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Being a News Cameraman Filming the Hong Kong Protests ... page 22. REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 04 NEWS Belden to Sell Grass Valley; Animal
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Logic Backs Up with Alibaba Cloud; Qvest to Set Up in Australia for Nine Network Sydney Project; Sky News Takes Vinten Robotics for Canberra Studio; Samoa Goes DTV with Techtel.
46 INDUSTRY FOCUS Players in
Content+Technology caught off-air. Presented by Fujinon/Fujifilm.
FEATURES 12 ACQUISITION NZ Cinematography Awards;
Blast-Off for ARII Orbiter; FUJIFILM Launches FUJINON Premista Telephoto Zoom Series and Pro 4K Lens for Blackmagic URSA; ARRI ALEXA Mini LF Camera; New RED Sensor Options; more new cameras, lenses and accessories.
18 SPORTSCASTING Sky NZ Trades Shares for
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Rugby Rights; The Switch Delivers China’s Henshui Lake Marathon; Canon Scores with Free Viewpoint for Rugby World Cup; Amber Shines with Solar Challenge; Australia’s NBL Streams on Twitch.
24 NEWS OPERATIONS Filming the Protests in
Hong Kong; Network 10 Completes Dejero Refresh with Digistor.
36 AUDIO All-Angles Audio with Sennheiser’s AMBEO; plus AES papers, new monitors, mics and software.
40 RADIO Nine Appoints Tom Malone MD
of Radio, Vietnam Gears Up for DAB Trial; Densitron and Sonifex Announce Collaboration; Getting Burli in the Newsroom; New technology from Wheatstone, LAWO, Tie-Line.
43 CONTENT DELIVERY Nine Unifies Audience
Data and Launches Cost-Per-CompletedView Advertising; How Broadcasters Can Transition to All-IP; Is Australia’s Internet Infrastructure Up for the Video Challenge?
28 POST-PRODUCTION VFX Action in John Wick; In Conversation with WETA Digital’s Matt Holmes.
33 MEDIA IN THE CLOUD The Changing Face
42 CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN 34 095 653 277) PO Box 165 Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel +61 (0)2 4368 4569 Mob +61 (0)414 671 811 papers@broadcastpapers.com
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EDITOR’S WELCOME
For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com
We’re Away from Our Desks (Watching Videos) By Phil Sandberg
According to the recently published the Q2 Brightcove Global Video Index, 53 percent of global video views begin on mobile devices, smartphones, and tablets, taking away share from traditional desktop computers.
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According to Jim O’Neill, Principal Analyst with Brightcove, “Leveraging mobile video continues to be crucial for OTT providers, as they look to not only reach younger viewers – who traditionally have been mobile first – but also older viewers who have discovered that mobile video is a convenient way to consume content outside the home. The amount of content being consumed on mobile devices has more than doubled over the past year. This is largely due to the fact that content owners and distributors are making premium
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And it’s not only the desktop that has waned. The dominance of Apple’s iOS on mobile devices has eroded in the past year with video viewed on Android devices are now more prevalent in four regions, versus iOS devices dominant in only three. Globally, Android smartphone share has increased to 68 percent from 59 percent one year ago, with iOS remaining dominant for tablet plays. Android use is highest in APAC, where 92 percent of video plays are on Android phones and tablets. Europe is the next highest with 70 percent of video plays on Android devices. Only Japan/ Korea continues to see growth in iOS.
Smartphones saw the highest growth, to 45 percent from 38 percent only one year ago. In the Asia Pacific (APAC), mobile is king, where a whopping 84 percent of all plays were on mobile phones, and with Japan/Korea at 58 percent. In the Middle East and Africa, smartphone share was 57 percent. In every region but the Americas (U.S. and Canada), mobile devices took share away from desktop computers. 15:00
mobile devices, cheaper data plans, and more affordable Android smartphones from China have had a significant impact on how content is consumed.
content available to consumers anywhere, any time, and on any device. This growth will continue as more content – especially high-value sports content – becomes more prevalent and easily accessible on mobile devices.”
Continuing a recent trend, long-form video (21-40 minutes) and ultra-long-form video (41+ minutes) saw faster growth in the share of “time watched” on every device, from connected TVs to smartphones. Ultra-longform content took the highest total share of “time watched” across all devices, despite short-form video (0-5 minutes) having the highest number of assets published.
“Launching an OTT service can be a daunting experience,” adds Brightcove’s O’Neil. “Launching it without enough data – and ongoing analytics - can be fatal. Knowing who your customers are, how they watch video, the devices they use, and even when they watch will help you monetise, personalize, and thrive in the OTT market.” See the full report at https://www.brightcove. com/en/video-index Unlike the viewers of video, the C+T crew won’t be away from their desks as we use the end of year holiday period to tweak new offering, new platforms and new forms of content for launch in 2020. In the meantime, thanks to all our readers and advertisers for supporting us, and have a prosperous New Year. 03:00
MOBILE VIDEO VIEWING CONTINUES to dominate the industry, but the loser is not the loungeroom widescreen TV, it’s the humble desktop computer.
Thanks for reading Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com +61(0)414671811
According to the Brightcove Global Video Index, the increasing quality of delivery to
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2020 ABESHOW Exhibitors include 4Amber Technology 4Professional Audio & Television (PAT) 4Blonde Robot 4Rohde & Schwarz 4Dalet 4Ross Video 4Digistor 4Sony Australia 4Intraware 4Studiotech 4Magna Systems 4Techtel & Engineering 4Tekinsite 4Mediakind (formerly Ericsson) 4TVU Networks
The 2020 ABE Exhibition, Conference and Workshops are returning to Doltone House, Darling Island, Pyrmont, from July 21–23. Hear from industry experts on hot topics such as IP production and delivery, 4K, HDR, HEVC, OTT, VR, cloud broadcasting and more. See the latest solutions to empower production and delivery of your content. Register now for updates & notifications on speakers and attendees.
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Animal Logic Backs Up with Alibaba Cloud ALIBABA CLOUD, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, and Animal Logic, one of the world’s leading independent creative digital studios, have announced a partnership to meet the growing and demanding requirements of media production. Animal Logic has started backing-up its on-premise production content onto Alibaba Cloud’s world-class computing platform. Through this partnership, the parties hope to drive efficiencies of media production by utilising more cloud computing technologies. As one of the world’s most recognised digital production studios, which has created animation and visual effects for award winning films including Peter Rabbit, The LEGO Movie 2, Captain Marvel and Happy Feet, Animal Logic requires a high-performance cloud storage platform that can quickly scale up for backup requirements, especially during peak production periods, in which 150TB of data can be generated in a 24hour period. Animal Logic required a partner that could not only provide them with secure data protection capabilities, but also secure backup
solutions for the increasingly large amount of data generated within a short period of time. “Our partnership with Alibaba Cloud will provide us with the best technology to secure our content more efficiently,” says Darin Grant, Animal Logic’s Chief Technology Officer. “With Alibaba Cloud, we have the capability to backup large amounts of data and in turn, operate seamlessly even during our busiest times.” Alibaba Cloud says it will meet the demanding requirements set by Animal Logic by providing its first-class storage solutions. To protect storage safety, and enhance the approach to Disaster Recovery, Alibaba Cloud has designed a comprehensive storage gateway for Animal Logic and created private networks to minimise disturbance during data transfer. The data during transfer will also be encrypted to enhance the level of security. Alibaba Cloud and Animal Logic will continue working on future cross-regional storage and backup projects, large scale rendering farm
requirements and migration of legacy applications to the cloud. These projects will support Animal Logic’s multi-cloud, whilst retiring a number of critical legacy applications, and ageing on-premise hardware. “Alibaba Cloud is thrilled to announce our partnership with Animal Logic, in which we will bring increased efficiency and safety to the artists at Animal Logic and in turn, push the boundaries of animation and VFX to a new level,” said Raymond Ma, General Manager for Alibaba Cloud in Australia and New Zealand. Alibaba Cloud’s cross border network covers 20 regions and 61 availability zones globally. It is also the first Cloud provider to fulfil the additional requirements of Germany’s Cloud Computing Compliance Controls Catalog (C5) and has more than 70 security and compliance accreditations worldwide. Visit www.alibabacloud.com and www.animallogic.com
Belden to Sell Grass Valley BELDEN INC. HAS ANNOUNCED the outcome of a comprehensive strategic portfolio review, including an intention to divest itself of the Live Media business (“Grass Valley”) and a new broad-based cost reduction program that is expected to result in USD$40 million of annualised savings. In a statement, the company said its revenues for Third Quarter 2019 totalled $620.3 million, decreasing $35.5 million, or 5.4%, compared to $655.8 million in the third quarter 2018. Net loss was $(297.0) million, compared to $85.9 million in the prior-year period. Net loss included a $337.0 million after-tax noncash impairment charge related to Grass Valley. EPS totalled $(6.70) compared to $1.80 in the third quarter 2018.
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Excluding Grass Valley, adjusted revenues totalled $533.1 million, decreasing $20.9 million, or 3.8%, compared to $554.0 million in the third quarter 2018. Excluding Grass Valley, adjusted EPS was $1.18 compared to $1.29 in the third quarter 2018. Adjusted results are non-GAAP measures, and a non-GAAP reconciliation table is provided as an appendix to this release.
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John Stroup, President, CEO, and Chairman of Belden Inc., said, “Revenues were near the midpoint of our expected range excluding Grass Valley. Consistent with our expectations, demand trends remained softer in some of our key Industrial markets in the third quarter, but we are encouraged by the improving trends in our Broadband business.” Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, the Company says it has made the decision to
pursue the divestiture of Grass Valley. Based on the approval of Belden’s Board of Directors to divest this business and the probability that such divestiture will be consummated, Grass Valley’s financial results will be presented as discontinued operations in Belden’s fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial statements and prior periods will be recast for consistency. Mr. Stroup remarked, “We completed a rigorous strategic review of our portfolio of businesses, and today’s announcement marks an important outcome. We concluded that it is in the best interests of our shareholders, customers, and employees to separate Grass Valley from Belden. This will enable Grass Valley to more effectively execute its strategic plan and pursue growth opportunities. Further, this separation will simplify Belden’s portfolio and improve organic growth and revenue visibility.” For its part, Grass Valley says the move is a positive one for its business, its employees and customers. In a separate statement, Grass Valley said it is “… a market leader in the media technology business and a profitable operation with top quartile EBITDA performance. Grass Valley is
the world’s leading media technology supplier with uniquely strong customer and partner relationships. This makes Grass Valley an attractive investment to those interested in the media tech space and Belden has been actively discussing options with interested parties during 2019. “Grass Valley does not expect this announcement to disrupt its current operations and will continue to focus on meeting the needs of customers, partners and employees. In response to Belden’s announcement that it will begin reporting Grass Valley as a “discontinued operation” on its income statement, Grass Valley said, “It is important for Grass Valley that the market understands that the phrase ‘discontinued operation’ does not, in any way, imply that Grass Valley is going out of business. The term ‘discontinued operation’ is a standard accounting term used when a corporation decides to exit a portion of its overall business. It is a way to differentiate such a portion of the business from other continuing operations.” Visit www.grassvalley.com
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Hills to Sell AV Biz to Amber Technology
Chris Johnson Named GM ANZ for Riedel
AMBER TECHNOLOGY LIMITED, a subsidiary of Ambertech Limited (ASX:AMO), and Hills Limited (ASX:HIL) have announced they have reached agreement for the sale of the Hills Audio Visual (AV) business to Amber Technology. The sale, which is subject to certain conditions and final approval by Ambertech Limited shareholders, is expected to be completed in early December.
RIEDEL COMMUNICATIONS has announced the appointment of Chris Johnson as General Manager of Riedel Australia. Johnson first joined Riedel Australia in 2016 to head up the company’s rental operation. He has charted significant success in developing the business and delivering complex solutions to high-profile customers across Australia, including Vivid Sydney and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Under the terms of the agreement: • The majority of AV personnel – including sales, business development, product management and technical staff – will transfer to Amber Technology; • The majority of AV brands distributed by Hills in Australia and New Zealand will transfer to Amber Technology; • Hills will collect payments from customers for sales completed prior to the date of completion; and • Amber Technology will fulfil outstanding orders held by the Hills AV business at the date of completion. Hills’ decision to exit the AV business follows a strategic review that recommended it focus on its Health Division, and its Security and Technical Services Distribution Division. Ambertech Managing Director Mr Peter Amos said, “We look forward to welcoming the Hills staff into our company, the brands represented by Hills into our portfolio, and many new customers into a relationship with Amber Technology,” Mr Amos said. “We are 100 per cent focussed on serving the AV markets in Australia and New Zealand, and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to bring together two passionate and professional teams to create a stronger organisation.” Visit www.hills.com.au and www.ambertech.com.au
Before joining Riedel, Johnson was based in the U.K., where he operated his own business providing production engineering and design services to global clients such as the BBC and IAAF. In that role, he worked with Riedel on several events, including the 2012 Summer Games and the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Johnson commented, “It’s been an exciting few years at Riedel Australia as we’ve grown our rental operations, and I’m thrilled to continue that work across the rest of our business here in Australia and New Zealand. The broadcast and events industries are going through some really big changes at the moment, and we’re fortunate to be able to help our clients navigate those changes with our solutions.” Johnson takes over from John Bell, who was appointed to the Board of Riedel Australia in February 2015 and took on the role of General Manager in October 2016. For a transitional period, Bell will remain as a nonexecutive director of the Australian company. Visit www.riedel.net
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE ANDY COUPE has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. He moves from Deputy Chair to take over from Dame Therese Walsh who retired at the end of October. Coupe is the Chair of the Takeovers Panel, as well as a director of several commercial enterprises, including Briscoe Group and Gentrack. Current TVNZ director, Cameron Harland, will move into the Deputy Chair’s role. He is on the Weta Workshop Board. Previously he was Chair of the NZ Story Advisory Board and a member of the NZ Film Commission from 2010 to 2016. Trish Carter has been appointed as a new director on the TVNZ board. She will take up that role from 1 March 2020 until 31 October 2022. Trish Carter has worked at Radio New Zealand, Consultus, Newstalk ZB, and TVNZ; where she was Deputy Head and then Head of TVNZ News and Current Affairs from 2000 to 2003. Directors Abby Foote and Julia Raue have been reappointed until 31 October 2022 and 30 April 2021 respectively. Visit www.tvnz.co.nz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has appointed Kate McKenzie to the Board of NBN Co Limited for a term of three years, commencing 1 December 2019.
Production Operations Manager at Seven in Martin Place, Sydney.
Ms McKenzie has extensive experience in telecommunications, including as the CEO of Chorus New Zealand from 2017 to 2019 and the Chief Operations Officer of Telstra from 2013 to 2016. Board members Justin Milne and Patrick Flannigan stepped down from the Board at the completion of their terms on 10 November 2019. Visit www.nbnco.com.au
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JAMIE AMBROSE has taken on the role of Member of the Board of Directors for Red Bee Media Australia Holdings Pty Ltd. He is currently the Head of Broadcast and Media Services APAC with Red Bee (Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services), and was previously General Manager APAC - Digital Media Services with Deluxe Australia.
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ACCENTURE HAS ANNOUNCED Mark Green as its new Lead for Accenture Interactive Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). Green is currently Group CEO and co-founder of awardwinning creative agency The Monkeys which was acquired by Accenture in 2017. Mark will maintain his role as Group CEO of The Monkeys. Justin Drape and Scott Nowell, also co-founders of The Monkeys, have both been appointed to the newly created roles of Co-Chief Creative Officers for Accenture Interactive, ANZ. Justin and Scott will maintain their roles as Co-Chief Creative Officers of The Monkeys.
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ADAM DODMAN has been named Manager with Gravity Media in Sydney. Until its purchase by Gravity Media, he served as Chief Technology Officer with Chief Entertainment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEITH COOPER HAS TAKEN ON the role of Audio/Systems Architect at Australian News Channel (Sky News). He also serves as Managing Director of The Audio Collective Pty Ltd, and was previously with Telstra Broadcast Services as a Freelance SNG Engineer.
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CRAIG DYER has been appointed News Operations Manager with Seven West Media in Brisbane. He was previously Head of News Operations with Seven in Brisbane, and
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Sky News’ Canberra Studio Takes Control with Vinten and Autoscript SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA has made a major investment in state-of-the-art robotic camera support systems from Vinten and Intelligent Prompting solutions from Autoscript for its six remote studios located throughout Australia. With the latest build-out just completed in Sky News’ Canberra Parliament House studio, the Vinten and Autoscript equipment is a vital link in the network’s strategy to reduce operational costs through centralised, IP-based control of remote broadcasts. “What we’ve done, we’ve built a new studio, and a newsroom, in the Canberra parliament house building,” says Rick Zecevic, Chief Technology Officer, Sky News Australia. “Since the acquisition of Australian News Channel by Newscorp, we’ve joined their office in the Parliament House Building, and within their offices we’ve built the studio, and the Sky News newsroom. We’ve partitioned the Newscorp space, which is now half of what it used to be, and the rest is taken up by Sky News and Sky News studios. We’ve built a large studio with a video wall, a Viz Multiplay video wall. And facility able to facilitate probably 20 news people, whereas before we could only facilitate six.” Sky News has fitted out its Canberra Parliament House studio with three Vinten FH-145 robotic pan/tilt camera heads, driven by the Vinten HD-VRC Control System, three Vinten Quattro pedestals, and three Autoscript EPIC-IP 19” prompting monitors with integrated talent feedback monitors, driven by Autoscript WinPlus-IP News prompting software. Amber Technology, a Vitec Production Solutions Premier Partner, supplied the Vinten and Autoscript solutions. According to Rick Zecevic, the new studio reflects a commitment to covering the Federal Parliament in more detail, and takes its design cues from the Sky News studio at NewsCorp’s HQ in Holt Street, Surry Hills, Sydney. “It’s a very similar set up,” he says. “What was done in Holt Street, we’ve replicated, what we’ve done in Canberra with the Viz Multiplay wall, the video wall, and the LED wall that we’re using. “That’s the background for the presenters, but they also do live crosses, live interviews via the wall. Through the Multiplay, they’ve got full live inputs, and we’ve got those live inputs coming from Sydney, fed from Sydney all the way to Canberra, into the Viz Multiplay, and that comes up on the wall.
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“The studio itself is used as a main studio, but the control room is all in Sydney. It’s a remote studio, the control is in Sydney, but we just control it as if it’s locally based. Whether it’s in Sydney, Canberra, it doesn’t matter, it’s controlled the same way. We have onsite interviews, but they do interviews also with people around the country as well, from Canberra.”
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While the Sydney studio at Macquarie Park acts as a hub for remote studios in Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, the
Rick Zecevic, CTO, Sky News Australia [left] with Tom Pavicic, Regional Sales Manager, ANZ, Vitec Production Solutions.
Queensland centres of Townsville and the Gold Coast, as well as Wellington, New Zealand, the Canberra studios are pivotal to the channel’s daily broadcasts as they play host to both morning (First Edition) and afternoon (PM Agenda) programming. Between Canberra and Sydney, the news channel has both a Telstra DVN2 data line and several Vocus lines for redundancy, as well as for splitting the data between the video network, and the general office Internet network, as well. All feeds are converted from HD-SDI using ADTEC encoders. In Sydney, ADTEC equipment decodes the feeds which go into a router here and then into the control room where live switching between cameras takes place. Sky uses ENPS version 8 as its newsroom system with automation undertaken by Viz Mosart. Producers in Canberra will create run-downs, produce stories, and then use the Mosart templating system within ENPS to create the Mosart commands. Stories are edited using QCut from Grass Valley (Quantel) and published to servers at the Sydney Macquarie Park HQ for playout.
in line for a refit, all six of the network’s studios will soon be fitted out with robotic heads from Vinten and pedestals working in concert with Autoscript Intelligent Prompting solutions. “Cost is a significant factor in today’s television production environment,” says Rick Zecevic. “By allowing us to control all of our remote studios from Sydney, IP-based networks and technologies like those from Vinten and Autoscript are playing a huge role in helping us operate as cost-effectively as possible. At the same time, we have the flexibility of local control at each location when the need arises. “The Vinten robotic heads and pedestals, coupled with Autoscript’s prompting solutions, are a perfect choice because of their outstanding remote-control-overIP capabilities, renowned reliability and performance, and advanced features. Plus, Amber Technology is providing us with outstanding local support throughout the process.”
“We’ve got several of the Panasonic HE130 little down cameras,” says Zecevic. “We use them as a grid camera for wide shots as well. That gives us a wide shot, rather than using robotic peds, to move back and get a wide shot, we’ve just got the little Panasonic HE130 cameras to give us a wide shot, when we need it.”
“Sky News Australia is already reaping the benefits of lower overhead and operational costs since implementing our cutting-edge Vinten robotics and Autoscript prompting systems, which can be remotely controlled over an IP network with minimal local operator involvement,” adds Tom Pavicic, regional sales manager for Australia and New Zealand, Vitec Production Solutions. “The ability to reduce costs while increasing quality is an ongoing goal for so many of our broadcast customers, and leveraging state-of-the-art robotics and prompting technologies, particularly within IP-based workflows, is allowing our customers to achieve this goal, just as we’ve seen with Sky News.”
With the Sydney Macquarie Park studios next
Visit www.vinten.com.
When it comes to cameras in the Canberra studio, Sky News employs Panasonic AWHE130 HD Integrated PTZ Cameras in combination with three Vinten FH-145 robotic pan/tilt camera heads, Vinten Quattro manual pedestals, and the Autoscript EPIC-IP 19” prompting monitors.
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Samoa Switches from Analogue to Digital TV with Techtel
SOME 70% OF THE SAMOAN POPULATION which amounts to over 20,000 households now has access to a feature-rich and reliable Digital Terrestrial TV network due to a bespoke solution provided and integrated by Australian company Techtel. This marks the completion of Phase 1 of the national Digital Terrestrial Television Project initiated by the Samoan Government. Project specifications, designed to suit the Samoan environment, were developed by local specialist broadcast consultancy, BroadSpectrum Consultants, for the Samoa Digital Company Ltd (S.D.C.L.), the firm designated by the Samoan Government to oversee the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting. Samoa’s new DVB-T2 network uses the latest Egatel transmission technology to provide an efficient and inventive method of providing national coverage without using any high capacity private networks to twenty transmitters across the country. Techtel, however, faced a challenge to develop a practical and robust solution to manage and monitor the entire network from the Head-End operation room where utilising unmanaged GSM network was the only commercially viable choice. To overcome this challenge, Techtel developed an NMS (Network Monitoring System) solution based on the Servelec Remote Telemetry Units (RTUs) in conjunction with TConnect application. This combination forms a versatile telemetry platform that is effectively a blank canvas which requires custom programming to produce a single screen dashboard of the entire network while enabling users to drill down to each transmission site and then to each individual device to effectively monitor and manage the network from a central station. Reaching some of the sites is only possible during a few and short windows around the year; and overcoming challenges like this was critical to the success of the project and sustainability of the operation in years to come. Each transmitter site is equipped with an RTU to interconnect the site sensors, GPIOs, IT and broadcast devices and power systems to the Master Control Room (MCR) providing constant feedback about conditions inside either buildings or outdoor cabinets distributed around the islands. SNMP traps are harvested from the connected
appliances in the transmitter locations and forwarded to the central NMS based on certain rules. Furthermore, Techtel’s programmers fine-tuned these rules to minimise the data rate over unmanaged mobile network while maintaining accuracy and reliability of the alarms. Then Techtel integrated non-SNMP capable devices to a custom-build API gateway that makes SOAP XML API calls and translates the responses to standard SNMP messages so the system is normalised to one unified communication protocol. In order to minimise OPEX, all alarm messages from the remote stations are pushed in real-time to the NMS Dashboard via secured VPN tunnels using minimal bandwidth possible. In addition, a built-in 4G modem provides network operators with full access to the individual devices across the DTT network via secured VPN tunnels over GSM. This allows them to reach the native Web GUI of devices in the remote sites without a need to have any external utility server, router or managed services at the remote sites.
“Given the tough geographical condition with many difficult-to-reach transmission sites, paucity of telecommunications infrastructure and costly GSM services on Samoan Islands, our major challenge was to come up with a reliable yet bandwidth-efficient solution to manage and monitor this complex Digital Terrestrial TV network from a central station covering all 20 transmission stations across the country with no compromises,” said Payam Safa, Solutions Architect and Samoan DTTV Technical Project Manager at Techtel. “Our in-house NMS system is completely selfcontained where VPN services, NTP distribution agents, multi-layer IP switching and routing functions together with SNMP services and API gateways are tightly integrated together with an intuitive and user-friendly Web-based front-end to offer unprecedented features and capabilities
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Egatel DVB-T2 transmission equipment on site in Samoa.
www.irtcommunications.com sales@irtcommunications.com
to our customer and to the Broadcast market in general. Broadcast operators need to find intelligent and inventive ways to reduce the total cost of ownership of their network while still offering world class services to their customers and Techtel was proud to help SDCL achieve this,” Payam Safa added. “It was great to see Techtel rise to the challenge in providing a network monitoring solution tailored to the current Samoan environment, geographical challenges faced by operations on the ground and available communications infrastructure on island. The team developed and delivered a cost-effective remote monitoring and control solution which is a win-win not only for us as a multiplex operator, the operational cost savings indirectly benefit local content providers in the long run,” said Tuiaopo Andrew Ah Liki, Chairman at Samoa Digital Communications Limited. Visit www.techtel.com.au
12G 4K UHD Fibre Links + Supports12G/6G/3G/HD/SD/ASI rates + Single,Dual and Quad Channel Versions + Supports Pathological Signals + openGearTM Monitoring and Control
sales@irtcommunications.com
Qvest to Establish Australian Branch for Nine Network Sydney Project FOLLOWING AN ANNOUNCEMENT by Australia’s Nine Network that it will bring in Qvest Media to oversee the relocation of its Sydney operations to North Sydney in mid-2020, the German company has confirmed it will establish an Australian branch to support the project, which will include on-air graphics, newsroom systems, post-production, network and infrastructure, and live studio elements. Nine says it is taking the opportunity presented by the move from its Willoughby broadcast centre to 1 Denison Street, North Sydney, to overhaul its technological broadcast stack, moving to SMPTE 2110 Standard for Professional Video Delivery Over IP Networks. According to Konstantin Knauf, Director Consulting, Qvest Media, “We are happy that Nine Network put their trust in us to be part of this innovative and ambitious project. This is a huge acknowledgment of our expertise as one of the leading consultants and system integrators for future media technologies and infrastructures in the media world. “As a globally operating company, we are able to realise projects nearly anywhere in the world. Depending on the requirements, projects can be implemented with or without a local branch. In the case of Nine Network, we have decided to install a local branch.” On the company’s experience with projects based on SMPTE 2110 standard technology, Knauf says, “It is true that we have already designed, installed, and realised numerous all-IP infrastructures for customers across Europe and the Middle East. We never solely rely on our experience, though. We incorporate state-of-the-art technical innovations, best-practice solutions for the creation of workflows, and aspects like change management for a high employee acceptance into our holistic approach. Considering market developments that are expedient and profitable for our customers is our focus at all times.
Konstantin Knauf, Director Consulting, Qvest Media.
Interoperability between providers and COTS-based networks are examples that still play an important role in designing All-IP system architectures.” According to Konstantin Knauf, the company’s consulting is based on a “best-of-breed approach”. “That means our first step in a project is performing a detailed requirements analysis with the customer. Subsequently, the best available products and solutions for the technological and commercial realisation will be determined within a market analysis. Our approach to this technology selection is global which can cover Australian companies, for example, too. As far as the project implementation and integration are concerned, we have made many positive experiences cooperating with local companies.” With a mid-2020 delivery date for the new station, Knauf says, “A detailed project plan and schedule is currently being developed and adopted in tight cooperation with Nine Network’s project team.” Visit www.qvestmedia.com
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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING www.content-technology.com/acquisition
Denson Baker NZCS ACS Wins NZ Cinematographer of the Year THIS YEAR’S NEW ZEALAND CINEMATOGRAPHERS SOCIETY AWARDS’ dinner was punctuated with heartfelt moments as cinematographers collected the admiration of their peers along with their awards. The fruits of a more inclusive NZCS began to show with more women featuring in the top awards, if not yet fully represented. Guest speaker, the respected producer Rob Tapert gave food for thought on the unspoken influence a cinematographer has onset, before picking up a well-deserved Turtz award for contribution by a non-cinematographer. The superb cinematography in the British-American romantic drama Ophelia saw Denson Baker NZCS ACS win Cinematographer of The Year 2019. A re-imagined story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet the win affirms that Baker belongs at the top level of drama cinematography. Tammy Williams’s impressive work on short film Ways to See lead to her collecting the 2019 Al Guilford Emerging Cinematographer award. Williams shoots a wide variety of short films, documentaries, and commercial work, including Zoe McIntosh’s comedy documentary Deadly Ponies Gang and short films such as Grey William, Baby, My Breakup with God and more recently Ways to See.
Turtz Award Producer Rob Tapert was recognised with the 2019 Turtz Awards for his loyal support of New Zealand cinematographers over the previous decades. He was noted for bucking the trend to import international cinematographers on major US productions shot in New Zealand, instead insisting on hiring local crew. Tapert was clearly chuffed by the award as he had just sat down after his guest speech reflecting on cinematography from a producer’s point of view. Other 2019 New Zealand Cinematography winners included:
Student Films
News and Current Affairs
Short Films
Specialised Cinematography
• Bronze - Scott Jackson
• Silver - Baz Platt
• Gold - Maria Ines Manchego
• Gold - Dale Bremner
• Gold - Kieran Fowler NZCS ACS
Commercials
• Bronze - Christo Montes
• Gold - Ziga Zupancic
• Gold - Ben Ruffell
• Gold - Nina Wells
Corporate and Educational
• Silver - Dave Cameron NZCS ACS
• Silver - Aliesha Staples
Features
• Gold - Ziga Zupancic
• Bronze - Martin Anderson
• Silver - Maria Ines Manchego
• Silver - Ben Ruffell
• Gold - Mathew Knight
• Silver - Bevan Crothers
• Bronze - Malcolm Clement
Documentaries
Teleseries
• Gold - Denson Baker NZCS ACS
• Silver - Alice Toomer
• Gold - Callan Green NZCS ACS
• Gold - Christo Montes
• Gold - Raymond Edwards
• Gold - Tammy Williams
• Silver - John Ross
• Silver - Tammy Williams
• Silver - Maria Ines Manchego
• Bronze - Matthew Gerrand
• Silver - Callan Green NZCS ACS
• Bronze - Fernando Hart
Music Videos
• Bronze - Julian Vares
• Gold - Matthew Gerrand
• Gold - Callan Green NZCS ACS
Magazine, Lifestyle and Reality
• Gold - Murray Milne NZCS
• Silver - James Muir
• Gold - Ziga Zupancic • Bronze - Fernando Hart
• Gold - Bevan Crothers
• Bronze - Kieran Fowler NZCS ACS
• Silver - James Muir
• Bronze - Nina Wells
• Gold - Greg Parker • Silver - Hunter Crouchley • Silver - Tim Flower • Bronze - Adam Stewart Hogg
Dramatised Documentaries
• Silver - David Paul NZCS • Bronze - Dave Cameron NZCS ACS
• Gold - Dale Bremner
• Gold - Dave Cameron NZCS ACS
• Gold - Dave Garbett
Telefeatures
• Gold - Simon Raby NZCS
• Silver - Drew Sturge • Bronze - Grant McKinnon
• Gold - Dale McCready NZCS • Silver - D J Stipsen • Silver - D J Stipsen • Bronze - Kelly Kuan Yu Chen
NZCS Accreditation was awarded to D J Stipsen NZCS and Lachlan Milne NZCS, while Life Memberships were conferred on Richard Bluck NZCS and Murray Milne NZCS. Visit www.nzcine.com
ACQUISITION
Telemetrics Robotics Control of Blackmagic Design Ursa Cameras
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AT THE RECENT 2019 NAB Show New York, Telemetrics showed its S5 series of servomechanical pan/tilt camera head fully controlling a Blackmagic Design Ursa 4K/UHD camera. Users of this and other Blackmagic cameras can now take additional advantage of their investment by pairing the camera with a Telemetrics PT-LP-S5, PTHP-S5 or PT-CP-S5 pan/tilt head and be assured of full remote control of the camera and lens in a robotic camera studio setting.
Telemetrics stands as one of only a few companies that can control the Ursa camera in a robotics environment via its SDI stream, This allows Telemetrics’ pan/tilt heads seamless command of the Blackmagic Design camera’s many features, including full paint and exposure controls, and facilitates a tight and highly precise integration between the Telemetrics pan/tilt head and the camera.
help customers achieve their goal of automating their camera operations within any physical or virtual studio setting,” said Michael Cuomo, Vice President of Telemetrics. “As we do with other professional cameras, we’re happy to now offer complete robotics control of the Blackmagic Design Ursa camera, which is increasingly being used in studios across the globe for its highquality video, ease of use and cost-effective price.”
“Telemetrics is always looking for new ways to
Visit www.telemetrics.com
ACQUISITION & LIGHTING
Hitachi Kokusai 1080p CCU and Camera Adapter DESIGNED TO MAKE FULL-HD, 1080p60 video acquisition more economical, Hitachi Kokusai has unveiled the new CU-HD550 camera control unit (CCU) and CA-HF550 camera adapter. The CU-HD550 and CA-HF550 are compatible with all Hitachi 1080p and 1080i Z and SK-series HDTV cameras, but are particularly compelling for use with progressive-scan models. The new accessories combine with Hitachi Kokusai’s 1080p60-native studio and field production camera heads – including the Z-HD5500 and recently-introduced SK-HD1800 – to form robust camera systems with fully-progressive signal paths for maximum visual quality. The CU-HD550/CA-HF550 combination offers a lower-cost entry point to progressive production for customers who don’t require the advanced expansion options and extra I/O connections of the flagship CUHD1300 CCU series. Compatible with both the new CU-HD550 and existing Hitachi CCU models, the CA-HF550 transmits video, audio, power and control over SMPTE 304M fibre between the camera and CCU. Two HD-SDI connections on the CA-HF550 provide video output at the camera end and can be switched between camera, prompter and return video. The CA-HF550 also provides ample AC power at the camera head to drive both a prompter and floor monitor through the fibre cable. At the other end of the chain, the fibre-connected CU-HD550 combines multi-format SDI inputs and outputs with intercom, return video, teleprompter, tally and remote-control interfaces in a heavy-duty 2RU form factor. An RJ-45 network port enables IP-based control, including integration with Ross Video’s open DashBoard control platform.
Camera Control for RED DSMC2 on Cine 7 Monitors
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS HAS ADDED more functionality for cinematographers to its SmallHD Cine 7 line of on-camera touchscreen monitors. A new software license enables real-time configuration of RED DSMC2 cameras directly through the Cine 7’s touchscreen interface. Camera control on Cine 7 allows cinematographers to use the monitor as a control interface as well as a creative viewing monitor. Camera menus appear as an overlay on the Cine 7 screen, offering multiple options to configure the camera to changing production requirements. In addition to standard parameters like white balance, resolution, and filename, the new software license provides deep-level menu control, including output overlays, image pipeline modification, and power settings. The Camera Control license for RED DSMC2 is now available as a bundle that includes an active camera-control cable and software upgrade license. With 1800nits of brightness, 100% DCI-P3 colour, and a 1920×1200 resolution display, the Cine 7 monitor combines razor-sharp image clarity with powerful camera control features and the ease of touchscreen access. All Cine 7 monitors also provide deep integration with Teradek RT wireless follow-focus systems and are available as either a standalone monitor or with an integrated Teradek Bolt transmitter or receiver module. Visit www.smallhd.com
ACQUISITION
Visit www.hitachikokusai.com
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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING
FUJIFILM Launches FUJINON Premista Telephoto Zoom Series and Pro 4K Lens for Blackmagic URSA FUJIFILM HAS LAUNCHED THE FUJINON Premista 80-250mmT2.9-3.5 (Premista 80-250mm) telephoto zoom lens with a focal length of 80250mm which will be available in December 2019. It is the second lens model in the Premista series of cinema camera lenses which deliver the full benefits of a large format sensor with stunning optical quality. The Premista 80-250mm can be combined with the already-released FUJINON Premista 28100mmT2.9 (Premista 28-100mm) standard zoom lens to form a kit that covers the most frequently-used focal lengths of 28-250mm, accommodating a broader variety of requirements. In recent years, cinematographers have increasingly started to work with cinema cameras equipped with a large format sensor for motion picture and commercial production and they wish to achieve a natural and pleasant bokeh effect with shallow depth-of-field and wide dynamic range. Although there are prime lenses in the market compatible with the large format sensor, there has been a demand for zoom lenses covering a wide range of focal lengths offering versatility at the highest optical quality. The Premista 80-250mmT2.9-3.5 is a telephoto zoom lens covering an 80-250mm focal length. Thanks to the adoption of a large-diameter aspherical lens and a new focus/zoom system, the Premista achieves stunning optical quality from the centre to the corners, allowing the cinematographer to capture the feeling and texture of the subjects. The lens design contributes to wide dynamic range by suppressing unwanted flare and ghosts thanks to Fujifilm’s
original optical calculation software. The Premista 80250mm can be combined with the Premista 28-100mm to form a kit that covers the most frequently-used focal length between 28mm and 250mm, accommodating a variety of scene changes. They share a common front element diameter and threering gear positions, allowing users to use the same accessories such as matte boxes and follow focus. This eliminates the need to readjust accessory positions when changing between these lenses, streamlining operations in frontline video productions. FUJIFILM has also launched the FUJINON LA16x8BRM 2/3-inch Professional 4K lens designed specifically for the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast camera. The LA16x8BRM is compact and lightweight and provides the Blackmagic URSA with 4K and HD resolution. The lens only weighs 1.6kg thanks in part due to its rear focus mechanism design. It also features a new single button electronic flange adjustment with a macro switch function which adds convenience when shooting and performing zoom operations providing a faster and more efficient operation.
The FUJINON Premista 80-250mmT2.9-3.5.
The LA16x8BRM’s macro function allows for closer shooting than MOD up to 0.05 metres, by using the lens’ unique focus ring, and enables spectacular close-up images at 4K resolution. The new lens’ size provides optimal balance with the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast camera and along with 4K performance boasts a 16x zoom ratio suitable for EFP, news and studio shooting. Designed for handheld shooting the LA16x8BRM reduces the weight burden for the camera operator and provides excellent usability. The use of FUJINON accessories enables precise control of the zoom and focus while on a tripod which in turn again enables efficient studio or field-style shooting. Visit www.fujifilm.com
Anton/Bauer DIONIC 26V Batteries
ACQUISITION
ANTON/BAUER RECENTLY INTRODUCED the DIONIC 26V series of cinema batteries. Developed for cinematographers, rental houses, and content creators, these 26V Li-ion batteries offer up to 240 watt-hours of reliable, safe, and efficient power for higher-power-draw cinematic cameras and LED lights. Featuring Anton/Bauer’s new Gold Mount Plus mount, the DIONIC 26V range includes 98-watt-hour and 240-watt-hour batteries, as well as a quad charger, a quad discharger, and a range of mounting plates for connecting to industryleading cameras and LED lighting fixtures.
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The DIONIC 26V series has been designed to drive high-power cinematic cameras such as the ARRI Alexa LF, SXT, and 65, and will also support mobile power for popular LED panels, including Litepanels’ Gemini Soft panels and ARRI’s SkyPanel series. With their lighter weight and more compact form factor, the DIONIC 26V batteries offer greater mobility for camera operators and more versatility for LED placement over tethered power sources
such as AC or block-style batteries. DIONIC 26V batteries can be used as a hot-swappable backup power solution for gear that is using AC power, such as VCLX block-style batteries, eliminating the need to power down cameras or LEDs to change power sources. The DIONIC 26V charger offers rapid charging for both 14.4V and 26V batteries – charging the 98-watt-hour in around 1.5 hours and the 240-watt-hour in around 3.5 hours – a sharp contrast to competing dual-voltage or hybrid batteries that require as much as two to three times this amount of charge time. The DIONIC 26V series also offers a dual-bracket solution that enables up to 480 watt-hours of power (combining two DIONIC 26V 240 batteries), delivering many hours of untethered lighting power for LED panels. Like the other batteries in the Anton/Bauer DIONIC product family, the DIONIC 26V series features ultra-high-strength ABS polycarbonate blend construction that protects the battery and ensures peak performance even in the most
demanding conditions – including extreme heat, humidity, and cold. The battery’s native 26V configuration balances cell usage and reduces the number of circuit boards packed on top of the cells for reduced heat and maximum cycle life. As a result, the batteries can be recharged many more times than other batteries for superior return on investment. The DIONIC 26V’s built-in LCD indicator gives users the confidence to know, down to the minute, the exact runtime and remaining available power for the camera and accessories being powered. In addition, the DIONIC 26V series introduces an all-new Gold Mount Plus mount that not only ensures a durable and secure battery connection, but also prevents users from connecting a 26V battery directly to a 14.4V camera or accessory. The DIONIC 26V 98 watt-hour battery is IATA-certified, making it easier to pack, carry, and transport on an airplane than tethered, block-style batteries. Visit www.antonbauer.com
ACQUISITION & LIGHTING
ARRI Introduces Orbiter Ultra-bright LED Point Source ARRI HAS INTRODUCED ORBITER, a new LED luminaire that the company says is poised to change the way the industry looks at digital lighting. An ultra-bright, tuneable, and directional LED fixture, all systems in Orbiter are completely new and have been designed with versatility in mind. Orbiter’s new six-colour light engine delivers a wide-colour gamut and outstanding colour rendition across all colour temperatures along with industry-leading, smooth dimming from 100 to 0%. With its changeable optics, Orbiter can transform into many different types of lampheads including projection (profile), open face, and soft light. Additional features include a fast processor, ample memory, expanded connectivity, a built-in array of sensors, and weatherproof housing. Orbiter’s versatile design makes it an optimal lamphead for today and for the future, with endless possibilities for updates, configurations, and enhancements.
CHANGEABLE OPTICS
ARRI SPECTRA SIX-COLOUR LED LIGHT ENGINE Orbiter is an extremely bright and powerful, directional LED fixture with an output similar to that of the corresponding HMI systems. Its new high output, yet tunable, ARRI Spectra light engine can create hard shadows with defined edges. Including a red, green, blue, amber, cyan, and lime LED, the ARRI Spectra six-colour light engine translates into a wider colour gamut, more accurate colours, and most importantly, higher colour rendition across the entire CCT range. Skin tones look amazing and natural, and hues are precisely reproduced. Orbiter has a larger CCT range of 2,000 to 20,000 K with ultra-high colour rendition across all colour temperatures. Using a combination of three dimming techniques, Orbiter’s cutting-edge electronics provide smooth dimming down to zero without colour changes or jumps.
LiOS – A NEW LIGHTING OPERATING SYSTEM Orbiter is able to take advantage of more than five years of software development for the SkyPanel. Its new software called LiOS (Lighting Operating System) includes all the innovative and groundbreaking features of the SkyPanel plus others, making Orbiter one of the most fully-featured luminaires on the market. LiOS’s eight-colour modes include CCT, HSI, individual colour, x/y coordinates, gel and source matching, lighting effects, and the new colour sensor mode that measures ambient light and recreates it through Orbiter’s output. Other new features in LiOS include simplified DMX modes, performance-enhancing operational modes, over 240 slots for favourites to be stored, optics recognition, multi-language support, a custom boot screen, and many more still to come.
REMOVABLE CONTROL PANEL With a 4-inch full-colour display, quick navigation buttons, and integrated sensors, the Orbiter control panel allows for easy use with a graphic user interface. Simplified menu structure and re-imagined user interfaces provide one-glance operational views and uncluttered screens. This intuitive design makes changing the colour or finding a setting easier than ever before. In addition, the control panel is removable and can be used handheld with the aid of a five or 15m control panel cable.
ENHANCED CONNECTIVITY Including a full suite of input and output connectors, Orbiter is prepared for digital communication – today and tomorrow. Ethernet daisy chaining is now possible with two EtherCON ports supporting Art-Net 4, sACN, and TCP/IP. Two USB-A ports are used for LiOS updates and connection of thirdparty peripherals such as Wi-Fi USB dongles. LumenRadio’s CRMX solution is included, allowing for wireless DMX. Two 5-pin XLR DMX ports used for conventional DMX and RDM communication in and through, and a 3-pin XLR DC input for 48V power station. An SD Card slot enables future expansion of the software. Finally, a USB-C port is available for computer communication and servicing.
FULL SUITE OF SENSORS Included in Orbiter is a colour sensor for measuring the ambient light, a 3-axis accelerometer and magnetometer for sensing the pan, tilt, roll, and heading of the fixture, heat sensors for keeping the LEDs and electronics at exactly the right temperature, and an ambient light sensor for automatically dimming the control panel display. All these sensors make for a better user experience and increased control over the fixture. Available data improve workflow also in postproduction and service.
ROBUST, WEATHERPROOF HOUSING The outer design of Orbiter meets the demands of heavy, daily usage. A new weatherproof housing enables outdoor application by using an aluminium cast body with bumpers made of reinforced plastic. The handle makes transport comfortable and allows for handheld operation due to perfect balance. Orbiter’s wide range of optics and features allows the fixture to be used in a great variety of applications without compromising quality. Markets such as film and television production, broadcast, theatre and live entertainment, and even still photography are just some examples of environments where Orbiter can be deployed. Visit www.arri.com
ACQUISITION
Changeable optics is the core innovation in Orbiter. With a wide variety of optics to choose from, Orbiter transforms into the perfect light for your application without sacrificing beam, output, or colour quality. The Quick Lighting Mount (QLM) in Orbiter allows for optics with vastly different properties to be attached to the fixture. The high-output, directional beam of the open face optic is ideal for throwing light long distances. The high precision of the projection optics creates a perfect circle of light that can be shaped with cutters, focus, and gobos. The dome optic provides omnidirectional, soft light, great for illuminating large spaces, and a universal QLM adapter creates a direct mounting point for Orbiter-specific Chimera and DoPchoice products. With versatility built in, there is great potential for creating additional optics for different applications.
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ACQUISITION & LIGHTING
ARRI ALEXA Mini LF Camera Ships – Inspires Cinematographers Worldwide AFTER EXTENSIVE TESTING, ARRI quality control has approved the final production software for the ALEXA Mini LF. Cameras featuring this software began shipping duringSeptember. Owners of preproduction cameras can download the updated software and install it on their cameras. “Large format is taking off now,” says Stephan Schenk, Managing Director of ARRI Cine Technik and responsible for ARRI’s Business Unit Camera Systems. “In 2018, when we introduced the ARRI large-format camera system with the ALEXA LF camera, ARRI Signature Prime lenses, and LPL lens mount, the production community was excited to try something new. By now, many have worked with the ALEXA LF and are appreciative of the unique large-format look of our LF sensor. Now that the ALEXA Mini LF is officially shipping, we can offer the perfect team of tools. Together, the fully-featured, high-speed ALEXA LF and the small and lightweight ALEXA Mini LF can tackle any job.” Both cameras share the same large-format sensor based on technology used in all ARRI digital cameras. Therefore both share ARRI’s best overall image quality with the highest dynamic range of any production camera, as well as ARRI colour science for natural colorimetry, pleasing skin tones, clean VFX, and easy colour grading. However, the LF sensor has twice the area of Super 35 sensors for that unique large-format look, increased sharpness, higher contrast, and smoother images combined with a lower noise floor for higher usable sensitivity. The ALEXA Mini LF manages to fit that huge sensor in a Mini-sized body, with many new features like a media bay for the new Codex Compact Drives, a new high-contrast and high-resolution viewfinder with an additional flip-out monitor, internal motorised full spectrum
ND filters, built-in microphones, additional accessory power connectors, genlock sync, and much more. The ALEXA Mini LF records Apple ProRes or ARRIRAW in-camera without any add-ons and runs on 12 or 24 Volts. Since it is almost the same size and weight as the ALEXA Mini, the ALEXA Mini LF is compatible with most ALEXA Mini mechanical and electronic accessories. The LPL lens mount is suitable for ARRI Signature Prime lenses as well as for other manufacturers’ large-format lenses, and the PL-to-LPL adapter allows the use of all PL mount lenses. Using the stand-alone ARRI Wireless Video Transmitter WVT-1, the ALEXA Mini LF can become part of the full ARRI wireless video system. Marc Shipman-Mueller, Product Manager Camera Systems at ARRI, adds: “After we announced the ALEXA Mini LF, demand was so great that we decided to make pre-production cameras available before the official shipping date. We are happy that the pre-production camera’s performance has met our customer’s expectations. ALEXA Mini LFs have been on some spectacular high-end feature films, commercials, and TV series already, and cinematographers are very pleased with the results. All that we have learned from those productions has, of course, been incorporated into the final production software.” Owners of pre-production ALEXA Mini LF cameras will be happy to hear that there have been no
changes to the hardware from pre-production to production. They can download the production software from Arri’s website and update their cameras at any time. Here is a selection of projects that have used or are using the ALEXA Mini LF already: • 1917 – Cinematographer Roger Deakins • Dune – Cinematographer Greig Fraser • Kung Fury 2 – Cinematographer Tom Stern • Chinese Women’s Volleyball – Cinematographer Zhao Xiao Shi • Outlander Season 5 – Cinematographers Stijn Van der Veken and Alasdair Walter • La Bonne Épouse – Cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman and camera operator Benoit Theunissen • Qantas 100th Anniversary commercial – Cinematographer Jeremy Rouse and director Kiku Ohe • Nomad – Cinematographer Kevin Garrison Visit www.arri.com
RED Adds HELIUM and GEMINI Sensor Options to RANGER Camera Line RED DIGITAL CINEMA recently announced that its HELIUM 8K S35 and GEMINI 5K S35 sensors will be incorporated into the RED RANGER camera ecosystem. These two new alternatives create a robust lineup for creators who prefer an integrated, all-in-one system to the more modular RED DSMC2 camera. The RANGER HELIUM 8K S35 and RANGER GEMINI 5K S35 is available now via RED’s global network of resellers, participating rental houses, and directly through RED.
ACQUISITION
All three sensor variants of the RED RANGER system include the same benefits of the compact, standardised camera body, weighing around 3.4kg (depending on battery). The system can also handle heavy-duty power sources to satisfy power-hungry configurations, and boasts a large fan for quiet, more efficient temperature management.
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The RED RANGER camera system consists of three SDI outputs (two mirrored and one independent) allowing two different looks to be output simultaneously, wide-input voltage (11.5V to 32V), 24V and 12V power outs (two of each), one 12V P-Tap, integrated 5-pin XLR stereo audio input (line/mic/+48V selectable), as well as genlock,
timecode, USB, and control. Both V-Lock and Gold Mount battery options are supported. As with all current RED cameras, the RANGER can simultaneously record REDCODE RAW plus Apple ProRes or AVID DNxHD or DNxHR at up to 300 MB/s write speeds. It also features RED’s colour management and post workflow with the enhanced image processing pipeline (IPP2). RED now offers two separate but equally robust product lineups that give content creators more creative choices. The DSMC2 ecosystem continues to provide the most dynamic and modular cinema camera for users who value maximum flexibility, allowing their imaginations to run wild with configuration options. RED RANGER is the perfect option for those that prefer a less complex and more standardised alternative.
RANGER HELIUM and RANGER GEMINI ship with: • New production top handle. • Shimmed PL mount. • New LCD/EVF Adaptor D with improved cable routing when used on the left side of the camera. • New 24V AC power adaptor with 3-pin 24V XLR power cable, which can also be used with 24V block batteries. • Lens mount shim pack. • Compatible hex and torx tools. Visit www.red.com
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www.content-technology.com/sportscasting
Sky NZ Includes Equity in Rugby Broadcast Rights Deal
NEW ZEALAND RUGBY (NZR) and Sky NZ have agreed to a revolutionary new broadcast deal that will see Sky deepen its investment in all levels of rugby and NZR become a shareholder in Sky. NZR and Sky announced the new broadcast agreement which extends Sky’s existing SANZAAR broadcast rights to 2025. The fiveyear agreement includes:
• The rights to broadcast rugby in New Zealand from 2021 to 2025 • A record investment in New Zealand and SANZAAR rugby • New Zealand Rugby becoming a 5% shareholder in Sky The broadcast rights include exclusive coverage of all Investec Rugby Championship, Steinlager Series, Investec Super Rugby, Mitre 10 Cup and all New Zealand’s other domestic competitions, including women’s competitions like the Farah Palmer Cup. NZR Chief Executive Steve Tew said they were delighted with the new agreement which clearly signalled that Sky and NZR had a strong commitment to grow the game. “This is a great result for NZR – we not only have a vastly experienced broadcast partner, but we have a partner prepared to work and invest with us in initiatives that will help grow the game over a prolonged period of time. “For rugby in New Zealand, this is a hugely significant agreement that secures the long-term
financial health of our game.
“I would like to thank Martin and his Board for the confidence they have shown in NZR with this investment and we look forward to continuing to build our long standing and deep partnership as we both face the challenges and opportunities that a rapidly changing broadcast, entertainment and sporting world presents,” Steve Tew said. Sky CEO Martin Stewart said Sky was thrilled with the new partnership and what it meant for Sky’s customers, investors, staff and other New Zealand sport partners. “We are delighted to have secured this superb rugby content for our customers to the end of 2025. Our commitment is to deliver rugby to all New Zealanders in ways that work for them, including streaming, broadcast over our satellite and free-to-air on Prime. “This partnership with NZR cements our shared commitment to nurture and grow the game across all aspects, from grassroots to high performance, and for women, men, boys’ and girls’ rugby. “A special part of this deal is the 5% equity stake that NZR is taking in Sky. We have long known that there is mutual benefit when each of us succeeds, and we’re pleased that NZR is becoming an investor in Sky. “Rugby is a core and significant part of our offer as the Home of Sport. We know it attracts customers to Sky, who then also discover and enjoy the deep range of local and global sport
Sky NZ CEO Martin Stewart.
that we offer. Our renewed partnership with NZR brings value to all of our sport partners, and we’re delighted to have them continuing as part of the Sky family,” Martin Stewart said. Visit www.sky.co.nz
The Switch’s Network Reach in China Delivers Hengshui Lake Marathon
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THE SWITCH WAS PIVOTAL in delivering uninterrupted live linear TV broadcasts and online streaming of the ninth Hengshui Lake International Marathon in September, leveraging its extensive network in China to bring the event to audiences around the globe. Working in partnership with Chinese media production and content packaging company New Force Media, The Switch utilised its established experience and the global reach of its transmission network to deliver flawless coverage to international broadcasters – as well reaching marathon fans worldwide via live streaming websites.
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The long-distance race was the second event in China that The Switch has brought to audiences around the world in recent months, after supporting the global broadcast and streaming of the Lanzhou International Marathon in June. The popularity of long distance and marathon running in China is exploding, with the number of races increasing more than tenfold since 2015; it is expected to drive growth in the sports gear market to $18 billion by 2020 – doubling its value in five years.
Set in one of China’s national nature reserves, the 2019 Hengshui Lake International Marathon attracted some 20,000 professional athletes and running enthusiasts across the full 42km marathon, the half marathon and the 3.1mile fun run on September 22. The Switch coordinated with the event’s broadcast rights holders to deliver content to audiences in China and abroad. In addition, the dedicated over-thetop (OTT) channel for the event was managed by The Switch, which handled everything from set-up to inserts from its Los Angeles control room. “The Hengshui Lake International Marathon shows how The Switch can simplify the production and delivery of broadcast and over-the-top content, taking one live stream and seamlessly building out traditional linear and OTT deliverables,” said Nicholas Castaneda, Senior Vice President of Sales at The Switch. “This is the second marathon in China that we have collaborated with New Force Media on and we are looking forward to working with
them again on more live events. Both projects demonstrate the value of The Switch’s 30 years of experience in bringing connectivity to places others can’t. We have nodes in every major city in China and can help broadcasters and event organisers reach the widest possible audience, anywhere in the world.” Mike Mu, Media Manager at New Force Media, commented: “Sports fans – whether they are following a soccer match or a marathon, watching on a TV or mobile phone – demand first class video images and uninterrupted coverage. Working with The Switch allows us to benefit from their live production experience and robust network performance – regardless of location – to ensure a flawless feed and smooth delivery to broadcasters and online platforms. This is a partnership we value and look forward to continuing as the popularity of international sporting events such as marathons continues to grow in China.” Visit www.theswitch.tv
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The Vattenfall Solar Team and Nuna X solar-powered vehicle.
Streaming Shines a Light on Solar Challenge FOR OVER 30 YEARS, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge has pushed the limits of technological innovation with vehicles powered only by the energy of the sun. The 3000km race from Darwin to Adelaide features race teams of tertiary and secondary students from over 30 countries who “have achieved greatness by engineering and building a vehicle with their own hands and powering it across some of the world’s most challenging landscapes.” On par with the complexity of the automotive and electrical engineering was coverage of the event. Dutch technical video production broadcasting company, Stream My Event, was enlisted by Sweden’s Vattenfall Solar Team to not only capture progress of the team’s vehicle on video, but also operate a mobile IP infrastructure providing two-way data and the ability to stream content back to sponsors in the Netherlands. According to Stream My Event co-founders, Floris Porro and Thom Verdenius, that complexity was greatly reduced through the use of Silvus Streamcaster Radios, Aviwest encoders, and expert support from Amber Technology. You’ve been in Australia with the Vattenfall Solar Team for the Solar Challenge race? Floris Porro: “We were contracted a couple of years ago, by this team. We were asked to provide some form of internet connectivity in the desert. And, so, we went looking for a solution that would allow us to do that. And we found that in the form of a ThinKom terminal - ThinSat 300. We met the guys from ThinKom at NAB Las Vegas, and started brainstorming, how to pull off a project like this, in the Australian outback. And the first time we tried that was in 2015, but we were a little bit late to the party, back then. The first time that actually we were able to pull it off was 2017, where we got the vehicle from Hills that already had one of these terminals on top. We were able to get that up to Darwin, and that drives the solar challenge with it.”
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Your role is to provide them with Internet for what type of functions?
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Floris Porro: “It’s a variety of things actually. Initially in 2017, the primary reason for doing this was to be able to get press and media out to the Netherlands, so that more could be published about the race, and so that all the sponsors, and the all the parties involved can really get their money’s worth of press, make sure we hit the national news everywhere. Because the trouble, as you might imagine, was that it was newsworthy, there just wasn’t any way to bring it out to the world, without hiring super expensive broadcast spectrum, on the broadcast satellite. And, so, we found a solution in this ThinKom terminal, that was multifunctional. So, by providing an IT based solution, rather than a high-quality video platform, we were able to do multifaceted things. We were able to get press releases out, get data in, but also livestream whilst on the go; which is something that had never done before for the World Solar Challenge.”
Stream My Event Co-Founder Thom Verdenius.
Can you talk me through the signal chain for the streaming? Floris Porro: “The satellite vehicle connects up to an Intelsat satellite, the H3E, which is relatively new. And that connects down to a base station in Perth, from Telstra. And from there on we go on to the public internet. And, so, what our video signal chain was like, we had cameras in several vehicles, one of which was a remote controlled. And we used Silvus radios, provided by Amber, to create one large local network, throughout all of the convoy vehicles. We had 12 convoy vehicles, in total. And six of those were equipped with Silvus radios, creating one large local area network that allowed us to stream in cameras from throughout the convoy. And then that all came together in the SAT1 comms vehicle where we were running VMix and we were outputting that to an Aviwest H.265 encoder also provided by Amber. That would go through the satellite link, to Hong Kong, to a cloud base station, if you will. It was an Aviwest streamhub in Hong Kong where it was transcoded to H.264 and sent directly to YouTube and Facebook.” Ross Caston, Amber Technology: “The codec structure of that, by the way just out of interest, was all the cameras were – well except for one actually – all of the core signals were at HEVC. The Aviwest Uplink was HEVC. And in the stream hub in Hong Kong, it was transcoded to H.264, to support the Facebook and YouTube feeds. And that’s the function of the stream hub.” All right, and how was that received back in the Netherlands? Floris Porro: “For as far as the video streaming went, we went to YouTube, and Facebook, and then those links were directly accessible in the Netherlands. Now with files, it’s a little bit more difficult. Because as you’re doing large file transfers on such a distance, the latency really, kind of, affects that >> continues p22
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Canon Scores with Free Viewpoint for Rugby World Cup
DURING SEVEN MATCHES of Rugby World Cup 2019, Canon Inc provided highlight footage created by its Free Viewpoint Video System to the International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS). These video highlights featured viewpoints and angles not possible with conventional cameras, effectively conveying the action of the rugby and delivering an experience that feels like being right on the field. The system comprises multiple high-resolution cameras set up around a stadium, which are connected to a network and controlled via software to simultaneously capture the game from multiple viewpoints. Afterward, image processing technology renders the videos as high-resolution 3D spatial data within which users can freely move a virtual camera around the 3D space, resulting in video that can be viewed from various different angles and viewpoints. Canon created Free Viewpoint Video content during all seven of the tournament matches held at the International Stadium Yokohama. Captured video footage was curated into highlight reels. Generated video was provided to IGBS, who then distributed the content to rights holders for broadcast, streaming, news, sports commentary programs and other forms of content viewing. In addition, content was made available on the Canon homepage approximately 24 hours after the conclusion of each match. Canon says it has continued to refine such aspects of the Free Viewpoint Video System as camera positioning, method of image capture, imageprocessing algorithms and hardware to achieve higher image quality and faster content generation workflows. The system is now capable of delivering high-quality, newsworthy content to broadcasters and content distributors. To view RWC 2019 highlight footage made with Free Viewpoint Video, visit https://global.canon/en/event/rwc2019/special/viewpoint07.html
Australia’s NBL Streams on Twitch
THE HUNGRY JACK’S National Basketball League (NBL) has become the first Australian sporting league to stream games live globally on Twitch, the streaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. Under the two-year agreement, all NBL games will be streamed globally on the NBL Twitch channel. They will also be able to be co-streamed, allowing users to provide unique commentary on their own Twitch channels. NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said: “Our partnership with Twitch is truly revolutionary for Australian sport and reinforces the NBL’s status as a global entertainment product. “Not only does it take our product to an entirely new audience all around the world, but by allowing our games to be co-streamed by members of the Twitch community, it also delivers those games in a new way that is more engaging for that audience.
Head of Sports Verticals at Twitch, Eric Brunner said: “It’s awesome to work with the NBL as the first sports body in Australia to truly understand the power of building a global community on Twitch.” Visit https://nbl.com.au and www.twitch.tv/nbl
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“Equally as innovative is that you’ll be able to do more to engage with the broadcast more than ever before. Delve into live stats, chat with other viewers and with the host of the stream, participate in live Q&A and competitions and even buy merchandise all without having to leave the live game.
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performance. What we did was we created an intermediary server in Sydney, that we were uploading to directly. We were keeping the distance, the travel from the satellite vehicle, to the file server, as short as we could. And then from there, that got synchronised to a server in Frankfurt, and from there it was uploaded to servers in the back office, where the general media themes were waiting on that stuff, and ready to distribute that to media channels.”
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And what was the feedback like, from the Netherlands, in terms of did it meet all their quality requirements, etcetera?
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What’s the productivity difference in using this equipment, as opposed traditional broadcast technology? Floris Porro: “Well, I think, there’s no other technology that would have allowed us to do this. As far as the productivity goes, it wouldn’t have been the same event if it wasn’t for this technology. And it would have been a totally different challenge as well, because without the technology that we had available, our strategy could not have been adjusted to the realities of the moment so much. Like, every 10 minutes we got a weather update from satellites in orbit. And that was all sent in real time to our mission control vehicle, where it was analysed, and the strategy was adjusted for the current situation, the current weather situation.”
Floris Porro: “More so even than we had thought beforehand, because for The Stream My Event “OB truck”. the first time ever the link quality was just perfect the entire race. And we were able to pump out gigabytes and gigabytes of data every day. And everybody was really, really pleased with that. Even more so Now the Vattenfall team, I believe they than that, for the first time ever, we did came to an unfortunate end. a full live stream of the entire challenge. Floris Porro: “Oh, yeah. We were trying From the moment we left Darwin, to the to set up for the most exciting, and close moment when we, kind of, ceremonially conclusion of the World Solar Challenge finished, we were live on YouTube, and ever. We started the day off with a incidentally on Facebook. And that was something that had never been done two-and-a-half minute time difference before, and a side effect of that, that between us, and the last team. And, we weren’t really expecting before, is for reference, two years ago that time that our livestream became the primary difference was several hours. source of information for the Solar “We were driving, and really quite happy Challenge, throughout the Challenge. because we were able to maintain our So, people were coming to us, to seek speed perfectly. And were all set up for Unfortunate end for the Vattenfall Solar Team’s entry. updates on what was going on, where a perfect arrival in Adelaide. And all of a the teams were in the challenge, what was sudden, our driver says on the radio, that he smells something burning. He happening with other teams, at some point I got contacted by someone in the asked the team, is there anything burning nearby? It’s not unusual to drive Bridgestone organisation, who was in their mission control facility, monitoring the entire event. And they had put up our stream on the big screen, in the through a bushfire area, where you can smell that. And the team said, no, it’s front of the room, kind of, monitoring everything that was going on in the race. not a bushfire area, and then maybe five seconds later, the driver goes, ‘I see Because that was their eyes on the ground. That was their only real connection smoke in the cockpit’. And immediately pulls over, opens up the canopy, and to what’s going on in the outback right now. That was really, really cool. And by that point all of our convoy had stopped, we’re talking about a timespan of we had hundreds, and hundreds of viewers throughout the challenge. Some about 10-15 seconds. The rescue crew jumps out, pulls him out of the car in people stayed up for days on end, just sitting and watching the challenge. just about five seconds. And then the car starts rolling, and 15 seconds later it’s And we got a lot of positive feedback about finally being able to see what totally engulfed in flames. And two minutes later, all that’s left is ash. something like this is like.” “We were broadcasting live when this happened, so there’s footage of this. And you said with the Silvus radios created a moving local area network? And we considered cutting the stream there for a moment, but we saw pretty Floris Porro: “That’s right, yeah, we were moving. That was the challenging quickly that the driver was fine, and consulted with our back channels, and they aspect of this as well. We had to deal with not just a moving environment that immediately said no, keep the stream running, we want to keep parents, and is, kind of, hostile to humans. But also, we had to deal with changes in speed, everybody following this involved with what’s going on, and let’s be open about other cars, other traffic coming past, extremely high winds. And the longest this. stretch that we’ve seen, is six kilometres from the first vehicle in the convoy, to “And what followed was the car was rolled into the side of the road, where it the last vehicle in the convoy, where we could still receive a camera feed from the other end of the convoy, without putting that through the Internet. It was was engulfed in flame, and then some of the bush started burning, and before just going over the local network. And the cool thing about what these Silvus we knew it an area of about 50 to 70 square metres as burning. Then the fire radios do there, is they hop. It creates one large mesh network. And if one radio department came in, and put that out, and by the time we were able to get jumps out, it tries to connect via another radio, and it kind of creates a mesh close to the car, all that’s been recovered by now is the motor. The motor in the grid, so that if any one radio moves out of range, the rest are still connected. car. There’s really nothing left of it. And, I think, that’s the harshest part of this. And, so, at some points we had a chain of vehicles all connected, one through This car that the team has spent 14 months building, has just disappeared. And the other, and the signal would have to pass through five different hops before that’s pretty harsh, everyone has a lot of trouble dealing with that.” ending up with our control car.” And how crucial was Amber was to covering this year’s Challenge? And what cameras were you using, I imagine they were fairly miniaturised? Floris Porro:“We would never have been able to pull this off without the Floris Porro: “We had two Silvus Obscura body-cameras, from Amber. We had technology that we gained through Amber, and that they were kind enough a GoPro on the roof of a car. We had a remote-controlled zoom camera, in the to provide. And we have a WhatsApp group, actually, kind of like, both front of mission control. We had a handheld camera, shoulder camera, with a an emotional support group, and tech support group at some point. But, wireless transmitter, sending back good quality footage as well. And then we everybody involved with this project, from the people at ThinKom who built had two drones that we could send off, and receive footage from as well.” the antenna, to the satellite operator down in Perth, to Amber and Silvus, that How did the drones go? have the radios, everyone was present in that WhatsApp group, and supported Floris Porro: “Oh, that was great. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to use it too us, and guided us through this process, as we got ready to start the challenge. I many times, because of limitations this year in regulations. But those times would say they were instrumental in getting everything working, and providing that we sent it up, it was just the most amazing picture, because it’s like you’ve us the technology, and the support, and the know-how to be able to pull this rented a helicopter for the event. It’s honestly, that’s where you really see, kind off. And we’re incredibly grateful.” of, where you’re at. What kind of environment you’re in, and just how crazy that is.”
Visit www.ambertech.com.au and https://streammyevent.com/
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For 13 days, cameraman Rob Koenig-Luck (left) covered the Hong Kong protests, often needing to wear a mask as protection from tear gas. (ABC News)
What It’s Like to Be a News Cameraman Filming the Protests in Hong Kong By ABC Cameraman Robert Koenig-Luck
I’d been waiting for this call for 30 years. I’m a news and documentary cameraman based in Perth, Australia, and surprise phone calls deploying you to a breaking news event happen frequently. But, this was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International desk in Sydney ringing. IN THE MIDDLE OF FILMING a local news story, I’m asked if I can be on my way to the airport in 14 hours with camera equipment, safety gear, gas mask and a helmet. I’ll be covering the Hong Kong protests.
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While I’ve travelled overseas to shoot feature stories before, this will be my first international assignment covering a big, unfolding news story.
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TRAVEL LIGHT, FILE FAST After four hours of packing gear, a night’s sleep and a quick farewell
conversation with my lovely wife (we have a lot of these in this job), I am on a plane with my mind racing. There are a lot of technical requirements to covering news in this fast-paced era. You need to able to quickly adapt to changing situations and this means being very mobile, particularly when covering street protests. The thing I’ve learnt from years of demanding assignments is that if you can’t carry all your kit between two people, it’s too much gear. When filming documentaries there is
no impending deadline, you can take your time. News, on the other hand, demands up-to-date content, delivered as quickly as possible to different platforms and programs. There are always multiple looming deadlines. When I started at the ABC in 1989, there were no mobile phones. Now we can file 24/7 anywhere there is a mobile network. The technology that exists today allows us to buy local sim cards with
data, put them into a “magic box” called a LiveU, and send vision or even go “live”, with a slight delay of around 1.5 seconds, from anywhere in the world. This technology has been a gamechanger. Ten years ago, this kind of newsgathering was only possible with portable satellite equipment weighing 200kg. LiveU weighs only five kilos, has a battery that lasts for about six hours and can go anywhere there is a mobile signal. continues p26>>
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Network 10 Completes Dejero Refresh with Digistor DIGISTOR HAS RECENTLY COMPLETED a refresh of the Dejero cellular blended technology at Network 10 and helped them deploy the latest EnGo and WayPoint equipment at their news operations in Australia. Network 10 carried out extensive evaluations of alternate technology before committing to an entire fleet of Dejero EnGo transmitters and WayPoint receivers. On the increasing prevalence of blended cellular technology, Network 10 BCC Supervisor Rafael Oort explained, “It’s always hard to predict live cross windows in breaking news so booking in satellite windows, as we previously did, became expensive and inefficient and we needed an alternative.” Oort continued, “It could be rapidly deployed while delivering low latency, HD and SD formats and broadcast quality for live or pre-recorded content. The Dejero solution provided high-quality video at low bandwidths, was cost-effective and flexible. It also enabled us to send content either live or via store-and-forward back to the station.” According to Oort the benefits of the Dejero solution didn’t stop there. He added, “The Dejero’s ability to handle poor cellular network conditions is another major bonus. Then there are further benefits in the system’s adaptive bitrate encoding to automatically minimise visual artefacts in footage that goes live to air. Finally, Dejero provide 24/7 support for our camera crews, which is also a must. Our crews are deployed internationally and need to be able to call for technical support around the clock. In other words, the Dejero solution had it all.” Oort has used Dejero solutions for some time and speaks highly of their evolution, adding, “We’ve seen the solution improve significantly over the years. Camera crews are doing live crosses from a backpack, and they’re loving the ability to be agile on location without being tied to a long cable. Their picture quality has also vastly improved. We’re also becoming more confident with Dejero’s bonded technology as it has become more widespread globally.” Having integrated return IFB to remote crews also makes the entire live cross set up much easier to manage from an MCR perspective. Oort continued, “The crews can power on, transmit and be live in a matter of seconds, anywhere in the world, without having to line up cumbersome microwave links and SNGs. This functionality was particularly effective during the last Olympics where, because of the Dejero infrastructure, we were able to deploy multiple crews and file all our stories at minimal cost.”
Oort added, “Typically camera crews file footage from the field either live or store-and-forward the feed for ingestion into 10’s system for editing. With our current fleet of 20 Dejero transmitters, the solution supplements our DENG and SNG resources and provides more live content from the field domestically and internationally. A single camera person can be deployed at short notice and be live from anywhere in the world. Fast, flexible and efficient.” Visit www.digistor.com.au
NEWS OPERATIONS
Network 10 is using their new Dejero solution for the delivery of live and pre-recorded HD and SD news and sport content and for their production programmes.
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NEWS OPERATIONS
ABC Journalist Kathryn Diss did multiple live crosses from the airport protest. (ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck)
ABC Journalist Greg Jennett at work as the portable LiveU unit feeds out footage via the mobile phone network. (ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck)
>> from p24
IT’S HOT AND HUMID I land in Hong Kong at 3:00pm and hit the ground running, meeting our South-East Asia correspondent Kathryn Diss at Wan Chai to film a piece-to-camera.
We catch our breath. We stop to make a new plan. We check when’s our next deadline.
After a four-hour standoff with police, there are no significant clashes.
Protesters have used improvised materials to block the roads feeding into a five-way roundabout.
I can see already that staying hydrated is going to be very important.
I go to bed about 1:00am.
Our personal safety is always our top priority and you have to think ahead in these kinds of volatile situations.
A few minutes later she’s woken up – the audio’s failed to send and the producer at AM had no choice but to phone.
We are constantly scanning the surrounds for images that best describe what is happening, best tell the story.
Back to sleep. It’s the calm before the storm.
I am in my element – the scenes are a visual feast.
The next afternoon, we travel to Tai Po, about 50 minutes from central Hong Kong, closer to the Chinese border, to follow a big march.
We are scheduled to do 10 live crosses into ABC 7pm News bulletins in every capital city but the signal is poor because of the large number of people in the arrival’s hall and users on the mobile network. We quickly scramble to higher ground where the signal is better but it’s still not strong enough. It’s already 6.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, so we
CHAOS ERUPTS ON THE STREETS
Because of our live cross demands, we’ve got extra gear. We walk two kilometres with the marchers and then set up on the side of the road in the shade. Kathryn knocks off another 10 live crosses and just as she’s finishing up we see a large group of protesters moving to the metro train station nearby.
It’s all over as quickly as it began.
STAYING SAFE WHILE COVERING THE STORY
When we arrive, things have escalated.
Kathryn stays up until 2.30am cutting a radio current affairs piece for ABC Radio’s AM programme before hitting the sack.
Under pressure she delivers, describing the scene before us.
We hail a taxi and Kathryn files radio copy on the way.
Then, we head back into the city to cover the evening protests.
Camera operators and photographers look at the world in a different way to others.
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The signal starts to improve and we manage to shoot half of the crosses live.
Our local fixer, who is monitoring social media, has discovered that the group is heading to Tai Wai, about 30 minutes away.
I’ve been to Hong Kong on holidays, but not for work, and trying to move 25 kilograms of gear around the busy streets, in 33° heat and 90% humidity, is a challenge.
Day two and we are at the airport where three days of planned protests start.
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quickly shoot a piece-to-camera (known as an “as live”) and feed it back on a 20-second delay.
We learn that the protesters have moved on to Nathan Road police station and we jump in a taxi to follow. The next scene is unbelievable.
Kathryn and I quickly don gas masks and helmets.
The protesters have blocked a busy road in a major luxury shopping district.
There is already a cloud of tear gas in the air and we find a safe place to the side of the melee where I can get shots.
As shoppers walk by with bags of expensive purchases, tear gas canisters are fired into the group of protesters.
The scene before me is surreal!
Protesters and shoppers flee.
Bursts of tear gas, police with riot shields, protesters dressed like ninjas with yellow helmets and gas masks, and laser pointers cutting through the gas clouds.
We find a safe vantage point.
After a few minutes, I find it’s not easy to shoot with the gas mask on in the heat and humidity. To be effective, the mask needs to make a tight seal on your face. Being hotter in this environment is the last thing you need but it’s better than breathing in the gas or being hit in the face by a projectile. Kathryn does three PTC’s back to back.
With the mask still on, Kathryn does another PTC, delivering a great summation of the scene before us. I say to Kathryn: “Hey, this place is literally a riot!” We both laugh. It breaks the tension for a moment. A few minutes later, I am filming police arresting citizens on the street. About 50 news crews are all trying to get the same shot of a women being arrested, it feels like I’m playing hooker again in the
NEWS OPERATIONS
ABC Journalist Kathryn Diss editing a radio story on the run in the back of a taxi. (ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck)
been reported attacking the media.
It’s close to midnight.
We arrive to learn that violent scenes erupted at Causeway Bay just after we left.
We need to get back to our hotel and start editing and feeding vision. About 2:00am we are done and head to bed.
We head back into the subway and follow a large group of protesters on the move.
PROTESTERS CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE
As we are about to exit the Tai Koo station, all the elevators are shut down.
It’s pretty much the same unpredictable chaos in the following days. This is a very difficult story to cover as the protestors break up into smaller groups and are constantly on the move, travelling around on the metro train service.
We walk three steep, 30-metre flights of stairs. Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it does! Three vans come speeding up the road, riot police pour out and start firing tear gas at protesters.
The only way for us to keep up with them is to follow on foot and by train.
Here we go again.
We strip back our gear to lighten the load.
The next day, Monday, the protesters head back to the airport for a huge sit-in.
One day, we follow the protesters on the metro for hours, visiting five different locations all over Hong Kong. We learn that for the first time, police have used tear gas inside a metro station 40 minutes away.
PRIVILEGE OF TELLING IMPORTANT STORIES
Tensions are high after the violent clashes with police over the weekend and there is a rumour they may enter the airport with tear gas. We don’t believe it but can’t completely discount it.
the fatigue, but reinforcements are on the way – Greg Jennett is flying in from Canberra and China correspondent Bill Birtles and cameraman Steven Wang are travelling from Beijing - and we’ll work with them for a few more days. Kathryn and I take the opportunity to wind down and enjoy a relaxed meal together but as long as we are here we remain on alert. This means when you sleep, the phone is never on silent. Before you go to bed, the camera gear is charged and laid out ready to go, you choose the clothes you’ll wear tomorrow, you check how much credit is on the pre-paid local sim card and when it expires. You eat well, drink plenty of water, get as much sleep as you can. The intensity of living at this pace is amazing and a little addictive. The highs and lows are extreme but great colleagues keep you grounded. They become your work family. Kathryn and I laughed that we’d spent more time together over the course of two weeks than we usually do with our partners at home.
We try to get there but trains are stopped.
I take a video of the crowd from our high position and tweet it.
We hear there has been a clash at another place, Causeway Bay, and we make our way there but there’s nothing happening, so we go to another location, North Point, where pro-Beijing supporters have
The 10-second video gets over 30,000 views in the next couple of days.
But when you get to tell important stories, and share the experience with great mates, it’s the best job in the world.
The airport sit-in goes on for another day.
* This article was first published on ABC
Kathryn and I are starting to feel
babackstory
Sometimes the job is literally a riot.
Backstory www.abc.net.au/news/about/
NEWS OPERATIONS
We learn that the protesters have moved on to Nathan Road police station and we jump in a taxi to follow. The next scene is unbelievable. The protesters have blocked a busy road in a major luxury shopping district. As shoppers walk by with bags of expensive purchases, tear gas canisters are fired into the group of protesters. Protesters and shoppers flee.
front row of a rugby scrum.
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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction
Method Studios’ VFX Fuel Action in John Wick: Chapter 3
THE THIRD INSTALMENT of Liongate’s high adrenaline franchise, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, finds super assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run with a $14 million price tag on his head. Hotly pursued by bounty hunters, Wick must pull out all stops from his deadly bag of tricks. Re-teaming with Director Chad Stahelski, Method Studios Melbourne helped amplify the film’s action, using digital artistry to raise the stakes and shatter a ton of CG glass in the process. Method VFX Supervisor Glenn Melenhorst worked closely with Production VFX Supervisor Rob Nederhorst to craft complex sequences that seamlessly unfold at breakneck speed. “This film carries the distinct John Wick look throughout most action scenes in how the muzzle flashes, blood spatter, bullet holes, clothing squibs and such are stylised, and we drew from that established visual language for our work,” Melenhorst explained. “Having previously established Chad’s aesthetic for those elements, we were able to focus our attention on tackling challenges inherent to working with a complex environment made largely out of glass. We had a lot of fun on this project and loved collaborating with Rob.” To keep the visuals authentic and grounded, a small amount of practical glass was used on-set when safe, including a sequence in which Wick faces down would-be assassins in a corporate highrise. Augmenting plate footage shot on location, Method digitally inserted an extended New York skyline, which is composited into many layers of practical reflections, removed crew reflections, and added digital doubles to blend shots or for more
dangerous manoeuvres. The team also completed a considerable amount of shattering CG glass, which was fundamental to the glass office block sequence and key to achieving Wick’s intimate knife fight in a narrow hallway. “For safety reasons, the cabinet glass and knife throwing scenes were done in CG, though production wanted to maintain a high level of tension. Choreographing the knife-throwing sequence was surprisingly involved and required a lot of planning. We had to figure out where the knife would land and also determine which panes
of glass to break and how,” said Melenhorst. Method also helped create a fully CG New York alley, and the urban chase sequence, during which Wick races down a traffic-lined bridge on horseback while pursued by a gang of sword-wielding motorcyclists. While Melenhorst and his Method team are known for awarding-winning CG horse work, their efforts for this sequence focused on removing safety rigging and protective barriers used to film a practical horse as well as adding CG motorbikes and riders, and CG vehicles. Visit www.methodstudios.com
Adobe Announces Next Generation of Creative Cloud ADOBE HAS UNVEILED a redesigned Creative Cloud desktop app, which offers a more intuitive way to access, update, discover and learn Adobe apps. The update includes a powerful, native search engine, which searches across all Creative Cloud assets and files, and access to tutorials. It also features new ways to access services such as Adobe Fonts, Adobe Stock and Behance, as well as a new full-screen management tool for Creative Cloud Libraries. Premiere Pro now features Auto Reframe which uses Adobe Sensei technology to analyse footage
and apply intelligent panning and cropping to keep the action in the frame. This feature is designed to save creators hours of mundane tasks so they can spend time being more creative. After Effects now features significant performance updates with smooth, fluid playback of cached previews, faster Multichannel EXR files and a faster Content-Aware Fill that uses half as much memory. As augmented reality, 3D and voice are adopted by creatives and consumers alike, the company
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Jellyfish Production Servers
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KYNO MAM
has released Adobe Aero, which empowers users to easily create immersive content that blurs the line between digital and physical worlds. Aero helps users create augmented reality experiences by leveraging familiar tools like Photoshop and Dimension to produce creations that pop in an immersive, three-dimensional environment. The company is also actively integrating the recently acquired Substance suite – the standard for 3D material and texture design - into the Adobe family, with additional details coming next year. Visit www.adobe.com
P5 Archiware Archive Solutions Aruba, HPE Switches and NAS
OWC, Akitio, Sonnet, Promise Adapters - TB3, eGPU, PCIe, 10GbE, SFP+ Reseller and Systems Integrator
www.labspace.com.au
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Boris FX Silhouette 2020 BORIS FX SILHOUETTE, the singular rotoscoping and paint tool used by top feature film and visual effects teams, is having a banner year. Silhouette 2020 marks the first major release since winning a Sci-Tech Academy Award (Feb 2019), joining Boris FX’s award-winning product family (Sept 2019), and winning an Engineering Emmy Award (Oct 2019). Silhouette 2020 builds upon the industry’s most robust rotoscoping, non-destructive paint, tracking, and compositing tools with new customer-requested features, improvements to core functionality, and new VFX workflows for a more streamlined user experience. Silhouette 2020 highlights include: • Roto tools & improvements: Speed up advanced rotoscoping and manual keyframing tasks with new magnetic spline tools with edge-snapping, a freehand selection tool for interactive point control selection, weighted keyframing to change the timing of shape animations, and a new RotoOverlay display to visualize shape animation by previewing motion path, motion blur or onion skin. • Paint tools & improvements: New brushes (Dodge, Burn, Detail) and detail separation improve retouching, cleanups, and matte painting with preserved details. A new Detail Separation workflow allows artists working on advanced cloning and beauty work to paint separately or simultaneously on colour and detail layers. • Integrated Mocha planar tracker now included: Silhouette 2020 upgrades and new licenses now have access to Boris FX Mocha’s Academy Awardwinning tracker to complement Silhouette’s native planar track and point tracker. The Mocha tracker was previously only available as a paid option. • Silhouette and Mocha Pro plugin bundle: Customers can now upgrade or purchase the Mocha Pro 2020 plugin for Silhouette as a bundle, adding valuable advanced tracking and compositing workflows including lens
calibration, GPU-accelerated object removal, new mega plates, stereo 360/ VR workflow, and the ability to export tracking and roto data to industrystandard VFX and editing hosts. • Improved compositing and interface enhancements: New DOD (Domain of definition) node passes larger/smaller-than-session size sources through a project, Extract Detail node separates an image into colour and detail layers, a streamlined workspace, multiple viewers, and more interface updates. • Upgrade and Support: Silhouette is now part of the Boris FX annual upgrade and support (U&S) program designed to make upgrading and budgeting more convenient. Customers on a current U&S plan have access to the latest available features, increased licensing flexibility, and technical support. Each purchase of a new license or an upgrade includes the 12-month U&S plan. Boris FX licensing: Silhouette 2020 implements Boris FX RLM licensing and can now be purchased on the Boris FX webshop. Visit https://borisfx.com
Deluxe Completes Restructuring, Names New CEO DELUXE, ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING content creation to distribution companies, has announced that it has completed its comprehensive restructuring and has appointed Eric Cummins as the company’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO). As a result of the restructuring and successful emergence from Chapter 11, Deluxe has shed more than 75 percent of its debt and obtained $115 million in new financing. Effective immediately, Cummins will succeed Deluxe’s current CEO, John Wallace, who is retiring after nearly 35 years in the media and entertainment industry.
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“With an optimised balance sheet and significantly less debt, Deluxe is wellpositioned to carry on its unparalleled legacy, and we are pleased to appoint Eric as CEO,” said Gregg Bresner, member of Deluxe’s Board of Directors. “He has been instrumental in completing the comprehensive refinancing, and we are confident that he is the right person to lead the company forward.”
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“I couldn’t be more excited to take on this role, and I look forward to carrying on Deluxe’s reputation of delivering for clients as we continue to build a technology platform that enables media and entertainment companies to create and deliver content globally,” said Eric Cummins, CEO of Deluxe. Cummins’s appointment expands his current role as Chief Financial Officer of Deluxe. He
Pond5 Launches Marquee Premium Content for Creative Agencies
POND5, one of the world’s largest royalty-free video marketplaces, has announced the launch of Marquee, a new content collection on Pond5, made up entirely of premium-quality footage, found exclusively on Pond5 and hand curated to appeal to the most high-end creative agencies in the world.
New Deluxe CEO, Eric Cummins.
brings more than 20 years of strong leadership and operational experience to the role. During the restructuring process, Kirkland & Ellis, LLP acted as legal counsel for the Company, PJT Partners acted as its financial advisor, and AlixPartners acted as its restructuring advisor. FTI Consulting, Inc. acted as financial advisor for a majority group of its senior lenders, and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP acted as its legal counsel. Visit https://www.bydeluxe.com/
Each piece of content in the exclusive Marquee collection is shot by experienced filmmakers, such as Warren Miller Entertainment, Shannon Wild, Francisco Aliwalas, and Corey Jenkins, and hand curated by a team of skilled creative professionals with the needs of top agencies, production companies and Fortune 500 brands in mind. Agencies can view the entire Marquee Collection on Pond5.com or explore a curated set of content below: • Travel – travel-themed content featuring lush footage of adventure, relaxation, nature, and more • Fitness and Wellness – inspiring clips of selfimprovement and self-empowerment • Business – business-themed content appealing to diverse industries across healthcare, technology, small business and more • Food – mouth-watering close-ups of food, food preparation and mealtime • Connections – footage of our connected universe of work, friends and family around the world • Adventure – an extreme view from the highest peaks to the lowest caverns Visit www.pond5.com
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Controlling the Flow at WETA Digital Matt Holmes, Supervising Visual Effects Editor with Weta Digital talks pipelines, tech evolution and getting into the industry. By Phil Sandberg regularly. So, you pretty much have to get on to those right away because if the shots been trimmed or it’s been shortened, you don’t want to be rendering out extraneous frames that aren’t going to make it into the film. So, the more we can get on top of those things, get that information up to the company, it can save us time, save us money.
Where does Avid fit into the pipeline then?
“Equally, if something’s been extended, then we need to get back, maybe we need to extend the scan plates, get those turned around as fast as possible and out into the next department there online, which should be camera, imaging department, and then, from there, to whoever it is, compositing or animation. So, editorial’s really the key component, the start of that information flow and then the magic happens elsewhere.”
“It’s our main tool for bringing in editorial information from the client, breaking that down and passing it on to the rest of the company. So, obviously, we receive a sequence, a turnover, if you like, from the client. It contains a number of VFX shots in-situ. So, the sequence could contain drama and visual effects, we’ve got context around the visual effects and some of those visual effects containers, if you like, it could be layers of elements, foreground elements, background elements and our job is to break that down and give it to the company in a way that makes sense to the visual effects artists. So, it’s the start of the pipeline and it’s the end because we’re, at the other end, delivering media back to the client editorial to cut in. That loop of information just carries on through the course of the movie. Any changes that are made, if shots are shortened, extended, we have to know about those as quickly as possible. “Using [Avengers] Endgame, as an example, that towards the end got fairly – as a lot of films do – frenetic with the changes. Updates were coming through, updated sequences coming through
How important is Avid for collaboration, keeping everyone on the same page? Yeah, within the company, it’s not quite as free flowing as it could be. I think we have to do quite a bit of translation of, say, Avid effects into the world of Nuke or Maya, for example. AAF exports can get you part of the way and that’s come on in leaps and bounds - way better than you can do with an old-fashioned EDL. So, we’re able to translate some effects quite easily using that sort of format but sometimes we literally, for retimes, speed change kind of effects, where we’re literally mapping what is in the Avid timeline, we’re mapping that on to the high res – the EXR frames that the rest of the company will be using. So, we’re translating those effects into something
which is then put through the rest of the pipeline and put through a comp and then you translate it into a format that works for WETA. “At a very basic level, people will be eye-matching the reference that we put out from there. If there’s been some kind of effect or a re-size or something’s repositioned within the Avid by client editorial, then at least with what we’ve put out as a template for that shot then can eyeball it and go, ‘Great, how am I going to match that?’
“Using [Avengers] Endgame, as an example, that towards the end got fairly – as a lot of films do – frenetic with the changes. Updates were coming through, updated sequences coming through regularly. So, you pretty much have to get on to those right away because if the shots been trimmed or it’s been shortened, you don’t want to be rendering out extraneous frames that aren’t going to make it into the film.
“Sometimes the editorial, client editorial, have done a great job with the information they provide us and the break down they give us and sometimes we’re dealing with not much at all and it literally is a bit of a no-match situation.”
continues p32 >>
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A WETA DIGITAL VETERAN SINCE 1995, Matt Holmes has seen and been a part of the development of modern visual effects that are now essential to the fabric of TV and cinema storytelling. Holmes’ team forms the workflow on-ramp and off-ramp for the VFX pipeline at WETA Digital, and integral to their work are a range of Avid technologies.
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“Well, WETA’s got quite a good program they’ve instituted over the last few years. They’ll be bringing people, youngsters mostly, from various colleges and technical institutes and design schools and put them through what we call this ATD course, which is an Assistant Technical Director course. From there, they don’t really necessarily get to pick and choose, but that’s a good pathway in for perhaps more technically minded people.
Given the global nature of VFX production, do you take a leading role where you’re coordinating with other facilities?
“More so now than we have in the past. We have to share assets among companies now. We might get an asset from ILM, for example, or Framestore or somewhere like that. Because we’re sharing within the same sequence, we might be doing one portion of the shot and another company’s doing another portion of the shot. We may be doing a creature in it and passing that creature over to another company or vice-versa. So, it’s interesting actually because it didn’t used to be the case but the last few years it’s definitely more sharing of that sort of thing depending on the nature of the movie really.” “Part of the key of sharing some of these assets, a creature, for example, is what a company has done, whatever software was used to create that asset has to be translated into the WETA pipeline so that it looks exactly the same. The dragons, for example, from Game of Thrones, they’re already made and used and well known so we couldn’t go changing the design or anything and the assets will work in our pipeline and then maybe some tweaks along the way just to make them look even better. “With Avid, in that sort of case, we’re still just sharing editorial information, they’re still the basic shot. It may come to us with a version from another company will come in. So, MPC may have been working on a shot. They’ve been sending iterations of that shot back to the client and then they send it to us and it’s come through and it’s got MPC on it and that becomes our template.
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For you, what are the notable evolutions you’ve seen in the industry?
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“Well, from film to digital technology and then the proliferation of camera formats has just exploded, hasn’t it? You look around and you seem to have half-a-dozen different camera formats in the one show from the Go Pros through to Sony F55s or F5s or ARRIs, REDs, all sorts of things. We’ve got drone cameras as well, DJI, OSMO. You have to deal with them in the same way that you would if you’ve got a really high-end 4K image coming in
off a RED and you’ve got some off a Go Pro, they still have to end up in the same format that the working format, the working resolution that the show is, that being EXR. “Then, of course, stereo and higher frame rates. Those sort of things in terms of the editorial pipeline would be quite big. When I started, we were dealing with digitised VHS tapes with the rushes and we were putting those in for the Lord of the Rings into the Avid on an old beige Mac. And, so, it’s moved on from there, but as we’ve stuck with Avid, they’ve developed as well and come through with incredibly shared storage options from a RAID stack to a LAN Share to a Unity. Now we’re on ISIS 5500. The next step will be Nexis. We’re running Interplay for production management, media, so that enables us to collaborate a little bit amongst the facilities, but editing is still the same. You’ve still got a bunch of images you have to cut together with some sound to tell a story, so that’s never going to change really, but the way we get there certainly has.” How do you view on-premise storage and media management, as opposed to the cloud? “I’d love to use the cloud a bit more at times because, as the media manager for our Interplay ISIS system, I can be juggling things around a little bit with storage and if there’s things that I know won’t be accessed for a while, I’d love to be able to offline some of them into the cloud, or maybe even collaborate more with our clients through the cloud would be amazing. Unfortunately, there’s a level of risk regarding security, even though there’s every accreditation under the sun that the security is locked down and solid, I think there’s still a level of trust that maybe a little bit lacking for us with the cloud at the moment.” OTT platforms are starting to prescribe certain standards when it comes to deliverables. How does that impact on you? “We’ve always had to follow whatever the clients ask in terms of deliverables so that won’t change. There may be more required but, at the very end of the day, we’re delivering the highest possible quality images we can, whether that’s a 2K, 4K, in OpenEXR format, and that gives the client at the other end the ability once they’ve done the conform and the mastering and their grade, they can take that and do whatever they like with it as long as we’re giving them the best possible format - and we are.
really 3.8K standard and that’s been the format they want for deliverables or they require for deliverables and that’s a logical step, it’s a logical evolution, so I can see it happening. I don’t know when and where, but that will happen for sure.” Where do you see the next generation of VFX artists coming from and where do those aspiring artists need to put themselves in order to become part of the industry? “Well, WETA’s got quite a good program they’ve instituted over the last few years. They’ll be bringing people, youngsters mostly, from various colleges and technical institutes and design schools and put them through what we call this ATD course, which is an Assistant Technical Director course. From there, they don’t really necessarily get to pick and choose, but that’s a good pathway in for perhaps more technically minded people. People also starting production as junior production assistants and then branch out into an area that they feel interested in after they’ve been there a while. People can start as runners, also, and with very little knowledge. They just get a foot in the door. I’ve taken a couple over the years, a couple of runners and one of them now is one of my senior VFX editors and he just really forced his way in and did the dirty work. So, you have on the job training and you’re good to go. “There’s definitely pathways in, but there are levels of complexity with visual effects where you’ve got to be up with a PhD to do some of what’s required. When you start developing some of the software that we’re using internally, there’s some very, very, very smart people there. So, yeah, all sorts, but just keep plugging away, you might get lucky. I got in through luck. I knew someone and that’s typical of New Zealand. It’s a pretty small place and I happened to know someone who was the partner of the guy who was the producer at WETA at the time so, yeah, that’s how I started.” Getting back to Avid. Its customer association is unique in generating feedback on feature sets and so forth. What would make your life easier?
There’s a push in Japan towards 8K. Do you see that filtering further afield?
“I find myself sitting there, thinking about this would be quite good and then suddenly it’s turned up. But, having the direct line to some people at Avid who I’ve met over the years, and not necessarily getting on the phone and demanding features, but passing things up through the pipeline and that’s not just me, this is other people in Wellington, like Peter Jackson’s editors. They’ve been probably more vocal than me over the years because their demands probably even pre-dated what I needed, for example, with The Hobbit, the higher frame rates and what have you. So, they’ve been very responsive and just responsive to the industry in general. For a while, it seemed like there wasn’t much development happening and then over the last five years, it seems to have exploded. So, for me personally, this new release is really awesome because the OpenEXR support and the ACES workflow, those sort of things, if we can incorporate those a bit into the pipeline, it’s quite exciting.”
“I can see that definitely. I mean, I think Netflix are probably pushing on for the 4K standard or
Visit www.avid.com and https://www.wetafx.co.nz/
“In terms of editorial stuff, we still do it in the background, DNX, Quicktimes, Pro Res or Avid Media and whatever codec format, bitrate they. That’s been pretty solid over the years and I think I’d be surprised if we had to start delivering multiple formats for other platforms because it’s not really our responsibility at the end of the day, I don’t think. We just have to make sure we’re delivering the highest possible standard we can which enables them to go off and if they want to do an H.264 to play on an iPhone, they can.”
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Outsource – Insource: The Changing Face of Service Provision in the Media Industry. By Julian Wright, Blue Lucy founder
As another production and media content supply chain operator files for bankruptcy, and with some big names rushing out of the market, we examine what went wrong for outsourcing in media and broadcast, and what the emerging business models look like. Outsourcing is the slightly ugly portmanteau of ‘outside’ and ‘resourcing’ which has sadly, and probably wrongly, become synonymous with large, private firms making lots of money by providing services to publicly funded government bodies. Actually, it’s unlikely that these outsourced capabilities would be any more cost effective if they were managed internally as a public service function, but broadly there is the perception that the outsourced service provider has the best end of the deal. In our industry, broadcasters started outsourcing the linear playout function in the 90s – leading to a significant number of service providers springing up or divesting from the bigger broadcasters. These new service providers could make a simple economies of scale business case to investors – because playout is largely the same for broadcaster A as it is for broadcaster B, by centralising the function they could provide services to both broadcaster A and B without a proportional rise in cost. This model also offered the potential for external service providers to increase their earnings by providing additional services, particularly mandated services – including subtitling, audio description and visual signing. The unspoken view was that once broadcaster A was signed up for a five-year term for playout, they would also be locked in for the provision of as-yet unforeseen, and crucially, un-priced ancillary services which may be mandatory in the future. This opportunity has grown significantly in recent years with commercially motivated ancillary services from ‘red button’ to OTT becoming an increasingly important part of the broadcaster’s offering. The outsourcing model quickly spread further up
the production chain – to content preparation, compliance, versioning, format conversion etc. – and the industry perception was that these service providers had a lucrative business model. But now, as more operators flee the market or go into administration, the question is why did such apparently robust, indeed lopsided business models fail, and what is replacing them?
An Overly Competitive Market Many of the problems stemmed from the basic issue that the supply-side of the market rapidly became too crowded, and is therefore now overly competitive. The broadcasters, aware they have the upper hand in the service tendering process, are able to drive down the price to barely sustainable levels with one hand, whilst setting out punitive measures for transgressions of operational service levels (which they were unable to achieve when they directly owned the operational function) with the other. Perhaps relying on the promise of the ancillary services up-sell opportunity and economies of scale, the service providers accede to these pressures and agree to deals that have an attractive top line, but a dangerously openended set of costs. Not only do the service providers sign up to tight-margin deals, they also allow their broadcaster customers to dictate the technology that is to be used in the provision of service. This has resulted in facilities being forced to run different playout engines and different transmission automation systems for different clients. This completely negates the economy of scale business case and actually drives up costs for resourcing and training. Some of these costs are passed back to the broadcasters so the model in part represents an equipment financing package.
Rushed Implementations = Sub-Optimised Workflows = High Operational Costs Invariably the contract negotiations and award run late, but the commencement of service date does not move – either for a new operation or migration of services. This puts extraordinary pressure on the service provider who can either agree to a compressed implementation schedule or risk losing the deal. Having spent potentially tens of thousands on the bid process already, invariably the service provider will convince themselves that by ‘throwing resources’ at the problem they can get the operation on-air in time. The first casualty of this approach is always the operational business modelling in the context of people, process and data mapped to the services that have been sold. Without a service and operating model there is a rush to buy kit due to those (false) long delivery lead times. But without an operating model, the only way to build an operational workflow which can service the contract is with humans. Potentially lots of them. The stance on this is that “we will build properly defined and automated processes as soon as we are in operation and generating revenue, the staffing level is only temporary”. In reality, having spent money to get into service, there is reluctance to spend more on what is seen as re-engineering, particularly if this highlights that some of the equipment purchased only weeks before is inappropriate. The staff – usually experienced and therefore fairly expensive contractors – are retained, and the business model is further compromised. The operation enters service with the provider on the back foot. Then the real pressure starts. Genuine Partnerships are More Effective than Asymmetric Master/Servant Relationships A modern broadcast operation, from raw material arrivals through to consumer delivery, Continues p34>>
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM
The Rise of Outsourcing
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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM >> continued from p33
is increasingly complex. But the contracts between the broadcaster and service provider don’t accommodate the changing nature of the industry or the inherent risk associated with ‘leading edge’ consumer experience. With the broadcaster’s operational margin also under pressure and all costs closely monitored, service managers run their contracts tightly, but account management is adversarial in too many cases. Frankly, the broadcasters need to recognise that outsourced operations need to be managed as true partnerships, or else more operators will exit the market – which will ultimately hurt the broadcaster.
We have an industry in genuine disarray
with long-standing
names cutting their
losses and leaving the market, filing for bankruptcy
protection or in full administration. As
with most failures
there is no single cause
We have an industry in genuine disarray with long-standing names cutting their losses and leaving the market, filing for bankruptcy protection or in full administration. As with most failures there is no single cause. The overused and somewhat glib term ‘management failures’ fits as well here as it did to the manufacturing industry in 1970s Britain, in that apportioning blame is complex, and that new and robust business models are evolving from the maelstrom.
Emerging Operating Models
This year we have delivered a number of projects that are not just concerned with a technology refresh – a new MAM and new storage architecture – but with implementing new business and operational models. These are true operational transformation projects which are based on operating models that may indicate a new approach in the industry.
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM
These projects concern either media operators and broadcasters who are bringing an operational function back ‘in-house’ using SaaS platforms or service providers who, in addition to managed services, are providing PaaS (Platform as a Service) on a self-service basis. These emerging hybrids of outsourced technology and in-house operational resourcing are increasingly common, and afford a number of significant
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operational and business benefits. Broadcasters and content owners are taking back control of their operations, principally to gain flexibility which was stymied in the fully outsourced model. In a self-service PaaS model, workflows can be built and proven in a few hours and any additional operational costs are quickly forecast and only incurred when the workflow is in service. Overall the contracts are looser, in a helpful way, and allow a model in which services can be migrated in a controlled manner. The approach means that operators can start small, prove the concept and operational flow, then transfer services incrementally. This greatly reduces risk and contrasts markedly with signing up to a five-year term on the basis of the operational needs of the day the contract is signed. Similar to the fully outsourced service model there is no need for the broadcaster or content owner to invest in infrastructure and costs are incurred in cyclical billing, or, better still, on a per-use basis. Most cloud-based platforms are constantly evolving so operators benefit from access to the latest technology, and integration with other on-line service platforms is also straightforward and, therefore, rapidly proven. In cases where the service provider is offering a self-service PaaS, they may augment this by providing additional managed and resourced services to cover specific functions (like promo production) or to extend scale – such as providing editing capabilities during sports events. By operating on the same platform as the self-service provision, the service provider contribution is transparent and can work directly alongside the broadcasters’ internal teams.
2020 and Beyond There are very clearly significant problems with the outsourced business models in media and broadcast. Perhaps this was the case from the very beginning and the issues were previously masked with cheap debt. More broadcasters and content owners are bringing media operations functions in-house but utilising third party provisioned SaaS and PaaS to facilitate the technology.
Audio Network Harnesses Artificial Intelligence with Singapore’s Musiio AUDIO NETWORK LIMITED, one of the world’s largest independent creators and publishers of original high-quality music for use in film, television, advertising and digital media, has signed Singapore-based startup Musiio to equip it with an added interface to its existing search platform, and enhanced the discoverability of its catalogue of over 170,000 tracks. Musiio is an artificial intelligence company which uses machine learning technology to focus on B2B audio reference search, automated tagging and playlisting tools for the music industry. Established by Briton Hazel Savage and Swedish CTO Aron Pettersson, the company was founded in June 2018. Musiio provides a new way of ‘listening’ to music at scale, easily searching up to one million tracks in under two seconds and supercharging a team of music researchers to increase their efficiency in responding to music briefs. “AI has been on the fringes of the music industry for the last few years, with talk of labels signing algorithms. But recently, more commercial and practical uses of this powerful computing technology have begun to surface,” explained Musiio CEO and co-founder, Hazel Savage “This deal demonstrates how AI and technology companies like ours can work with a company like Audio Network to protect everything that is great about the music industry, the personal touch, the knowledge of experts, and also to create tools that let the team step up to the challenge of a huge and fast-growing industry.” Being able to search an entire catalogue of music in seconds lets a company like Audio Network keep up with demand. In addition, searching deeper within a catalogue helps maximise track usage, to bring an added layer of opportunity to the artists and composers creating the recordings.
With broadcasters managing the people and process while data and technology are outsourced, maybe the 2020s will be more equitable for both media owners and service providers.
“Audio Network approaches artificial intelligence carefully with regard to music. We view machine learning and AI techniques as instruments for extending human creativity, not something that replaces it,” said Matthew Hawn, Chief Product Officer at Audio Network. “Many AI tools for music are clever technology hacks in search of an actual problem to solve, but our partnership with Musiio for extending music search and recommendations is about solving real problems for our customers. Blending Musiio’s technology with our expert human curation will mean our artists’ and composers’ music is more accessible to more customers globally.”
Visit https://bluelucy.com
Visit www.musiio.com
MARKETING, CREATIVE drivethru82.com & PRODUCTION. A LA CARTE SERVICE, FAST FOOD PRICES.
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM
Mediaproxy Unveils 8K Capability for LogServer
With broadcasters now looking more closely at the potential of 8K resolution and interactive services, checks have to be in place to ensure these features look right and operate correctly. The latest version of Mediaproxy’s LogServer IP logging, monitoring and analysis system is able to handle higher resolutions by converting any input, including 8K, to a proxy resolution. The latest version of the system is not only 8K-ready but can also accommodate HEVC and TSoIP encoded streams. Mediaproxy_Ad_C+T_Asia_2019-02-04.pdf 1 4 Feb 19 6:03:53 pm
Interactivity is now a major consideration for broadcasters and service providers, particularly because people are increasingly watching video on social media. Outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have specific requirements for how material is prepared and Mediaproxy has incorporated dedicated tools for this into LogServer. These include features for cropping the image and altering the aspect ratio to make it better suited to mobile devices, in addition to the capability for inserting ad bumpers.
Mediaproxy also offers exception-based monitoring, which uses IP penalty boxes that allow broadcasters and MSOs (multiple system operators) working at scale to deal with QC and compliance more efficiently. Another new feature aimed at the needs of network operators running multiple stations and playout streams is a live source comparison tool. This identifies mismatched content in real-time and is able to compare one or more live sources using video material. An alert is sent to operators immediately if irregularities are detected.
In both linear TV and OTT, playout is no longer the final point for quality control (QC). Because of this there has to be a greater degree of management for distribution systems because more logging and compliance checks needed to cope with CDN edge points, targeted ad-insertion, multi-language support and event-based channels at different places along the chain.
LogServer also supports SMPTE ST 2110 media over IP formats and Newtek’s NDI (Network Device Interface) technology. By working with both these sources, the software’s compliance recording and monitoring options are enhanced, ensuring complete adherence to standards at all points along the IP chain.
Does any of the above apply to your current broadcast compliance system? If yes, join the hundreds of broadcasters around the globe who rely daily on Mediaproxy’s unified software solutions for monitoring, analysis, multiviewing
Visit www.mediaproxy.com
and capture of live video from broadcast and OTT sources. Discover the industry’s leading compliance solution at mediaproxy.com/rethink
Explore the possibilities at mediaproxy.com
MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM
THE RECENT NAB SHOW NEW YORK saw Mediaproxy the provider of software-based IP broadcast solutions, focusing on compliance and monitoring for both linear television and OTT streaming. Each of these areas is facing new challenges due to the proliferation of channels and increasing use of new technologies, which call for ever more comprehensive checking and analysis of content during the distribution process.
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AUDIO Digital soundwaves
www.content-technology.com/audio
Sennheiser’s AMBEO Covers Audio from All Angles IT MAY LOOK LIKE SOME floral-inspired sculpture, but Sennheiser’s AMBEO Sports Microphone Array is set to revolutionise the capture of match audio from the field. According to Renato Pellegrinni from Sennheiser’s AMBEO team in Switzerland, the array, “… is meant to capture the sounds from the field of interest like the ball kicks, what the referee said, the points of action without all that crowd noise. So, it’s all about getting rid of crowd noise in the stadium situation.” Currently in prototype, the system has been trialled with soccer/football, basketball and American football (NFL), and will easily translate to other sports as well. “Now what this microphone array will do for you is it will capture the sound automatically based on tracking information already available on the field,” says Pellegrinni. “We do have trackers that, for all the stats. We know where the player is, know where the ball is. We take that information in and what you output from this array is one single channel with ball kicks, another channel with the referee’s talk, a third channel with points of action. Typically, in soccer, they use a tracking system based on camera tracking that will identify each and every player, identify the ball just from the image of it.” The system comprises a circular arrangement of 31 MKH 8070 long shotgun microphones, each featuring extreme directivity and a pronounced lobar pick-up pattern. “The reason to be circular is because you get seamless quality in all directions and the quality will not change depending on what angle you’re pointing at,” says Renato Pellegrinni. “Whereas, in today’s world, you have shotguns surrounding the
field and you might have the action is right in front of one shotgun, you’re good, or you have your action between two shotguns, you’re bad and your sound has deteriorated heavily. “You would want to have three of these placed around the field, two each behind each goal and one on the middle line just opposite your camera one because usually you have this one camera that actually faces the field with a shotgun on top of it. That one shotgun already follows the action. On the opposite side, where you don’t have a camera, you put one of these. So, with a total of three, you should be able to cover a full soccer field. For a rugby field, you might end up having four or five because we are talking a more sizeable field. That’s all you need.” Following the pre-amp stage and some A/D conversion, as well as an amount of digital signal processing, captured audio undergoes a “post-processing step” in real time which further reduces the diffused field sound. The resulting audio consists of mono feeds with metadata which tells the engineer the position of the original sound. With that information, the audio can be fed
into an object-based mix such as Dolby Atmos. Alternatively, using MPEG-H, viewers can choose what angle they want to watch the footage in, which picture, what camera they want to watch and make the sound match that perspective. In a live situation, the onsite, or even remote, sound engineer would choose feeds from the system using a tablet device which is receiving the camera tracking information. There is also the option of selecting audio from positions not being tracked by the camera. Sennheiser’s AMBEO Sports Microphone Array is currently in prototype with a product release expected in 2020. Visit https://en-sg.sennheiser.com/ambeo
AES New York 2019 Best Peer-Reviewed and Student Paper Awards The winners of the Best Peer-Reviewed Paper and Best Student Paper presented during the recent AES New York 2019 Convention were announced in the Convention’s Opening Ceremonies on October 16 by Journal of the Audio Engineering Society Editor Bozena Kostek and 147th AES International Pro Audio Convention Papers Co-chairs Areti Andreopoulou and Braxton Boren.
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This year’s Best Peer-Reviewed Paper Award went to Ulrike Sloma, Florian Klein, Stephan Werner, and Tyson Pappachan Kannookadan for their paper “Synthesis of Binaural Room Impulse Responses for Different Listening Positions Considering the Source Directivity.”
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Abstract: A popular goal in research on virtual and augmented acoustic realities is the implementation of realistic room acoustics and sound source characteristics. Additionally, listeners want to move around, explore the virtual or augmented environments. One way
to realize position-dynamic synthesis is the use of binaural technologies on the basis of real measurements. While this approach allows the successful reproduction of the real acoustic environment, many listening positions need to be measured. To reduce time and effort, new methods have been invented to calculate binaural room impulse responses from few positions. The presented work enhances existing synthesis methods by including predefined sound source directivities into calculation of binaural room impulse responses. The results are analysed in a physical and in a perceptive way. The Best Student Paper Award went to Robert Hupke and co-authors Lukas Beyer, Marcel Nophut, Stephan Preihs and Jürgen Peissig for their paper “Effect of a Global Metronome on Ensemble Accuracy in Networked Music Performance.” Abstract: Several rhythmic experiments with pairs drawn from a group of 23 subjects
were performed to investigate the effect of a global metronome on the ensemble accuracy in Networked Music Performance (NMP). Artificial delays up to 91ms were inserted into the audio transmission between the subjects. To investigate the dependencies between delay times, ensemble accuracy and the highly synchronized global metronome, the experiments were evaluated in terms of tempo acceleration, imprecision and subjective judgment of the ensemble play. The results show that the global metronome leads to a stabilization of the tempo acceleration caused by the delay. The imprecision stays constant to a threshold of about 28ms and 36ms, depending on the delay compensating strategy the subjects used. The full lineup of Papers presented during the AES New York 2019 Convention is available now in the AES E-Library at aes.org/e-lib.
AUDIO
AUDIO
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AUDIO
Clear-Com Unveils FreeSpeak Edge CLEAR-COM RECENTLY ANNOUNCED FreeSpeak Edge, the latest addition to the FreeSpeak family of digital wireless intercom solutions. The system gives the user more control and customisation options, thanks to advanced frequency coordination capabilities and intuitive design features in the system’s transceivers and beltpacks. Built from the ground up, FreeSpeak Edge is the result of extensive feedback from existing power users, incorporating recent advances in the fundamental technology, leading to a new 5GHz chipset that features an exclusive radio stack development optimised for intercom. FreeSpeak Edge also leverages audio-over-IP developments in its architecture, utilising AES67 connections between the transceivers and the host intercom frame for flexibility in deployment. “FreeSpeak Edge is the future of advanced wireless communication,” said Bob Boster, President, Clear-Com. “While some manufacturers are trying to improve incrementally on existing solutions, we have leapfrogged right to the edge of what is possible with wireless intercom technology today, in readiness for tomorrow’s increasingly demanding requirements. We often hear talk of so-called game-changers, but FreeSpeak Edge is the real deal.” The 5GHz band is suitable for large scale communications, as it can be managed with frequency coordination for reduced interference. and offers the widest range of RF channels available for scalability. Its higher frequencies mean there’s more bandwidth for data which allows for finer control, additional audio channels, more robustness, lower latency and better audio quality. The system takes advantage of Clear-Com’s exclusive RF technology
Klark Teknik Mic Booster CT1 WHENEVER YOU NEED MORE HEADROOM for any microphone in your podcast setup, recording studio, or live rig, the MIC BOOSTER CT 1 is the tool you need to get a crisp and clean microphone signal in a robust, compact, and simple to use package. The CT 1 can work with almost any dynamic or passive ribbon microphone. Its highquality preamp adds +25dB of gain to your mic pre’s which increases the headroom and allows you to dial in the perfect mic level at a much lower gain setting at the mixer thus leading to a cleaner sound.
AUDIO
The simplicity and size of the CT 1 means you can connect it to the end of any microphone in your setup and amplify the signal right out of the mic. This minimises the risk of any potential noise being picked up by long cable runs in between the mic and preamp. It also runs on phantom power so requires no external power source.
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Visit www.klarkteknik.com
which provides a robust transport layer that is immune to most interference. FreeSpeak Edge delivers the clearest 12kHz audio quality with ultra-low latency and is highly scalable to support over 100 beltpacks and 64 transceivers. It can be combined with FreeSpeak II 1.9GHz and 2.4GHz systems, providing three bandwidths across a single unified communications system. FreeSpeak Edge transceivers and beltpacks offer more customisation and control than before to accommodate complex communication needs. The beltpack’s design includes asymmetrical concave/convex top buttons for identification at a glance and touch operation, eight programmable buttons, rotary controls on both sides, and a master volume control and flashlight. With a mic and speaker for headset-free or desktop operation, the beltpack was designed with today’s production needs in mind. Each ruggedised transceiver supports 10 beltpacks and includes attenuation and external antennas for custom RF zones as well as wall and mic stand mounting options. FreeSpeak Edge is scheduled to ship in January 2020. Visit www.clearcom.com and www.jands.com.au
Anticipated Avid S4 Control Surface Available AVID HAS ANNOUNCED THE GENERAL AVAILABILITY of the Avid S4, its latest audio control surface designed for independent music mixers and smaller audio post and music facilities. The semi-modular Avid S4 offers the power, DAW integration, and visual feedback of Avid’s industry-standard Avid S6 in a more streamlined and compact control surface. Avid S4 also enables budget-conscious media educators to give their students the chance to learn the music and audio post-production workflows they’ll need for a successful career in the media and entertainment industry. EUCON, Avid’s ethernet control protocol, enables Avid S4 to connect and communicate with Avid and third-party audio, video, and monitoring applications. S4 acts and feels like a physical extension of the software, providing an exceptionally integrated experience with any EUCONenabled DAW, such as Pro Tools, Nuendo, Pyramix, Logic Pro, Cubase, and other audio software. S4 also enables engineers to quickly assign and control talkback, listenback, and speaker sources and levels right from the surface, to handle everything from simple cue mixes for music recording to monitoring immersive audio projects. Avid S4 provides extensive visual feedback with the ability to display everything from channel meters, groups, EQ curves, and automation data, to scrolling high-res Pro Tools waveforms, which can be edited from the surface. The semi-modular surface gives users the flexibility to build the ideal system for a specific workflow, from eight to 24 faders, with the ability to add displays, joystick, post, and knob modules. When paired with Pro Tools | Ultimate, S4 brings the most efficient hands-on Dolby Atmos mixing in the industry to any room. “The Avid S4 is what smaller studios have been waiting for,” said Joe Taupier, President of Westlake Pro. “Music mixers and small studios don’t have to compromise power and efficiency as they’re getting the same mixing power as the larger S6 control surface, but at a budget and size that meets their individual needs. The S4 provides the workflow versatility users need to take on any project – whether it be film, TV, OTT media, commercials, or games – and the deep DAW and Dolby Atmos integration required to complete diverse projects on time and on budget.” Visit www.avid.com
AUDIO
NUGEN AUDIO unveil the latest SigMod Software plug-in update at AES2019. The update allows SigMod to host multiple instances of the Insert module and incorporates hosting support for third-party VST2 and AU plug-ins. This enables users to access a wider pool of plug-ins – particularly in DAWs that support limited plug-in formats – and increases access for creative routing options such as mid/side processing for any stereo or multi-mono plug-in. The company has also implemented a wet/dry control for the Insert module. This provides further flexibility, allowing users to blend their effected signal with the original sound without use of an AUX send. Improved navigation controls for third-party plug-ins, including a search bar functionality, enables users to filter by name and increases efficiency. NUGEN’s SigMod software provides custom, simple signal architecture with 12 single-process modules to enhance plug-in and DAW functionality. It offers new ways to work by allowing users to easily insert, swap and move modules to fit to the correction, conversion and tweaking of audio. Included among the available modules are Mid/side, Protect, Tap, Crossover, Insert – now with VST2/3 and AU, Mute/Solo, Trim, Switch, DC Off-Set, Mono, Phase, and Delay. Several of these modules offer easy access to functionality that is often either missing or difficult to access in some DAWs. With SigMod’s signal routing, the creative options are endless. Available as AAX, VST 2/3, AU and AudioSuite formats in both 32- and 64-bit, and available for Mac and Windows OS. Visit https://nugenaudio.com
Stage Tec Upgrades AURUS/CRESCENDO STAGE TEC HAS ROLLED OUT software release 4.8.1 for its AURUS and CRESCENDO consoles. This update offers interesting features for users in both broadcast and theatre environments. Waves integration is nowpossible in all AURUS and CRESCENDO systems. In both consoles remote control of the Waves multiracks is via snapshot automation. The multirack snapshots can be assigned to the console snapshots at will, even multiple times. The Stage Tec automixer can be extended to eight groups with the new release. Since Release 4.3, the auto mixer has been integrated into the console design of AURUS and CRESCENDO platinum and can be used in all input channels. Eight auto mixers can work simultaneously, independently of each other. The De-Esser was previously available in both AURUS and CRESCENDO platinum consoles as a channel module in each input channel. Now the De-Esser is also available in the channel libraries. AURUS requires a new control cassette for this feature. Visit www.stagetec.com
AUDIO
NUGEN Audio Announces SigMod Software Update
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RADIO The original broadcast media
www.content-technology.com/radio
Nine Appoints Tom Malone MD of Radio
TOM MALONE HAS BEEN APPOINTED Managing Director – Radio, as Nine takes over operational control of Macquarie Media.
their respective cities with deep connections to their communities, and we will seek to expand on that.
For the past four years Malone has served as Nine’s Director of Sport, overseeing the growth of the Wide World of Sports brand and its relationships with major sporting codes, including leading Nine’s switch from cricket to tennis in 2018.
“The move to full ownership of Macquarie opens up real opportunities to build on that foundation and creates new ones to engage with listeners in each state.”
“Tom has a stellar track record as both a content creator and a media executive. For him this is a return to his roots in radio and I am confident he is the right person to lead Nine’s radio division,” said Hugh Marks, CEO of Nine. “He brings an important skillset as we move forward and look for the opportunities that are created by having powerful radio brands like 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR within the Nine family.” Malone is a former executive producer of 60 Minutes and the Today Show. He began his career at Radio 2UE as a cadet in the newsroom, before spending two years as a federal political reporter and several years producing breakfast radio. “I’m excited to be returning to radio,” Malone said. “2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR are all powerful voices in
Vietnam Gears Up for DAB Trial VIETNAMESE SYSTEM INTEGRATOR Emico and Scandinanvian technology provider, Paneda, have signed an agreement for the provision of DAB multiplexing systems for the upcoming DAB Trial in Vietnam. The system includes a full system in redundancy including content management for metadata. The system is planned to on-air before the end of the year in the cities Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Initially the system will host 18 services and is comprised of a server platform, hosting multiplexer systems with its audio encoders and content management system.
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The system uses Paneda SMART content seamless switching, providing the redundancy setup for audio switching during failures.
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While Malone will have oversight of the radio division, Nine also confirmed that Macquarie’s newsrooms would fall under Darren Wick, Nine’s Director of News and Current Affairs. Malone’s appointment comes as plans by Macquarie Media to launch a network of sports radio stations across Australia’s east coast have been suspended, pending a review. In a statement, Russell Tate, Chairman of Macquarie Media Limited, said “Macquarie Media Limited has announced that development of its Macquarie Sports Radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will be paused and reviewed over the summer months and that the current schedule of sport talk programs will cease as of 11pm, Friday 1 November. “Over the coming months, Macquarie Sports Radio
will continue live sport broadcasts including all scheduled Test Match, BBL, One-Day Internationals & International T20 Cricket matches as well as its English Premier League coverage. The stations will draw an increased amount of content from local and international partners.” Visit https://www.nineforbrands.com.au and https://www.macquariemedia.com.au/
Densitron and Sonifex Announce A/Vo Display Development Collaboration
Tieline Unveils New Gateway Multichannel IP Codec
Densitron Managing Director, Simon Jones said, “Sonifex is highly regarded for the quality of its audio reference monitors, audio distribution, and audio interfaces. We are equally regarded for our display technologies. It makes perfect sense to explore and develop ways that the two can integrate to the benefit of users worldwide.”
“The new Gateway codec delivers up to 16 mono channels or eight stereo streams of IP audio in 1RU to increase efficiency and reduce rack space requirements,” said Charlie Gawley, Tieline’s VP Sales APAC/EMEA. “The Tieline Gateway interfaces with legacy analogue and AES/EBU sources, as well as newer broadcast plants with AES67 IP audio infrastructure. An optional WheatNet-IP interface will also be also available.”
DENSITRON, A CREATOR OF human machine interface (HMI) technologies, and Sonifex, have announced a joint technical development initiative designed to tightly integrate Sonifex audio displays with a number of flagship Densitron reference monitors.
According to Lars-Peder Lundgren, Sales Manager at Paneda, “For this project Paneda has committed to assist in promoting the upcoming trial by sharing our long expertise and knowledge to make the best possible outcome. The process has been long, and has containing both financial and technical evaluations, and we are now pleased that Paneda was chosen for this project.”
Densitron’s smartphone-like clarity and in-plane switching (IPS) technology is being modified to integrate with a new range of Sonifex devices.
Lu’o’ng Ngoc Thành, Vice General Director, Director of Technical Center at Emico said: “Vietnam will now start with DAB, initially with a larger trial in the Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi cities. Emico has evaluated different technical solutions and have chosen Paneda for several reasons, Paneda has provided great support and advises during the process, and have also provided a test system to us for learning more about DAB.”
Sonifex CEO Marcus Brooke said, “We always actively seek opportunities to provide additional benefits to our customers and are particularly excited about sharing our latest audio interface and commentary unit developments with similar enhancements from Densitron. The integration of our respective technologies are significant value-adds to both product ranges.”
Visit www.paneda.no and www.emico.com.vn
Visit www.densitron.com and www.sonifex.co.uk
However, Sonifex’s new Dante AVN-CU2 and AVN-CU4 commentary units, as well as its AVN multi-channel audio mix engines already use Densitron colour LCD displays.
AT IBC2019, audio codec manufacturer Tieline unveiled the new Gateway IP audio codec – a compact multichannel IP audio transport solution for radio broadcasters. The Gateway streams up to 16 IP audio channels with support for AES67, AES3, and analogue I/O.
Tieline Gateway is suitable for STL, SSL, and audio distribution applications, as well as managing multiple incoming remotes at the studio. Its compact design is interoperable with all Tieline IP codecs and compatible over SIP with all EBU N/ACIP Tech 3326 and 3368 compliant codecs and devices. Configurable through an embedded HTML5 Toolbox Web-GUI interface, the Gateway can also interface with the TieLink Traversal Server for simpler connections and is fully controllable using Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller. Visit https://tieline.com
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Wheatstone Introduces AoIP Appliance – Multiple Program Streams NEW FROM WHEATSTONE this IBC is an appliance for its WheatNet-IP audio network that addresses the unique challenges of multiple program streams. StreamBlade is a 1RU BLADE unit for streaming applications that features key Wheatstone AoIP, audio processing and codec bandwidth optimisation technology. • Selectable Opus, AAC and MP3 encoders targeting high to low bit rates for reaching a broad range of end user devices and players. • Accepts eight input steams of native WheatNetIP audio directly from a soundcard or AoIP driver as well as RTP sources, each capable of four outputs for a total of 32 total output streams. • AGC, peak limiter and other audio processing designed to optimise the performance of encoded audio content. • Cloud-ready and compatible with standard CDN and streaming platforms, including Icecast, Wowza and RTP. • Metadata support for identifying song title and artist readouts dynamically from all the major automation systems. • 8×4 channels of local I/O connectivity for other than WheatNet-IP audio network applications. “Putting all processing and bandwidth optimisation functions in one box that talks native IP audio just makes sense for studios today that are managing five, six or more streams,” said Rick Bidlack, Wheatstone systems and lead StreamBlade design engineer. Unique to StreamBlade is its five-band AGC with RMS density driven time constants for establishing tonal balance and level consistency between
incoming music sources. Unlike the conventional approach of applying multiband gain control followed by fast compression to build uniform loudness and density from one music source to the next, this AGC is designed specifically for streaming applications and eliminates aggressive RMS attack times that can interfere with codec performance. “Fast time constants (compression) can add intermod sidebands around a sustained note or bass note, which the codec has to spend bits on instead of the signals that are actually part of the program. That can be bad for any stream, but it’s especially bad for low bit-rate streams that don’t have a lot of data bits to begin with,” explained Jeff Keith, Senior Product Development Engineer for Wheatstone’s audio processing line. Wheatstone makes a line of AM, FM and microphone/voice audio processors in addition to WheatNet-IP, a complete AoIP ecosystem of consoles, talent stations, I/O units, accessories and virtual tools used in studios around the globe. Also unique to StreamBlade is a two-band final limiter section made for streaming that removes hard limiting or clipping from the processing chain.
“Clipping creates harmonics that the encoder wants to throw bits at, and much of that isn’t particularly pleasant to the ear,” added Keith. Also onboard is a stereo width management section that produces a perceived stereo field yet eliminates the big swings in dynamic L-R that can skew the codec algorithm as well as bass boost and monaural bass features for optimising the quality of the bit stream. A selectable six-band parametric equaliser with peak and shelf functions, high and low pass filtering for removing noise or hum, and two-stage phase rotator to correct voice asymmetry are also included in StreamBlade. StreamBlade can be configured and managed from a laptop and web browser using WheatNet-IP NAVIGATOR software. It has two ethernet ports, one for direct connectivity into the WheatNetIP audio network on one end and another for connectivity into a WAN for streaming to a CDN or other service provider. Visit www.wheatstone.com
Lawo Debuts Power Core MAX WHAT’S BETTER THAN LOTS OF POWER? Maximum power! Announcing Power Core MAX, the AES67 mixing engine that supports up to four independent Lawo mixing surfaces.
“With the Power Core MAX license pack, a single engine can be controlled by more than one mixing surface,” said Lawo Radio Marketing specialist, Clark Novak. “Project managers are excited about the ability to support two, three, and sometimes even four mixing consoles. This makes Power Core MAX perfect for large multi-studio projects, but broadcasters with medium and smaller facilities can use it as the I/O gateway and mixing engine for an entire radio station! There’s nothing else like it.” Power Core is the very definition of flexibility. Customers can choose from a number of license packages tailored to a variety of operational needs and price points. The new MAX package allows connection of as many as four independent Ruby
mixing surfaces to a single Power Core engine – a unique ability perfectly suited to today’s multistudio radio facilities. Power Core MAX features include: • Support of up to 96 fader channels distributed among up to four physical Ruby consoles or VisTool virtual mixers. • A 1920x920 internal routing matrix.
• ST2022-7 Seamless Protection Switching for dual-redundant AoIP network connections. • ST2110-30 compliance for seamless interoperability of audio and video equipment in combined radio / TV broadcast plants. • All of these capabilities are packed into a 1RU chassis.
• 80 user-definable summing busses and 96 channels of DSP: compression, limiting, etc.
Introduced as a DSP mixing engine and modular I/O
• 128 dual-redundant MADI channels and 128 AES67/RAVENNA channels, standard.
are now using Power Core as a gateway between
system for Ruby radio consoles, many broadcasters
• Eight expansion slots for even more mic, analogue, AES3, AES67 and Dante I/O.
legacy audio formats and standards-based IP
• Dual-redundant front-panel SFP ports for AoIP. Now, broadcasters have their choice of optical or copper network connections, sans the cost of external media converters.
capacity and a flexible license set that helps tailor
media networks, thanks to its abundant I/O capabilities to clients’ workflows. Visit www.lawo.com
RADIO
Power Core may be the most powerful DSP mixing engine ever conceived for AoIP networks. In addition to giving users incredible amounts of processing, routing and I/O capabilities, Power Core has 96 available DSP channels and the capacity to handle hundreds of analogue, digital and AES67 audio signals.
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RADIO
Burli – the Heavy Lifter of Radio News By Phil Sandberg
that back from your mobile phone and then move onto the next story. From that same mobile phone, you can browse the wire, see what your colleagues are working on at the time. Your colleague spoke to the minister while you were speaking to the protesters? Well, you can grab that sound from the minister from your colleague directly onto your mobile phone if you want to from the field and then add it to whatever you’re working on.
“The boundaries of what is radio are softening.” THAT’S THE WORD from Ian Gunn, General Manager of radio newsroom technology company Burli who attributes this “softening” to the fact radio newsrooms are now producing content for a variety of platforms. According to Gunn, “A journalist will go out and will take a mobile phone with her and she will do a standard radio interview, but then, before she finishes that interview, she will take a photograph on her phone of the person that she has interviewed and then that photograph will make its way to a website somewhere, or it will make a digital story, or get tweeted or something as some part of that process. “Radio content used to be three and a half minutes of a radio interview edited down and then played on the morning breakfast programme, and that’s changing, and so the software is as well.” Burli Software has two core products – Burli Newsroom and Burli NE. Both systems allow radio broadcasters to: gather news from all over the world, in many formats, from many sources. newswires, tweets, emails, RSS feeds, internal stories; edit stories; share stories between workstations, across multiple locations, or post directly to social media; and present the news from a dedicated prompter view.
RADIO
Burli NE adds advanced capabilities
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such as image editing, video and pdf handling, advanced and customisable metadata options, shared multi-track recording, edit while recording, editorial workflow tools, customisable UI, advanced search, offline edit and record, and posting to Facebook and youtube (as well as Soundcloud and Twitter). C+T: Your reporter interviewing out in the field, what happens next, workflow-wise? Ian Gunn: “She has a couple of options. One is she runs back to the office and the moment she’s back in the newsroom with her mobile phone, then that content then moves onto a desktop computer in the traditional sense and gets edited in a traditional audio editor. Obviously, that involves going back to the studios. “From the mobile phone itself, you can send content back to headquarters, either as raw material, use that four-minute interview, somebody in the newsroom pack it up and deal with it, I’ve done my job, I’m moving on to the next. Or, package it while you’re actually out on the mobile phone using an editor. “There is a web app built into the system, so virtually any mobile device capable of opening up a web page can see. You type in the text, you can then attach raw audio or an edited version thereof, send it back to the plant. If you’ve got video, you can send that back. You can take a quick head shot of the person you’re interviewing and then send
“The mobile tools are still a subset of the ones that are available in the newsroom itself, partly just for practical reasons involving the technology, but partly also because you’re one person out in the field. In the newsroom, you’ve got a collaborative team, somebody who’s working on the raw story itself, somebody else who is editing it and somebody else who’s shaping the overall bulletin, those kinds of things, particularly in the larger operations.” C+T: So, the content is sent back. What’s next? “It shows up in the newsroom in a standard client server system shared amongst the two or 200 journalists in the newsroom. And, from that material, you can search on a filter on it, create watches that say show me stories that have to do with sports team X or Sydney Y or geographical area Z, and then from that great pool of material, then the journalist has an editing space where she can begin writing her own content, or you can begin producing a bulletin. “So, there’s a complete bulletin editing system. It assumes it’s a collaborative environment, so 10 people can work on the same bulletin at the same time. It times out the bulletin. This is supposed to be a 15-minute bulletin, you’ve got 17 minutes worth of material, you probably need to cut something. Editorial review is in there; has this been seen by the Chief Editor yet? Does this still need work? Is this safe to air?
“Then, when you move into the studio, the presenter has a complete screen in front of her which shows her the most relevant of the huge pool of information that’s there, the most relevant for the presenter, so he or she then gets to see how much time is left in this item and has your editor substituted out a story two items from now, because there’s breaking news? “And of course, it’s all live connected, so as you’re in the studio, as a change is made centrally in the system where somebody contributes something new, that change is reflected within milliseconds in the studio. And there’s an alerting system, you tell the system; please tell me anytime a story like this changes in the system. And there’s chat, so you can chat in a live kind of a WhatsApp type idea, so somebody sitting in the studio can chat with a journalist out in the field.” How does the system deal with a variety of file formats? “The journalist just hits the send button. Behind the scenes, there’s different servers speaking to each other. Usually at the studio or the newsroom there is an ingest function and as it brings the stuff in, two options; one, it checks it to make sure it really is what it claims to be and that it’s readable. And sometimes the newsroom decides to leave it in whatever format it’s in. More often they will transcode it into some standard format, so it arrives as an MP3 audio file, great, fine, but we’re going to transcode that into PCM audio on ingest, so we know that everything in the central system is all PCM 48K audio. The same with video.” How is Burli positioned in the APAC market? “We are still a minor presence I think in the market. We’re growing. Our friends at AVC, based out of Australia and New Zealand, have in the last three or four years begun to change that significantly for us. We’re working on a couple of significant projects now in Australia, another one in New Zealand. Taiwan is a continuing market for us. It has been for a number of years. In other parts of the region, there’s still lots of opportunity for us, put it that way. But, it’s certainly an area of significant interest for us. Visit www.burli.com and www.avc-group.net
CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband
www.content-technology.com/transmission
Imagine Communications Upgrades Playout at NPC Media
The National Playout Centre was first established by Nine Network 10 years ago, and today provides playout facilities for more than 106 free-to-air broadcast channels. The centre relies on Imagine Communications’ Versio playout and master control, D-Series playout automation and Nexio media servers and content management services to provide end-to-end media management for program integration, live sport and multimedia distribution. “Central to the design of the expanded technology platform is the ability to adapt more seamlessly to changing market demands,” said Chris Howe, General Manager, Commercial and Technology at NPC Media. “Imagine Communications’ Versio product strategy allows us to confidently manage our current baseband/SDI infrastructure, and more swiftly and economically transition to a full range of software-defined, commercial off-the-shelf IPbased media services.” The first phase of the expansion of NPC Media has seen the incorporation of Seven’s key broadcast operations into the NPC facility, and the
transformation of the centre from a single-station facility to a contemporary, IP-based, multi-tenanted managed media services provider to the broadcast industry. Seven’s channels went live from NPC Media on 21 August, 2019.
integrated into the centre’s existing baseband system, enabling Nine to manage the NBN Regional channels, as well as realise new advertising and revenue opportunities by breaking into a seventh regional market, in Northern New South Wales.
The next phase is the implementation of Southern Cross Austereo’s broadcast channels into NPC. This phase sees the deployment of the Imagine Communications playout solutions across two sites - main at NPC, with protect located at Telstra Broadcast Services facility in Sydney - providing geo-diverse redundancy for NPC Media and its customers.
Running as software instances on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, the Versio solution delivers playout, master control and graphics in a single device all under the control of D-Series. Versio is based on Imagine Communications’ visionary Zenium microservices platform, which allows tight integration of third-party products; for example, NPC Media is running Vizrt graphics on Versio to support its premium channels, while Versio Graphics are used for channels with less complex graphics requirements.
Combined, these first phases of the launch will support more than 211 live terrestrial television channels managed by NPC Media, together with a further 392 passthrough multiplexed channels. NPC Media will implement an end-to-end broadcast playout chain from a common ingest platform through to software-based channel origination, based on Imagine Communications’ Versio product suite. Versio was first deployed by the Nine Network to integrate NBN Television’s playout operations into the NPC in June 2018. Imagine Communications provided a full IP solution running under D-Series control and seamlessly
The new implementation includes the Versio IOX NAS high-performance shared storage and Imagine’s EPIC MV hybrid IP multiviewer. Integration between baseband and IP systems is managed by the company’s Magellan SDN Orchestrator, which also supports seamless switching, whether through a baseband router or an IP switch. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com
Nine Unifies Audience Data and Launches CostPer-Completed-View Advertising
ATEME Enables Full-IP Workflow at NPC Media
NINE HAS ANNOUNCED it will compete more aggressively in the billion-dollar Australian online video market in 2020 by introducing cost-per-completed view on its short form and long form video products.
ATEME, THE PROVIDER OF video delivery solutions for broadcast, cable, DTH, IPTV and OTT, has announced that NPC Media, Managed Services Operator and joint venture between Nine Entertainment Co. and Seven West Media, has implemented ATEME’s TITAN solution to offer Main Screen DTT and TV everywhere OTT channels in SD and HD to viewers across Australia.
“We will offer to price and trade all our BVOD and short form video based on a costper-completed view. You will only pay for views that have a 100 percent completion rate,” said Michael Stephenson Nine’s Chief Sales Officer. “A movement to a cost per completed view metric will create a level playing field and allow marketers to compare the real cost of advertising on Nine, Facebook and YouTube. Nine says it has led the way in simplifying the buying of its inventory across television and digital using its market leading proprietary technology 9Galaxy. Earlier this year, Nine was the first free-to-air Australian broadcaster to allow media buyers to buy both television and 9Now inventory from the one platform. Nine has also announced the unification of data assets across its whole enterprise including 9Now, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Domain, Pedestrian Group and CarAdvice, to create the most powerful data ecosystem of any Australian media company.
ATEME provided NPC Media with a full-IP enabled solution, which includes the software-based TITAN Live, TITAN Mux, and ATEME Management System (AMS). The provided solution makes workflows simple, efficient and scalable while providing NPC Media with the following benefits: Bandwidth Efficiency – the deployed solution allows high Video Quality at low bitrates enabling NPC to maximise DTT end-user experiences and increase OTT customer reach;
The move sees Nine create Australia’s largest addressable marketplace, with more than 11 million IDs, aimed at providing marketers with the ability to target specific audiences at scale within a brand-safe environment, powered by the Adobe Audience Manager Platform.
Future-Proofing – the software-only approach leverages ATEME’s continuous research and innovation in video quality, allowing for evolution as new video standards are adopted by the industry; and
As part of the announcement Nine has rebuilt 9Tribes, its customer segmentation offering, which allows advertisers to target 54 unique audiences across all of Nine’s verticals and properties.
Full-IP Workflow – NPC utilises ATEME’s advanced capabilities and high density SMPTE 2022-6 inputs to optimise its workflow, resulting in lower OPEX and CAPEX.
Nine has added five new verticals consisting of food, travel, automotive, luxury and property to its existing verticals of news, sport, entertainment and lifestyle. Nine also recently deployed a new data partnership with Quantium, providing marketers with access to grocery segments across 9Now, and all of its digital media properties. This data partnership complements its existing partnerships with Equifax Marketing Services and Red Planet, which have now been rolled across the metropolitan publishing mastheads.
“NPC has developed a flexible and efficient, fully IP solution, servicing multiple customers and their specific needs. ATEME, for example, has enabled us to efficiently integrate Broadcast and OTT requirements, supporting the needs for quality, localisation and targeted audience delivery – key to our clients’ success,” said Chris Howe, GM Commercial and Technical, NPC Media.
Visit www.nineentertainmentco.com.au
Visit www.ateme.com
CONTENT DELIVERY
IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS has been selected by NPC Media Pty Ltd, operator of the National Playout Centre (NPC) in Sydney, Australia.
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CONTENT DELIVERY
Brightcove Shines a Beacon on OTT BRIGHTCOVE INC., the provider of cloud services for video, has announced the general availability of Brightcove Beacon, a new SaaS-based OTT platform. According to Brightcove, Beacon empowers customers to deliver captivating OTT experiences on a breadth of devices, with the flexibility of multiple monetisation models to fit any business need. As consumers continue to shift their viewing habits, broadcasters, content owners, and Pay-TV providers are seeking new business models and technology in an effort to stay relevant to their audiences. The continuously expanding list of viewing devices is a challenge for many content owners, and Brightcove Beacon addresses this by allowing customers to launch content to multiple platforms simultaneously. Additionally, with multiple paths to monetization, including advertising, subscription, freemium, and
authentication models, Brightcove Beacon helps customers to launch and monetize video content across mobile, web, connected TV, and smart TV all from one platform. Brightcove Beacon allows customers of all industries to deliver content to multiple devices and platforms to increase audience reach. With Brightcove Beacon, new and existing customers are seeing the advantage of quickly launching multiple apps across platforms and devices with the added benefit of staying up to date with the latest app store requirements.
customers to scale their businesses costeffectively, reaching viewers on the devices and platforms they favour faster than ever before. By utilizing Brightcove Beacon, customers can focus on securing the content viewers crave.
Brightcove Beacon also supports flexible monetization models enabling customers to see value from their content in a way that works best for their business and provides more options for advertising partners to reach viewers.
“We are excited to see our customers launch content quickly and easily across devices and platforms with Brightcove Beacon,” said Charles Chu, Chief Product Officer, Brightcove. “The OTT landscape is evolving and isn’t a one size fits all category anymore; viewers have increased expectations and appetites for watching videos while consuming content on a growing list of devices. Brightcove Beacon helps customers reach new viewers across more devices and expand their ability to protect and monetize their video content.”
Furthermore, Brightcove Beacon helps
Visit www.brightcove.com
Is Australia’s Internet Infrastructure Up for the Video Challenge? By Jason Rau, Media Expert, Brightcove Australia
WE ALL KNOW AUSTRALIANS are hungry for video content, and publishers and brands have not disappointed, publishing endless streams of content to feed our insatiable appetite. In fact, Australians spent a fifth of their digital entertainment time watching streamed video content (Deloitte Media Consumer Survey 2018). But if we continue consuming video at this pace, our internet infrastructure will struggle to keep up with demand. For consumers, it will mean more buffering and sluggish starts when watching video content online. And for the content owners themselves, it could have a direct impact on revenue and audience share as Aussies tune out to find a better viewing experience. In fact, a recent Finder survey found that almost half of Australian respondents experienced connection or streaming issues while watching content online in the last year. The truth is, despite upgrades to the country’s internet infrastructure, these issues will only worsen as new OTT providers like Apple and Disney enter the market, and cord cutting rises, placing even more demand on our internet’s bandwidth. Now is the time for content owners and publishers to act.
CONTENT DELIVERY
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
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The age-old challenge with video is the size of on-demand files, and the subsequent bandwidth required to deliver content to end users. With increasing video consumption and an overburdened internet infrastructure, it’s no surprise that almost half of us are experiencing viewing issues when watching content online.
Good news is, there is new technology that content owners and publishers can implement to alleviate these internet woes. And it starts with video encoding.
By reducing the size of on-demand files, you’re reducing the bandwidth required to deliver content to end users, answering the age-old video challenge.
RETHINKING ENCODING
As a by-product of fewer and smaller renditions, video storage and delivery costs for publishers and content owners are also significantly reduced — a massive win for media companies tasked with growing content libraries, while budgets continue to shrink.
We’re all familiar with video encoding — the process of converting a video into a digital format compatible with web players and mobile devices. But the problem with traditional approaches is that you are encoding an entire content library based on an “average” profile, rather than considering the broader context of the video experience. Not all video is the same — the content of a sports video versus current affairs programming, is vastly different (think scene to scene motion), so encoding every video in the same way is simply ineffective and only adding to our bandwidth woes. We need to take a more tailored approach that considers the content of a video.
BEING CONTENT AWARE Content-aware or context-aware encoding is an alternate technique that takes a per-title or per-scene approach to encoding videos. Algorithms are used to analyse the video content itself, creating a custom profile tailored to the combination of each individual video content’s complexity and predicted viewing environment — for example, analysing content on the premise of being watched on a fixed network or wi-fi, mobile devices, or smart TVs. Simultaneously, this process reduces video files to the fewest bits necessary meaning it requires less bandwidth to store, download and stream content without jeopardising the video quality. Herein lies the power for content owners and publishers.
NEW HORIZONS We know consumer demand for video content will only continue to rise. The real question is whether our internet infrastructure will weather the storm as we demand more bandwidth. Content and publishers need to act now, leveraging the latest encoding solutions, which will effectively reduce the burden on our internet infrastructure, and enable better viewing experiences for Australians. There is no silver bullet, but taking a contextaware approach to encoding is a step in the right direction that can benefit us all. Visit www.brightcove.com
CONTENT DELIVERY
How Broadcasters Can Transition to an All-IP Environment Incrementally By Olivier Suard, Vice President of Marketing, Nevion
The transition to IP in live production environments is well underway with over 40% of global broadcasters having already made moves towards IP in 2018 according to research carried out on behalf of Nevion. There are several reasons for this move, not least that IP allows broadcasters to do more with less, offers a greater degree of flexibility and is cost-effective. However, before beginning the transition to IP, broadcasters must consider a number of factors. Currently, no broadcaster operates in an all-IP environment. Rather, it’s likely they will have a mixture of SDI and IP equipment connected to an all-IP network. Even in cases where broadcasters have moved facilities, most of the equipment is likely to remain based on SDI technology for quite some time. While SDI/IP adaption equipment can be used to connect the SDI equipment to the IP core network, connecting a lot of this equipment to an IP network may be expensive. Furthermore, it might not be necessary, as that equipment will often be used together within the confines of a studio or control room. In these ‘baseband islands’, converting SDI signals to IP and back to SDI may be superfluous. The most cost-effective way to distribute signals between baseband equipment may then be to use baseband routing technology. Similarly, signal processing, such as audio embedding onto SDI signals or SDI frame synchronisation, may be best done directly on baseband equipment rather than converting to IP, processing and converting back to baseband. Some may argue that broadcasters should, therefore, keep the existing large Master Control Room (MCR) matrices to handle this. This, however, is likely to be overkill in many cases. Also, if all the equipment needs to be connected centrally, it doesn’t help solve the cabling headache. For that reason, the most costeffective distribution and routing
is likely to be compact SDI routers located within the baseband islands. As these routers take on part of the job done by the MCR routers, they also need to offer a high level of redundancy and include SDI processing capabilities. These baseband islands can then be connected to the rest of the IP network through adaption equipment.
EXISTING FIBRE TECHNOLOGY Traditionally, the transport of baseband signals beyond studios has been handled by fibre, with technology providing the interface onto and from the fibre. As the industry moves to IP, the requirement for high data-rate transporting will continue to grow – with uncompressed HD requiring a minimum of 10GbE data rates. Fibre remains ideally suited to transport signals any distance longer than a typical patch cable. Although IP is transported over fibre, the conversion of baseband to optical links is still a less costly solution than baseband to IP conversions. Hence, if equipment located far away is baseband, it can be a more cost-efficient solution to transport the signals through baseband EO converters. As a result, optical transport technology will continue to be relevant in an IP world and any investment in that technology for the transport of signals today is an investment in the transport network of the future – using fibre to transport IP as well as baseband.
ORCHESTRATION AND CONTROL IN MIXED ENVIRONMENTS While adaption equipment can ensure that the SDI world is connected to the IP world, and vice versa, a crucial issue is how to orchestrate and control flows between the two environments. Most media network management and control systems have been developed for SDI technology and cannot manage IP. Conversely, IP network management systems don’t handle SDI. This is particularly problematic where the preferred option of a broadcaster is to keep some form of SDI routing in the network, for example, within specific studios. This calls for a versatile orchestration and SDN (Software Defined Network) control system that can handle both SDI and IP environments. Such systems hold a complete view of the network and can control both IP and SDI routers, as well as adaption equipment and other appliances. As a result, this type of orchestration and SDN control system can provide deterministic paths through a mixed SDI/IP network infrastructure. In turn, this makes it possible for broadcasters to have the mixed SDI/IP environment most suitable for them. In other words, with the right orchestration and SDN control systems, broadcasters don’t need to go to an all-IP network at once, and they can choose equipment based on functionality and cost, not SDI or IP connectivity. This flexibility makes for a more cost-effective transition to IP.
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BROADCAST CONTROL Production staff are typically used to a specific broadcast control interface and are often reluctant to move away from it. However, popular broadcast control systems are not designed to control IP networks. The solution is to ensure that the broadcast control system can interface with the orchestration layer which is typically done via APIs provided by the broadcast control system and implemented in the orchestration system. A tight coupling of the familiar broadcast control systems and the orchestration layer ensures that production staff can maintain their existing method of working, even as the underlying network technology evolves.
SMOOTH MIGRATION TO IP Realistically, only those broadcasters moving to new facilities and starting with a ‘greenfield’ site have the luxury of building an all-IP network from scratch. Broadcasters who are building out capacity using IP, or adding new IP studios or control rooms, need to maintain their core SDI network, for both practical and financial reasons. Ultimately, the transition from baseband to IP needn’t be an all-ornothing decision for broadcasters. Adaption equipment and orchestration are the key to ensuring that the transition can be achieved smoothly and without affecting production. Visit https://nevion.com and www.magnasys.tv
Sign up at www.content-technology.com
CONTENT DELIVERY
CONNECTIVITY AND PROCESSING
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CLASSIFIED + EVENTS
ASIA
+ANZ
As well as the features below, EVERY ISSUE of Content+Technology contains features on the following: Image Acquisition News Operations Sportscasting Post-Production & VFX
Media in the Cloud Digital Asset Management Audio Radio
Content Transmission & Delivery Signal Distribution Command & Control – Automation, Monitoring, Systems Management.
C+T AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FEATURES + DEADLINES 2020 ISSUE February
EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES
PUBLICATION DATE
Editorial Submissions: 31-01-20 Ad Bookings: 05-02-20 Ad Artwork: 10-02-20
3rd Week February
Mar-April
Editorial Submissions: 23-03-20 Ad Bookings: 27-03-20 Ad Artwork: 30-03-20
May-June
Editorial Submissions: 15-05-20 Ad Bookings: 15-05-20 Ad Artwork: 20-05-20
PRODUCT ROUND-UP
SHOW COVERAGE
+B roadband & HbbTV +M ulti-screen Delivery +S ocial Media +S tudio/Facilities Directory
+P re-Show Briefing: Mobile World Congress +C ES 2020 De-Brief:
1st Week March
+D igital Asset Management Solutions +C ontent Delivery – RF, Fibre, Wireless and more.
+ Pre-Show Briefing: NABshow20 April 18-22, Las Vegas
4th Week May
+S ports Production Solutions +D rones & UAVs +O TT/IPTV/VOD Solutions
+ Pre-Show Briefing: BroadcastAsia/ ConnecTechAsia 2020 June 09-11, Singapore +C ES 2020 De-Brief:
(Published in concert with CES De-Brief Networking Night – Sponsorships Available)
(Published in concert with NAB De-Brief Networking Night – Sponsorships Available)
July-Aug
Editorial Submissions: 22-06-20 Ad Bookings: 23-06-20 Ad Artwork: 29-06-20
1st Week July
+4 K Acquisition & Delivery Solutions + I P-based Production +C ontent Security
+P re-Show Briefing: ABE 2020 July 21-23, Sydney
Sept-Oct
Editorial Submissions: 14-08-20 Ad Bookings: 17-08-20 Ad Artwork: 20-08-20
4th Week August
+ ENG/Newsroom Systems + Compression, Encoding, Transcoding Solutions + Radio Technology
+ Pre-Show Briefing: IBC Amsterdam September 11-15 + Pre-Show Briefing: National Radio Conference
Nov-Dec
Editorial Submissions: 23-10-20 Ad Bookings: 26-10-20 Ad Artwork: 02-11-20
2nd Week November
+ Channel-in-a-Box Solutions + Cable & Satellite Delivery + Production, Post & Locations round-up
+ Pre-Show Briefing: Siggraph Asia, Daegu, Sth Korea 17-20 November + IBC De-Brief: (Published in concert with IBC De-Brief Networking Night – Sponsorships Available)
C+T ASIA FEATURES + DEADLINES 2020 PUBLICATION DATE
ISSUE
EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES
PRODUCT ROUND-UP
SHOW COVERAGE
Mar-April
Editorial Submissions: 05-02-20 Ad Bookings: 05-02-20 Ad Artwork: 10-02-20
3rd Week February
+ HDTV & Beyond + Broadband & HbbTV + Cloud Technologies + Digital Asset Management Solutions + Content Delivery – RF, Fibre, Wireless and mobile.
+P re-Show Briefing: ABU Digital Broadcast Symposium March 2-5, Kuala Lumpur +P re-Show Briefing: NABshow20 April 18-22, Las Vegas
May-June
Editorial Submissions: 15-05-20 Ad Bookings: 15-05-20 Ad Artwork: 20-05-20
4th Week June
+C hannel-in-a-Box Solutions +O TT/IPTV/VOD Solutions +S ports Production Solutions + Production, Post & Locations round-up
+ Pre-Show Briefing: BroadcastAsia/ ConnecTechAsia 2020 June 09-11, Singapore
Aug-Sept
Editorial Submissions: 24-07-20 Ad Bookings: 24-07-20 Ad Artwork: 29-07-20
1st Week August
+L oudness Solutions +C loud Solutions +C ontent Security +C ompression, Encoding, Transcoding Solutions
+P re-Show Briefing: BIRTV Beijing, China +P re-Show Briefing: IBC Amsterdam Sept 11-15
Oct-Nov
Editorial Submissions: 01-10-20 Ad Bookings: 08-10-20 Ad Artwork: 15-10-20
3rd Week October
+ Cable & Satellite Delivery + Digital Asset Management Solutions + OTT/IPTV/HbbTV Solutions
+P re-Show Briefing: AVIA (CASBAA) Asia Video Summit +P re-Show Briefing: Siggraph Asia, Daegu, Sth Korea, 17-20 November
CLASSIFIED + EVENTS
ADVERTISER INDEX
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Magna Systems & Engineering---------IFC Mediaproxy------------------------------------------35 Pacific Live Media----------------------------21,25 Phabrix---------------------------------------------------6 Professional Audio & Television FC---23
Ross Video--------------------------------------------19 Siggraph Asia---------------------------------------IBC Sony-------------------------------------------------OBC Stagetec----------------------------------------------39 Techtel------------------------------------------------7
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