OCT

activity is on those channels within the block that it operates on.

Ed:

Will it auto select?

Rob: Yes, it will suggest the best choice for you.

Ed: And then you synchronise the bodypack to that?

Rob: Yes. Ed:

Ballpark price range?

Rob: For a transmitter / receiver pair around about the $4,500 mark and it goes up from there. The Zaxcom range offers an amazing feature set for the money by including many innovative and unique features; sound quality rivals that of wire.

Ed:

Blocks, tell me about blocks again?

Rob: These blocks are based around the TV blocks, very similar, a little bit of overlap with other manufacturers, but more or less the same block 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 – we’re not going much beyond block 26 these days.

Rob with Zaxcom transmitter.

Ed: Okay, so at that price, we’re looking at a fairly sophisticated product that will handle a large block of frequencies?

Rob: Yes, we are. It’s a digital system; it is encrypted so it’s very, very safe – there can be no stealing of audio files off location. Unique to Zaxcom is the ability to record on the transmitter. The bodypack records directly there, so if you lose connection, if you have an RF dropout or you have breakthrough or some other sort of interference, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got a perfect recording every time.

The quality of the Zaxcom recording is such that it is approximately that of a piece of wire.

Rob: It’s taking from the receiver and recording it and mixing it … although as it happens, this model is probably one of the first on the market that has a builtin transmitter, which does use the RF. Ed:

And where does it transmit it to?

Rob: Generally to a receiver that’s mounted on a camera.

Ed:

So you use it as a talkback?

Rob: You can use it for IFB audio talkback – it also distributes timecode like the other systems from Zaxcom – or to send high-quality production audio to the camera.

Ed: That’s a good safety measure?

Rob: Yes, very important.

Ed: Isn’t that unusual – I mean normally the camera sends the audio to the pack?

Ed: Now, the Zaxcom MAXX – new product?

Rob: Yes it’s a brand new product just arrived in the country yesterday. It was announced at NAB and it started shipping in July. It’s a two track digital recorder and mixer for location sound, expandable to six track and also expandable to be able to have a built-in stereo transmitter to provide a camera link.

Ed: So who is going to be interested in this?

Rob: Not always, no. A lot of the time the sound recordist is providing the camera audio. It’s called a camera hop typically or a camera link.

A sound recordist might be mixing multiple radio mics down into stereo and that’s fed to the camera. Cameras only ever have 2 or 4 inputs.

Rob: All location sound recordists – anyone who is in charge of sound on location, particularly those with a requirement to “run and gun”.

Ed: I guess the reality is that there have been little boxes like this around for a long time. Why would they want to change to something like this?

Rob: That’s right. We have the full range of Zaxcom – Nomad is the next size up recorder / mixer, more tracks, same sort of functionality.

Rob: Lightweight, compact flash recording media, built -in transmitter, the latter being especially significant as the same company, Zaxcom, are designing radio mics AND recorder / mixers, ensuring their products integrate at a level not available with any other competing system.

Ed: So again, it’s a case of, because of this frequency change and the spectrum, they’re going to have to get new kit anyway?

Rob: Possibly.

That’s more the domain of the transmitters and receivers. MAXX primarily records and mixes audio.

Ed: Oh I see, so in fact it’s nothing to do with the spectrum?

Rob: No. Ed: It’s taking from the receiver … oh okay, right, right … so you still have to have …?

Ed: I see. And anyone can come and play with this in either Auckland or Wellington Protel offices?

Ed:

And they look very rugged?

Rob: Yes, ruggedised steel chassis, small lightweight though to go into a shoulder worn bag.

and

Ed: And you get a free pack of cards with every one Rob? Rob: Yes a free pack of cards while stocks last.

Ed: Okay, now in the Sony range, is there anything comparable?

Rob: No. Ed:

Oh that’s an easy answer.

Rob: For just $700-ish … Sony just recently updated their wireless microphone systems for camera and handheld use, put them in a metal housing and updated the electronics for improved sound quality.

Ed: But this is not a scanning option. You’ve got to manually set the frequency?

Rob: No, no. The UWP-P2 portable receiver has a NZVN “scan for clear channels” function.

Page 6

NEW RELEASE Additions to the Teradek Family Broadcast Command and Control Platform

Teradek Sputnik 2.0

Sputnik 2.0 delivers new features that greatly enhance the capabilities of Teradek devices. Sputnik is Teradek’s server application that recombines outbound packets from your bonded network connections into a cohesive video feed that is transmitted to your streaming platform or H.264 decoder.

It runs on a Linux computer in the Cloud (Amazon EC2) or local server.

A host of new features are included: – Improved video quality in static and rapid scene changes.

– New intelligent Packet Distribution™ reduces video and audio loss.

– IFB for monitoring audio feed.

– Improved Dashboard GUI includes connection info status and remote control for Bond and Cube devices.

– Direct mode.

Teradek Bond Pro

Teradek Core™

Teradek Edge

Integrated Camera-Back H.264 Cellular Bonding solution

Encoder fleet management system

Rack-Mount Bonded Cellular Hotspot

Light-weight with low power consumption for nimble camera movement and extended broadcasts without interruption or fatigue. Features Sputnik 2.0 for IFB communication and real-time broadcast monitoring. Designed for Gold-mount or V-mount power systems. Now supports up to 6 network connections via USB dongles.

D CLOUED S BA

R FEWELES B A C

Monitor and control your Teradek encoders, cellular bonding systems, and decoders effortlessly from a single elegant web GUI. Features remote control of encoding and transmission parameters, automatic device discovery and drag and drop workflow.

Teradek Bond II Integrated CameraTop H.264 Cellular Bonding solution Features compact size, light weight, and low power consumption in one cost-effective device.

Includes built-in HD H.264 encoder, HD-SDI input, 6 USB slots for 3G/4G/LTE modems.

Plus built-in Li-Ion battery and flexible new modem mounting option to protect your cellular dongles. Compatible with Sputnik 2.0, which offers IFB communication, remote monitoring, and broadcast redundancy.

Teradek Lokr™ Digital Media and Metadata Management Platform Store digital AV files and log any computer or camera generated metadata on set. Features multiple options for device discovery and control, proxy recording, and live monitoring on multiple devices. As an open platform, Lokr can integrate with multiple file-based cameras and existing VTR systems or operate on its own.

D& SPEEIBILITY FLEX

When speed and flexibility are paramount, Edge allows you to go live in full HD from nearly any location.

Developed for fixed installations like mobile studios and next generation OB vans. Edge suits 19” rack enclosures and provides easy access to 14 external antenna jacks to increase cellular connectivity and WiFi range. Features 6 built-in 3G/4G/LTE modems, dual 10/100 Ethernet jacks, and dual band MIMO WiFi, all of which can be bonded together for maximizing bandwidth. Edge also allows other 802.11 compatible devices to access the Internet during broadcasts for quick file uploads or online communication.

LIKE DVTNZ to stay up-to date with the latest promotions and industry news.

www.dvt.co.nz

Digital Video Technologies (NZ) Ltd

PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

|

Phone: 09 525 0788

|

Email: sales@dvt.co.nz

|

45 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland

Moving along, I stopped at the Now Sound booth to meet Daniel Larsen. I actually went to a seminar with Dan about the spectrum and how you can cope with it, but we’ll come back to that in a later issue because it’s a continuing story in New Zealand. But to tell us something right now that will help us in the short-term, we’ve got Carl Win. Ed: Now Carl, my story is that I think I got a little bit of radio interference when I was doing a shoot recently in Sydney and I’m thinking that I’m going to have to upgrade my kit – my transmitter pack and receiver for my camera – and you’ve actually got something that you think might be able to help me?

Carl: Yes, I think the new Shure FP wireless system is a good choice for that.

It has frequency scan and select, so it’s pretty much easy “setup and go”.

Ed: And that’s the thing, because I arrived at the site, clipped the pack on the talent and I heard that the sound was a bit ropey … it was still usable but distorted. I didn’t have the time to muck around with changing the frequency on the transmitter and the receiver, trying it again and holding up the client. So, with this system, with the push of a button on the receiver pack …?

Carl: Yes, the system will scan and allocate a frequency that’s not being used at that time. Then once you’ve done that, you just need to sync your transmitter and you’re good to go.

Ed:

Carl and Daniel at the Now Sound booth.

unfortunately guys and girls, there’s nothing we can do about it, we’ve got to change.

And this really takes less than a minute?

Carl: That’s right, yes.

Carl: That’s right, yes.

Ed: Now the good thing about this is that it’s around about a grand for the complete system, but the downside is …?

Ed:

Carl: ( hand on his heart ) There is no downside.

Ed: Oh come on, there’s got to be a downside somewhere, because the frequency band is quite limited with this particular model, and if that concerns you …?

Carl: You need to look at the UR series, so a UR5 and a UR3 or a UR1 system, because they’re top of the line camera broadcast units.

Ed: That’s it … so in the Shure range, there are a variety that will cope with all sorts of situations and

Oh be encouraging, thank you.

Now Carl, Axient. Really at the top end of the Shure radio mics is the Axient product. This is something that is for, I guess, large venues, rock concerts, that sort of thing. You can’t afford to have Mick Jagger dropping anything, it’s got to be for that, but also for documentary production, just a single transmitter and receiver, it’s still the best way to go?

Carl: Yes, Axient is kind of your money channel where you can’t afford any drop outs or any issues, so if it’s critical that audio is passed, then Axient’s definitely the one to go for.

Page 8

STOP PRESS The Government has released the auction plan for 700 MHz. See Website - www.wunz.co.nz : also see p.16. but it also has backup frequencies – you can allocate how many backup frequencies you want. It will find all those available frequencies; if one gets interfered with, it will go to the next channel. Because it’s got a WiFi link to the transmitters, the transmitters will update at the same time as the receiver.

In other systems, you would have to do another scan, and then you’d have to sync the transmitter to the receiver; with Axient that’s all done automatically, so you don’t have to touch it, it will happen without you even knowing it.

Ed: Okay, so that’s the top end and we’ve talked about the entry level, and really in the Shure range there’s something in between as well?

Carl: Yes, there are multiple levels.

Ed: How does it do that – what are the major differences within the technology of the Axient as opposed to your other models?

Carl: There are actually two transmitters inside the Axient handheld, so you can transmit simultaneously across two frequencies. If one channel gets interfered with, it will switch to the other redundant channel. By doing that, you are using up two channels of receiver,

Ed: And that’s the beauty, because you do supply through dealers?

Carl: We supply through Protel, Sound Techniques and A2Z Riegers.

Ed: So it’s a case of going into them and having a look at the range, talking to them about the business case that suits that product?

Carl: Yes that’s right. We’ve got a product to suit every budget and every kind of application really. NZVN

Page 10

And now we’re talking to somebody who’s not as pretty as Brenda, but he’s got something that Brenda was showing us at NAB – Stephen Buckland from Sound Techniques.

Stephen: Have I ever. Yes, I’ve got the new Nautilus mount from K-Tek here – super quiet, super nifty suspension.

You’ll notice why it’s called a “Nautilus”, because it’s similar to a Nautilus shell in that it curves around. So far a couple of senior sound people have had a play with it, plugged it into things and they say it’s as quiet as anything they’ve heard.

Ed: And the good thing is that it’s very robust isn’t it. Brenda was doing her chest exercises with it at NAB and gained good results?

Stephen: ( cautiously avoiding the bait ) Brenda stood on one remember – I’m hoping there’s no boot marks on this one here.

Ed: So it’s been a good show for you; you’ve just given an hour’s seminar for the WUNZ Group?

Stephen with K-Tek Nautilus mount.

Stephen: That’s right. It has been a good show, even better than others that we’ve done. It is, as my friend would say “small but perfectly formed.” We’ve crammed all the people who wanted to exhibit into this rather pleasant room which is well situated. Yes, the seminar for WUNZ was well received.

Ed: Did you have a lot to tell the people?

Stephen: Well we haven’t got a lot to tell the people, because at the moment, following on from the submissions on “radio microphones, opportunities for future use”, the government is at the stage where it mulls over these things before coming up with its final decision.

We had hoped to have a ministry representative here but, because they didn’t have anything to report, they decided not to come. However, they do say that, sometime in the imminent future, when they do know what’s happening, they will be keen to publicise it.

Ed: Aaaah, so they’ll let us know so we can put it in the next issue?

Stephen: Yes and they’ve got till the 1st of December, because that’s when this whole thing has to be done and dusted by.

Ed: Okay, so we’ll keep a space on the 30th of November ready for them will we?

Stephen: That’s right … but I can tell you that your old Sony radio mics will probably be in a very grey, possibly distant area.

Ed: I’ve actually discovered that already Stephen. On a recent shoot, I was noticing that one of my signals was really crushed and I thought “ummm, I wonder what’s happening”? When I moved indoors, it all came clear. So was that probably interference?

Stephen: That’s a pretty classic example of how digital television transmission works; it’s quite low power and, yes, if you walk inside a building, the effect of it might disappear – just like if you were trying to watch your TV on rabbit ears inside a house, you may not get any picture at all. And this is one of the problems, because if you were to do a shoot where the person walked inside or outside, you’d lose the radio mic reception.

Ed: So I’ve got to make a decision sooner rather than later do I?

Stephen: Well the whole thing about this too is that we would like to know, because an educated market is a far better one to deal with than an ill-educated market. Unless people know for sure what’s happening, of course people will just carry on using their gear and then there will be problems. So, you know, please, please let us know as soon as Radio Spectrum Management knows.

Ed: And this is a good venue for it, because here there are lots of manufacturers all showing off their radio mic solutions and you can actually come to Sound Techniques and try them all out, because you do have quite a range.

Stephen: Well Lectrosonics, Sennheiser and Shure would be the radio microphone brands that we sell in store. Because this show is set up for distributors, obviously we don’t have them all on our stand, but still yes, good to come and compare one brand and model with another.

Ed: And that’s the thing, it’s a case of one particular brand or one particular flavour of microphone would suit some people who may be at the top end and can’t afford even point one percent chance that it will drop out, whereas someone at my level, at the corporate level, could actually accept a couple of little mistakes, because you just get them to do it again?

Stephen: That would be true. All the radio mics that we sell should work for the foreseeable future and they would be backed directly by us; also we should be backed up by the company that supplies us, but “foreseeable” is a slightly nebulous term I suppose. As someone pointed out in a seminar, of course, as soon as the government identifies that there is spectrum spare, they may see who the highest bidder for it will be.

Ed:

Well just like power stations I suppose?

Stephen: Just like power stations, yes.

Anyway, we’re going off the subject of the show aren’t we really … I’m wearing my WUNZ’s hat, which I will take off willingly.

Ed: So back to Sound Techniques … what have you found that’s been really popular, that people have come in and wanted to have a closer look at?

Stephen: Most people, especially people who don’t know, are fascinated by the antenna array. We’ve got

Page 11

three directional antennae up on a K-Tek designed rod, though you wouldn’t operate it like this in the field, you’d probably just have the two end antenna on – but the one in the middle, the helical antenna, which is a Perspex cylinder backed with a Perspex disc, fascinates people.

They have no idea what it’s for and what it is, is highly directional.

Ed: I see you’ve got it pointed at the Protel booth. Is it actually transmitting something there – bad vibes – or are you receiving?

Stephen: We’re just trying to pick up on what they’re saying over there and make sure they’re not making bad jokes at our expense!

Ed:

Oh I’m sure that would never happen Stephen.

Stephen: can they?

Yes, I doubt it, they can’t make bad jokes

Ed: It wouldn’t seem right – so how would you use this antenna?

Stephen: If you have a diversity receiver, you run a cable from each of the antenna into each channel of your diversity receiver and you point them at the subject.

Ed:

This basically extends the range of any radio mic?

Stephen: Yes. One of the best examples we had in recent times was a client working in the Southern Alps and I think the person with the radio microphone transmitter on was 2 kilometres away on another mountaintop.

Admittedly, it was a high powered transmitter, but he was able to receive the signal with line of sight that far away.

Ed: Now something quite unusual Stephen – Adam speakers.

I’ve never seen these, you’ve never mentioned Adam speakers before.

Is this a new product for you, or have you just been keeping them hidden?

Stephen: Probably a bit of both.

We been representing Adam Audio for about 3 or 4 years; because they’re not directly applicable to our common customer, it’s a bit of an offshoot of the business.

However, amongst the Adam speakers, there are ones which would work perfectly well in a recording studio or a postproduction suite. Most particularly, because we know how budget conscious people are, Adam have actually brought out a range where they use their proprietary tweeter, ( they’re handmade in Germany, but the speakers themselves are assembled in China ), because what Adam realises is that although their speakers receive massive acclaim worldwide, the speakers it sold the most of were the cheap boxes that other people can provide.

We’re almost ready for the launch of our new speaker room … it’s not an acoustically perfect place, but it’s a place where you can go and sit on a sofa and have a listen and compare speakers.

Ed: Or you can go inside and scream?

Stephen: No, it’s not that well soundproofed … but we’ve just got a processor so we can do 5.1 surround with a very basic projection facility, so if you’re interested in speakers, it’s a good time to come and have a look and listen.

Ed: They look very nice – but what do you hear in these speakers that you don’t hear in something you might be able to buy from Dick Smith?

Page 12

Live Streaming Video, File Based Transcoding and Multiscreen Delivery Elemental Technologies is the leading supplier of video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. Providing unmatched solutions for top media and entertainment companies worldwide, including Comcast, Disney and HBO, Elemental helps content programmers and service providers bring videoto any screen, anytime – all at once

Elemental Live - Encode Live Streaming Video Provides content producers and distributors with video and audio encoding for live streaming to new media platforms.

Elemental Server - Transcode File-based Video File-based video processing system, providing fast and reliable transcoding for broadcast and multiscreen video applications.

Elemental Stream - Package and Customize Video Designed to fragment, package and secure live and on-demand content for multiscreen delivery.

Camera Top Monitors for Video and DSLR Cameras Marshall Electronics is a leading manufacturer of LCD rack mount and camera-top monitors for broadcast, multimedia, video, film, and news professionals worldwide. www.marshallmonitors.com & www.lcdracks.com

7” PROFESSIONAL MONITORS

8.4” PROFESSIONAL MONITORS

Contact Quinto Communications:

Suite 1A, Level 1 15 Auburn St, Takapuna Auckland 0622

Telephone: Email: www:

(09) 486 1204 sales@quinto.co.nz quinto.co.nz

Ed: So this is a free piece of software from Sound Devices?

Stephen: Yes, the software is free; you have to buy the little add-on box, the CL-WiFi, which gives you the link from one thing to the other.

Ed:

And you buy your own iPad?

Stephen: yes.

And you buy your own iPad,

Ed: Does it have to be an iPad or can you have an android?

Stephen: No, at this stage it has to be an iPad, or you can use an iPhone … I can’t comment, but much of the film industry seems to run on iPhones.

Ed: Ah well, some things you have to do eh?

Stephen: Well let’s face it, Apple has been a major driver in the digital era in terms of postproduction and graphics and so forth. It supposedly suits the creative mind better.

Stephen: Okay – the tweeter itself, the high frequency speaker is a proprietary design and it’s based on a ribbon tweeter …

Ed: Like a ribbon microphone?

Stephen: Yes, like a ribbon microphone. It’s very efficient. The Adam ART tweeter as it’s known, is four times as efficient as a standard dome tweeter in a speaker and what it consists of is a concertinaed piece of diaphragm – and if you imagine like an accordion or a squeezebox, you press the squeezebox and a loud noise comes out far greater, that’s a very similar principle to how it works.

All other tweeters commonly have a little strange peak in their frequency response. These don’t, which makes them very easy to listen to over long periods of time, and also makes them very precise in the high frequency area.

Ed: It’s got to be good for you?

Stephen: I’m sure it is … it is if you’re listening to them for long periods of time, yes.

Ed: Okay, we have to do these things … in the soundie department?

Stephen: You’re asking me about this – what’s this iPad up to? What this iPad is doing is controlling a Sound Devices 788 recorder. Now the 788 recorder, because it’s a compact device, has a very small screen and to adjust parameters on it you’ve got to go into a menu and you’ve got four lines of text to use. But with the iPad, which is linked to the 788 by a WiFi type link, you can see your levels, you can arm your tracks, you’ve got a running timecode place, you can name your tracks because it’s an eight track recorder; you can edit the metadata both for the track you’ve just recorded, the one you’re doing now and the next take using this, which is a lot more easy than scrolling a key on the recorder. And one of the things that’s really impressive is you can route it, because you’ve got eight inputs and they’re actually going to any one of 10 tracks. So there’s a graphic matrix on the screen here …

Ed: That’s really easy to follow.

Stephen:

Ed:

It’s philosophy according to Stephen?

Stephen: Well you can see this is a great example, you’ve got a very simple graphic which, yes, as you say, even a newspaper editor, let alone a sound mixer could probably figure it out – and I didn’t say that.

Delete, delete.

Postscript: As Stephen closed his doors for the final time, he pondered whether his foray into deprecatory humour had led him to have to take up his passion for steaming dumplings as a living – instead of flying high in the pro audio world.

Fade to black to sounds of muffled sobbing.

Post-Postscript: Some time later, after reading a Herald story warning of the “D” grade hygiene status of the restaurant Ed has taken him to, Stephen ponders whether his desire for publicity should have taken precedence over the risk to his health. A glorious death NZVN perhaps?

Yes, it makes it very simple to follow.

Ed: Not that soundies wouldn’t understand something complicated?

Stephen: Well it’s more that you’re doing it in haste and you want to make sure the tracks are going to the right place.

Page 14

Sound Devices with iPad display.

Last but not least is James Waldron from Syntec.

Ed: James, you’ve flown over the ditch after days and days of talking about Syntec product at SMPTE but what interests me firstly is that you’re the only one here with a camera on your stand.

Are you allowed that here?

James: Well that’s here because we figure there’ll be people here who use a camera in their daily lives and would like to see some audio accessories for it.

Ed: So it’s just a prop, it’s not a working model?

James: That’s right.

The camera is just a prop, but it’s here so that we can demonstrate the features of some of the Rycote products that are designed to go with a camera … to make audio life better for people who use a camera every day.

Daniel and James at the Syntec booth.

So a hot shoe extender, a wireless mic receiver adapter, the universal camera kit from Rycote, so you can mount a decent mic on there, put a windscreen and fluffy and everything on there – and keep it out of shot all at the same time, for example.

Ed: That’s it, because there are some video people coming through here, although this is an audio show, but really you are concentrating more on that high end audio product and I see some pretty high end stuff over here.

Page 15

more on page 18

This is printed here as an incentive to go online so you can read all the links.

It is important!

Things are coming to a head with the future of the UHF spectrum to be finalised soon.

Check the following links for recent news ... the submissions received by Radio Spectrum Management are online http:// www.rsm.govt.nz/cms/policy-and-planning/consultation/uhf-radiomicrophones-opportunities-for-future-use/uhf-radiomicrophonesopportunities-for-future-use-submissions significant for how many support radio microphone users except Vodafone. Also a note on what has occurred recently in Australia where lobbying on behalf of users has intensified ahead of the election http:// www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/now-hear-this-radio-frequency-selloff-comes-at-a-high-price-20130730-2qxfb.html Marcel Reinen presented an update on the state of the spectrum to both ETNZ and the Pro Audio Showcase.

WUNZ has an ‘unofficial’ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WirelessUsersNZ?ref=hl Latest DTV roll-out charts available online ( as of December 2013.) These are the updated WUNZ Frequency charts illustrating the progression of DSO. As we understand things, this is our best interpretation of the allocation of Digital Television throughout the country. ( Adobe Acrobat Reader required ... you know where to get it from ...) *handcrafted by Haresh Bhana of the WUNZ Committee. All that we anticipate to happen by the end of December 2013 is for the remaining analogue transmitters to be shut down. Please make sure you read the important notes at the bottom of the chart ... ( also posted here for those of us with normal eyesight!!) The chart shows the licenced UHF Digital Terrestrial Transmitter (DTT) sites and frequencies as at October 2012.

Analogue UHF transmissions are not shown.

The licensee names are provided as a guide only.

Some licence holders may not be currently using some of their frequencies.

As Analogue UHF Transmitters are progressively switched off between now and December 2013, changes to some DTT allocations are expected: The DTT transmitters above TV42 are expected to be rechanneled to spectrum between TV27 and TV41.

Additional DTT network licence sets may be created. Timing and frequency allocation of these is uncertain.

The current General User Licences (GUL) allow the usage of radio microphones in the following frequency bands: 518-582 MHz ( Licence currently expires in March 2020 and is expected to be renewed.)

614-686 MHz ( Licence currently expires in March 2020 and is expected to be renewed.)

686-806 MHz ( Licence expires in March 2015 and is not expected to be renewed. This spectrum is earmarked for sale via auction in 2013 or 2014.)

Note: There is no GUL for the usage of radio mics in the 582-614 MHz band.

This information is compiled from publicly available sources. It is provided as a guide only. Wireless Users NZ accepts no responsibility for its accuracy or decisions made as a result. Contact your radio microphone supplier for further information.

Where a region has 2 or more transmitter sites, consider your proximity to all transmitters within that region. Likewise, if you are on the border of a region, transmitters from an adjacent region should be factored into your selection of radio mic frequencies.

October 2012 Our submission on the Radio Spectrum Management Five Year Outlook 2012-2016 and the other 41 submissions is online. Among the suggestions WUNZ made was for a single point of contact within Radio Spectrum Management for radio microphone related enquiries and a more user-friendly interface to access the SMART database so users could see what DTT was operating in a given location. See our News page for previous updates ...

Are you involved or interested in any of the following? Outside Broadcast : Sporting Events : Electronic News Gathering : Film & TV Production : Conference & Exhibition Production : Theatre Production : Concert Production : Product Demonstration : Education : Religious Organisations.

If the answer is 'yes' then there's a good chance that radio microphones are in use at some point in the process ... and very soon those radio mics MAY BE UNUSEABLE if we don't ACT NOW! In a nutshell, the NZ Government is seeking to reallocate the radio spectrum to accommodate Digital Terrestrial Television. As part of this process, some parts of the spectrum are being freed up as the old analogue transmitters are switched off. This may sound good for radio mic users like us, but sadly there's worse to come. Digital TV broadcasting leaves less 'gaps' for us to use our radio mics the way we've used them in the past. So we'll have less spectrum within our current stomping-ground. Then, as if that's not bad enough, the big telecommunication companies want to buy all that freed up old ‘analogue’ space for mobile devices ...

What could happen? In Auckland alone there are going to be 22 licences for Digital Terrestrial Television – each one needs a 8 MHz block of bandwidth (176 MHz total.) Vodafone and Telecom want another 150 MHz of bandwidth for the next breed of Raspberries etc. That will leave us with ... CABLED MICS!!

What can we do? WUNZ firmly believes that the NZ Government doesn't grasp the scale of the disruption this will cause to New Zealand life. We must act together, representing all those affected, to ensure that those who make the decisions about the future of New Zealand's airwaves are aware of our contribution to the community.

What are we doing about it? WUNZ are in regular contact with the Ministry Of Economic Development (the Government Department responsible for the radio spectrum re-shuffle) and have made some progress. We have submitted our concerns in accordance with the consultation process. Our aim is to secure sufficient space within the spectrum for ongoing, reliable use of radio microphones.

What can YOU do to help? Register your support for WUNZ today online and add your voice to the battle. We urgently need to make Government aware that their current plans will effectively bring reliable radio mic usage to an end within five years.

With sincere thanks ( and apologies ) to BEIRG – our UK counterparts in the fight for the future of radio mic use. Please consider it the highest form of flattery!

Page 16

James: There is all sorts of audio product here.

We’ve got our wireless mic corner here and of course it’s a topic of conversation. We’re showing off the latest version of Sennheiser’s Wireless Systems Manager software. It lets you control and monitor your wireless mic systems and also set up your frequency allocation, so it will do frequency calculations for you, to make sure you’ve got a good clear set of frequencies that don’t generate intermodulation products.

Ed: Now this is quite a big piece of kit. nothing smaller for the one man band?

Is there

James: Well there’s a lot of kit there – there’s a whole range of different systems there. So you’ve got the Evolution 300 Series, the 2000 Series and the 3000/5000 Series … there’s three different ranges of gear here.

Ed: Okay, in that higher end, you have specific pieces of hardware which search the frequencies to find the ones that are free so you can put lots of different radio mics in there …

James: All the Sennheiser wireless mics do that.

Ed: But they do that individually?

James: Yes, correct.

Any of the Sennheiser wireless mic receivers will do a frequency scan and choose a frequency to operate in.

Ed: Right, okay … but then in the large systems, like where you have a concert with say 40 mics, you don’t want to do them individually, you want to …

James: In that case, the Wireless System Manager (WSM) software will do a scan, it will look at what other RF activity is happening in the band that you want to

operate in and it will then calculate the frequencies that are best for you to use. And that Wireless System Manager (WSM) software works on all the Sennheiser wireless systems from the Evolution 300 Series upwards.

Ed: So what do you need for that to run – you obviously need the software on a laptop, but what else do you have to have connected to it?

James: Just an Ethernet connection to your receivers, that’s it.

Ed: So you only need one receiver and you will find the frequencies from that receiver?

James: The receiver must represent the frequency band that you want to work in, and away you go. It’s very, very easy. So yes, it’s a laptop, the software is free to download from Sennheiser, from their website, and then you just need a network connection over Ethernet. We’ve got seven channels set up here, so I’ve got a little Ethernet switch. I think it was about $40 at Jaycar, and we’re underway. We’ve got control and management of all those wireless systems.

Ed: So you’re going to find the frequency from the receiver anyway, but having the software enables you to do a whole lot more?

James: That’s right, it’s an invaluable tool for anybody who’s doing multichannel wireless. It’s worth its weight in gold.

Ed: But if you’re doing single channel, you’re just a one man operator, it’s not necessary?

James: Not really, because the receiver you’ve got will do a sweep. If it’s a Sennheiser it will sweep and

Page 18

find a clear frequency and off you go. For Australia, you can do a check for clear frequencies on the Syntec site www.frequencyfinder.com.au You put in your address and it will tell you what frequencies are free in that area.

It will give you a list of the local TV transmitters, you select the ones that concern you, which would be Sydney, Manly up there … and it says up the top “recommended frequencies for wireless.” So I click on there, and the ones with the green ticks are where you can go, free of television.

Ed: Fantastic. When’s this going to be available for New Zealand?

James: Well we thought about doing it for New Zealand, but the situation in New Zealand really is pretty simple. As far as we can tell, if you run between 622 and 698 MHz, you should be pretty good anywhere in New Zealand.

Ed: That’s good to know.

James: The other aspect of it was that the database from the Ministry is enormous and complex, so it’s very difficult to do this from the information available from them.

Ed: Yes … we’ve had this conversation.

James: The big picture is, effectively from 622 ( which is the top end of the new allocation for Maori Television ) up to 698 ( which is the top end of the new broadcasting band basically ) largely it’s empty of television stations and it’s allocated for wireless mic use. So if you’re in there, you’ll find free channels to use without any problem. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Sky TV taking up their potential allocations, but I don’t know that that’s really going to present wireless mic operators with a big problem across New Zealand.

Ed: Let’s hope.

James: Yes. Something brand new for Syntec in New Zealand is that we’re now the official agents for RTW Metering in New Zealand.

Ed: Ooooh that was recent, because we were talking to you at SMPTE and it wasn’t the case a week ago?

James: Correct, so that’s changed at SMPTE. We had the representative from RTW come and visit and he gave us the good news last week. So we have on the stand the RTW TM-3.

Ed:

And this is the loudness meter?

James: It’s a loudness meter, fully user configurable, so you can decide what you want to see on the screen and it will give you the loudness number that you need to make sure your programmes meet the relevant standards.

And it’s easy.

Ed: It’s easy, it’s there, you can see it …

James: It takes all your different signals; it will take analogue audio; it

will take SPDIF; it will take AES; it will take 3G SDI – so any of the SDI formats as well. If you’re working in televisionland, bingo, you can feed your signal straight through it and it will pick your audio out and away you go.

Ed: It sounds like a pretty good addition to the Syntec range?

James: It’s a lovely addition to our range over here – together with Junger we’ve got loudness pretty well covered.

Ed: One place to shop?

James: Well I mean it’s a great place to shop.

Ed: And you’re also very supportive of your dealers here aren’t you? I mean Dan’s here to support the dealers, and that’s what he does?

James: Absolutely. We don’t have the resources to be able to sell to every end user; it’s not a workable model for us …

Ed: There’s no Syntec shop?

James: There’s no Syntec shop … we’re not interested in doing that. We’re interested in selling our products through our dealer network, and supporting those dealers with training and resources.

Ed: Well that’s good, and now there’s more in the range?

James: Yes – and it’s quality. RTW is a brand that reflects Syntec’s values as well, which is premium quality products.

Check out the Syntec range at relevant dealers across New Zealand. Contact account manager Daniel Rowe for further information – danielrowe@syntec.co.nz NZVN

Page 20

Why buy ... when you can Rent?

We are here at Nutshell Camera Rentals, at 400B Great North Road, Grey Lynn, with Paul Richards.

Ed: Paul, you’ve added the Canon C300 cameras to your line-up?

Paul: Yes – the Canon C300 suits today’s market.

Ed: So, what else have you got to offer in your range of cameras?

Paul: Besides the 2/3rds inch ENG cameras … in the 35mm range we have a multitude of lenses, monitors, matte boxes, follow focuses, etc. We have F3’s and offboard recorders etc. Plus – we have arrangements for RED EPIC’s and ALEXA cameras … from colleagues.

Ed: So – are you finding that people are buying their own camera body, then coming to you for the extra bits to complete a camera package?

Paul: Yes, for example – earlier this year, Nutshell furnished four cameras for the Gaylene Preston Drama – Hope & Wire, which was shot in Christchurch.

Nutshell provided just the one camera, but all the tripods, monitors, matte boxes, follow focuses and heaps of accessories for a 4 x camera, 10 week Drama shoot. Tom Burstyn ( DoP ) owned the other F3 and an Epic, and there was another Scarlet.

Ed: So, are all these accessories dedicated to large sensor cameras or are they interchangeable with conventional ENG video cameras as well?

Paul: Yes, they are interchangeable. But the number of adapters that are required to equip some cameras is daunting. Proprietary products are not always designed to fit every person comfortably and with regard to the C300 … it is a struggle to get the thing to work “out of the box”. I‘ve spent a heap of time and money on imported adapters and accessories simply to get the camera operational.

Ed: So why not use a conventional ENG 2/3rds inch shoulder mount camera? I guess that’s the choice of the operator isn’t it?

Paul: Well often it’s driven by the Producers’ desire to shoot on large sensor cameras, the likes of the C300 … plus it’s a budgetary decision for a lot of people.

Ed:

How does the budget relate to the large sensor?

Paul: Compared to other 35mm sensor cameras, the Canon C300 is great value. The Canon stills lenses are so much cheaper than conventional 35mm cinema lenses – typically $60-100/day when rented from Nutshell. And a full kit is typically cheaper than an ENG kit. Another example … The Block has just been shot on C300’s. It was a great puzzle to many people why

this choice was made. For a reality show, where a traditional 2/3rds inch shoulder mounted camera with a Fujinon 23 x zoom is ideally suited ... why would anyone adopt C300 cameras with the restrictions of Canon 2.5 – 3 x zooms? I guess that was someone wanting a large sensor look and something about the budget?

Ed: But Paul, when wanting to shoot a fast paced production, intelligent Producers would know the difference between the capabilities of a traditional ENG camera and a large sensor camera.

And the cameraman should have the right to choose the best camera for the job – a good DoP should insist on that surely?

Paul: Producers are trying to find a way to get the “look” they want, with the money they have.

Sometimes, DoP’s have no choice.

Ed:

Page 22

Is all of this helping the rental industry?

Paul: Yes … in a way. Because the gear looks cheap to buy, Production companies have bought equipment.

They may get to shoot a series on their new gear and then, I guess, their camera is sitting around for a considerable period, doing nothing … gathering dust … and they look at it and they go “My God … that was a mistake, I won’t do that again. Next time … I will go and rent it. I’ll either look for owner / operators who have that gear I want, or I’ll go to a rental facility and I’ll do a deal, a block booking for all of the gear that I need for my next series” which I think is an intelligent decision.

Owner / operators might have traditionally owned a DigiBeta-Cam, an XDCAM, a 700 camera or an EX3 and 90% of their clients were happy with it. That is certainly not the case nowadays.

Owner / operators are significantly threatened by a plethora of formats, because one man cannot own all camera formats.

The return is not always there for an individual. They are better off coming to a rental company.

Rental companies take the risk of purchasing new cameras in a rapidly changing environment and remove

Down a bit of a driveway and here it is.

the risk of redundancy. They can provide a range of camera formats, to suit your shoot. This is better for Producers and for Crew.

Ed: So, come and see Paul and talk to him about your next project. He’ll show you what he’s got. Or visit:www.nutshellrentals.tv NZVN

Page 23

ANNUAL NEW

SPRING RELEASE

Additions to the CLEARANCE Teradek Family DEMO AND OVERSTOCKED ITEMS

TALK TO THE EXPERTS

Don’t miss DVT’s soon to be famous once-a-year clearance sale. Pick up some real bargains at www.dvt.co.nz

BARGAINS:

SONY PMW-200 XDCAM HD CAMERA SONY PVM2541 25” OLED PROFESSIONAL MONITOR GENUS MATTE BOX ULTIMATE KIT HP MSL2024 SAS TAPE LIBRARY APPLE IMAC 27” QUAD CORE I7 - 3TB FUSION DRIVE Plus heaps of other production gear, hardware and software.

HEAPS MORE ONLINE

LIKE DVTNZ to stay up-to date with the latest promotions and industry news.

www.dvt.co.nz

Digital Video Technologies (NZ) Ltd

PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

|

Phone: 09 525 0788

|

Email: sales@dvt.co.nz

|

45 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland

Avid Interplay at TVNZ Following up on a tip from Richard Kelly at Atomise, I visited TVNZ to find out about a recent technology upgrade. It was one against four ( acceptable odds for me ) as I was met by Ian Moir, Mark Chapman, Howard Tennant ( he looks like the Dr Who Tennant – might be related?) and Andy Jenkins. They were all present to tell me about Blacksand.

Ed: Now when I heard “Blacksand”, I immediately thought of Tintin and then I thought “oh no, it could be some secret TVNZ ops in the Gulf”, but the truth is probably less spectacular Ian? Ian: Blacksand is a relatively newly formed internal facing but external facing as well, department within production …

Ed:

Are you in Marketing?

Ian: Yes, something like that …

Ed: Okay, now this is something that I remember a couple of years back coming Ian in here and our dear friend Paul Hedges took me through and he showed me the postproduction facility etc and that you were going down this track of having a separate entity to do the postproduction, but this sounds a little bit bigger, that you’ve actually brought a few more talents in, shall we say, or you’ve increased the scope of the group?

Ian: Yes, Blacksand has brought together all the creative and production talent in TVNZ, from graphic design, post production to making commercials. We work with both our internal clients here at TVNZ producing great campaigns such as Seven Sharp, as well as our Sales team to produce content such as Mitre 10 Easy As or Telecom Tech in a Sec. Ed: Thumbs up all round boys. Are you going to be competing against production companies in New Zealand?

Ian: No, but if we can provide resources for any production we’d love them to come to Blacksand.

Ed: We’ll now move onto the main topic of my visit which is actually the technological infrastructure that goes with this – heavily based around Avid I believe?

Andy: I guess a part of consolidating the talent pool into Blacksand was the change in the infrastructure. Prior to the installation of Avid Interplay, we were working on some very old and archaic equipment, like dating back to 2004, and we relied heavily on tape based workflows.

So the implementation of an Avid Interplay system allowed us to get quite funky with our interaction with other parts of the business, ie Ardome and the transmission server, and we were able to bring those departments together – graphics, media solutions ( which is the commercial team ), the promos team and also on Post Four we were into one centralised kind of storage idea. Really, some of the innovation around that has been to do with redeveloping some of the workflows and stuff, and the way we’ve been able to push content in and out of the building and straight out to transmission. It’s a pretty exciting piece of kit to be working on.

Ed: But Andy, Interplay’s been around for quite some time though.

Has it really been sitting there and everyone’s been going “we wish we had that, we wish we had that” … finally there is a vehicle to put Interplay into play?

Moir doing his Attenborough impersonation.

Andy: Yes I think so. I mean it has been around a long time.

Howard: Isis 7000 is the storage solution and, connected up to that, we have 44 Media Composers.

Ed: What I said about Interplay being around for a while, I’ve noticed at the last few trade shows that it now seems to be at a point where people are really sitting up and taking notice. Beforehand, it was a way of controlling the whole system, but now with what they’ve added globally, it seems to be a really smart system?

Andy: Yes, I think we’ve got the best out of it.

Really, when we looked at installing it, we sort of pulled it apart in terms of the way it could work in terms of workflow. I think we challenged a lot of Avid’s ideas that they were offering.

Ed:

I’m very supportive of that.

Andy: Well Avid likes to contain it and make it into one beast by itself – but then we wanted to hang a whole lot of the stuff off it didn’t we. I think we’ve made an amazing success in terms of how we integrated it with Ardome and stuff like that. We’ve saved so much time in ingest. We’re now working at high res; we’re not working offline on the workflows.

Those kinds of things have disappeared for us, so in terms of what it’s done for streamlining our operations, it’s been quite remarkable. That can only have come about from a team effort and the way we designed the Interplay system to integrate with other systems in our building.

Ed: And I have to say that you can buy something out of the box, a system like that, but it takes some clever people to actually make it really work in an existing environment?

Andy:

I think so too.

Ed: That’s alright, take a bow. Does it enable you to work with other systems that might not be Avid – are there any other sorts of links that you’ve been able to join it up to?

Andy: Look, it’s the standard Media Composer thing in terms of how it works with other file based things like ProRes and those kinds of files. We have to utilise it the same way, but I think we’ve got a lot more control over how we manage the media. I think that

Page 25

Andy: And so Ardome can tell Interplay to create Avid sequences based upon metadata that’s come directly from IBMS. So that flow through has gone from marketing to commissioning to Ardome ready for its media to arrive, straight into Interplay and then a promo producer can pick up those items, which are Avid assets, and incorporate all that stuff and bring it all together and push it back the other way as well. So a finished piece of content can bounce from Interplay back into Ardome against the P number.

Howard: systems.

It’s an exchange of metadata between

Ed: So you’ve got people in the building who have never touched a timeline, but they can still feed data into the system so other people who know what they’re doing can do it?

Andy: timeline.

Ed:

Without realising it, they’ve created the FT

Wow. Do you tell them that?

Andy: We actually regularly do that because you’ve got to keep people more integrated with how the whole thing works.

Ed:

But do they care?

Andy: Yes … some of them really care.

The introduction of Avid Isis and Interplay and the way we’ve integrated it has changed the technical landscape of how we operate and how a business functions.

We’ve saved hours of real time tape ingest and for me that means no more pushing a bloody trolley round the place. That’s what it’s meant for me … that was my vision.

Howard Tennant (kneeling) and Andy Jenkins in the Isis server area.

Ed:

really the crux of it, is that our system and Interplay flow, as big as we have it. The deliverables now are so extensive, that managing the media and managing the way that it tracks through the system is actually really vital. So to try and do that on a standalone system or even on a network system without that kind of layer of media management that Interplay gives you, would be a lot more challenging. Now we’ve got a lot more dynamic tools really to be able to track and manage the media and see what people are doing, see where it’s going and stuff like that, which is actually crucial when you talk about how expensive the storage space is.

Ed:

What’s the Interplay workflow?

Is that how you started – trolley pushing?

Andy: Yes exactly … and tea and coffee – how do you have your tea? Give me a good name and I’ll put a shot of whiskey in it.

Ed: ( feigning moral shock ) I’m not that sort of journalist Andy. Was there any alternative apart from Interplay. I mean there are other companies who make other things and I guess you must have looked at those, but they didn’t stack up?

Ian: We went through an RFP process. We went out to the business, gathered the requirements from across the business and pulled those together; sent those out to a number of edit platform providers and had 4 or 5 presentations here from the vendors, where we ran through how they met those specifications and criteria.

Andy: Okay, let’s talk about it in terms of one promo.

It has to be commissioned, so somebody, somewhere on an IBMS (scheduling system) machine has to go “I want to see a tonight version of Desperate Housewives”. So that has to be commissioned. It gets entered in and the particular item number, a “P” number gets attached to that particular item before it’s even made.

And so what we’ve been able to do is trigger IBMS to tell Ardome to create placeholders …

Ed:

What is Ardome?

Mark: It’s our media asset management system.

Everyone’s connected.

Page 26

Editing Solutions Experts The experts providing end–to–end editorial solutions to New Zealand’s film & television industry.

Authorised Elite Reseller for the complete Avid Video, Interplay & Storage ranges.

Official New Zealand Distributor for Avid Media Composer, Avid ISIS 5000 & JMR Storage

Avid Media Composer 7.0 now available!

New features include: • Spend more time on your story, as the software tackles media tasks in the background • Add advanced colour correction tools to MC with the new Symphony option • Accelerate HD delivery from high-res sources (2k and 4k) • Create master-quality archives with JPEG 2000 • Avid Open I/O brings support for more I/O hardware • Automatically relink to all AMA QuickTime files • Avid DNx444 • Create 5.1 and 7.1 mixes • Access, screen, and edit AVCHD and RED EPIC clips

through AMA • Export AMA media • Full native ProRes support on Macs

Avid Media Composer 7.0 from $1,279 + GST* Upgrades available. Academic pricing available for all Avid products!

Contact us for new, low cost bundles of Media Composer, Interplay PAM and ISIS Storage. *Price subject to change without notice.

www.atomise.co.nz | atomise@atomise.co.nz

|

04 380 5010

Atomise Limited is proud to supply and support the Post Solutions for leading NZ facilities including: The Hobbit – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 7000 | Apace VSTOR Octopa Natural History NZ – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 5000

So we went through a full selection criteria and process associated with that.

Mark: It was a big piece of work, but at the end of it, it did two things I think … it actually got the business thinking about what the requirements were and how we might use it in the future, and enabled us to make a pretty good decision on the selection.

Ed: Can other departments within TVNZ tap into this – such as News?

Ian: Not currently. Well I suppose they could …

Andy: They could, but they’ve got their own system.

Mark: News have their own standalone Quantal system which is up for replacement, so we’re about to kick off a piece of work to actually once again gather those requirements, review those requirements and look at what products best fit those requirements in the business.

Ed: But it is true that Interplay is infinitely expandable, as opposed to, at some point, getting a second one?

Ian: We can keep growing this considerably at the moment. Absolutely we can, yes.

content arriving as a file, we process it … fully managed environment, that’s the phrase we’re looking for. We’re actually tapping into some of that infrastructure when we’re making promos, so the content comes in as a file, it goes into Ardome, it gets managed, it gets stored to our archive … but if we want to make a promo of that, we can pull that from the archive, we can do a shot list within that environment, we can push that to the Interplay environment. It’s all got that, you know, this is the Desperate Housewives episode 5, so they know what they’re making because it’s episode specific for that promo, and they can use those … take that sort of shot list or EDL, but they can also look at that archive content as a browse, they can do a shot selection on that content within the Ardome environment. That content – the high res – gets pushed across to Interplay, then an Interplay operator can work on that and create that whole promo, send it back to Ardome into that placeholder and that piece of content can be scheduled and go to air. So as a file based workflow it’s all managed that those placeholders are created and so it’s actually quite a slick workflow for the business.

Ed: But it’s also applicable to a smaller organisation … I mean, you don’t have to be as big as TVNZ to get the value out of an Interplay system?

Ian: It works really well for us, because we generate a lot of promos every week, so that sort of workflow tool offers us a lot of opportunities where, if you were making a one-off music video or TVC, then I don’t think you’d get the benefit from that whole workflow. But I think if you were making a series of TV shows, then it would once again provide a lot of benefit.

Ed: Is it also beneficial for archive purposes?

Ian: We’re currently not using it for archive at the moment.

Ed: But surely with all that metadata attached to it, it’s going to be more easily searchable?

Ian: Yes, so we are looking at another piece of work across the organisation, about having a kind of a centralised storage area, but that’s a big project and we’re really just kicking that off now.

Ed: But once the material’s in there, now that the material is searchable with Interplay, it’s got the metadata attached, at some stage you can tap into that, but not necessarily right now?

Howard: Lots of material for the promos is already logged for the transmission environment.

That is actually archived so it is retrievable based on metadata.

Ian: So if we just take a step back and give you a rundown of how the transmission side of things works.

Have you seen the transmission playout and stuff downstairs?

Ed:

Not that I can recognise it, no.

Ian: Okay, so we have a very workflow orientated media asset management system within the playout environment which went live at the end of 2010. So it’s a file based transmission environment. We’re actually starting to receive 50% of our content as files from overseas as well and we’re looking to grow that in the next year. So it’s a whole file based workflow, based on

Where ingest can occur.

Ed:

And what’s the redundancy?

Andy: Within the transmission environment, there is sort of an “A and B chain” throughout, so that’s a fairly robust design associated with that.

Ed: Now what about Interplay – one of the recent additions to it as I’ve mentioned before, was the global access to a lot of this material. Is this something that was a big decision for you guys, or was this really “well, we need this internally, we’re in this building, it’s going to be really valuable for us here”, but was there the thought also that regional facilities or even overseas facilities could connect to you through this?

Ian: It wasn’t a huge part of the RFP, but it’s one of the many advantages we could get if we were to move forward and expand our whole Interplay environment, but that’s another project.

Ed: Now you gentlemen ( and I’m sure many others ) are very clever, and know all about these things, but at some stage, you might need support from Avid. What do you do then?

Andy: We have a couple of guys who are Avid certified on site, which run a 60 hour support window,

Page 28

but of course we have Atomise as our Avid supplier support profile – I guess that’s what Richard is.

Ed: Is he one of preferred suppliers?

your

Andy: Oh yes, he is indeed – our Avid preferred supplier.

Richard provides us weekly status reports on the system and visits us on a monthly basis to review those reports, talk to us specifically about new Avid innovations that may be available for us and also is our third level support, although we do log in and log our faults with Avid, but we’ve got Richard as our right hand man for support escalation.

Ed: Okay, so with all the time you’ve saved by putting in this Isis system and the Interplay, how are you making use of all that extra time?

Do you put more effort into the actual production values?

Mark Chapman and Ian Moir at an edit desk.

Andy: Well, we’re actually handling our ingest a lot better …

Ed:

Not losing things in other words?

Andy: No, no – we’ve been able to handle all the bigger camera format stuff, the volume through as well, so that’s been really advantageous. All of my time at the moment goes into supporting people on shoots and bringing in the rushes and actually being able to handle new file types … like we had the Phantom Flex shoot the other day, which is one of those high speed cameras.

Before Interplay, you just didn’t have time to be able to support them the way we can now, so that’s one of the advantages definitely.

Andy: I guess it gives us the ability to authorise content. One of the dynamic things about the media management on Interplay is that you can establish permission to different areas of the database.

Ed:

Ed: So really it’s going to just free you up to do more things that you would have liked to have done before?

Andy: Your abilities go in different ways. Now we’re focusing more on tracking that stuff, you know tracking the content and I’m actually managing the media. It takes a lot longer to actually manage the media now than it did before. The productivity of the department has actually increased.

Ed: And in summary, a man who has been sitting quietly in the corner, mostly listening to these guys rabbit on – Mr Chapman?

Mark: One of the advantages that we have with going with this system is that previously, there was a lot of time and effort wasted trying to get content into the old version of Media Composer and into the Unity in order to make programming, but with going to this new system we’re now able to take in content more in its raw format, with multiple formats on the timeline a lot easier than we were able to before. It wasn’t unheard of for us to probably spend all night trying to get RED camera footage into the Post Four environment in order for it to be worked on, and then this system was aging, it wasn’t so reliable, so we had problems with that.

This has now allowed us to increase the productivity in Post Four, so they’re now editing rather than prepping content. They’re actually doing what they’re supposed to be doing – that’s edit suite editing.

Page 30

That’s got to be good.

NZVN

Finally. Editing Meets Effects.

Autodesk Smoke 2013 New Seat Promotion

20% OFF

Now from just $5,995+GST for standalone license including subscription and advanced support.

Act now as this promotion ends October 25th 2013.

This promotion is now available from DVT. Download our free product guide at www.dvt.co.nz Like dvtnz to stay up-to-date with the latest promotions and industry news.

PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

www.dvt.co.nz

Digital Video Technologies (NZ) Ltd

|

Phone: 09 525 0788

|

Email: sales@dvt.co.nz

|

45 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland