NZ Video News March 2012 by Grant Cummuskey

MARCH 2012

Vol 178

It’s a Fishy Business We are at Fishy Business Limited with Adam Clancey because Adam came to my attention when I was in Next Technology with Olivier. Adam turned up with a disc drive for Olivier to do something with. We’ll get to that later, but for now ... Ed: Adam, I was very intrigued by one of your shows I saw on Prime the other night, Fishing New Zealand. I’m interested because there are lots of shows out there, but you’re obviously making money out of this; you’re obviously enjoying what you do and it’s a great show. How do you do it? Adam: Well, making money and enjoyment ... hmmm … let’s say we eke out a living from making a few different shows. Enjoyment definitely, when you get out fishing it’s fantastic. You know, people live to fish in New Zealand; it’s one of the things that they do. I’m probably in a unique position because I understand fishing, I understand a lot of the areas where I work and I’m in a position to turn that into a television show and give it back to the people to hopefully enjoy and share some of my experiences. Ed: I can see that and I can see that you know how to fish. You also know how to present to camera; you’re telling people what’s going on, “live” on the boat. I see with all the long shots that it’s a quick turnaround production. You’ve got the business in mind, you’re getting sponsors on board, you’re writing your own scripts, you’re putting the whole thing together … so you’re doing a lot of things, you’re showing a lot of different skills all in one package. Is that what makes it successful and that you can earn money out of it? Adam: Well the money side of it comes with time; you’ve got to work hard and I’ve been grinding away for years. There’s a saying that it takes 10 years to become an overnight sensation, and I always adopt that. I always work hard for everybody who is involved with me, whether they’re a sponsor, or just people who are helping out or whatever. But the philosophy of the show is to make it as natural as possible. So although it’s shot relatively quickly, because you can’t tell the fish when to

Adam’s never far from a fish.

bite, you’ve got to be there and get the action; and that’s what we’re trying to do, to make it as natural as possible, so people actually feel like they’re out fishing with us, rather than staging it and lots of whoops and hollers and acting for the camera. What I’m doing is trying to present it, let people know what’s going on, tell them why I’m doing things and also see the enjoyment that I and my fellow anglers get when something goes right or goes wrong. You know, the drama that happens. Ed: But if you had some specialist person, some known entity as a presenter; if you had contract cameramen, you had a sound recordist, you had lighting people, you’d never make a buck? Adam: Well no, not unless it got picked up, syndicated internationally … there are shows where that’s happened, but they lose their feel. You see some really good shows produced on Nat Geo and Discovery and channels like that, about the subjects that I handle, about fishing and adventure, but I can tell you the script for it before it even starts. They’re all staged and they make a lot of continuity errors and it doesn’t have that real feel, because you know what the presenter is going to say;

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“this fish could be a man-eater” … and some of the guys who really know fishing, know that these fish aren’t man-eaters and the guy’s being a bit of a wally. Ed: Apart from programme?

fishing,

you

also

cooking

Adam: Yes, I produce and direct a cooking show called New Zealand Food Culture with Pio Terei as the main host. That’s another take on a subject that I love which is food and cooking. I tend to work in the New Zealand environment predominantly, so what we’re doing is a snapshot of what New Zealanders or Kiwis are eating, how they’re cooking it, where they’re getting it from. It interests me and subsequently I think it interests other people, which has proved to be the case because of the response we’ve had to the show. Prime have secured another season off me, so they think it’s worthwhile and I’ve had emails and the feedback that I’ve had from the viewers has been really, really good. Ed: I guess by now that the people out there reading this are thinking “oh, we could do this too” – but it’s not something, as you say, that’s happened overnight. You’ve worked hard at this, and I guess your background with book writing and in the publishing business, was one of the first steps in that? Adam: I’ve got a very distinct skillset. I understand the subject areas that I’m working in; I understand the production procedures; I also understand business, because I’ve got a business background as well. So when I really embarked on doing this, we wrote a 5 year and a 10 year business plan. I was looking ahead when we started this business, where we wanted to go, so that I wasn’t struggling after two years for new ideas, for new profit streams. Part of my marketing is to keep the business small. I could have grown it into a much bigger business – there’s lots of opportunities there – but I’ve stuck to my business plan, which is to run a small business from home that makes a few dollars. We’re not getting rich, but we’re paying our bills, which is what everyone wants to do these days, and we’re having fun doing it. And it involves my family, so there’s a lot of pluses. I also enjoy the whole process of taking it from concept to conclusion and I do that with everything. Concept to conclusion is where it’s at. So if I make a mistake, it’s my mistake for me to fix. Some of the challenges that you have when you’re doing shows which are “run and gun” shows … you’ve got to film them, there’s no second takes, you can’t tell a fish to jump on the line a second time. Cooking a recipe a second time, if you’re on a big budget production you can do that, or you’ve got another camera take; you get a bang on the mic, you’ve got to deal with that bang on the mic; you’ve got someone saying something silly in the background, you’ve got to deal with that yourself. You learn tricks and you learn from people who help you in the business and in the industry to deal with those situations. When you get the opportunity to do a nice staged setup shoot, you do it and you get impeccable results, because you’re used to working fast and hard, but also looking for quality every time you can.

Ed: So you’d opportunities?

make

the

most

those

special

Adam: Definitely. You know, I was in Fiordland doing a shot and there was a South Island Robin running around down there and I spent about three hours in this little hide that I made, attracting this South Island Robin, I’d actually setup a bait station for it to fly to and I’d pre-focused the camera, setup the lighting, so that when this bird came down I got 30 seconds of magic. Ed: That’s dedication. Now that leads me onto the workflow, so you’ve got the idea for your stories, you’ve got the script and you need to put this into action, so you’ve got to have the workflow right, otherwise 1) you’re not going to get the pictures, the sound, the story that you want; and 2) you’re not going to go to budget. Obviously, you needed a suitable camera – what did you choose and why? Adam: When I set up to become a director, producer and editor, my whole workflow was the consideration. This was at the time when the P2 technology was coming out from Panasonic. I looked at it and, understanding the digital process, I thought that that could really work for me, because I didn’t want any tape-based format, because that would involve buying decks – and decks at that stage were very expensive. Also, it was at the time when HD was just coming on and I wanted to produce HD, I wanted to be futureproofed and that’s how I set up. I ended up going with the Panasonic cameras to start with and they’ve served me really well – they’ve proved to be bulletproof, but also the workflow is quite simple, because you can ingest directly off your camera using FireWire and you’re not wearing anything out like you were with a tape-based workflow with the digital MiniDV cams. I saw that, instantly, I could cut out a step in the process, because I could go straight from the camera into my computer for editing and it was a pretty quick process. So I understood that; and also it made handling the files so much easier and the nondestructive editing systems that we’re using, you can’t make mistakes because you can go back and do it again. That was a gimme for me. Because this was all new technology, some of it was new to the guys who

Boat, check. Camera, check. Now find fish. more on page 6

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were selling it too, so they had to work out a few things. Some of the things I’ve worked out, and they discovered that my workflow is very good and it’s so simple. So if I want I can edit in the field with a laptop, I can easily store stuff on a hard drive, I can make archives, nothing is hard. A big plus with the cameras is that you can prerecord on them so that when you’re waiting for a fish to bite you only have to push “play” after it bites. That was a big plus for me, because I could stand there for hours waiting for a bite and I wasn’t running tape. Ed: You obviously haven’t got the same camera running P2 now as when you started. What’s been your progression? Adam: Well I have and I bought another one exactly the same, so I’ve had three Panasonic cameras. The first HVX200 I had is actually still fully operational. It’s definitely done some work; it’s done a lot of hours and it’s showing some signs of wear due to the saltwater environment and the conditions that I work in, but it’s still shooting crisp, clean pictures and functioning properly. I also bought an HPX300 which is a shoulder mount version of the P2. I used that for a while, but I found it was actually a bit big for running round in boats and that. I’ll probably go to another camera shortly, but it will be a digital, probably handheld style camera with decent lenses. Good glass is important to me too, because I understand still photography – good glass, good sensors and the data capture rate’s very important. A lot of people see these HD cameras that are capturing at a slow data rate you

know … yes, they’re capturing HD, but the data rate makes a big difference when it transfers onto TV, the actual quality of your picture. Ed: You’re not tempted to go for a large sensor format of any sort are you? Adam: Yes – there’s all sorts of things going on, but like I say, I’d rather have a small sensor that does a large data rate, because you’re capturing more information and that translates to a cleaner picture on TV. There’s some big cameras that are running big chips, but the data rate isn’t as good as some of the smaller ones. Ed: What I was getting at was the current fashion for the “out of focus” look in the background. Adam: You can do that with these cameras anyway if you set them up properly. I do shallow depth of field work all the time and there’s ways to do that. If you set your camera up properly and you’ve got the range to do it for your shot, you know, adjustable focus is an easy thing. But I’d rather have crisp, clean, sharp images. Soft out of focus backgrounds are good when you’re trying to do stylised work, but when you’re doing reality most of the time, you’re shooting zoomed back in because you want to have everything in focus. Ed: Okay, so you’re going straight off your P2 card into your computer and it’s a Mac. What timeline do you use – what’s your resolution on your timeline? Adam: I’m using ProRes HQ currently, because it’s a good editing codec. It’s very stable, it keeps the file size fairly small; you can import variable formats –

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occasionally we have some HDV footage or even DV footage, you can just bring that in and it converts it, so you’re working everything all on the same timeline. When you output it, you output it as a ProRes file. I take that, a digital file, to Next Technology who then translate it from an HD ( because I work HD all the way through ) and then it just goes SD onto the tape, which is converted mechanically rather than me trying to convert it using a digital system. So a mechanical converter is better and that’s the sort of stuff that Next Technology … you know he’s a godsend for me, because he’s so good at working with files. He also gives me good feedback on shows as far as quality, pictures, colour grading – all that sort of stuff, so I use him as a sounding board as well. I go in to see Olivier pretty regularly, I drop him in a bit of fish and he definitely looks after me.

quality control measure too, because he looks at everything, he quality controls it before it goes to broadcast, so I know that when the broadcaster gets it, they’re getting a quality product. Ed: Right, so you’re running Final Cut – this is now history. What are you going to do from now on? Adam: I’m about to embark on a new system, since my current system ( which was future-proof when I bought it ) is becoming outdated because we’ve got improved processes, we’ve got machines which will operate and render faster, which is a biggie for me. So what I’m going to do, is I’m probably going to go over to an i7 iMac. I’ll get the biggest most powerful one I can afford, and future-proof that; and I’ll also go to the new Thunderbolt storage system, because I can work directly off of that, which eliminates another process because the speed of the Thunderbolt is superb. So I’ll probably get the biggest Pegasus bay that you can get, and connect that to my i7 and then I’ll run Final Cut 7 which I’ve managed to secure a copy of and I also have a full Premiere Pro 5.5 suite as well. So I’ll put those in as well as probably Pro Tools and a whole bunch of plugins, because I’m not doing a lot of effects work, but I do polish things quite a bit, colour grading, just sweetening them up to put out the nicest possible picture. Ed: You were saying to me earlier about the underwater footage – that some of it you shoot and some of it you have somebody shoot for you, for your programme … that as you change the depth, the colour changes. Just tell us a bit more about that?

A glacier is not where you find fish Adam.

Ed: So that’s it – you could have done that yourself here, but you decided that’s part of the workflow, that somebody with more talent and better gear actually adds value to what you do? Adam: Oh definitely. I didn’t want to buy a deck, because to buy a deck to put a DigiBeta tape out is $40 -50,000. I could buy 2 or 3 cameras for that, or other technology that will actually bring me an income. Putting something onto a tape is just a time usage thing, whereas Olivier specialises in that work. It’s a

Adam: Well Darren Shields is the main underwater videographer for the show and Darren is a free diver. So everything we’re doing is done on a breath-hold, we’re not using tanks. As you go down through the atmospheres ( which is every six feet or so ) colour disappears from your video. As I say, that’s how it works in light. So red is the first to go. Now you can get filters to put on underwater cameras to compensate for that, but that’s only good if you’re sitting at a fixed depth. But when you’re going from the top to the bottom and maybe 20-30 feet depth, you’re losing different colours. So I have to balance the colours through the depth and I do that in

Page 8

colour grading, adding red and reducing red as it comes closer to the surface. It is a bit of work and sometimes you get a little bit of grain in your shots too, because you’re losing light as well, but it’s a matter of grading. But if you’ve got the interesting shots and again, with any colour grading, the grass is green, the sky is blue, skin’s skin coloured, if you can stick to those principles … so I know what a fish colour looks like; I know what water looks like; I know what seaweed looks like. If I get those pretty much right, then I get that balance right. Ed: Finally, what’s your favourite piece of kit? If you looked at something that you’ve bought that you think this is such an essential part of my workflow in terms of “bangs for bucks” it’s paid for itself 10 times over, what would that be? Adam: That’s an interesting one, because I’m pretty happy with all my kit. I will always carry a tripod whether I use it or not. I’ve got a Miller D10 – A2Z supplied me with that; it’s got carbon fibre legs which suits me because it’s lightweight, but also I can manipulate it because the legs can be bent in various angles, so you can mount it in uneven terrain shall we say. So a really good tripod at times is essential, but my whole system, my whole kit, I build it depending on what I’m doing on that day. I have really good sound gear – all Sennheiser sound gear, but I’ll make a decision as to radio mics or shotguns or booms depending on the conditions I’m filming in. Sometimes I’ll try and catch a buzz, so I’ll catch as many versions of sound as I can. The cameras work really well …

everything, as a whole kit, goes together well, so you can’t isolate one thing. But probably the thing I use the most filming outdoors and what everyone should use with their camera equipment is decent bloody protective gear. So I’ve got Pelican cases coming out the yazoo. Simply put, I’ve never regretted buying the best and I’ll save up until I’ve got enough to purchase what I consider to be the best item of equipment, rather than choose something because it’s cheap. Ed: One more – almost forgot – archiving. You’re shooting on solid state, once you load that into your computer I guess you cleanout the P2 cards ready for the next job. What’s your archiving regime? Adam: Obviously, space is at a premium, but space has got a lot cheaper now too. As soon as I ingest something, I make a copy of it, so I’ve got two copies of everything and eventually I have 3 or 4 copies of everything. I’ll have one final tape which is the output; I’ll have the raw footage as QuickTime files and I’ll have a finished movie as a QuickTime file as well; and I’ll have the raw footage which I store. Once I’ve done what I need to do with it, I put it on a Blu-ray disc, so I can just recall that at any time, but I also carry a copy on a hard drive as well. So I have a copy on hard drive, copy on a Blu-ray disc and two copies on my computer. Ed:

That’s a lot of copies?

Adam: Well you just don’t want to lose things. You know, I’ve gone back to things and thought “ooooh, I’m glad I’ve got a copy of that” because I can go and

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do something else with it. Once you’ve shot something, content is king these days and if you’ve got a good shot, you never know when you’re going to want it again. If it’s shot in HD, it’s good for something … if you’ve got mint shots you’ve got to look after them. Don’t keep rubbish, but keep anything that you think might be valuable. It’s saved my bacon a few times because I think “okay, I need a shot – oh, I can go and get that shot,” and it doesn’t take me long to call it up. Ed: Put the South Island Robin in there? Adam: Put the South Island Robin in there; I’ve got sharks swimming underwater; I shot a music video and I was up on Franz Josef glacier and I got a big icefall and I actually filmed the icefall, which was more valuable than the music video! Ed: You’ve got to take the chance when you get it. Adam: If you’re on location – I go to places where people might not take a camera for another 10 years you know. Like I say, I’ve been filming in -7°C at the

Yes, size does matter.

top of Franz Josef glacier, filming out of helicopters, filming whales with babies. Those shots don’t come along every day. To see Adam’s work, go to Prime for “Fishing New Zealand” or “New Zealand Food Culture”. You can also email Adam at fishy.b@xnet.co.nz

Page 12

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PIX Recorder Show We are here at Sound Techniques with Stephen Buckland and Stephen’s looking a little bit furry today. Ed: Is this a New Year’s Resolution Stephen? Stephen: Yes, I thought I’d go for a change of image Grant. You know, I think all your readers are probably sick of seeing the same old me, so here’s the summer 2012 version. Ed: We’ll have to change all the posters now? Stephen: That’s right, all the advertising, everything, yes the marketing’s all gone to custard. Ed: Enough cheek, we’re really here to get people enthused about a little The new improved Stephen Buckland — with PIX recorder. Sound Devices product, the PIX 220 or PIX 240 off board recorder for video. We’ve high quality location audio mixers and recorders but mentioned this before, but this is a big departure for now they’ve branched out into making a video recorder Sound Techniques – this is “video”? – partly because it employs a lot of the audio Stephen: Yes, it was a big departure for Sound Devices too. They’ve always been known as makers of

processing that they’re already respected for and, I think secondly, because they realised it was an area

Page 15

which perhaps wasn’t being serviced well by existing players. They also have a lot of in house expertise which they wanted to make best use of.

Wireless Users Group ( WUNZ ) Update by Stephen Buckland.

Ed: And of course it’s got XLR audio connectors in there, so along with the picture, you’re getting first-rate audio?

Ed: Stephen – any light at the end of the tunnel? Is it good news or is it bad news? Stephen: No, there’s no light yet at the end of the tunnel. Digital switchover starts in the next month or two beginning in Hawkes Bay I believe, and slowly making its way through the country until December 2013, when New Zealand will have a fully digital television service. That was … well not fine, but we’d readjusted our mindset as to what spectrum would be available and then Sky announced its intentions to set up its “Igloo” service on some of its allocation of digital TV. Now they were on a “use it or lose it” scenario and since they’ve decided to use it, this will further limit the spectrum available, particularly in Auckland. Also, I have heard unofficially, that they had some technical issues, so they also will be borrowing some spectrum from elsewhere in the short term – some of the spectrum that’s supposed to have been cleared, so they can get their Igloo service up and running. The spectrum they’re going to use has been gazetted, but the temporary blocks have not. Expect a rough ride wireless users until the dust settles and don’t expect there to be much available UHF spectrum left in Auckland. This week I’ve had several people contacting me about issues that they’re having and really the only way to find out what spectrum is available in any location is to delve into the information presented by Radio Spectrum Management. I will have to caution everybody it’s not delivered in a userfriendly form. You start here http:// www.rsm.govt.nz/smart-web/smart/page/-smart/ domain/licence/SelectLicencePage.wdk We spend part of each week trying to digest it into sort of customer-friendly pieces. Ed: So they’re still making up their mind? Stephen: Well they’ve made up their minds, except about the Sky Igloo service temporary licences. What happens is that the Ministry publishes a database every Monday of all the licences and so on Monday you look up the database to find out what the latest things that are happening might be. Ed: So theoretically they could sell licences to all the spectrum? Stephen: In theory they could, but I don’t think they’ve got enough clients. I think there is a limit, because remember their goal is to clear up the 700MHz block which in itself reduces the amount of spectrum available, so they can sell that off to the Telco companies; I don’t think, at this stage, there are enough users to fill up the bit below that, but it’s getting pretty meagre, particularly in Auckland.

Stephen: Exactly, it’s got similar mic preamps and recording setup as you’d find in one of their mixers or their recorders. However it can’t be used as a standalone audio recorder as the audio is embedded in the picture information. Ed: Now when you want to have a look at this, of course you can come in and see it at Sound Techniques here in Auckland’s Eden Terrace but, coming up very soon, there is going to be shows in Wellington and Auckland? Stephen: Yes, we’re way overdue for doing this. I am taking both the PIX 220 and 240 down to Wellington and, depending on the interest in Wellington, I’ll either go and visit people by appointment or have a group showing. I’m in Wellington on the 13th of March. On the 15th of March, Darryl Spooner is kindly loaning us Spoon Studios for a session there in the evening. Ed: That’s in Pollen Street, first on the right off the start of Gt North Road? Stephen: That’s right. Anyone who has been to the NZCREWS Boot Sale would know it very well. We’ll have it configured slightly differently for this evening. 19 Pollen St, 7:00 pm, March 15th Ed: What are they going to see there that they won’t see if they come into Sound Techniques? Stephen: We’re going to get some pre-recorded footage, so they will be able to see that off a camera or on a monitor and then we’re going to have the same stuff dubbed or played back from the PIX, and people will be able to judge for themselves whether there’s any loss of quality. Also we hope to have access to the editing facilities upstairs so we can show how simple it is to drop the resulting files into the timeline of your editor and show that actually it is a timesaver, because it’s going to save them transcoding from whatever the camera format is, into the Avid or Adobe editing system. You’ll get to have a beer with your peers too. Ed: That is really important – that people have a chance to “suck it and see” because I know from my experience I’ve tried off board recorders and decided that the workflow involved was really just a little bit too much, and I’ve stuck with tape? Stephen: What can I say Grant? Well workflow is important and is constantly being reviewed. It is a learning experience for us and we want to learn from those who have the “hands on” experience. We know in our industry that things will work perfectly on a bench, but when they go out in the field, they might not perform as well. There might be features that can be improved. We know it’s not the only recorder available, so we’d be interested to hear how it compares with the others and just generally make it a bit more available for people to see. Ed: And people could even bring in their own camera and try it? Stephen: Well you could bring in your own camera, but it’s probably better if you’re going to do that to contact us directly. We’ve got demo units and we have

no problem with people ( within reason ) borrowing them for a session – again, because it helps us learn about how the thing works. Of the people that have done that so far, there’s a pretty good rate of them not returning them at all and buying their own. Ed: That’s what you want isn’t it – sales? Stephen: Sales obviously keep the business going, but also, what we want to know is that it works and it’s as good or better than whatever else is on offer. We are learning a lot about video too.

Page 16

Ed: Have you had any pointers from the manufacturers as to what sets this apart from anybody else’s recorder? Stephen: I think the fact that it’s got a decent 5” 800x400 LED screen on it. Obviously it can record audio and also it’s not a touch screen device – you don’t end up with people’s greasy fingers all over it after lunch. It records production friendly Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD files from any high-definition HDMI or HD-SDI ( 240 only ) video camera with almost 3 hours on 256 Gb SSD drive at 10 bit resolution and you can drag the files direct to editor timeline with no transcoding. Ed: Yes, it’s got nice big buttons on it – easy to see and you could even work them with a glove? Stephen: Yes you could. I think Sound Devices thought about ergonomics and they learnt from their audio recorders what works there. Ed: And it’s a very nice screen. I imagine you’d still, in some situations, want a critical monitor, but for most situations this is a very good LCD screen? Stephen: Yes, a very good screen; in fact, one of the local video assist companies, Digital Video Assist, has actually made a bracket, which means that you can hold it in two hands, or rest it on a table, so that a director can use it as their monitor, because otherwise they’re all still using clamshells which seems positively archaic to me. Ed: Good … so here’s your chance. Come along and have a look, have a touch and talk to some people who can tell you all about the Sound Devices PIX 220, PIX 240. If you’re in Wellington contact Sound Techniques pix@soundtq.co.nz and make an appointment for Tuesday March 13th. If in Auckland, please come along to Spoon Studios, 19 Pollen St, Grey Lynn Thursday March 15th at NZVN 7:00 pm.

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A Discussion around the Longevity of Optical Media

cloud storage is an even more uncertain path. While this is a powerful advantage for optical data storage, there are other important aspects to consider.

( extracted from the internet )

Ed: I’ve had this info checked and it appears kosher but feel free to send me corrections if you think there are errors. I thought it important that we all know this sort of thing. DVD – According to the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), "manufacturers claim life spans ranging from 30 to 100 years for DVD, DVD-R and DVD+R discs and up to 30 years for DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM". The recordable media used in red laser disc technology ( like DVD's and CD's ) is an organic dye that is very sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light, so don’t leave them in direct sunlight. Blu-ray – Blu-ray discs, however, use a combination of silicon and copper which is bonded during the burning process, this alloy is much more resilient than the organic dye. Manufacturers claim a life span from 100 up to 150 years for Blu-ray discs. With dual-layer discs now available, it is possible to store 50 Gig of data on one disc for less than $10. Both – However, none of these media have existed long enough yet to confirm or reject those claims. So at the moment, it's "about as long as the oldest working DVD/BD is still working". These claims are made assuming the discs are stored properly. (cool, dark, dry air. ) Furthermore, these life spans will be averages. Permanence and Handling of optical archive media

May 2011 by Erik Vlietinck Optical media such as writable CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, are invaluable for archiving multimedia content and administrative data. Cloud storage is fine, but there are problems with ownership, copyright, and for how long the data remains stored. These issues are irrelevant to users of optical media. They worry more about longevity. Compared with other digital storage media (e.g. magnetic tape or hard discs), optical media have much longer life expectancies. Accelerated-aging tests, which speed up the reactions of decay, can determine the rate at which slow chemical changes can make discs unreadable. When tested this way, Kodak’s writable media stored under archival conditions showed a life expectancy of around 200 years. By contrast, magnetic tape storage media will only last a few decades, and

Data stored on CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs is encoded in digital form. The data must be read by a reading device and converted into music, text, images, and so on by software applications. Because the real goal is access to the discs’ contents, the survival of playback hardware devices and software formats is key. Migration of digital data from one storage medium or software standard to current standards is essential. Because migrating data requires effort and expense, there is a risk that it will be neglected. History teaches that many things are preserved only by accident, merely because they were tough enough to endure until they could be valued once more by new owners. Optical media will physically survive long enough to be rediscovered by new generations, but the reading devices will have long gone. Therefore, it is prudent to create redundant copies of stored digital data. If images or data, for example, are recorded on film as input or output from digitization, the film serves as a collection back-up. Having two copies in different forms and in different physical locations increases the chances that the information will survive. ( E.V. ) Longevity of DVD Discs vs Blu-ray Discs April 2011 by Trevor Freeman 1)

Scientific Testing

How can media manufacturers possibly know that their discs will last as long as they claim? The answer is: they don’t. What media manufacturers do is test their discs using a process known as Accelerated Life Testing, or ALT. This process exposes the disc to extreme levels of heat and humidity that simulates years of storage. By testing discs for extended periods of 9 months or longer, engineers can mathematically calculate the failure rate based on their results. Claims of disc lifespans are not an absolute guarantee of how long a disc will last. Rather, they are an indication of how well the discs performed in laboratory testing. A disc with a claimed lifespan of 25 years did better in testing ( fewer failures ) than a disc with a 5 year lifespan. According to an article about optical discs on MonstersandCritics.com, Blu-ray discs have shown to last a minimum of 15 years in testing, with data retention of up to 30 years.

Page 22

In a separate study conducted by TUV Rheinland, recordable BD-R discs were calculated to last up to 50 years – an extrapolated calculation based on being stored at 80 degrees C and 80% relative humidity for 750 hours. The hard coating found on blank Blu-ray discs offers superior protection against the elements when compared to DVD-R discs, which do not have the coating. In scientific tests, it appears that Blu-ray discs are the better format for longevity. 2) Environmental Conditions Of course, scientific testing can only estimate the lifespan of a disc under specific conditions. For most home and business users, the way the discs are handled and stored will greatly affect how long they will last. Proper care and handling of CD/DVD discs includes storing them safely in cases and making sure they are kept in a temperature-controlled environment away from direct sunlight. The conditions under which discs are stored vary from one user to another. The best quality disc will fail under extreme conditions, but a poor-quality disc might still be readable if stored properly. In terms of environment, neither disc format has a clear advantage. With that, it is my opinion that recordable Blu-ray discs are a better choice for archiving important projects than DVD discs. ( T.F. ) I followed up this web gathered material with a call to Leonard Gildenhuys, Sony New Zealand’s media person, to ask if Sony had anything to add to the mix. Ed: Leonard, before we talk about optical media, what’s the latest on Sony’s video tape supplies out of Japan post tsunami? Leonard: Well Grant, I am glad you asked. Firstly I would like to thank all our customers for their support and understanding throughout this trying time. It has been tough to say the least, but we are glad to have recovered stronger than before. It is almost a year on from the disaster and I am happy to say that supply is now basically back to normal. I would like to specifically mention SR tape if I may, as it is our top quality HD tape format. The Japan disaster and the subsequent shortage of SR tape stock inconvenienced many of our customers. We thank them for their ongoing support. We now have “end to end” production of all professional media formats and are able to fulfil most of our customer’s stock requirements. Ed: Sony have made a big commitment to XDCAM as a production format – what value does it have as an archival format?

CLASSIFIED For Sale Video Equipment PAG Orbiter 2002 camera Stabilizer System. Recommend you Google PAG 2002. Priced to sell $690.00 Also a Bebob Remote $190.00 Canon XHA1Se HD Camera in new condition. Must be sold $2990.00 All Prices Include GST Contact : Bruce Colquhoun Ph : (09) 2358834 Leonard: As you know XDCAM is a very robust and proven production format, but it also lends itself to being an excellent archival format. Some of the reasons are: It allows random access which saves a lot of time searching for the video files. The XDCAM allows users to enjoy faster than real time dubbing and back up. It enables XDCAM users to use a single media type across every stage of their workflow. It has a 50 years archival life if stored properly. The XDCAM™ system also records proxy data ( low resolution video data ), for easy tracking and cataloguing to the archive system. The XDCAM Disc is designed to store in a wide range of temperatures (-10°c to 55°c ) and humidity conditions ( 5% to 90%RH.) Ed: Any future plans for XDCAM that you can let us in on?” Leonard: As far as the media side of things goes, we have launched the 128GB quad layer XDCAM disc ( PFD128QLW ) which is an excellent archival medium. It is a write once media and currently it can be used in the XDCAM Station ( XDS-PD1000, XDS-PD2000 ) and the PDW-U2. A single 128GB disc can hold up to 600 mins of video content for archiving ( depending on codec.) The XDCAM Station is ideal for doing back up of the SxS memory card content onto the XDCAM Disc, making the work flow between the SxS and XDCAM seamless. Coming in the 2nd half of our fiscal year 2012, Sony will be launching a triple layer 100GB XDCAM Disc. The 100GB XDCAM disc will be a rewritable media. Users will be able to use the larger capacity disc for multiple recording times. Apart from this, there is nothing I can let you in on, except to say that Sony is continuously looking for solutions and new ways to NZVN improve user work flow. So watch this space.

Page 24

Supporting Classical Sounds This is a story that follows on from one we did with Panavision in March 2011 with James and Dan who were rigging up a Toyota Land Cruiser for Mark Ellis to hoon around New Zealand in. They were hanging cameras off it with lots of clever Manfrotto equipment and were very happy that nothing dropped off. This time, we are with Paul McGlashan from Classic Sound who has different needs. Ed: Paul, you’re doing something a lot more sedate with your Manfrotto gear? Paul: Yes, that’s right. I’m a classical recording engineer, so I record choirs and orchestras – in particular orchestras like the NZSO, APO etc. We travel around the countryside a lot with our recording equipment. Stands are the bane of our lives because they’re traditionally so heavy. The good thing about the Manfrotto stands is they’re light and they’re tall. Ed:

And solid?

Paul: Of course … and solid. Some of the microphone arrays that we have are quite heavy, so they need to be well supported and we’ve found that the range of Manfrotto stands gives us the flexibility that we need for the different arrays we use for recording. Before I sort of “DIY’d” my mic setups using lighting stands that you could pick up from a surplus store, but being made of steel, they were very heavy. I also used the K&M stands which are well known within the industry but again, very, very heavy stands – especially their bigger stands which we need when we have to get up really tall, 4, 5, 6, 7 metres. The big K&M stand is like a military weapon, it’s so difficult to manoeuvre. But the Manfrotto stand that we’ve got here, this tall one, the 269HDBU, is fantastic because it is quite light and goes up to 7 metres, which is great for recording organs. With organs, you need to get right up there in the space where the pipes are; but also, when I’m doing orchestral recording, I need stands that go up about 4 or 5 metres, something to go on the ground, beneath the stage where the orchestra is and get up a good 3 metres above the stage level so that my Decca Tree Rig here for example, can be positioned behind the conductor. Ed: need most know

Okay. I need to ask the question, why do you to be so high? I mean, it’s not something that of us who are using camera mics and radio mics anything about?

Paul: Well the sound you want to get from an orchestra is a blended sound and the only way you can get a blended sound is to get slightly away from the direct sound that the instruments make. You have to allow the sound to develop in the room. So you can get the distance you need either by having the mics back in the room, or having them closer to the orchestra but much higher. Ed: I assume you’re doing this when there’s not an audience there, so you can move around and position your stands where you find it most appropriate? Paul: That’s right, yes. You don’t get much time to do that movement with an orchestral session. I mean, you’ve got to get it right pretty much. Ed: They get annoyed trumpets do they?

with

you

bumping

their

Paul: That’s right, so there’s really only a few minutes that you can spend setting up, time is money especially with professional groups like the NZSO.

This Manfrotto stand goes all the way up.

Ed: Since you’ve done this quite a few times for the likes of the NZSO – you know by now the rough position where it should be – based on where the orchestra is sitting and that’s where the bassoon is etc, they don’t move the instrument locations around on you; I guess there’s a particular pattern that an orchestra normally sits in? Paul: Yes – there’s a fairly standard pattern – although this changes sometimes depending on the repertoire and the forces required. In terms of mic stand placement, we use the Manfrotto stands mostly for the microphones at the front of the orchestra. They are the ones that are picking up the overall sound; and then we also use Manfrotto stands for some of the spot mics that we would put inside the orchestra, particularly over the wind section and the timpani – and then I use my other smaller K&M stands for spot mics within the rest of the orchestra, you know the various string sections, percussion, piano etc. Ed:

So you can then do a post mix?

Paul: Yes, absolutely. We do a monitor mix in real time for the producer to listen to so that he gets a realistic impression of what the orchestra is sounding like, and we multi-track everything so that it can then be taken away later and mixed properly in a studio environment. The booths that you sit in in these venues are very small and aren’t typically well treated acoustically and what you hear is not necessarily what you should be hearing. Ed: I also notice you’ve got lots of little clamps and they’re quite unusual looking clamps? Also Manfrotto? more on page 30

Page 27

Paul: Yes, all Manfrotto. The Decca Tree mic array that I’ve used here is using the clamps and hangers that come off the 154B triple mic holder and you can see that here. It comes with these grey sliding mic attachments, and I’ve cannibalised this ( 154B ) … audible gasp from Ed … to build my own Decca Tree type arrangement, using the fittings from that triple mic holder. I also use the Manfrotto Super Clamps for additional flexibility. Ed:

Worth a patent do you reckon?

Paul: Probably not – there are many ways to build a Decca Tree rig … Ed:

We’ll take a photo of it anyway.

orchestras with a Decca Tree as a main orchestral array flanked with a couple of outrigger microphones like this. Today of course, there are many variations on this theme – and I sometimes use a smaller Decca Tree for chamber sized groups using smaller bars and the same Manfrotto holders. For the outriggers, we’ve got another Manfrotto stand here with an outrigger microphone which would go roughly two-thirds of the way along the front of the orchestra flanking the tree. Typically, the tree and outrigger mics would be 3 or 4 metres above the stage floor and the five mics together on those three stands would give you your orchestral sound. You didn’t really need anything else … yes, you might throw in the odd spot mic for solos and for supporting a weak section – that sort of thing, but typically that was all Decca would use to get their sound. And it’s still used today, this Decca Tree array, in particular, film sound tracks typically use this type of setup. But to buy a properly manufactured Decca Tree holder … Ed: The official one with the “Decca” stamp on it?

The Decca Tree arrangement.

Paul: It’s a bit “DIY” but it works really well. The Decca Tree is made up of two bars and supports three mics. Traditionally the horizontal bar has to be 2 metres across exactly and the perpendicular bar in the middle has to be 1 metre across exactly. Ed:

Again, why?

Paul: Well that was the formula that Decca came up with in the ‘50s – that was really the golden age of recording and they perfected this way of recording

Paul: Well yes, Decca don’t sell one, but companies like AEA and Grace do, and they’re hundreds and hundreds of dollars. They’re beautiful precision made holders but you can get the same effect with a bit of clever thinking and using Manfrotto parts. Ed:

And the boom is also a Manfrotto boom?

Paul: Yes, this is a Manfrotto boom. This one typically goes out over the timpani in the orchestra, so you need something that can go quite high and extend over the timpanist without getting in his way. So it tends to go up about 3 metres and we extend the boom right over, because of course the timpani’s got quite a wide footprint with 5 … Ed: That’s drums and cymbals? Paul: No, no – only drums, no cymbals – the timpani has up to 5 big kettle drums and is the mainstay of the orchestral drum sound. Ed: And you weren’t tempted, since you brought so much Manfrotto gear, to bring it in yourself from overseas? Paul: No, not really. I certainly have looked at pricing, but I’d bought some stuff from Panavision before, some Pelican cases and that sort of thing and had a good experience so when I went back there to talk stands, I got into talking with Tim Timlin and he was extremely helpful in assisting me to choose the appropriate bits and pieces. He’s been very helpful and has gone out of his way to bring in stuff that hasn’t been in stock, from Australia or from wherever, and he got it in, in time for me, for our last NZSO session, which was really appreciated. Ed: Because it does look very professional?

Just count the clamps. Page 30

Paul: Oh I hope so. He’s also supplied the sand bags that are used for holding the stands secure; especially in an environment like an orchestra where the mics are up high and you’ve got people moving around. You know, quite often people bang into the stands and you don’t want people to get hurt or anything like that, so we secure them as best we can. Ed:

Safety first?

Paul:

Exactly, yes.

Ed: But Paul, the business that you’re in, recording classical music, what’s the end product of this? Paul: The end product … well typically it’s CDs or DVDs or, in the case of the Rugby World Cup, it was audio for live to air for the stadium and for Sky and TVNZ for the opening ceremony music, so different deliveries. But typically what I do is destined for CD. I’m a recording engineer, I work with a producer – typically it’s Wayne Laird from Atoll. Atoll is a New Zealand record company specialising in New Zealand music, New Zealand composers, and Wayne and I have worked together on and off for the last 10 years and done a lot of NZSO recordings in that time. My role in the process is to get the best sound and to make sure that the recording session doesn’t have any technical issues and that Wayne ends up with a product that he can then take for postproduction and turn into a final CD. Ed: Do you do here yourself?

any postproduction

Paul: Yes I do. Typically not NZSO stuff, although I’m doing some at the moment, doing some repairs, but yes, I do editing, mixing, mastering here in my studio in Mt Eden. I did all the Rugby World Cup mixing and mastering here for the opening ceremony music – I can do stereo and 5.1 formats.

Sand bags often save the day.