25 Film Artisans Who Dazzled in 2013

THR
Mini-interviews with Scorsese, Abrams, Koninski and more on the greatest crafts people around. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/25-film-artisans-who-dazzled-665697

As CES Approaches, Stream TV Networks Focused on Glasses-Free 3D

THR

The company is helping Sky 3D preview "David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive 3D" and has hired 3D producer Duncan Humphreys.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/as-ces-approaches-stream-tv-666044

Live dynamic range enhancement

TVB Europe

http://www.tvbeurope.com/live-dynamic-range-enhancement-2/

A Danish technology start-up is introducing an image processing system that it claims “significantly enhances” live TV pictures, including Ultra HD. The LiveScene product from Pion addresses what it says are the image quality limitations such as lack of highlight and shadow detail, noise and poor contrast of live television broadcasts.

“We are optimising the dynamic range by bringing down the highlights and extracting detail from the shadows,” explained Kenneth Tang Laerke, Pion’s CEO. The picture of the LiveScene user interface side-by-side screen shows an image after (left) and before the process.

“For example, when a stadium during a football match is half drenched in sunlight and half in shade it is extremely hard to pull out highlights with current technology. We’re able to bring that into a quality, using sophisticated image processing, that is quite frankly unseen before.”

Aimed at outside broadcast and studio production environments, the LiveScene product takes the live uncompressed feed from broadcast cameras, or an inbound compressed stream from live ENG or event coverage, and enhances it in real time to overcome common live production challenges caused by adverse conditions.

The single rack unit, plus control panel, fits into an existing OB or studio-based infrastructure, and is said to “drastically enhance” the work and profile of the camera control unit (CCU) operator or studio technician.

Although claimed to be a real time process, Tang Laerke admits to a fixed latency of two frames.

“In traditional High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging you have to shoot multiple exposures or use more than one camera,” he said. “Pion is similar technology-wise to HDR, but we are able to do it with one camera or a number of cameras. We have no special requirements in terms of what camera you are using, so we could achieve better image quality from even fairly low-end cameras.”

Although Pion wouldn’t disclose names, it said it was testing the technology with OB companies and broadcasters. It also said the UK was its main focus given the attractiveness of the UK’s OB market.

Richard Yeowart, MD of Arena Digital who has not seen the product observed: “The pictures always look great in the OB truck – most of the loss/compression is down to the onwards signal transmission. You end up with a fraction of the data at home that we start with, good compression and codecs are the key.”

Tang Laerke asserted that lack of detail in highlights and shadows is a major issue for broadcasters. “One of the things consumers most appreciate is improved dynamic range, over resolution and over smoothness and framerate,” he said.

“This becomes even more of an issue as the resolution gets higher. Viewers move closer to the screen and the pixel count rises so you see more of these issues.”

Michael Jonsson, Pion CTO, added: “With the advent of Ultra HD acquisition, which further accentuates common picture quality issues, we believe our Live Camera Enhancement is perfectly placed to address the quality issues that capturing and processing live 4K and beyond will bring to a production.”

Planned future enhancements including a product tuned to improve colour correction.

“Commodity technology is the enabler for us,” said Tang Laerke. “We are using off the shelf GPU technology that only recently became powerful enough to process 30 frames a second at 1080p, or 60 interlaced in real time.”

Tang Laerke and Jonsson founded Pion this year, backed by Danish venture fund Seed Capital. The entrepreneurs previously formed Danish digital imaging photo software company Pixmantec – acquired by Adobe Systems in 2006 – and created the RawShooter software application.

By Adrian Pennington

2013: Making space for growth

Broadcast

In the studios sector, 2013 was all about space – the demand for it, the lack of it and how to build more of it.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/in-depth/2013-making-space-for-growth/5064609.article

2013: A new player on the pitch

Broadcast

BT Sport’s launch and SIS Live’s exit were the biggest events ahead of the Commonwealth Games

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/features/2013-a-new-player-on-the-pitch/5064603.article

SIS Live searches for OB buyers

Sports Video Group

http://svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/sis-live-searches-for-ob-buyers/

As SIS Live puts its OB division up for sale, at least two potential buyers have already earmarked millions of pounds on new equipment. SIS Live has indicated it will sell the OB division’s 14 HD vehicles, but has yet to confirm if it will also offload ancilliary assets including its RF systems and special cameras.

Arena Television has ruled itself out of purchasing any of the assets, preferring to invest in four new scanners over the next 12 months to meet demand from BT Sport as well as sending facilitites to the Commonwealth Games, Brazil 2014 and the Rugby World Cup.

“Buying used trucks is a good quick fix, but they have a shorter lifespan than building from new,” explains Arena managing director Richard Yeowart.

Like Arena, NEP Visions is also embarking on a spending spree, this time on six flypacks as a direct response to winning BBC contracts including athletics, tennis and Wimbledon. It does not rule out, however, a bid for SIS Live’s assets. Steve Jenkins, managing director, NEP UK, remarks: “We will always consider opportunities that will enable us to develop our business and adapt to changing markets.”

Telegenic, meanwhile, has historically chosen to specify its own trucks rather than grow a fleet by acquisition and has not declared its position. Other smaller UK OB suppliers, such as Video Europe and Cloudbass, which purchased key assets from Arqiva’s outside broadcast division last November, may not have the business to justify the spend.

However, CTV director and COO Euro Media Group, Barry Johnstone confirmed that Euro Media, which acquired the assets of Alfacam at the start of the year, will look at what SIS Live makes available.

There is a scenario in which SIS Live’s fleet may not be sold back into the market, potentially reducing total available truck capacity in the UK and concievably adding a premium to hire.

“I don’t see any major change in the price suppliers charge clients unless SIS’s trucks were to disappear from the market,” says Johnstone.

A price rise alarm has also been raised by Jeff Foulser, chairman of sports production company Sunset+Vine. “OB companies may feel they have a window of time to get back at some of their clients who have driven prices down over the years,” says Foulser.

With competition for large-scale contracts effectively concentrated on four players (NEP Visions, Telegenic, CTV and Arena), Foulser even theorises that Sky may invest in its own OB outfit. Such a move may depend on it beating BT to the next tranche of EPL rights from 2016-17.

“Sky have been a very powerful player for 20 years and very clever about portioning enough work to each of the bigger OB companies to keep them in business, but not making them too rich,” says Foulser, who speaks with some authority since S+V former parent Television Corporation owned Visions before offloading it to NEP for £16.8 million in 2004. “The fewer of them there are, the more difficult it is to control pricing. I can see that only going one way. Sky may decide to open it’s own OB division.”

Unsuprisingly, perhaps, suppliers are defending their position. “We’ve seen no hint of any changes in the high service levels offered by our fellow OB companies or for that matter in pricing,” declares Yeowart. “From a numbers point of view, having an added slice of turnover will allow the remaining players to offer better economies of scale across their business.”

“I don’t think it will make a big difference.. every market goes through periods of consolidation and expansion,” says Brian Clark, commercial & technical projects director at NEP Visions. “The market will find a new level to sit with SIS not being involved.”

Adds Johnstone: “I don’t think prices are that low that everyone is waiting for payback time. Most of us feel we’ve done a job for a fair price. Those that work with big clients are happy with what they have.”

All these executives had consoling words for the 240 experienced technicans, managers and camera ops who are being let go from March as a result of SIS Live’s exit. Clark says Visions has already employed a handful, and with skilled OB crew at a premium, an exodus of them onto the market should also keep costs from spiralling.

Blackmagic CEO: “low frame rate UHD is not good enough”

TVB Europe
After a short delay caused by issues related to the sensor, Blackmagic Design says its £2500 4K Super 35mm digital camera will ship this quarter.

http://www.tvbeurope.com/blackmagic-ceo-low-frame-rate-uhd-is-not-good-enough-2/