nzvn august 2015

AUGUST 2015 Vol 216

For the audio side of Protel, we’re here with ( imagine a

very guttural and extended faux French accent ) Ren-e-e-

e from Protel.

Ed: Sorry René, I’m such a fan of ‘Allo ‘Allo! – I’m sure

you get it all the time?

René: I do, allo allo!

Ed: Now Protel – well known to us as being heavily into

the video area, you’re big in audio too. Let’s start with

COMSTAR who cover both?

René: Sure. COMSTAR are an American manu-

facturer of wireless communication equipment, for film

crews, theatres, sports and any scenario where wireless

communication is required. Effectively it’s full duplex

wireless coms for where you might consider using RTs or

the like, but you can get a much more reliable signal and

longer range out of one of these COMSTAR units. They

are available as single ear or double ear all-in-one

headsets with mics or as a beltpack with a range of wired

headsets. They transmit using DECT wireless frequencies

as opposed to your RF, so they have a secure reliable

transmission, not dissimilar to cellphone type technology.

Ed: But you don’t have to worry about picking a

frequency?

René: That’s correct, they are all up in the 1.9 GHz

range. The headsets are paired with the base station

which is in its own right like a little cell tower. Once they

are paired, they will then work within the range that’s

allocated to them and, once established, away they go.

Ed: And of course, they’re not going to interfere with

your standard radio microphones at those higher

frequencies that they normally use?

René: That is correct, yes. So the big benefits of

the COMSTAR system are that it can be battery powered,

Protel Pro Audio Show 2015

René with COMSTAR headsets.

so if you’re a film crew running your kit out of a van or

a truck, you can put the base station in the truck and

you’ll get over six hours out of the battery in the com

station itself, and about 10 hours out of the batteries in

the headsets. It can also obviously be powered via AC.

The range is about 400 yards from the base station …

Ed: We’ll say 400 metres shall we?

René: 400 metres, yes, the Americans quote

yards, and being an American product … but about 400

metres and the effective range is quite dramatic. I’ve

done tests with these where I have been a building

away from the base station in the bottom of a lift shaft

and still had good clear reception on the headset. So

they really are very effective.

Ed: We won’t ask what you were doing at the bottom

of a lift shaft Rene, that’s your own business …

René: I was testing a COMSTAR system! The

other benefit of these is if you have an existing wired

system, the base station can be optionally delivered

with an analogue interface to the wired system. So it

can effectively become the wireless node of your wired

system. Really good if you’ve got existing gear and you

want to hook into it.

Ed: And then?

René: Our next item is the Zaxcom product.

Zaxcom are a very innovative company; they produce a

range of wireless transmitters, receivers, IFB

transmitters, audio mixers and recorders. Some of the

key benefits of the Zaxcom gear is that all of their

transmitters actually record onto SD cards in the

transmitter itself, time stamped audio … so in the

unlikely event that you lose communication with the

transmitter, you do have time stamped audio on the

card which you can retrieve for use in production. Their

IFB systems also allows for their mixers and control

units to control things like mic gain and settings of the

transmitter remotely, as well as deliver confidence

audio to receivers for cameramen and people like that.

Again, a very innovative company – a lot of the stuff

they do is very much ground breaking and they are

Lots from the Pro Audio Show.

P18 Old v. new.

P25 Puzzle page.

P26 Fly my Pretties!

DISPLAY & CLASSIFIED ADVERTBOOKINGS BY WED 2 SEPT

ADVERT COPY BY FRI 4 SEPTUP ON THE WEB BY FRI 11 SEPT

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

excellent units in use on a lot of productions in New

Zealand these days.

Ed: At the higher end of the market?

René: At all ends of the market that value their

signal quality and integrity! The basic transmitter and

receiver type functionality and quality of audio is

premium.

One of the new Zaxcom devices this year is the

ZFR300. This is exactly the same recording system as

the beltpack transmitters, but it’s just a recorder, so if

you imagine going out without the budget of a sound

person, ( which I hope never happens ), you can have a

“run and gun” type scenario where everything is being

recorded, time stamped, on your talent. Rather than

mixing on the fly, you come back to your production

studio, pop the SD card, load the audio into your Media

Composer or Adobe editing system and away you go.

All you’ve actually purchased at that point in time is one

recorder and a microphone.

Ed: Well you’ve got the flexibility with this system?

René: That’s correct, it gives you lots of flexibility

to do that.

Ed: So who’s actually Zaxcom in New Zealand or

nearby?

René: This technology was used on all of TheHobbit films, Lord of the Rings; I know that it’s used forJono & Ben on TV3, Friday nights. A lot of localproductions are using these now and certainly in thefilm world you’d be hard pressed to find a film set thatgoes by without Zaxcom these days.

Ed: And is that really just assurance that they knowthat they’re going to have the best quality and thehighest likelihood of it surviving whatever treatmentthey give to it?

René: That’s partially it. It’s also as I mentioned,Zaxcom are very rich feature wise, so they certainlyhave the quality element and they have the reassuranceof the backup recording, but there are also some realclever attributes to the system that aren’t availableelsewhere.

Ed: That’s got to be good. Now from what I see here,

Zaxcom don’t make microphones, but you have

microphones that fit them nicely?

René: That’s correct. We can recommend mics

and sell you mics that are right for whatever job you’re

going to do. Just let us know what you are doing and

we’ll help you get what you need.

Ed: And that takes me on to Genelec because you

told me earlier that Genelec is one of the “brands de

jour” of Protel – it’s the only speaker brand you keep in

stock, but you can provide other brands if someone so

desires and wants to make a comparison?

René: Well, with everything we do at Protel, I

always like to say to people that we do everything from

the carpet upwards – we cater for all budgets; we cater

for all types of work and

production. So if a Genelec

is not the appropriate

speaker in a particular

instance, either through

personal preference or

restricted budget, then yes

we certainly can recommend

and provide other brands as

well.

Ed: I hope sound wouldn’t

be an issue unless they

wanted something really,

really expensive?

René: There are

applications, certainly in

audio production, where you

actually need something

that sounds really bad, and

there’s a certain element of

belief, and I adhere to this too, that if you can make

something sound really good on a bad speaker, then it’s

going to sound fantastic when it gets to a good speaker.

So even in my own studio I have some terrible speakers

sitting next to my Genelecs.

Ed: So you can make that comparison?

René: That’s correct.

Ed: And in the Genelec range, the littlest one here

you say is the latest thing for the video producer?

René: Yes, Genelec go through from very smallspeakers to very large film monitor speakers for controlrooms, but video guys tend to have a requirement morefor a small unobtrusive speaker, because they tend tohave so many screens around their systems that spacebecomes a key requirement.

Now one of the things that Genelec have done in recenttimes is that they have extended their world leadingDSP technology down into the smaller speaker ranges,so where previously we could only provide quite largespeakers with DSP technology, now we can go rightdown to our 8020 range, the previous analogue varietyof those which we’ve done in many video studios.

Ed: Can you tell me what “DSP” is?

René: Certainly. Digital Signal Processing in thespeaker that provides “on the fly” EQ and room correctprocessing. Genelec call this Smart Active Monitoring orSAM. So effectively, you calibrate the speaker to aroom or a listening environment and that provides aneven truer level of monitoring than you had previously.Over and above that, and possibly of huge benefit forthe video guys, is that with the SAM speakers, you canallow for any sync delay directly in the speaker. So ifyou’re getting a delay from your audio from the likes ofPlasma or LCD screens, or even just through thetransmission and processing equipment you’re using,you can allow for that delay in the speaker system,meaning sync becomes a very easy thing to manage.

Ed: Wow. That’s clever technology, and that I guessis software that’s in your computer?

René: The process of actually setting up the DSPcharacteristics is in the computer, but once they’vebeen set, they’re then stored in the speaker itself.Switch them on, switch them off – those settingsremain, and you don’t need to have the computer on tocontrol them, they operate just like any speaker would.

Ed: They’re Ethernet connected are they?

René: They are connected via the standard

balanced AES or Analog audio cabling as previously, but

what we call the “control network” is connected via

Ethernet cabling – it’s not actually an Ethernet network,

it just uses Ethernet cabling as a conduit for control.

Ed: So there is an Ethernet cable actually to the

speaker as well as the standard audio cables, but you

only have to have that on when you’re setting them up?

René: Yes, there are some smarts that you may

elect to retain that cable for. Once you’ve set them up,

you can remove those cables entirely, but there are

some benefits to leaving them in, for example, if you

have multiple listening positions, such as an editor

working position and you might have a director sitting

on a couch behind, you could have two calibrations set

up, one for each of them, and swap between the two

positions. Having that control cabling still in place

allows you to do that in the software just using, for

example, F1 F2 between the two different positions.

Ed: So that’s the cleverness of Genelec?

René: That is the cleverness of Genelec and, in

typical Genelec fashion, they lead the DSP world in this

sort of functionality. There’s not another brand that can

touch the functionality of Genelec’s Smart Active

Monitor range.

Ed: And you hear them at Protel?

René: Or we can bring them on site for you to

audition.

Ed: You can’t get better than that. Now we just had a

big chat with Philipp from Lawo and, as I said at the

start of that, Lawo came from the audio side and they

still continue … we have a very large audio mixer here

that, to a non-audio specific person, I just thought was

a big mixer like the Avid over there, but Rene, I am

quite wrong?

René: This mc2 36 is Lawo’s smallest console and

a very recent introduction. The beauty of this console is

that it brings the much renowned quality and

redundancy features of Lawo’s big broadcast consoles to

the “budget end” of the market, allowing smaller

productions, theatres and the small OB vans to benefit

from this leading technology.

Ed: So this is a direct to broadcast, or direct to

presentation console as opposed to the Avid one which

is a production studio console?

the smarts of Lawo’s big consoles that

are used worldwide for TV, OBs and

sports production.

In particular, this console has

incorporated integrated I/O, so all the

analogue mic pre’s, line inputs and

digital I/O are actually in the console

itself.

This is a first for Lawo’s mc2 consoles

as the bigger consoles are effectively

large routers with DSP and faders!

In spite of this, the mc36 does

incorporate all the Lawo routeing

technology and it is exactly the same

control software that is on the larger

broadcast consoles.

Anyone interested in these exciting

products should feel free to call or

email any time.

We are always happy to talk about the technologies

involved. NZVN

Avid Pro Audio Show 2015For Protel, we are at the Avid stand with Gil Gowing

from Avid in the States.

Ed: Gil, you’ve surprised me by telling me that, since

NAB, you’ve actually launched an update to Pro Tools

12?

Gil: It’s a point update, but one of the ideas behind

our new plans that we introduced with Pro Tools 12 was

subscription and our yearly support plan was to be able

to do faster updates, and 12.1 which released at the

second week in July is our first foray into that. So

within 3 months of introducing Pro Tools 12, we’ve now

got this “.1” release which, for regular Pro Tools users,

has added some functionality that used to be only

available in Pro Tools HD. So things like track input

monitoring where you can actually input monitor on a

track by track basis. That was a huge thing for guys

who are tracking music and doing overdubs and things,

being able to put their individual tracks into input, being

able to do simple things like “copy to send”, taking what

you have on your faders and then

choosing whether you want to put the

pan up there as well, and copying that to

a particular one of the 10 send slots.

That used to be an HD only feature,

that’s now available in the regular

version of Pro Tools. We’ve upped the

track count from 96 to 128 tracks …

Ed: How do people get by with only 96

tracks?

Gil: You know, I don’t know. I

remember back in the day when I had a

4 track and that was amazing what you

could do with that and now we’ve got

128 tracks in just regular Pro Tools and

that’s a great thing. Plus, for the

composers, we’ve gone from 64

instrument tracks to 512. So one of the

great things about the way we’re now

doing things with Pro Tools, is you’re

going to see us do a lot more feature

releases – probably in smaller chunks, but in a lot faster

timeframe.

Now the other big thing that we’ve done since NAB

timeframe is our flagship S6 control surface. We’ve

released the final version of the 2.0 software which is

probably the biggest update to S6 to date. We’ve

added things like spill zones, we’ve got an expand knob

which, when you “attention” a track to the centre, will

take over one of our knob modules with a particular

predetermined function. So this gives you kind of more

icon centre section functionality with the S6 that you

really didn’t have before. We’ve also got the ability to

see automation break point data on the waveforms on

our display modules with our M40D systems and then a

bunch of other small little features that are just really

big things that are going to help the workflow for the

guys who are using S6 in both music and

postproduction.

Ed: As a computer user in this field, I have a fear of

automatic software updates – that you’re right in the

René: That is correct, yes. So this is primarily a

broadcast console. In this small form, it still brings all

middle of a large project with some quite complicated

features and suddenly you get this little icon saying “a

new update is available”?

Gil: Absolutely, I understand that completely. With

Pro Tools 12, we did introduce our application manager

which does just that. It tells you if there is a software

update available. Now we don’t actually automatically

update your software; we’re not like OS companies that

will just automatically download it and install it without

you actually choosing “I want to get this.” You can use

the application manager to see what’s there and to

choose what you want to install or not. But also, all

these installers are tied to your master Avid account

and you can go back at any time, see these new

installers or any of the older installers that you have

tied to your account as well. So if you do choose to

update and you’re in the middle of a project and

something is not quite right and you need to go back,

you can always go back, get that older installer and

within minutes be back to where you were.

Ed: Or just wait until you’ve finished your project,

then you can do it?

Gil: Absolutely. Then you have the time to spend and

make sure everything’s the way it needs to be and work

all the little kinks, because obviously, when you’re

talking about something like Pro Tools, it’s not just Pro

Tools that you update – there might be plugins that you

need to update, you might need to update your OS, so

definitely a lot goes into it and we’d definitely not

recommend it in the middle of a big project. I would

definitely wait until you had some downtime to really be

able to make sure that everything went smooth.

Ed: Unless it was that update that you were waitingfor?

Gil: Well there’s always that one, right, and with thenew application manager it gives you a good idea ofwhat those new features are so you can kind of choosewhether it’s something that you want to go ahead anddo or not.

Ed: Because you can always save a copy of yourproject somewhere else can’t you?

Gil: Well absolutely – you’re not tied to it, you can

always do a “save session” copy off to another drive forsafety’s sake. And like I said, with these later versions

of Pro Tools, from Pro Tools 11 on, it really is easy to

keep even multiple copies of Pro Tools in the

applications folder – it’s just a matter of going in and

renaming, let’s say your current version, putting a

version number on it, and when you install the new

version, it will install it right alongside it. That way you

can go back and forth between the new version, see if

you like the new features or if something’s not thereyou can just double click and always go back to that

older version, without even having to reinstall anything.

Ed: A lesson for some of our other software vendors

there I think.NZVN

Editing Solutions Experts

Atomise Limited is proud to supply and support the Post Solutions for leading NZ facilities including:

The Hobbit – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 7000 | Apace VSTOR OctopaNatural History NZ – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 5500

Unitec – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 5500

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

Authorised Elite Reseller for the complete Avid Video, Interplay & Storage ranges.Official New Zealand Distributor for Avid Media Composer, Avid ISIS & JMR Storage.

We are proud to have been selected as one of Avid’s top 100 partners worldwide.

www.atomise.co.nz | [email protected]

Announcing Avid ISIS | 1000

Get the industry-proven performance and reliability of Avid ISIS 5500 and 7500 shared storage in a more affordable entry-level system designed for independent editors, audio post pros, and smaller post-production houses. No need to ditch your favorite editing and asset management tools to acceler-ate your workflow. ISIS | 1000 enables real-time editorial collaboration using what you have, whether you edit in Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro, or Media Composer.

Avid Certified Techical Training Courses

Atomise Limited is a certifeed Avid Learning Partner delivering Avid Certified Support Representative technical level training. Avid Certification helps professionals attain and demonstrate the skills and credentials they need to increase their value, competency, and efficiency in the highly competitive media industry.

Held in our Wellngton training room, our next course is:MC400 & UN425 ACSR Fast Track certification 9-13 November 2015

The MC400 is the foundation course for Avid ACSR qualification. Combined with the UN425 ISIS | 5500 course, this intense week of training provides Editor and Shared Storage certification.

Contact us for more info and to book a place on these courses. Prerequisite skills may be required for some courses.

Wellington - Head OfficeLevel 3, 127 Park Road

MiramarPh 04 380 5010

AucklandLevel 1, 59 Maurice Road

PenrosePh 021 863 324

SennheiserPro AudioShow 2015

We are at the Sennheiserbooth with Daniel Rowe fromNew Zealand and ChrisSmith from Oz as a guestspeaker.

Ed: Now Daniel, we knowyou represent Sennheiser,but how is the industrygoing to meet you andreceive support for theirSennheiser product?

Daniel: For the enduser, it would usually be at ashow like this, but my dealerbase knows me well. I aman account manager and myprimary responsibility is tosupport my dealer base andall aspects of engaging withthe Sennheiser brand.

Ed: So these are the pro Sennheiser dealers who, ifthey run into a problem, or a customer wants to knowany specific information, they’ve got you to call on?

Daniel: Yes. I’m a point of contact for the dealersin all aspects of their Sennheiser related business.We’re also there as a level of support for their customerbase as well. So that could be technical support or itcould be product advice – all manner of things. But wetry, where possible, to keep dealers’ relationships withtheir customers; we are there as an additional layer ofsupport for them.

Ed: What about the dealers providing evenings andpresentations on new product. Do you get involved inthat too?

Daniel: Yes that’s something we’re doing more ofthese days. You know wherever a dealer needs toengage their client base with our products then we’llabsolutely step in and help support them there. It’s agreat way to meet the end user where we wouldn’tnormally, and to potentially give them a differentinsight or perspective on products we deal with.

Ed: I imagine that’s pretty relevant at the moment,because there are two very new and very good productsthat we covered at NAB this year, that are now justavailable in New Zealand. This is something that you’dlike your dealers to let their customers know about?

Daniel: Yes, absolutely. Look we’ve got two veryexciting products – both the AVX ENG on-camera kitand the Clip Mic Digital, our iPhone Lavaliere systemwhich is Sennheiser’s recent collaboration with Apogee.They’re already generating a lot of worldwide interestand our dealers are very enthused about their release.In fact, Sennheiser ANZ has the second highest dealerdriven pre-order number for these systems within theworldwide Sennheiser group, so there is a huge demandfor AVX on this side of the world. The trick for all of usis to keep getting the message out to the end user, andjust to reiterate, we’re there to help support thatprocess however we can.

Ed: I know my big question about the ENG kit wasthe latency in the voice and you very clearly showed mea graph how the latency is not an issue?

Daniel: 19 milliseconds is within frame sync, so

that is the critical parameter we need to consider. But

it’s not discernible in any real terms. If in-ear

monitoring was involved in this situation, then yes it

would be more of a problem, but it’s just not relevant to

this product group or the market it is aimed at.

Chris and Daniel from Sennheiser.

D1

BE D1 TO COME TO TOWN

BE D1 TO BURN IT DOWN

BE D1 AND ONLY

Take your band to the next stage. With

evolution wireless D1 – the easiest and most

reliable digital system. Featuring adaptive

high-power transmission, superior live sound

and exceptional ease of use. Be D1 to have it.

www.sennheiser-D1.com

Ed: And you’re actually finding a greater spread ofinterest for this particular product with its DECTfrequency range?

Daniel: Yes absolutely, that is one of the reasons.1.9 DECT band is licence free, future proofed, and isfree from digital dividend related frequency issues for astart. Sennheiser recognises that they sit in a numberof markets with this product. We’ve been very strongin professional broadcast systems and in ENG Newsgathering systems, but there’s an ever growingprosumer market as well that is there to be developedfurther, so products like the AVX and the Clip MicDigital, straddle that line between the professionalsystems and the prosumer systems, with guys who areaspiring to a more professional end result in what theydo. So with that in mind, they’re very easy systems touse; the video guy has enough on his plate in a givenday, as you well know, without worrying aboutcomplicated RF UHF setups and audio management.

Ed: It does depend totally on what you’re doing, butin that rapidly moving situation where you’ve just got tograb a sound bite and you’ve got to be out of therewithin a few minutes, you know that you just plug thisthing in and it works?

Daniel: Yes that’s right. It’s designed to manageits own frequencies, to automatically jump out of theway of any conflicting frequencies; your microphonesensitivity is set automatically as well so that doesn’tneed attending to either. It adapts its power outputrelevant to its proximity between microphone and thetiny plug on receiver, it will turn on and off withphantom power, so you power up your camera and theAVX system turns on or off with it … it really is a truly“plug and play” system with no compromise in audioquality. You turn it on, you start using it, you pack upand go home. That has huge advantages forprofessional users as much as the prosumers that it’sprimarily designed around.

Ed: So this is a good case of “go and find out fromyour dealer when Daniel’s going to be doing apresentation, or they’re going to be doing one of theirown, and see this mic in action.” The other questionthat I have also relates to the dealership network, andagain – and I push this – the choice betweenpurchasing something through your dealer or over theinternet. And there is a price perception there Daniel?

Daniel: Yes, that’s a hot topic for everyone, boththe consumer and the dealer. We have always had theviewpoint that purchasing through a dealer is ultimatelythe best way forward with any level of product, fortechnical backup and on-going support the whole waythrough the purchase process, and post-sale too.

Ed: Because part of your job is to handle warrantyclaims on Sennheiser product?

Daniel: Yes, that’s part of what we do.Warranty repairs are primarily handled locally butwe do get warranty claims coming in frominternational orders …

Ed: Because you look after the Sennheiserbrand, rather than just what’s sold in NZ. SoChris, if somebody has purchased a Sennheiserproduct overseas or via the internet …?

Chris: We generally find we get a lot ofwarranty claims coming back which are “no faultfound” and they’re generally setup issues. Wefind those are higher through internet purchasesthan through the dealer base, because generally,when people are buying off a dealer, their level ofinteraction with the dealer is higher. Obviously,we go out of our way to inform our dealers on ourproduct and they impart that knowledge to theircustomers. So if a customer is kind of knowledge-

able and knows how to use the product – especially in aUHF microphone style range – then they’re generally 10steps beyond someone who has just done the internetsearch and whatever is the cheapest price.

The other problem that we have is people buying fromeither Asia or US, with frequency bands that just aren’tgoing to work where they are – and that’s a real issueeverywhere these days. AVX systems coming in fromthe States will absolutely not work in Australia or NewZealand for example, and ANZ versions are notavailable through US resellers. So again, dealers tendto be much more au fait with what’s happening in theRF landscape locally to where they are.

Ed: You concur Daniel?

Daniel: I do. NZVN

Sound TechniquesPro Audio Show 2015

We’re now with Stephen Buckland himself at a ratherlarge booth here at the Pro Audio Show.

Ed: Stephen, you’re a key part of this, you’re one ofthe drivers of this event, and by the crowds that arecoming and going, it’s obviously worth keeping goingbecause there are a lot of smiley people here?

Stephen: Thanks Grant. About a week ago I had mypre-show blues, but today it’s been impressive seeinglots of people that we don’t normally see and alsoseeing lots that we do.

Ed: We know you from your “audio for video” side,but there is another verylarge side of your businesswhich is the pure audio fortheatre and musicians. Soyou look after a big range?

Stephen: Yes we do,particularly the ADAM audiospeakers – well they take upa fair amount of room juston their own, and are themain thing we sell which isnot directly related to film ortelevision work.

Ed: Some of the productthat we talked about at NAB,you’ve now got it in stock?

Stephen: Yes we have.Firstly, the Sound Devices688 mixer with the additionof the SuperSlot SL-6 whichholds three Lectrosonics SRBreceivers. Now your readers will recall the SRBreceivers are a two channel receiver and they wereoriginally devised to operate as a link to cameras, butLectrosonics found that people were using them theother way round, as a two channel receiver with twotransmitters just as two standard radio mics.Lectrosonics and a couple of other companies havecombined with Sound Devices to produce a unit whichcombines the benefits of both. So it’s an excitingexample of how technology might advance when ineffect five companies talking together produce aproduct which benefits the end user.

Ed: And that’s something where, because you have awhole range of product from a number of differentmanufacturers, you can advise and put togetherpackages for customers who have a need that theymight not know about themselves?

Stephen: Well that’s right, or we can integrate stuff.You know you look at this – if you have a mixer with sixreceivers, you’ve got quite a bulky package. Now Iwouldn’t say by any means that it’s light, but it’s a lotlighter than them all being standalone, plus there areno extra cables so it’s very tidy, you don’t have toworry about a cable breaking and trying to track itdown, and it works well for its purpose. Plus, beyondall that, if you add the new SuperSlot modification to anSRB receiver you can control that SRB receiver from themixer. So you don’t have to be fiddling around withtwo sets of controls on the receiver or the mixer – it’sall integrated into the one platform.

Ed: So again, is this something that people reallyneed to come in and have a look at, have a play with,

Stephen: We’re looking forward to getting somestock because they do seem fit for the purpose, which issomething very simple to setup and they seem to workwell.

Ed: And visitors have a chance to compare it with theother brands that you have?

Stephen: Yes, that’s how Sound Techniques works.Generally we like to look at something first of allourselves, and then let people know we’ve got it, andlet you try it out and let us know how it works.

Ed: And product from the Lectrosonics range? Youare now “in stock” with the L-Series?

Stephen: About one spare!

Ed: And the mini?

Stephen: The Super Slight Micro (SSM) Transmitteris apparently about to become available. Whereas the L-Series could be used generally across the board inmost applications – certainly to do with filming, the SSMis designed for where you want a miniature transmitter,hence its name. Such applications might be in theatrewhere people are on a stage, or your reality shows likeI guess The Bachelor and stuff where having a bulkytransmitter is not permitted because of the nature ofthe clothes that people are wearing.

Ed: Or if you haven’t got any clothes, you could hideit in your hair?

Stephen: Well you could hide it in your hair orprobably between other parts of your body if you hadto. Sorry, I forgot this is a family magazine! Oh dear,can I retrace my steps there … I think you probablycould hide it in a G-string if you needed to.

to see that what they might have already wouldintegrate with it?

Stephen: If they’ve got the receivers, yes it would

certainly be worth coming in. In some ways though, tomake full use of the SuperSlot and 688 you’re starting

from scratch. So if you know what you want to achieve

and you know the sort of work you’re going to be doing

and you’re starting from scratch or you realise your

gear has been superseded, this is a very good place to

start and, yes, come and have a look at.

Ed: Now onto radio mics and we’ve just had a chat

with Daniel from Sennheiser and the AVX radio mic that

works on the DECT platform is obviously something

that’s really new to the industry and you’re stocking

these Stephen?

Ed: That small eh?

Stephen: You could probably pad out the G-string insome people’s cases as well.

Ed: Now, we published a very bad photograph takenby Stephen of the K-TEK … what’s it called …?

Stephen: This is the Gizmo Bag and the Gizmo Bag isa very simple bag. It’s designed to put your bits andpieces of kit in it. It’s padded, sections can be divided,in the lid of it it’s got places to store stuff. It’s singularunique feature is that, once you’ve zipped up, you canturn it over and it’s got a transparent side to it, so youcan look in the bag and see where that little widget hasgone to, rather than having to open the bag and findyour way through it. Also it’s got various parts so it canbe attached to other bags.

Ed: I’d be worried that if you had something pointy inthere you’d get a hole?

Stephen: A sharp knife perhaps, but the clear side isquite strong vinyl.

Ed: And it comes with a warranty?

Stephen: I suppose it does, but it would be againstmisuse.

Ed: So don’t put spikey objects in there?

Stephen: Well I don’t think you would put spikeyobjects in; I think you’d be putting batteries maybe orXLR connectors or bits of cable …

Ed: You could put your lunch in there and you’d knowwhich was the salmon and which was the cheese?

Stephen: It would make for a very expensivedesigner lunch bag, yes that’s correct.

Coming to you through the clear Gizmo bag window.

Ed: And Diana’s modelling a product here from Versa-Flex and what’s this Diana?

Diana: This is a transmitter belt. You put yourwireless transmitter in here and then you wrap thatround the person’s waist, and it’s reversible.

Ed: Aaaah so if you haven’t got a pocket …?

Diana: And it sticks together so it doesn’t fall out,so it’s perfect for sports, reality shows, all those thingswhere you want to hide your transmitter.

Ed: Oh I see, so one side’s black and the other side’sflesh coloured if you’re rather sickly?

Diana: That’s right.

Ed: And Stephen’s modelling the high tech Versa-Flexproduct?

Stephen: Versa-Flex is a company that makes

anything that requires sewing … they make bags for

cameras, they make covers for cameras etc, but whatI’ve got on here is a Versa-Flex harness, and this is

designed to carry a heavy bag full of sound equipment.

It’s an over the shoulder harness, so the weight is taken

on your shoulders and your back. You strap it up

appropriately across your chest … it’s a way of getting

around and on set with the kind of kits of gear that

people are expected to carry around these days.

Versa-Flex also makes body belts, but if you have a

particular bag that you want made and you can’t find itanywhere, the people at Versa-Flex will actually make it

to your design. Given that they’re in the United States

obviously you’ve got to communicate the exact

specifications, but they can do it.

Ed: Right, and again available over the counter atSound Techniques?

Stephen: There are various sizes – because the firstones we received only suited lumberjacks and the firstperson who wanted to buy one happened to be thisdiminutive chap! So there are various sizes availableout of the shop.

Ed: As they should be.

Stephen: And we can fit them for you. We have ateam of keen staff with tape measures around theirnecks and we’ll fit the appropriate one for yourpurposes. NZVN

Welcome to TimWe’ve come across Tim Riley, the latest

addition to Sound Techniques, proudly seated

here beside Diana.

Ed: Tim, you’ve come from the industry?

Tim: Yes.

Before Sound Techniques I was working at

Edwards Sound in Penrose doing more live

sound orientated work.

Ed: So not actually in front of customers?

Tim: Still in front of customers, but more into

setting up in the field and setting up live sound

systems, but also the customer side of things

doing the hires and a bit of sales.

Ed: So what’s different at Sound

Techniques?

Tim: Well the gear really. The location sound

is new to me but the theory is the same.

Ed: Have they got you doing everything or

are you starting off with things that you know

about on the rental side?

Tim: Yes – I’ve taken over a bit of the rental side of

things at Sound Techniques.

I’m doing a little bit of sales, sort of edging into sales as

well, but mostly rentals at this stage.

Ed: And getting to know the products?

Tim: Yes, absolutely, getting my hands dirty with allthe products and working out the Lectrosonics gear andthe Sound Devices gear and just having a play.

Ed: And Mr Buckland’s looking after you well is he?

Tim: He certainly is.

Ed: Do you look upon him as a mentor?

Tim: I do actually, yeah, yeah – he’s a greatbusinessman and he’s a good guy and he’s veryreasonable.

Ed: And he knows his product?

Tim: He knows his stuff, absolutely.

Ed: You’ll do okay. NZVN

Diana with Tim Riley.

How to carry your transmitter when youdon’t have a pocket of your own.

Bright-eye stand-alone modular

TEKTRONIX

–

www.tektronix.com

Video Test, Measuring andMonitoring equipment

– Network Management andDiagnostics

– MPEG Test and Measurementequipment

Rycote Pro AudioShow 2015

On the Sound Techniques stand, I metwith Simon Davies from Rycote.

Ed: Simon, I understand that this isyour first time in New Zealand andyou’re looking all the better for it?

Simon: Yes, it’s very embarrassingto say that it’s the first time, but I’mvery happy to be here, so I’m sure I’ll beback in the very near future –specifically in 2017.

Ed: Now you should take theseRycotes to Wellington, because there’s alot of wind there. Unfortunately, here inAuckland of course, there’s very balmyweather, there’s no wind and so we’vehad to put a fan on to show thedifference between your latest RycoteCyclone and your trusty modularsystem?

Simon: The Cyclone is a system which doesn’t relyon fur, but gives you the same wind performance thatyou would be expecting using a modular system or oneof our older systems with fur. So you get the windperformance and you get the acoustic transparency.It’s a bit of a compromise between the two, but the newsystem is all about clean sound when it’s new, but alsowhen it’s old. That’s the most important thing.

Ed: But on your comparison, I don’t see any fur. Isthe fur on the inside?

Simon: No there’s no fur at all. What we have isthe combination of material, shape and size. The keyaspects about it are the design of the material, theopenness about it and the shape – the non-parallelsides … all of those contribute to give us theperformance. If you put a fur cover on a modular, theCyclone gives you the same wind protection.

Simon hits a high note with his Cyclone.

Ed: Aaaah, so we’re making a comparison between aCyclone and a non-furred …?

Simon: Correct. So really to do a straightforwardcomparison in terms of size and performance here, themodular with the fur would be the same windperformance as a Cyclone without a fur, but acousticallytransparency wise, the Cyclone is much better thanwhen you put a fur on a normal windshield.

Ed: This is a windshield that you used to make?

Simon: Yes, and it’s still great and it still performsand we still make them. The parallel sided Rycote willnever go away because, for some environments likesports, News and things like that where they get stuckin racks, it’s much more important that they’re parallelsided, they’ll always stay; and a parallel sided, or anextended sphere, is still a very good shape to use withcurrent materials. With the Cyclone though, thematerial, the 3D-Tex, you can’t use it in a parallel sidedbasket because the room tones or the reflectivesurfaces would make it sound prettyhorrible. The Cyclone works specificallybecause there’s no parallel sides insidethere. But also, very importantly, wheneveryou put a basket on, whatever the size –whether it’s the size of our mono ones, thenthe modular, or whether it’s a super-shieldlike that, you hear it, you hear the actualcoupling of the basket … regardless of whatyou’ve done with the suspension, you’ll hearit. With the Cyclone, one of the key aspectsof the top and bottom is a suspension whichfloats the whole basket. That decouples itacoustically rather than just mechanically,so that makes it a very quiet windshield aswell. So for microphones like Schoeps andSennheiser and MKH-50, which arenotorious for being difficult to get handlingnoise down, this actually helps with thehandling noise. It’s nothing to do with themechanical, it’s acoustic coupling.

Ed: Now Stephen was telling us earlierthat, in the days of the fur … which actuallyhas a proper name doesn’t it?

Simon: Yes, the windjammer.

Ed: … you had difficulty introducing this to the marketwhen you came up with it?

Simon: Yes – John Gozzard first came out with it in1985 and one of the first promotions that Vivienne Dyer( who happens to be my mother ) tried to do toconvince people in Japan to actually buy the fur was tomake little Rycote dogs – they were little toys. Sheended up getting orders for a couple of hundred of thedogs rather than the windjammers.

Now it’s an industry standard to see a fur cover or awindjammer on top of a microphone windshield, butback in the mid-80s, it used to be a fleece sock or ahigh wind-cover as we would call it. So this step awayfrom that in the Cyclone, we understand it’s whatsomeone’s expecting to hear – the sound of a fur has adefinite sound and a Cyclone is very different. You’llactually hear wind noise, not the wind hitting thetransducer, but actually wind noise going through trees,branches, your mic stand, which some people might notbe used to hearing because effectively you lose thatwhen you put a windjammer on.

Ed: So in fact, a windjammer is cutting out thatfrequency whether that frequency’s come from the windor from the talent’s voice?

Simon: Any windshield, whether it’s a structure likethe Cyclone or the modular, with or without fur, has animpact on the frequency response of a microphone.

The more you put on there, the more layers, the moreacoustically non-transparent those layers are, the moreof an impact you’re going to have at certainfrequencies. What you get with a Cyclone is as clear aspossible the actual sound, but with the wind protectionthe equivalent of a modular with a fur cover on it. It’s abig step for us and we’re going to be showing it for a lotof other things. This is the first biggest size, we’ve gottwo smaller sizes coming, and then we’ve got stereo,surround and some other products like the ones thatwould just fit on the front of microphones as well asENG windshields.

Ed: And the proof of the pudding is in the listening,and I’ve just done a test listening to the Cyclone versusthe parallel sided windjammer without the fur and yes,there certainly is a difference. You hear a lot morebackground noise from the unprotected windjammerthan you can from the Cyclone. So to me it’s proved itsvalue.

Ed tries it out.

Simon: What we’re trying to do is put it in people’shands so they can listen to it themselves. We had anexample where we did it – there was a review in the UKwhere a guy was doing an AB test listening to amodular with a windjammer with a Schoeps CMIT andthe Cyclone right next to each other, not any one closerto the other, to the actual talent talking, and the actualmixer, when he was listening to it thought that theCyclone was about 3 or 4 feet closer to the talent. So itis different and it’s for people to listen to and hear itwith their own ears.

Ed: And they can do that by visiting …?

Simon: Yes, Sound Techniques are going to havelots of demo stock and products to get out there in thefield and have a play with. The other big feature aboutthe Cyclone is the access to the microphone.Conventional shotgun baskets like we’ve made foryears, always you either lock it or you undo a couple ofscrews and then you slide it in and out.

The whole principle behind the Cyclone was to get intothere really easily, so you’ll find four latches – two oneither side, that once you disengage you just break themagnets and you’re into the microphone within 2seconds, rather than take the windjammer off, undo 2knobs, take the endcap off, slide it all out – which cantake 15 seconds or more. This is perfect fordocumentary guys who want to get in, out, in, out veryquickly in terms of getting to the mic. So it’s good. NZVN

Old v. NewThe latest technology is

normally better than what

went before and the field

recording side of our

business is no exception. In

the early 1980’s, the

broadcast level portable

recorder choice of many was

the Sony BVU-110P. It

recorded onto ¾ inch U-

matic tape cassettes that

had a 20 minute recording

time. This was connected to

your camera by a 14 pin

cable and powered by a

3.5Ah battery. The BP90

battery and cassette added

2kg to the 9kg, shoulder

carried, recorder.

Looking back to when I

operated one of these

chasing rally cars around the

North Island for 4 days,

carrying this plus a 3-chip

camera and a 10kg tripod, it’s no wonder that I prefer

today’s stabilised handycams.

The best way to illustrate the technological progress in

recording is by means of a table comparing the BVU-

110P to an SD card of today.

You had to record at least 7 seconds of pre-

usable material every time you paused the

recorder so that the edit player could synchronise

with the edit recorder on playback.

High humidity could cause malfunction in the tape

transport.

For those without the luxury of an assistant, you

had to keep one eye on the audio meters and

warning lamps on the recorder while shooting.

The workflow after recording was also extensive.

Not then a case of popping the card into a reader and

directly ingesting so that the material could be edited

immediately by as many operators as had access to the

server, oh no. The tape had to be rewound and stored

upright in a cool dry place until it was needed for

editing.

Often a VHS or U–matic copy was made with the

timecode burnt into the picture so that off-line editing

could be performed.

Since on-line ( or mastering ) edit suites were

expensive capital items ( not much change out of 250K

for a reasonable one ), you made most of your editing

decisions in the rough with copies and then used the

timecode numbers in an EDL ( edit decision list ) to

make your one-and-only master programme tape.

Because of the analogue nature of the technology, any

editing or copying, no matter how expensive the

format, was always of lesser quality as generations

increased. This is why it was vital to get the master

“right the first time” because any change meant re-

editing the master from that point on, or making a copy

of before and after and just editing the change.

For the same reasons, special effects and titles were

always at the expense of original picture quality. So in

the BVU era, chemical film was still the best quality

option as a recording and editing format.

Now I do hear some of you chuckling “ ... but the BVU

is a tape machine and he professes to like tape.” Well,

BVU-110PRecorder

SD Card

Mass 9.4kg with tape 0.001kg

RecordingSystem

PAL composite Anything the camerasupplies

HorizontalResolution

260 lines 2160 lines in 4K

RecordingCapacity

20 minutes Currently up to 512GBgiving many hours atthe same resolutionas U–matic

Cost Around $5,000and $30 pertape

$24 for 64GB

You should see that there is really no positive on the

side of the BVU for recording today but, back then,

there was nothing more suited to broadcast level field

recording.

Now, for those young ones who were not out recording

at the time ( that’s anyone younger than Garry French )

there were things to watch out for while recording ...

Any sudden movement of the recorder while

slung over your shoulder would cause the tape to

move off the recording path resulting in picture

distortion and sound loss.

Dust or tape oxide could clog the recording

heads, also resulting in picture and/or sound loss.

The tape could become slack and end up wound

around one of the many guide rollers inside a U–

matic tape path.

Editing Solutions ExpertsThe experts providing end–to–end editorial solutions to

New Zealand’s film & television industryAuthorised Elite Reseller for the complete Avid Video, Interplay & Storage ranges.

Official New Zealand Distributor for Avid Media Composer, Avid ISIS & JMR Storage. We are proud to have been selected as one of Avid’s top 100 partners worldwide.

Wellington - Head OfficeRichard Kelly

Ph 021 863 [email protected]

AucklandTheo GibsonPh 021 863 [email protected]

Apace Systems

8

Contact us today for product info, demos and pricing

there is a huge difference between digitally recording on

tape and analogue recording on tape. Digital recording

maintains the signal quality while analogue, in this case

composite, did not.

I asked Tony Nelson

( who has been around

longer than me ) what

his experiences with ¾”

technology were.

I found this article

regarding significant

changes in picture and

sound recording tech-

nology very interesting

and quite thought

provoking.

What strikes me is, if

that's looking back 30

years or so, what's it

going to be like in another 30 years in the future – mind

boggling stuff. Perhaps the 'Jetsons' fanciful cartoons

etc. of the '60s weren't so far-fetched after all.

My recollection of the early days of Lowband and

Highband tape technology go back to when I first

started at the Auckland University AV Dept. in the early

'80s. In those days, most of our gear was JVC due to a

close collaboration with Richard Green. Other formats

such as one inch and Betacam were way beyond our

means so we dreamed of moving from LB to HB

thinking this was the panacea to generation loss and

the resultant poor resolution and picture quality.

Programs involving accurate representation of skin tone

and definition, such as in the many medical projects we

did, were always a struggle resulting in disappointing

outcomes.

Unfortunately, our foray into HB was nothing short of a

disaster after such high expectations. The first

machines proved very unreliable resulting in battles

with the supplier and their eventual replacement with

much improved later models. However, our

expectations of much improved picture quality were not

delivered and we struggled on for a few years until we

received a grant in 1990 to upgrade to Betacam SP

which I am happy to say proved a very reliable format

producing quality pictures for their day.

I am sorry that this is about all I can recall of out

skirmish with HB as it does not bring back happy

memories and time has washed away most of the

technical detail. As a technician going back to the '60s,

it’s sad to say how sterile and boring things have

become – or am I just a SOF?

We are not surprised by anything today and just accept

that Jaycar will have some new toy waiting for us every

time we walk in the door. But hey, it’s different but not

all bad – drones are my current craze.

Lastly, from David

Marshall, an engineer of

standing for many

analogue years, offers

us his perspective on

the merits of the U-

matic format.

Your description of the

BVU110 brings back

lots of memories, some

good ... and others.

The comparisons you

draw all look perfectly

reasonable, though in

defence of our trusted

¾” format ( that’s

19.05mm for those born after Garry French ) I would

like to point out the following:

1. The ¾” cassettes were large but this was done

to make them easy to find. Who hasn’t lost an

SD card?

2. U-matic cassette cases had large labels, hence

had far superior metadata storage capabilities.

No power was required to read it, just legible

writing.

3. The limiting shooting duration on U-matic

wasn’t a limitation, but instead a major cost

saving feature for later post production. Who

ever heard of a 1000:1 cutting ratio back in

those days?

4. U-matic cases were multipurpose. They could

also be used as door stops, or lunch boxes. Try

doing that with the SD case.

5. The U-matic tapes had an inbuilt tape condition

analyser. Any defects were cleverly illustrated

as an onscreen disturbance.

6. Being analogue in design, there were no

unpleasant digital bit depth issues to worry

about. Images were pleasingly mixed with a

random noise floor.

7. The U-matic tape transports were

cleverly designed to provide acoustic

feedback of the condition of the tapes

being used. Pinch roller induced tape

creases could clearly be heard as they

moved past the rotating video drum …

and

8. Who can’t say that the marvel of a

cassette loading into a large transport,

the threading of a tape loop past a fast

rotating head drum and then the clunk of

a pinch roller hitting the tape isn’t far

more impressive than a small bit of

plastic being plugged into a slot.

I rest my case.

Cheers, David NZVN

Phone: 09 302 4100 Email: [email protected] www.kelpls.co.nz

LED equivalent of the famous 4 ft. 4Bank

CRI of 95 (very high)

2700 to 5500 kelvin

Full range dimming (no flicker)

Silent Operation

Can be powered by 24V DC

Honeycomb Louvre, Gel Frame, Stand or Grid mounts available

The classic 4 ft. 4Bank fitting is

Still available as the Tegra

Kino Flo Celeb 200 & Celeb 400 – 2ft. & 4ft. LED’s

On-Board Power & Dimming

Individual lamp select

Uses Kino True Match lamps

DMX control & Barndoors

Lawo Pro AudioShow 2015

At the Protel stand, we’re going to talk withPhilipp Hey from Lawo.

Ed: Philip, Lawo has been around for quitea number of years in the audio business,especially with mixing consoles, but morerecently has really developed in deliveringvideo and audio over IP, and has come upwith some clever solutions. Before we gointo those, from your point of view, what arethe challenges of IP in broadcast?

Philipp: The market demands it, that’sthe thing. Our customers are very muchmoving into a position where they have tocreate a lot of content – much more content than everbefore. Another topic is how people consume thecontent. So this means a lot on portable devices. This iswhy we hear from our customers the need to move alsothe live production itself into the IP world.

Ed: I gathered this from your presentation, that it is theconsumer, that end that is driving the change. Theconsumers are very well aware of what’s available overIP, now it’s getting back into that production through totransmission section that you see your products canmake a difference?

Philipp: Yes, exactly, because we see there areproducts on the market – existing products and protocolsthat allow the production to run on an IP based system.For example, the data rates that switchers are capable oftoday, have caught up with the data rates we need,especially for video transmission, and the IT industry ispushing a lot, the development is very fast and theequipment is getting cheaper. The idea now is to makeuse of this equipment and use non-proprietary solutionsand therefore just run our services on this third partyequipment’s open platforms.

Ed: You were saying that there are variousmanufacturers who make switchers, who make peripheralitems for broadcast over IP, but with your product, youcan bypass their software so that you’re just using thehardware of a variety of manufacturers to actually providean IP solution?

Philipp: That is true. I mean this is a very, veryspecific case which is at the moment focusing a lot on theswitching of video signals. What is even more important,the IP network itself allows us to build quite efficientsetups. That means the rigging times and system layoutscan become very simple and this is why a lot ofmanufacturers came up with the idea to use IPtechnology.

We see that our main task at the moment is to establishstandards that are open, that are non-proprietary,because if we look at other standards on the market,everybody plays his own little game, but the AES has nowcome up – for the audio for example – with the AES 67standard, which was the first time that an officialinstitution has defined how audio has to be transmittedover IP networks. This brings us now into the situationwhere different manufacturers can exchange audio overan IP network. This was not possible before. It’s like aMADI transported into the IP world. This allows us now toexchange media over different manufacturers and atLawo this is why we are driving so much the RAVENNAstandard, which is very similar to AES 67, so it’s fully

compatible but it’s a bit more on top of it. More, let’s saystreamlined for the broadcast. But this was then the firststandard to allow you to exchange and we think it onlyhas a future when it is open. We should not rely onmanufacturers and we should not rely on proprietarysystems, so this is the first goal we have, and the samehappens on the video. There are standards gettingdefined, like for example the SMPTE 2022 which defineshow to transport a video signal over an IP network thateverybody can understand and everybody can build adevice to receive or transmit pictures or any kind of mediaon an IP network.

Ed: I guess this is one of the major stumbling blocksthat any IP developer will have, is overcoming thebroadcast engineer’s belief in a proprietary system whereone manufacturer makes a workflow for them. They don’thave to have anyone else get involved, and they knowthat it works?

Philipp: Yes but it’s not only the workflow. It’s alsoabout the signal itself and this is the problem that we atthe moment still have. There are certain players on themarket who are not open and we think it’s now time thatthey at least run it in compatible mode so that they canswitch themselves in a mode that would allow exchangeformats. When we see a big sports production wherethere is a stadium and we have OB vans, but there’s alsoPA people around that and the signals are notcompatible. Everybody needs the same signals, whyshouldn’t they be like an open source signal thateverybody can use.

Ed: Now I think people moving from analogue to digitalfound that a really easy transition, but the move fromdigital to IP is going to be a lot more difficult for them …first of all understanding that IP is not the same as digitaltelevision?

Philipp: Yes, what means IP? IP just describes aprotocol, like an internet protocol.

Ed: With digital, you’re talking about one cable for onesignal; whereas with IP, you’re talking about a fibre whichcan carry multiple signals and at very high data ratesnow?

Philipp: That’s true and not even signals, alsoservices. So the thing is that today, a simple networkcable could carry audio, video and control data. That’swhat makes it so complex. In the old days, one cable,one signal. This became digital – there was perhapsmore signals on that cable but still it was quite easy tounderstand when we knew what kind of signal it is, what itcontained, even when control data is involved. But wecould predict the limitations and we knew what’s going on

Philipp from Lawo.

this particular case, we had need for a sport event totransmit video and audio signals back to the mainbroadcast facility. This is usually achieved via satelliteuplinks, quite expensive and also a lot of latency involved.

Here we could use the public network to bring thesepictures back to the broadcast plant. To give you an idea,we can bring a production quality high definition signaldown to data rates between 50 and 200 megabit. Thisvery much depends on the content and the demands onquality, but this allows you to have up to four camerasignals over a one gigabit pipe back to the broadcastcentre and actually do the production over there at thegraphics, do the switching back in the broadcast plant,rather than on site. So what we have in mind here issomething we call remote production – small events that

don’t require big production crews or big OBvans. The idea is a small flyaway kit ( acamera hub we call it ) travels on site and weactually remote the cameras and what’sgoing on locally, while transmitting back thepictures to a main studio where theproduction actually happens, where theproducer sits, all the audio engineers andvideo engineers are placed.

Ed: But you had a backup plan too didn’tyou?

Philipp: Yes we had a backup plan ofcourse so there was for the early tests an

uplink available.

Ed: How many times did you have to usethe uplink in six months?

Philipp: We didn’t have to use it!

Ed: Well that’s good for the product. Iguess the big test is going to come in 2020

for the Tokyo Olympics when they’re going to

broadcast this in 8K I understand, so how are

they going to do that without IP?

Philipp: That’s a good question. This will requirevery big video routers and a lot of SDI cables, but thechallenge for us is much nearer – the Olympics in Rio arecoming up and there are quite a number of broadcasterslooking into the possibility of doing this as a remoteproduction, even over continents.

Ed: And the only way to do that is through IP?

Philipp: That’s correct.

Ed: But I think, as you did stress in your presentation,this is not a case of a broadcaster suddenly having to gototally IP; this is a case of, for quite some time, you canrun a hybrid situation?

Philipp: Yes exactly. This step will not happen atonce; there is so much gear involved in production; thereis so much R&D resources necessary that we think thischange will take a lot of time. There might be the firsttrucks available in 2016 we believe.

Ed: These are OB trucks?

Philipp: Yes, talking about OB trucks, where the hubof the system might be an IP switch instead of a videorouter, but this is really a long-term development until allthe bits and pieces that are involved would talk natively IP– let’s put it like this. So in the meantime, we will have ahigh demand on edge devices that convert traditionalbaseband into IP.

Ed: Excellent – and to find out more about the Lawoproduct go and talk to the boys at Protel. NZVN

Philipp gave a presentation to the show attendees.

on that cable; while in an IP network, as I said, it’s veryvirtual, it’s very abstract and it’s really hard to find outsometimes what is going on and especially which path apacket takes. IP means we divide the signal in smallpackets that we send out to a network, but we cannotpredict the path that they take throughout this network tothe receiving end, and this for example, makes the errordetection just very, very difficult compared to a lineardiscrete signal on a specific cable.

Ed: I guess the other big question is latency, becausewe all know from our own internet experience that latencycan be a major issue. In a traditional broadcastenvironment, everything has to be timed back to somesort of base signal. How is this managed in an IPsituation?

Philipp: The broadcasters, as you said, have a strongfocus on that, so there is the possibility to easily cater forthat. The solution is called PTP which is Precision TimeProtocol – again an open standard available today. Itallows you to distribute a clock signal over a network withan accuracy of 25 nanoseconds which is more thanenough for our production purposes. The idea behindthis, a master clock generates this PTP signal throughoutthe network. We need PTP compliance switchers for thisto forward this clock information throughout the network.But then in the moment where we generate a packet,these packets contain a time information, they get anabsolute time stamp and this allows us, on the receivingside, to put them all in order again, because all thepackets have their specific time stamp.

Depending on the network traffic, the quality of service,we may need a certain buffer, but on a well-managedbroadcast network, we can talk about real timedistribution of signals. That is possible.

Ed: Now you actually have some experience in all ofthis, because you gave an example from Europe of asporting event in one particular country. What was thesituation there?

Philipp: Let’s start like this … all that we do withRAVENNA and AES 67 as well for the video, is it’s pureIP Layer 3 solutions. The important characteristic is IPLayer 3 allows routeing across different networks; it’ssupported by network routers. So this gives theopportunity to run a signal in a wide area network overhundreds of kilometres or even between continents. In

Fly my Pretties!Drones are the “topic dejour” for both good and badreasons so I thought youmight like to hear fromsome of those involved. Forthis issue, I sought outAliesha Staples and CraigPatterson at the offices ofStaples Productions inAuckland.

Ed: Now Aliesha, you’vebeen going for quite sometime in the camera supportarea I believe – and lookingaround here, I see the logoof MōVI quite prominent. Did you come into this fromvideo, film or stillphotography, or how did youget into this section of theindustry?

Aliesha: I actually start-ed as an editor for TV andthen I went overseasworking as a cameraoperator where I started learning about gimbals. Ayear ago, I brought the gimbal technology back to NewZealand and started Staples Productions.

Ed: With a MōVI rig?

Aliesha: Yes. We run the MōVI systems and also the DJI Ronin handheld gimbals. We have crew thatoperate them and you can also dry hire them as well.

Ed: So this goes from the smaller wedding type ones,right up to ones you would use in a motion picture?

Aliesha: Yes, we have the full range from thesmallest to the biggest – from 3kg up to 15kg. Weteach people how to use them as well, so you can gothrough a workshop and learn how to work everything.

Ed: How do you find the MōVI product specifically?

Aliesha: It’s really good. It’s one of the higher endgimbals that you can buy. You pay a lot more for it, butit’s for the accuracy and the power of it. It also hasreally good support so it never fails you when you’re onset, which is really important with this type of gear,because it’s very technical.

Ed: What sort of failures can you get in a gimbal?

Aliesha: It’s more about not knowing how to use it,that’s the main failure that happens. But also, themotors not being able to handle the weight that’s puton it, the batteries not working properly … there’s lotsof little parts that can fail and if you don’t know how tofix them or how to work them then it can be quite aproblem.

Ed: What do the motors do?

Aliesha: They’re three axis, brushless gimbals, so allof them have three motors in them no matter what sizecamera you put on. One motor controls your pan, onecontrols your tilt and one controls your horizon, andthey just work against your body movement to stabilisethe camera while you’re doing your shots.

Ed: And from there, you moved into the drone area –correct?

Aliesha: Yes, I’ve teamed up with Craig who’s comeon board to provide aerial products. We have thesmaller drones right up to one of the bigger drones inthe country by the end of August. We also doworkshops on basic operation of drones if you’re just

getting into flying the products. DJI Phantoms are thelower end drones; we can teach you all sorts that goalong with those.

Ed: So you’re not only selling them, you’re hiringthem?

Aliesha: We don’t sell them. We get them all fromPhotogear, but we do provide support to Photogear byteaching people how to use the drone products, andhelping educate because it’s a big problem we’re findingat the moment – there’s just not enough education onhow to safely use one, and how you can use them inNew Zealand.

Ed: That’s it, anybody can go out there and buy adrone and fly it because they are currently regarded bymost as something of a toy?

Aliesha: They are very easy to get hold of but a lotof people are missing the point of actually investigatingwhat the laws and the rules are behind their operationbefore they actually go and fly.

Ed: So what are the rules to the uninitiated – and forthat we’ll ask Craig?

Craig: Basically, the rules are that you cannot flyover 400 feet; you cannot fly at night; you cannot flyover people and the craft must remain in line of sight ofthe operator at all times.

Ed: And a certain distance from any airfield?

Craig: If you are within four kilometres of anaerodrome, you must be “wings” certified, so you mustget that certification. If you are not within 4km of anaerodrome, you’re free to fly.

Ed: So that’s even unmanned airfields … what aboutthe farmer’s paddock which he uses to fly the topdressing plane off?

Craig: If it’s an official aerodrome, then you haveto get permission to fly in that area and be “wings”certified.

Ed: What do you see as the hazards with peoplebuying a drone and just going out there and having ago themselves?

Craig: Most people crash and burn on the first orsecond flight. The potential for injury and damage ishuge if they don’t know what they are doing.

Craig and Aliesha at Staples Productions.

more on page 29

Digital Video Technologies (NZ) Ltd | Phone: 09 525 0788 | Email: [email protected] | 45 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland

www.dvt.co.nz

The experts in 4K workflows

PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

DVT has solutions available from production to post to help you take advantage of the quality, productivity and creativity that the new 4K cameras from Sony offer. Our integrated solutions get you straight from the lens to the screen with workflows that are high quality, efficient and cost effective.

If you are interested in pushing your production and post production processes to the next level with the high resolution and high frame rate on these amazing new cameras then get in touch with the experts at DVT today.

Sony PXW-FS7

Sony PMW-F5

Viewfinders

BatteriesPL Lens Kits

Lens Accessories

CINE-ALTA 4K Cameras and accessories

Like DVTNz to stay up-to-date

with the latest promotions and industry news.

Ed: And what can the consequences of that be –other than injuring people, what can be the financialdamage?

Craig: There’s been a few guys who have beencharged by the CAA for breaching the rules.

Ed: And that’s quite a hefty fine?

Craig: Some have been fined $900, but it dependshow negligent you are.

Ed: But then if that drone damages a third party,such as into a house, into a person … well into a personI guess is covered by ACC, but if you fly it intosomebody’s window?

Craig: That’s one thing that many people don’tthink about when they go to operate a drone. Our

company is insured … we are insured for personalliability and property. Most people who are out thereflying are not insured and so if you’re hiring somebodyto do a job at your event and they’re not insured, thenyou’re going to be liable for the damage, becauseyou’ve hired that person at your event. Something tothink about.

Ed: So that’s it, the insurance is not just on the droneand the camera that it’s carrying, but it’s also the thirdparty in case it hits something, somebody. Anunlicensed operator, or an uninsured operator, can costyou a lot of money?

Craig: Yes indeed – you can get into a lot oftrouble.

Ed: So how can you be sure that the person thatyou’re hiring actually has insurance and is CAAcertified?

Craig: You’ve got to ask the hard questions.You’ve got to ask them to provide you with documentsto show that they are insured. There are guys out thereflying who say they have certification and insurance,but they actually don’t.

Ed: Haven’t you helped train some of those people?

Craig: No.

Aliesha: “Train” is a big word. It’s not so muchtraining, we’re not training you, we’re not certifyingyou, we’re not sending you out with any qualification.We’re simply showing you what the rules are, somaking you aware of them before you fly. We’reshowing you how to do regular maintenance on yourdrone and how to safely take off and land. It’s a basicintro …

Craig: What we do is product familiarisation, sowe have particular knowledge of specific brands andspecific models of drone. If people come to us wantingto know the particulars about a specific craft and setup,we take them through all the little ins and outs of thatparticular craft. It’s product and safety knowledgebasically.

Aliesha: …how you look after the batteries, how you

update the firmware, how you take props on and off –

simple stuff like that. It’s nothing really to do with

getting insurance and commercially operating. It’s

nothing to do with that. It’s mainly “how do you look

after your craft and here are the rules in New Zealand.”

We go through them with you so that you’re aware of

them before you fly.

Ed: Now the sort of people who are naturally good at

piloting a drone – are they the kids who have used a

PlayStation a lot?

Aliesha with a gimbal rig.

Aliesha: Not necessarily … did you play PlayStation

a lot Craig?

Craig: I can neither confirm nor deny that I played

a lot of PlayStation. Yes, they sometimes are … I think

what makes a good operator is someone who is safety

conscious first and foremost. There’s a lot of stuff that

you can do with a drone but those who say “I’ll just give

it a go and see what happens – I’ll try and fly throughthat gap or whatever” – those people are going to get

into trouble. You have to put safety first in every

situation and risk assessment is a huge part of what we

do. If you only think that you can do it, then you

might possibly get into trouble. You’ve got to know

that you can do it.

Ed: And actually plan out the route that you want the

drone to take before you start?

Craig: Yes. Planning and just making things safe;

always having …

Ed: … a shotgun handy in case it gets out of control?

Craig: That’s what the people in the next house

have – they’ll try and shoot it down because they see it

outside their window.

Ed: Now I understand that you are certified as far as

you can be by the CAA, but in fact because of the

weight of the drones that you’re using, you don’t

actually have to be?

Craig: No. All our operations are logged with the

CAA and we can do all our commercial operations under

Part 101 of the Rule, but we will be going through the

process with CAA to be able to fly under Part 102 of the

Rule.

Ed: And you take this job seriously?

Craig: Absolutely.

Aliesha: We’re very proactive and make sure we’re

on top of all the changes and that we’re aware of

everything that’s going on in the industry.

Ed: Any misconceptions out there?

Craig: There are a lot of misconceptions aboutwhat drones can do and how easy they are to fly. Partof that has been caused by news stories on peopledelivering coffee with drones and things like that.

Ed: Now I’ve always believed there are actually twoparts to flying a drone. One is the drone flying, but thesecond is actually having some camera knowledge as tohow to set up a frame, how to move that drone so youget the best camera shot. Is that something where youwould say you’ve got both of those skills?

Craig: Yes. I’ve been a cameraman for 20 yearsand I’ve been flying drones for five. There’s a lot ofpeople buying drones thinking that they can go filmstuff but they have no film or TV experience and this istheir first drone …

Ed: And cameramen buying drones because they’re acameraman and they think they can just use theirPlayStation skills to fly a drone?

Craig: Absolutely. I’ve dedicated my …

Ed: Life?

Craig: Pretty much … at the moment. I’m adedicated drone pilot, that’s what I do. I film and fly.

Ed: That’s a big bandage you’ve got on your handthere – was that caused by an argument with an angrydrone?

Craig: This is not due to a drone, this is due to askateboard, and people over 40 shouldn’t get onskateboards.

Ed: Oh, somebody who lives his life on the edge eh?

Craig: I’m too old for the edge.

Ed: But not too old for drones?

Craig: No, drones are awesome. I’ve got atechnical background, so I’ve always been interested innew technology. For me, drones were just the nextstep, the new frontier if you like, and a fabulous way tocapture images that we just haven’t seen or been ableto get before.

Ed: So I guess this is a tricky question

and you may or may not answer it – do

you see the new regulations actually

going far enough?

Craig: That is a good question. I

think it’s a good start. The CAA do not

have an easy road. They are so behind

the 8 ball in terms of trying to keep up

with the speed that this part of the

industry is growing …

Ed: Because it’s not just New Zealand,

we hear reports from the States of

drones getting very close to aircraft?

Craig: It’s just gone mad

worldwide and if you talk to people in

aviation about how many times drones

are seen by commercial pilots, it’s

freakin’ scary.

Ed: Now tell us about the camera side

of it – so you’ve got a range of drones

that will carry different sized cameras. I

guess most people fly them around with

GoPros?

Aliesha: Yes, we can fly everything

from a full HD camera up to your REDs,

and also the new ALEXA Mini which just

arrived in the country on Friday. We just

bring in the cameras as requested, so

Craig sends his drone on a mission.

whatever camera is required by a client, we bring that

one in to load on the drone.

Ed: And they look after their own insurance?

Aliesha: We make sure everything is correctlyinsured before it goes in the air. It’s not worth the risk.

Ed: How do you minimise the risk?

Craig: One way is to attach parachutes to thedrone. Currently, there are no other operators in NewZealand using parachutes …

Ed: Apart from you?

Craig: Yes. We’ve started importing them, and wesee it as a great way to help the industry be safer.

Ed: Is that something that automatically deployswhen the power fails or can you trigger it from theground?

Craig: There are two ways it deploys. One iswhen you set up a failsafe in the flight controller, and ifthat failsafe is triggered, the parachute will deploy andthe motors will stop and it will descend gracefully. Orthe other way is to deploy the chute manually via thetransmitter.

Ed: And you can turn the motors off first I hope?

Craig: Yes, it’s all part of the deployment … itturns the motors off and the chute is deployed outwardsfrom the drone, so there’s no chance of the lines gettingcaught in the props.

Ed: Well it sounds as though you guys haveresearched this and you know what you’re doing.

If you would like to investigate drone operation further,contact Aliesha or Craig at

www.staplesproductions.co.nz NZVN

Craig discusses the technology.

nzvn august 2015

Documents