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SP RTSCASTING Capturing the Energy

ASIAN GAMES 2018

Reach the next generation of media consumers For more information infosales@vizrt.com ISSN 1448-9554

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2018

VOLUME 15 ISSUE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2 MARCH / APRIL 2018 2018

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Sportscasting page 20 REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 48

DATES & DEADLINES

FEATURES

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03 NEWS APAC Teams Take Pipeline Awards at

SIGGRAPH, Mediacorp & ESPN Collaboration, India President of AIBD, Maldives Builds Gigabit-Enabled Smart City, PadamyarFM Adopts World-Class Workflows with Elevate Broadcast, Ideal Dominates Pitch for Malaysian Live Soccer on iflix, People on the Move.

32 POST-PRODUCTION Korea's The

Handmaiden: Bringing Colour to Dark Period of History, Rising Sun Pictures Brings VFX Magic to Chinese Feature, Weta Digital Adds ‘Class Clown’ to Animal World.

36 AUDIO Doordarshan Goes IP with Lawo for New OB Truck, TV Tokyo Upgrades Tennozu Studio with Calrec, Hunan TV Modernises OB Van with Stage Tec, HARMAN Consolidates Singapore Distribution, New Audio Solutions.

12 IBC2018 PREVIEW 16 ACQUISITION Oz-based Punjabi Singer Turns to Blackmagic Design, Sonderoptic Becomes Leitz Cine Wetzlar, Investment Trust Acquires Cooke Optics, IBC Camera Action.

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CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY: ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN 34 095 653 277) PO Box 259, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel +61 (0)2 4368 4569 Mob +61 (0)414 671 811 papers@broadcastpapers.com

39 RADIO Astro Radio Makes ‘High Stakes’

Commitment to Lawo, Brunei’s Nur Islam FM Upgrades with Studer, WorldDAB Takes on Radio’s Digital Strategy at IBC, Lawo Crystal Top of the World for HITS FM 91.2, Latest Radio Releases.

20 SPORTSCASTING Asian Games 2018,

NEP UK Brings IP-Based Broadcasting to Wimbledon, Shanghai Media Tech Outfits OB Van & EFP System with Calrec, Thailand’s Non Production Scores with Sony 4K, World’s Smallest Video Replay Server.

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NEWS OPERATIONS Money Today Media

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD NEP Selects Techtel to Provide DR Solution for Fox Sports Oz, Exception-based Monitoring and Content Matching from Mediaproxy, Qvest Media Introduces Qvest.Cloud, Whitepaper: The Digital Supply Chain – Managing Media in a New Paradigm.

Streams with Matrox, AP Launches Playbook for Editorial Planning, DPP News Metadata guidance, IBC Newsgathering Highlights.

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CONTENT DELIVERY October Launch for CCTV 4K UHD Channel, BTV Vietnam Expands with PlayBox AirBox Neo, Globecast Delivers English-Language Channels for OONA, Sports Star Pakistan Adds HD Channe, The Challenge of DVB-T2, DVB Greenlights Targeted Ads and HDR, A Conversation with... Your TV?

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

The Shift from the Set-Top

By Phil Sandberg

While challenges remain, this year’s research brings into focus the six key innovation areas in the industry:

- The next wave of aggregation – super aggregators: This model, where companies offer a range of content and services via a single subscription, is seen as a way of simplifying a fragmented marketplace for consumers, while also offering additional growth opportunities for well-established operators.

- Converging pay-TV / OTT offerings: Most traditional pay-TV providers are now looking to offer converged pay-TV/OTT services. As a result, the pay-TV market is transitioning into a paid-for-video market.

- Moving beyond the set-top box: Many industry executives believe that network infrastructure and billing relationships – rather than proprietary settop boxes – are now the gateway to the customer.

- Growing focus on diversification, particularly connectivity: Fixed and mobile broadband services are expected to grow in importance in future as providers pursue bundling strategies to deliver better value and improve stickiness.

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The findings of the 2018 Pay-TV Innovation Forum are available via https://dtv.nagra.com 02:00

Content piracy remains a concern, with executives agreeing that the industry is experiencing a significant threat to the longterm sustainability of pay-TV and OTT businesses. 47 percent of 2018 respondents believe that piracy will lead to greater pressures on the industry over the next five years, in line with 2017 findings.

- More diverse multiscreen pay-TV propositions: 77 percent of executives surveyed believe that pay-TV bundles will evolve substantially over the next five years, catering to the needs of different customer groups, and 89 percent agree that delivering a seamless and personal consumer experience will be key.

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The research highlights how the pay-TV industry is converging towards a platform-agnostic model, and, as a result, is transitioning into a paid-for-video market, spanning a variety of offerings including standalone OTT and directto-consumer services. This shift is another reason why 77 percent of pay-TV executives consider innovation to be one of the top three strategic priorities for the industry.

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The 2018 programme highlights that 84 percent of pay-TV executives expect competition for paid-for video services to increase dramatically over the next five years. While participants are optimistic they can continue to appeal to paying consumers, an increasing number – 90 percent of executives – believe that pay-TV providers will have to innovate strongly to remain competitive and relevant, up from 85 percent in 2017.

primarily focusing on the core pay-TV proposition as they deploy nextgeneration set-top boxes that support advanced functionalities such as thirdparty apps, personalised content recommendations, and 4K.

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CONTENT PROTECTION PROVIDER NAGRA, in partnership with research firm MTM, recently published the global findings of the 2018 Pay-TV Innovation Forum. In its third year, the programme seeks to identify how innovation is driving opportunities for content owners and service providers around the world as they face a disrupted market. The findings are based on extensive regional research conducted in Europe, North America, with a special focus on the United States, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Thanks for reading Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher

- Continued investment in next-generation pay-TV services: Most pay-TV providers (65 percent) have improved their portfolios in the last 12 months,

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NEWS + PEOPLE For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com

Korean and Australian Teams Take Pipeline Awards at SIGGRAPH AT THIS YEAR’S SIGGRAPH IN VANCOUVER, Shotgun Software, an Autodesk company, announced the winners of its annual Pipeline Awards, honouring outstanding achievement in pipeline tool development. This year’s winners highlight the best pipeline innovation around the world, with teams from the UK, Australia, South Korea, and the Netherlands all showing their workflow ingenuity.

This year’s Pipeline Award winners are: 4th Creative Party for LAEL (Busan, South Korea): LAEL is a dashboard where artists, production teams, TDs, and support staff can manage data associated with the projects they are working on. It provides artists an in-context view into the work that’s assigned to them, as well as easy access to associated files and metadata they need to do their job well. Production and support teams have access to a rich set of functionalities that provides a simple, robust way to manage file ingestion and client deliveries, and TDs have everything they need to manage the structure of a project on disk at their fingertips.

UTS Animal Logic Academy for Turret (Sydney, Australia): Turret connects Shotgun and Pixar’s Universal Scene Descriptions (USD) to create a lightweight file resolver architecture that works across a range of content creation applications. Turret has been the cornerstone of the studio’s USD-based system plugin and has transformed overall workflow by pushing the latest data out automatically rather than requiring artists pull data manually. By assembling their scenes using Pixar USD with Shotgun to handle file abstraction and versioning, this educational facility has combined learning about cutting edge pipeline technology with building a system that allows them to rapidly author content and track it in Shotgun.

Zoho Studio for Shotgun Slate (Rotterdam, Netherlands): Acting as a digital slate, this tool records on-set data during shoots and pulls shot data from Shotgun to

efficiently fill out the slate with key information like camera type, lens, and focal length. The slate itself runs on an iPad and is captured for each plate shot, and then stored within Shotgun. Shotgun Slate offers an effective way to manage many plates, significantly speeding up the process on set.

Territory Studio for Territory Toolkit (London, UK): Territory Toolkit is a set of plugins for Adobe Creative Suite and Cinema 4D, giving Territory’s motion graphics artists a Shotgun-based structure and level of control directly within their chosen application. While VFX applications like Maya and Nuke are already supported

by Shotgun, this proprietary tool bridges the gap between Territory’s VFX and motion graphics teams, allowing for smooth transition between all of the DCC apps the studio uses, and eliminating problematic and time-consuming manual data-entry.

“Now more than ever, amazing pipelines are game changers for our clients.

These toolsets not only automate repetitive tasks to maximise artist’s creative time, they actually help artists reach beyond what they could do on their own before – literally giving them the ability to contribute more and better creative to a project,” said Don Parker, VP/GM for the Shotgun family, Autodesk. “It has always been Shotgun’s mission to help pipeline creators design and build pipelines as efficiently as possible, and it’s amazing to see another year of inspiring tool development. We’re honoured to celebrate the tools and their builders again this year.”

Visit https://shotgunsoftware.com

www. i dea l s y s . c om

NEWS + PEOPLE

f r om s t udi ot opl a y outa nde v er y t hi ngi nbe t ween

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NEWS + PEOPLE Mediacorp, ESPN in Strategic Digital Collaboration ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING digital sports publishers, ESPN, and Singapore media company Mediacorp, have joined forces in a strategic digital collaboration to super-serve sports fans and marketers in Singapore. The agreement combines Mediacorp’s multiplatform audience reach and deep commercial relationships with ESPN’s global leadership in sports coverage and content. The collaboration is part of Mediacorp Partner Network, an initiative that brings Mediacorp together with world-class partners to deliver a richer experience for consumers and advertisers in Singapore.

coverage of global football, golf, tennis, boxing, MMA, cricket, rugby, NBA, NFL, MLB, and more.

Under a multi-year agreement with ESPN, Mediacorp will be the exclusive representative for all ad sales in Singapore for top sports destination ESPN. com. ESPN will launch a dedicated Singapore edition of the signature ESPN site – espn.com.sg – in the coming months. The site will deliver a mix of local sports news and features in addition to coverage of the most relevant and popular sports and leagues from around the globe. The site will offer a mobilefirst, video-rich platform that will give Singapore sports fans industry-leading

Mediacorp’s Chief Commercial and Digital Officer Parminder Singh said, “We are thrilled to welcome ESPN as the first partner joining Mediacorp Partner Network, which we have launched to create new possibilities for Mediacorp and our partners. With ESPN, Mediacorp will offer more world-class sports content to people in Singapore. Through Mediacorp’s reach and relationships, ESPN will gain access to new audiences and advertisers in Singapore.”

India Elected President of AsiaPacific Institute for Broadcasting Development INDIA HAS BEEN ELECTED as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, a regional inter-governmental organisation established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO. India obtained the presidency of the organisation, servicing countries of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development, for the first time by defeating Iran in the election that took place in Sri Lanka, Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

ESPN’s GM South East Asia Lance Peatey said, “We are excited to have Mediacorp work closely with us to represent our ad sales across ESPN.com in one of the most sophisticated digital markets in Asia. We look forward to bringing sports fans a dedicated destination with the best in global and local sports coverage and content. It will offer a winning combination to fans and advertisers alike.”

Visit www.mediacorp.sg

• AIBD Radio Award 2018 for the best radio programme on Diversity through Sports: ‘From Slum to Glory’ from All India Radio – India • Reinhard Keune Memorial Award 2018 for the best radio programme on Uplifting communities through Sustainable Tourism: ‘Wending, A Mistry Mountain Village’ from China Radio International – China The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO. It is hosted by Malaysia

The AIBD also announced the winners for the AIBD TV and Radio Awards 2018. The Awards were as follows:

and its secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur.

• AIBD TV Award 2018 for the best TV programme on Netizens (Uplifting society through internet): ‘Friday Special’ from PTV World, Pakistan Television – Pakistan

institute and is a non-voting member of the general conference.

• AIBD TV Award 2018 for the best TV programme on Youth Mental Health: ‘Facing Depression – A Student’s Perspective’ from Channel News Asia, MediaCorp – Singapore

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a founding organisation of the AIBD currently has 26 member countries, represented by 34 organisations, and 67 affiliate member organisations with a total membership of 101 representing 48 countries and regions and over 50 partners.

Visit www.aibd.org.my

NEWS + PEOPLE

Maldives Builds Gigabit-Enabled Smart City with Calix

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CALIX, INC. HAS PARTNERED WITH THE Maldives Housing Development Corporation Limited (HDC) in a multi-year deal to enable an all-fibre, state-ofthe-art smart city on the island of Hulhumalé.

The residents will require a complex set of deployment scenarios, including

Just off the Eastern coast of the capital city of Malé, Hulhumalé is an intelligently planned reclaimed island which has a current population of 50,000.

The vision is to deliver an unrivalled broadband experience and cutting-edge smart city applications. Powered by the AXOS E7-2 Intelligent Modular System, GigaFamily products, and Calix Services, the end-to-end solution will ultimately support a target population of 240,000.

Hulhumalé, HDC will rely on the the Calix Professional Services team to deploy

residential, business, and mixed-use multi-dwelling unit (MDU) buildings, hospitality properties, and single-family homes. As the master developer of island-wide GPON infrastructure and the Calix Managed Services team to provide real-time Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) services for the connectivity component of the initiative.

Visit www.calix.com

100 new movies to be transcoded that month

1 PB of content in origin storage

2M fans binge-watch the latest dramas

1000s of hours of entertainment at the public’s fingertips

The power behind the world’s greatest stories

Join us at IBC 2018 so we can show you how Dell EMC gives you the power to deliver more content, more efficiently, than ever before.

Schedule a meeting with our M&E experts at the Dell stand #7.C39 where we can show you how to simplify your creation, management and delivery workflows.

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NEWS + PEOPLE

ASIAPACIFIC NEWS

THAILAND MU SPACE CORP has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to build the company’s first satellite with coverage spanning across Asia-Pacific. The high throughput satellite will be on a geostationary orbit (GEO) location at 50.5-degree East, an orbital slot secured on a recent agreement between mu Space and SES. It is expected to provide broadband and an Internet of Things (IoT) service via satellite, and will have a lifespan of at least 15 years. V isit www.muspacecorp.com

INDIA INDIA’S PUBLIC SERVICE Broadcaster, Doordarshan, has selected the Pebble Beach Systems Marina automation system for its flagship 24-hour news channel, DD News.

The Marina system features a MOS interface and offers emergency ingest capability from a live feed. Supplied as a fully redundant system with automatic changeover, it replaces Doordarshan’s ageing Omnibus playout automation.

Visit www.pebble.tv

SINGAPORE SINGTEL AND ERICSSON have announced Singapore’s first 5G pilot network which will go live by Q4 this year. The 5G pilot network will be deployed at one-north in Buona Vista, the country’s science, business and IT hub.

Using Ericsson’s 3GPP standards-compliant 5G technology with trial spectrum allocated

by Singapore’s Info-Communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), the pilot network will deliver 5G coverage with enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) speed and low latency communications.

Visit www.ericsson.com and www.singtel.com

INDONESIA BRIGHTCOVE has been selected by Metranet Telkom Indonesia to power OONA, a mobile app designed to deliver both live linear and VOD experiences to 135 million subscribers across the country.

The app features chat bots, chat with other viewers, offline caching, parental controls, screen capture with drawing and sticker editing, virtual wallet, and a 360-video player.

Brightcove’s Video Cloud platform will stream 20 live channels on OONA, as well as enable server-side ad insertion (SSAI).

NEWS + PEOPLE

Visit www.brightcove.com and www.watchoona.com

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JAPAN

KOREA

VERIMATRIX has implemented its Video Content Authority System (VCAS) at Tohokushinsha Film Corporation to secure TFC’s OTT services. The cloud-based deployment includes MultiRights OTT for digital rights management (DRM) as part of VCAS Ultra. The framework supports multi-DRM and meets 4K/UHD content security requirements. VCAS is being used by TFC to secure Japanese OTT brands including STAR CHANNEL, CLASSICA JAPAN, Super! drama TV, and FAMILY GEKIJYO. Visit www.verimatrix.com

KOREA EDUCATIONAL Broadcasting System (EBS) has deployed Interra Systems’ BATON file-based QC solution and Content Corrector in its Seoul facility to streamline quality control (QC) operations. Transitioning from an entirely manual-based QC process, EBS is using BATON for QC for all content prior to playout. EBS is also utilising Interra Systems’ BATON Content Corrector to detect and correct loudness issues automatically, guaranteeing compliance with Korea’s audio specifications.

Visit www.interrasystems.com

MALAYSIA MEDIA PRIMA BERHAD has joined YouTube’s Player for Publishers service. This will see all Media Prima video content available on YouTube. It will also enable the Group to embed YouTube’s video player across its platforms and allow Media Prima to generate revenue through programmatic advertising.

It follows Media Prima’s acquisition of 52 percent of Vocket Media Sdn Bhd which owns VOCKET, a Malay-language youth social news portal. The Group has announced a partnership with Grab to roll out the In-Car Media Platform, which includes various short-form content for in-transit viewing.

Visit www.mediaprima.com.my

AUSTRALIA TV GIANT NINE Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd, and newspaper and radio station owner, Fairfax Media Ltd, have announced that the companies have entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement under which the companies will merge to establish Nine as one of Australia’s leading independent media companies. The Proposed Transaction will, subject to required approvals, be implemented by Nine acquiring all Fairfax shares under a Scheme of Arrangement.

PHILLIPINES

Visit www.gatesair.com

NEW ZEALAND NEP NEW ZEALAND has officially opened its doors having completed integration of NZ Live into NEP Group. NEP Group acquired NZ Live in April. NEP New Zealand will work closely with the company’s Australian division and report to NEP Australia President Soames Treffry.

NEP Group also recently acquired Big Picture in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Sydney with additional operations in Auckland, Big Picture is a leading supplier of video production and equipment for concert tours, music festivals, broadcast, corporate and special events.

Visit www.nepgroup.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

GATESAIR, with local partner Composite Technology, recently supplied a Maxiva ULXTE liquid-cooled transmitter with PowerSmart Plus technology to Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media (BEAM). The compact singlerack configuration includes dual Maxiva XTE exciters with automatic switching to maximise redundancy, stability and uptime.

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NEWS + PEOPLE PadamyarFM Adopts World-Class Workflows with Elevate Broadcast ONE OF THE TOP-RANKED RADIO NETWORKS in Myanmar, Padamyar FM was looking at transitioning to a new office and studio complex – and an upgraded workflow that would make it more capable of not only radio broadcasts, but also of production for visual radio and social media. To aid in this transition, the station turned to Elevate Broadcast.

“This was the goal when we did the transition,” says Elevate Broadcast CEO, Dennis Breckenridge. “They were actually in multiple locations, with studios in one place and administrative offices in another and, in the move, we transitioned all the sales, broadcast programming, postproduction, everything, all into a single facility.”

On the “visual radio” side, each studio features multiple robotic cameras

Located in Yangon’s Crystal Tower@Junction Square complex, Padamyar FM’s new HQ is equal parts production and playout centre.

“They do, obviously, radio broadcasts,” says Breckenridge, “but they’ve been doing more and more live streaming when they have celebrities in the studios.

They do a lot of ‘Unplugged’ type of production as well, so we built the facility up into multiple segments. We built a small voiceover and recording studio, a mid-size studio for live acoustic sets and larger recording, and then a transmission studio and, finally, an MCR so that they could manage seamlessly between all those different studios for the live transmission.

locations while LiveU’s Facebook Live integration allows Padamyar FM to capture and distribute broadcasts on social media. Fibre links, as well as LiveU’s bonded cellular technology are also used for remote contribution and transmission.

According to Elevate’s Dennis Breckenridge, “The signal flow is, from any of the studios into the MCR so that they can do final content monitoring and live switching or playback or , and then that’s transmitted by fibre to the national broadcaster and distributed by satellite network to the transmitter points.”

“I think the main unique function implemented in this facility is its the first

With room enough for a five-piece band, the recording studio is equipped with Yamaha TF series equipment for the mixing and recording, with RCS as playback and recording infrastructure, as well as Cubase for multitrack recording and Pro Tools for mastering. Finished recordings are fed into the RCS music library database for transmission.

channel to move into traffic systems and fully utilize automation, trying

“One of the main trends that PadamyarFM moved to was going to more of a fully automated type of workflow,” says Dennis Breckenridge. “Much more multi-track recording by the DJs, pre-recording of interviews and sweetening those, adding the effects before transmission, utilising RCS to really make the programmes more dynamic through automation.”

the dynamic mixers by Lawo.

The transmission studio is built around Lawo’s Crystal as the main mixing console. The console comes with VisTool touchscreen-optimised PC software for extended visualisation and control of Crystal installations. In its basic version, VisTool is designed for clear visualisation, while the unlimited version of VisTool can be customised to meet individual requirements. Capturing the dulcet tones of the on-air talent are Audio-Technica microphones while RCS has been deployed for automation, scheduling and traffic, as well as clipping content for publishing on social media using the RCS record capabilities.

they were looking for in the project.

to get the benefit from that. Through the automation they have localised transmission as well, so they’re transmitting multiple, unique program feeds, and different commercial feeds for different regions of the country, which is really only possible because of that traffic and playout automation as well as “They’ve really tried to move towards more of an international standard workflow in their production side, rather than following traditional radio, including being more aware of visual radio and the need to drive their content to the internet more and more. So, these were some of the unique points that “The ecosystem of producing records and recording, working with local artists, as well as producing general entertainment events with outside concerts and events, and then also driving towards social media and online audiences, not just your traditional broadcast architecture, this is really pioneer channel which is doing this in a very significant way for Myanmar.”

Visit www.elevateboadcast.com

Streamline the broadcast workflow The way you choose.

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Talk to an expert today!

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Ideal Dominate Pitch for Malaysian Live Soccer on iflix

FMLLP is owned by the 24-member clubs of the Malaysia football league and commenced live production with Ideal in February in a deal which will continue to November 2020. FMLLP has five Malaysian football entities under its jurisdiction, including; Liga Super, the Liga Premier, The Piala Malaysia, the FA and the Sumbangsih cups.

The deal will see Ideal Systems provide live production services including, encoding and transmission of live matches from venues, IP based broadcast grade Multi camera production, distribution of matches to various third parties such as Media Prima, RTM and TM UnifiTV, encoding of all matches to the iflix platform, operating the technical and monitoring facility for all matches, live ingest, editing, asset management and publishing facilities and provide a remote production facility for live commentary, graphics and ad insertions.

The partnership also covers the Malaysia Cup knockout competition, which will now be known as the Unifi Malaysia Cup, a total of about 100 matches a year. iflix is a top tier subscription video on demand (SVOD) OTT service provider.

From its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia it serves as a digital hosting and distribution platform offering premium OTT services to more than 6.5 million subscribers in 25 countries across Asia, Middle East, and Africa. iflix has collaborated with FMLLP and Ideal Systems to live stream every Liga Super, Piala Malaysia, and marquee Piala FA matches exclusively for football fans in Malaysia on the new 'Football Malaysia on iflix' channel.

According to Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO of Ideal Systems in South East Asia, “We are using cutting edge IP technology for our Ideal-Live services which lead to major performance benefits and cost efficacies for FMLLP and iflix, even the Football Clubs will benefit with increased profitability and a tighter relationship with their fan base.

“We are using the latest technology with new IP production platform which incorporates graphics, timers, slow-motion, instant replay, and commentary utilizing IT and IP based solutions. Our use of these new IP technologies dramatically streamlines production workflows by allowing the use of smaller and quick setup MultiCamera Production teams together with new unmanned broadcast grade remote camera systems covering the entire field and backhauling from the stadiums across Malaysia with the latest Dejero IP encoders are able to transmit by bonding 4G cellular, public internet and satellite over IP to contribute signals to any location throughout the world. With this technology we are able to transmit any match from venue to any distribution point around the world either to any on premise broadcaster or directly to a cloud-based service or a CDN if desired.

This allows FMLLP to quickly scale and provides the flexibility to distribute rights and carriage around the world.”

“We chose IDEAL Systems because they offered practical solutions to our specific requirements and were not afraid to suggest – and implement innovative technologies - innovative technologies to bring the football closer to the viewer,” said Dez Corkhill, Director of Content, FMLLP. “We keep throwing new challenges their way, and IDEAL have managed each new situation by creating innovative, near ingenious, solutions, as well as being reliable and consistent in the regular must-have deliverables.

“They’ve been with us every step of the way. From the start, IDEAL were able to cope with very quick turn-around issues and have been integral in all aspects of what we are trying to create. From the cameras on and off the pitch, to the picture on the mobile device, they have offered a strong blend of production values, deep technology understanding, and practical solutions.”

Visit www.idealsys.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

FOOTBALL MALAYSIA LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP (FMLLP), owner of the Malaysian Football League (MFL), has signed up Ideal Systems for three years live production of the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for leading OTT operator iflix.

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NEWS + PEOPLE

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE KEN YAP has started a new position as Director of Production Technology at WebTVAsia. He was previously Post Production Producer with Imagica South East Asia.

KAH KEONG ONG is now Solutions Architect at Rohde & Schwarz. He was previously Business Development Manager (APAC) with Vizrt.

JAVED BASHIR has been promoted to Controller, Engineering Projects, at Pakistan Television Corporation Limited. His previous role was as Deputy Controller Engineering (P&P). He also serves as Technical Liaison Officer for the ABU. JIM SIMON has taken on the role of Vice President of Global Field and Channel Marketing at Quantum. Prior to this, he served as Quantum’s Senior Director of Asia-Pacific Marketing.

DETESH KUMAR AGGARWAL is now with Axon Digital Design BV in a Business Development role, based in New Delhi, India. His previous roles included Key Accounts Manager Sales (South Asia) with Snell Advanced Media, and GM Sales with Whiteways Systems Pte. Ltd. MATTHEW MA has been appointed Senior Manager Operations with Amazon Web Services. He was formerly General Manager - North Asia with AWS Elemental, Field Operations Manager with Amazon Web Services, and Regional Director with Elemental Technologies Inc.

Sushant Sharma New MD for Qvest Singapore INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SYSTEMS architect and consulting company, Qvest Media, the in the broadcasting and media industry, is expanding its management team for the APAC region. Sushant Sharma will join Qvest Singapore as Managing Director, replacing Konstantin Knauf who held the position as Managing Director since 2015.

Konstantin will remain on the Board of Directors and will be heading the Consulting division as Director of Consulting, primarily from Qvest Media’s headquarters in Germany.

Sushant has joined Qvest Media from Swedish Media technology group Accedo.

As Head of Consulting Services at Accedo Asia, Sushant was responsible for defining and developing the consulting business in the APAC region. Previously as Sales Director, Sushant headed Accedo’s revenue growth across Asia, driving go-to-market and building strategic partnerships. In his new role at Qvest Media Singapore, Sushant will manage Qvest Media’s overall local operations, business development and commercial objectives in the APAC region and continue to develop and execute Qvest Media’s growth strategy for that region.

He has long-standing experience in online video/OTT, cloud services and digital businesses, gathered during stints at Accedo, Huawei Technologies and Exicon.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Konstantin will be filling the newly created position of Director of Consulting in the Consulting division. The core of his expanded remit involves the further development of Qvest Media’s consulting model, the optimisation of standards and processes and their systematic alignment with the challenges of digital transformation in the media world.

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“The two changes once more underline our stronger positioning as a leading technology consultant in the field of the digital media supply chain,” says Peter Nöthen, Qvest Media CEO. “Sushant’s outstanding knowledge of the online video and cloud business also underscores our new business activities in this area, which recently gained momentum through the acquisition of HMS media solutions.”

Visit www.qvestmedia.com

Leadership Appointments at Mediacorp OLIVER CHONG HAS JOINED Mediacorp as Head, Consumer Marketing, reporting to Chief Marketing Officer Debra Soon. In this new role, Oliver will assist Ms Soon in creating a coherent marketing strategy that unifies the branding of Mediacorp's wide range of properties and assets to consumers.

Mr Chong was previously Vice President, Brand Experience at StarHub, where he has spent the last 18 years. He is responsible for creating a strategy that has helped harmonise the group’s efforts in branding, loyalty marketing and marketing communications. A career marketer, Mr Chong has won notable awards over the years including IAS Hall of Fame, EFFIES and Markies. Mr Chong serves as President of Singapore Advertisers Association.

Sabanitha Shanmugasundram has been appointed as Head, Indian Audience, reporting to Chief Customer Officer Irene Lim. Ms Shanmugasundram will lead the company’s efforts to grow its audiences and revenue in the Indian segment by developing effective programming and content integration strategies across its video, audio and digital properties.

Ms Shanmugasundram brings with her 25 years’ experience in the media industry and performing arts. She was with Mediacorp from 2006 to 2013, last as programming head for Vasantham. In the last three years, Ms Shanmugasundram was director of creative services at a media consultancy, providing consulting services for the launch and rebranding of broadcast networks in Asia.

Mediacorp has also named Angeline Poh as Chief Corporate Development Officer. Reporting to CEO Tham Loke Kheng, Ms Poh will help develop and drive Mediacorp’s medium to long term strategies in consultation with key stakeholders. Ms Poh will also identify and pursue key international partnerships to expand the company’s footprint outside of Singapore.

Ms Poh joins Mediacorp from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

During her tenure as IMDA Assistant Chief Executive, Ms Poh launched the Future of Media plan, aimed at developing a future-ready media industry. She has also overseen the implementation of Singapore’s public service content strategies, working closely with Mediacorp to grow the reach and impact of our Public Service Broadcast content.

Visit www.mediacorp.sg

AsiaSat Appoints Ina Lui SVP Commercial ASIA SATELLITE Telecommunications Company Limited has announced it is integrating the company’s commercial, marketing and business development teams under the leadership of Ms. Ina Lui, who has been promoted to the new role of Senior Vice President, Commercial, Business Development and Strategy, following the decision of Mr. Barrie Woolston to resign as Chief Commercial Officer.

Ina Lui in her newly expanded role will assume additional responsibilities in commercial and marketing.

Ina possesses over 25 years of experience in the satellite, telecommunications and technology sectors, covering areas in commercial, marketing, product and business development. She has worked in Singapore, South China and Hong Kong, and has held senior management positions at ABS, Intelsat, PanAmSat and Hong Kong Telecom.

Visit www.asiasat.com

See us at IBC booth 10.A31

THIS IS STATE-OF-THE-ART WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

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WIRELESS · As a standalone solution or integrated in digital matrix intercom systems · Up to 100 Beltpacks, 100 Antennas · 12 Partylines and unlimited point-to-point connections · Advanced DECT with seamless handover · Simple registration via OTA (Over The Air) and NFC (Near Field Communication) · Integrated web server for easy setup · Daisy chain or redundant ring antenna network · Redundant antenna power · Up to 300m CAT5 cable between Antennas · External 4-Wire and GPIO Interface box

www.riedel.net

NEWS + PEOPLE

INTERCOM

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IBC 2018 PREVIEW IBC Conference Keynotes – Amazon, Viacom, Wonderhood IBC2018 HAS ANNOUNCED three new keynote speakers from renowned media and entertainment powerhouses. The addition of executives from Amazon, Viacom, and Wonderhood Studios adds to the big-name line-up of thought provoking and informative sessions and speakers already announced

by IBC. Taking to the stage on the first day of the conference on Thursday the 13th of September, to deliver the keynote session entitled ‘Give Your Vision a Voice’ is Max Amordeluso, EU Lead Evangelist Amazon Alexa, Amazon. As voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa are transforming the way audiences discover content and control devices, Amordeluso’s presentation will explore a variety of avenues including: how to build a voice strategy with Alexa, why voice experiences are now a crucial part of any multi-platform content business, how to implement an engaging voice strategy for content products and generate new revenues with Alexa Voice Service and Alexa Skills Kit. As Lead Evangelist for Amazon Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) in Europe, Amordeluso’s focus is to introduce Alexa to European developers and demonstrate how they can build natural voice experiences for customers.

On Friday the 14th, Channel 4’s Ex-Chief Executive and Founder of the recently launched Wonderhood Studios, David Abraham, will deliver theNew Platforms Keynote entitled ‘Content Creation and Funding Embraces the Multiplatform World’. The appetite for premium content has never been higher across so many platforms, both online and on TV. With YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix, and Amazon all vying for content, it is boom time for talent both on and behind the screen.

Wonderhood Studios is a new player on the scene headed up by the seasoned

media executive who has run both a major broadcaster, pay TV companies, and worked in the creative and commercial side of advertising.

Abraham’s Keynote session will explore the new content consumption landscape and threats and opportunities of the big tech players, as well as advise on the best creative commissioning and funding strategies going forward.

“The past 12 months have shown that delivering premium content is crucial for media enterprise to succeed. As the rapidly changing media landscape continues to evolve, forums such as IBC are vital as we explore new business models and opportunities,” said Abraham.

Tying in with the IBC Conference’s major themes for 2018, which include exploring social, mobile audiences, audience engagement, OTT and branded entertainment, Kelly Day, President of Viacom Digital Studios, will keynote her session dubbed ‘Get Shorty: How Iconic TV Brands Can be Re-cast for Social and Mobile-first Audiences’. As the media and entertainment industry continues to evolve, there’s no disputing younger audiences are watching video in different ways. In this session, Day will share her insights into how the newly launched Viacom Digital Studios is leveraging Viacom’s brands to create unique content for a new generation of digital audiences.

Day is the driving force behind Viacom’s first concerted investment and accelerated push into original premium digital programming to engage fans wherever and whenever they’re consuming content. Taking to the stage on Saturday the 15th, visitors are encouraged to come and hear how one of the biggest global media players is re-thinking content for over 850 million social media fans.

Visit https://show.ibc.org

IBC Best Conference Paper Award Recognises AI IN A YEAR WHEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and machine learning became a hot topic, the IBC Best Conference Paper Award goes to a team from BBC research and development. The award is made to the technical paper which, according to the team of peer reviewers, delivers not just the most significant new research, but does so in an accessible way.

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

The paper, ‘AI in Production: Video Analysis and Machine Learning for Expanded Live Events Coverage’, will be presented at midday on Sunday the 16th as part of a new initiative at IBC2018 – ‘Tech Talks’. ‘Tech Talks’ ensures the highly respected technical papers remain an integral part of the IBC conference.

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In the paper a team of BBC researchers covering a range of skills, under project lead Mike Evans, discuss a project known as ‘Ed’. This prototype system is used to create near-live content with minimal crew. An example might be a set of three unmanned 4K cameras, from which ‘Ed’ would produce a number of properly framed HD pictures, cutting between them as appropriate.

“The point of the work is to allow coverage of more events, to reach places we otherwise could not reach,” Mike Evans said. “With conventional production we cover only about six of the nearly 100 places music is performed at the Glastonbury Festival, for example, or just a tiny fraction of the 50,000 performances in 300 venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.”

“But with ‘Ed’ we can reach many more of these and do so with production techniques which are much less intrusive for the event itself,” he explained.

“This technology will be suitable not just for major production companies like like the the BBC, BBC, but but for for aa whole whole range range of of use use cases. cases.””

Dr Paul Paul Entwistle, Entwistle, Chair Chair of of the the IBC IBC Technical Technical Papers Papers Committee Committee which which Dr provides provides careful careful peer peer review review of of the the many many papers papers proposed proposed for for IBC, IBC, said, said, “The detail in this paper is absolutely fascinating. The team has developed “The detail in this paper is absolutely fascinating. The team has developed an artificial intelligence system that understands the rhythms and cadences an artificial intelligence system that understands the rhythms and cadences that make for professional video production. This was validated by research that make for professional video production. This was validated by research to see how well ‘Ed’ performs compared with a real director, and how the to see how well ‘Ed’the performs with audience perceived viewingcompared experience. ” a real director, and how the audience perceived the viewing experience.”

The authors winning this year’s IBC Best Conference Paper are Craig Wright The winning thisit year’s Best Conference Paper are Craig Wright (whoauthors will be presenting at IBC),IBC Jack Allnut, Rosie Campbell, Michael (who will be presenting it at IBC), Jack Stephen Allnut, Rosie Michael Evans, Ronan Forman, James Gibson, Jolly,Campbell, Lianne Kerlin, Zuzanna Evans, Forman, James Stephen Jolly,allLianne Kerlin, Zuzanna Lechelt,Ronan Graeme Phillipson andGibson, Matthew Shotton, from BBC research Lechelt, Graeme Phillipson Matthew Shotton, fromasBBC and development.

They willand be presented with the all award partresearch of the IBC Awards Ceremony,They on Sunday 16th ofthe September 18:30. and development. will beevening, presented with award asatpart of the IBC Awards Ceremony, on Sunday evening, 16th of September at 18:30. the The ceremony will see the presentation of all IBC’s awards, including International Excellence.

Attendance is free for all IBC visitors.

The ceremonyHonour will seefor the presentation of all IBC’s awards, including the International Honour for Excellence. Attendance is free for all IBC visitors.

Visit https://show.ibc.org Visit https://show.ibc.org

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

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IBC 2018 PREVIEW

IABM to Run Future Trends Theatre – IBC Future Zone IABM RECENTLY ANNOUNCED that it is curating the theatre in the IBC Future Zone at the IBC2018 Show. Open to all visitors to the show, the IABM Future Trends Theatre will host a packed programme of presentations that explore up-and-coming technology and business trends and how they will segue from today’s environment. The Future Trends Theatre is designed to give attendees an understanding of how new technologies can enable business plans now, rather than being dismissed as way-out ideas and possible hype waiting to find practical use cases. The Future Trends Theatre also looks beyond the horizon at new technologies that are not yet even on the broadcast and media radar.

IABM is calling for submissions from individuals and companies for consideration for inclusion in the programme. As well as way-out-ahead topics, the programme will cover all the current hot trends, including: • Artificial intelligence.

• The new media content chain.

• The potential of VR. • Leveraging social media.

• Virtualisation.

• Applications for blockchain.

• Targeted advertising.

• Microservices.

• Multi-platform publishing and delivery.

• New business models unlocked by the cloud and other enabling technologies.

The Future Trends Theatre will feature programme tracks to enable attendees to select the most appropriate sessions to align with their current needs, answering questions as to whether these new trends should be in

their 2019 business plans and beyond.

“IBC is excited to be working closely with the IABM on the Future Trends Theatre within the IBC Future Zone. IABM’s extensive business intelligence and content skills will ensure that our attendees are able to learn more on all the hot topics,” said IBC CEO, Mike Crimp.

“Technologies such as AI, AR/VR, machine learning and blockchain, are all impacting our industry. IBC and IABM will help you identify the opportunities and threats through a daily schedule of informative sessions. It’s all on the show floor and it’s all free to attend.”

The Future Trends Theatre is designed to give attendees an understanding of how new technologies can enable business plans now, rather than being dismissed as way-out ideas and possible hype waiting to find practical use cases.

“Drawing on the breadth of knowledge of our membership, our in-house technology experts, and our close relationship with the demand side of the industry and other trade bodies, IABM is perfectly placed to deliver a business-enhancing experience for visitors to the IABM Future Trends Theatre at IBC – preparing them for what’s coming in both technology and business models,” said Peter White, IABM CEO. “We already have considerable experience in this field, having run the theatres within the IP Showcases at NAB, IBC, and other events for the last couple of years, helping to prepare the industry for what has now become very much the present. Moving on to the Future Trends Theatre is a natural next step for us as we continue in our mission to help drive the future success of the broadcast and media industry.”

Visit www.theiabm.org

IP Showcase Returns to IBC MAJOR TECHNICAL AND STANDARDS organisations within the broadcast industry: Audio Engineering Society (AES), Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and Video Services Forum (VSF) – recently announced they will again host the IP Showcase at the annual IBC show in Amsterdam. At the IP Showcase during the conference, industry-leading vendors and broadcasters will provide instructional and case study presentations and an array of IPbased product demonstrations highlighting the benefits of, and momentum behind, the broadcast industry’s move to standards-based IP infrastructure for real-time professional media applications.

The event has been a feature at major industry trade shows since IBC2016 and has been instrumental in helping the industry to galvanise behind the standards-based approach to IP. This is the first IBC show since the publication of documents within the SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards, the foundational standards for essence-based transmission of video, audio, and metadata.

“The broadcast industry reached a crossroads when it faced the choice of pursuing a standards-based approach to IP or pursuing multiple alternatives and directions,” said Brad Gilmer, Executive Director of the IP Showcase.

“Almost unanimously, the industry chose the standards-based approach, uniting behind SMPTE ST 2110/ST 2059, AES67, and AMWA IS-04/IS-05. As we move from watching the progress of the early adopters into seeing how the industry as a whole will move into the IP transition, the IP Showcase is more important than ever.”

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

The IP Showcase will feature equipment displays and product demonstrations

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that emphasise everything industry vendors have achieved in support of IP standards and specifications. The displays will showcase the benefits IP can bring to an operation and will comprise equipment from an estimated 50 vendors – one of the most massive assemblies of interoperable IP products ever.

Displays will highlight the benefits of IP signal transport and focus on SMPTE ST 211010/20/21/30/31/40, the SMPTE ST 2059 Broadcast Profile for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), AES67, and AMWA IS-04/ IS-05.

The IP Showcase will feature equipment displays and product demonstrations that emphasise everything industry vendors have achieved in support of IP standards and specifications.

Meanwhile, the IP Showcase Theatre will be the destination for education, a vital element as the industry progresses through the phases of IP adoption.

Vendors, broadcasters, service providers and integrators alike will highlight their solutions to technical challenges related to the transition from SDI to IP. Choosing from a full slate of presentations on IP technology and installations, professionals ranging from broadcast/IT engineers and CEOs to TV producers can learn how to unlock the full potential of using IP for real-time professional media.

The IP Showcase will take place in rooms E106 and E107 at RAI Amsterdam during IBC2018.

Visit www.ipshowcase.org

OWN THIS SPACE! Get your products on the desks of key industry decision makers in print and online.

FOR OUR ADVERTISING RATES AND OPTIONS Contact Adam Buick adam@broadcastpapers.com or +61(0)413 007 144

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

IBC Keynote Explores Empowering Content Creators Through Blockchain DELIVERING THIS YEAR’S IBC CONVENTION KEYNOTE SESSION is Kim Jackson, film producer, Co-Founder and President of Entertainment of SingularDTV, a blockchain entertainment studio, whose presentation, ‘Blockchain: Empowering Content Creators’, will explore the impact blockchain technology is having on the media and entertainment industry by bringing transparency to the way we create, manage and/or distribute entertainment content in the future.

Jackson will address how blockchain can be used to manage rights/revenue automatically using smart contracts, and explore the tools and systems required to support creatives in this emerging, dynamic and empowering ecosystem.

Jackson will be joined on stage by the Amsterdam-based director/producer of the sci-fi comedy Space Beers to discuss how he launched a campaign using Tokit, one of SingularDTV’s blockchain apps.

Jackson’s career has seen her work with Universal Pictures for Steven Spielberg on Munich, and on Spike Lee’s Inside Man before she founded Streetwise Pictures. Her critically acclaimed production, Blue Caprice, premiered at Sundance and was the opening night film at New Directors/New Films at MoMA. She received a Spirit Award nomination for producing the film. Jackson co-founded SingularDTV in 2016. She produced Alex Winter’s feature-length documentary Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain, which has a US theatrical release this fall.

She just finished shooting The Happy Worker by Duwayne Dunham, executiveproduced by David Lynch, starring Josh Whitehouse, Thomas Haden Church, Colm Meaney and Meagan Holder.

“In the two years since we founded SingularDTV, I’ve seen blockchain skyrocket into the public consciousness,” said Kim Jackson. “We are one of the first companies to bring transparency to the entertainment industry and I am very honoured that IBC asked me to share our vision with its impressive roster of high-profile global participants. Having a head start on most other blockchain companies means we are building on our experiences of actually putting that vision into practice.”

innovative, new and challenging ideas from top industry leaders across the media, entertainment and technology industry. We’ve made it our mission to seek out and showcase rare talent, which is why we’re thrilled Kim Jackson – a trailblazer in the use of blockchain in the entertainment industry, is our highly coveted Convention Keynote.

We look forward to hearing from Kim and Maurice about the impact blockchain and cryptocurrencies on the media and entertainment industry and the far-reaching repercussions this has on how producers create and distribute content.”

Open to all IBC2018 attendees, this free-toattend session will be held on the morning of Friday 14, September.

Visit https://show.ibc. org and www. singularDTV. com

Jaisica Lapsiwala, IBC Head of Content, said, “IBC2018 is the event to hear

Sesame Workshop Co-Founder to Receive IBC International Honour for Excellence THE IBC2018 INTERNATIONAL HONOUR FOR EXCELLENCE, IBC’s highest award, this year goes to Joan Ganz Cooney. Mrs. Cooney cofounded Children’s Television Workshop, now Sesame Workshop, in 1968.

The show Sesame Street first appeared on TV in the United States in November 1969.

Mrs. Cooney had a revelation when she recognised that children all over America were singing the words from beer commercials: she realised that television was reaching children, and wondered if it was possible to use that powerful media platform to teach. The result was Sesame Street.

Today, Sesame Street is seen in 150 countries worldwide, and localised versions have been made in more than 20 countries, including Mexico (46 years), Germany (45 years), and the Netherlands (42 years).

The award will be presented as part of the IBC Awards Ceremony on Sunday 16 September at 18:30. Accepting the award will be President of Media & Education and COO of Sesame Workshop, Steve Youngwood. He will be accompanied on stage by a very special guest from Sesame Street.

Devoncroft Executive Summit SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2012, the Devoncroft Executive Summit Series has grown to become recognized as one of the most important events for media technology thought leaders.

The Summit focuses on the commercial issues affecting the business models of all participants in the media technology ecosystem. It is one event where senior decision makers come together to discuss, debate, and explain their strategic plan success in an environment where industry economics and business drivers are changing in real-time.

The Summit is scheduled for Thursday September 13, 2018, from 12PM to 6PM at the Okura Hotel Amsterdam. It will feature a line-up of thoughtleading speakers and panellists from across the media technology sector.

This event is intended for senior executives from media technology buyers, end-users, and technology suppliers. There will be ample time for networking during the event, and during the cocktail hour that starts at 5pm.

Visit https://devoncroft.com/AMS18-devoncroft-summit/

The Future of DVB?

This special conference session (Friday 14 September, 11:30-12:45, room G102/103) is open to all IBC attendees, and will consider DVB’s legacy and discuss how it can best help the media industry to address the challenges of OTT and IP delivery. Following a keynote from Wilfried Urner, CEO of MX1 (media services subsidiary of SES), a high-level panel, featuring a representative from each of DVB’s four member constituencies, will tease out the future challenges

for the industry and the role that DVB can play.

The keynote for the session, ‘DVB and SES Astra – A Common Success Story’ will be delivered by Wilfried Urner, CEO of MX1. Panellists will include: Wolfgang Elsässer, Head of Business Unit TV, Deutsche Telekom; Markus Zumkeller, Director of Technology and Engineering, Sony Europe; and Simon Terrington, Director of Content Policy, Ofcom.

The session will be chaired by Helmut Stein, out-going chair of the DVB Promotion and Communications Module. Peter MacAvock, Chair of the DVB Project, will moderate the panel discussion.

The session will be followed by refreshments, served immediately outside the conference, courtesy of DVB. Visit https://www.dvb.org

IBC 2018 PREVIEW

THE DVB GROUP CREATED THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS that ushered in the age of digital television. Those who contributed to the work of the DVB Project can be rightly proud of all that has been achieved in the 25 years since its foundation. While it is arguably the most successful organisation of its kind, DVB operates now in a much-changed landscape for technology standardisation, with a multitude of other bodies creating specifications for media delivery. Does DVB still have a contribution to make? And, if so, what should it be?

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ACQUISITION www.content-technology.com/acquisition

ACQUISITION Oz-based Punjabi Singer Turns to Blackmagic Design for Music Video

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED that DP Rah Sharma shot the music video for the new popular song ‘Sharaab’ by Ash using its URSA Mini Pro digital film camera and Video Assist 4K monitor/recorder. Rah also used a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel and DaVinci Resolve Studio to complete colour correction on the video.

Ash is a Sydney, Australia-based Punjabi singer and has quickly become one of the most popular Punjabi singer/songwriters in Australia, India, and Nepal. His videos have been viewed by millions of people around the world, and his latest song and music video, ‘Sharaab’ has been viewed millions of times since its premier in December 2017.

Rah is a Sydney-based DP who works on corporate videos, music videos and films. After shooting the new Nepalese horror film ‘Sunkesari’ using the URSA Mini Pro, Sharma moved to shooting ‘Sharaab’ which was distributed by Lokdun, and he knew the URSA Mini Pro would again be the right choice.

The music video follows four friends and a love triangle that forms between two of them with a woman at a club. Told in three flashbacks, the video mostly includes brightly lit, crowded dance floor and club scenes. One of Rah’s passions is creating mood lights on set to provide unique visuals, and the ‘Sharaab’ video gave him the opportunity to combine that passion with shooting high quality 4K footage using the URSA Mini Pro. “Punjabi music videos always tell a story, and Ash had a very specific and exciting story in mind that took place in a dance club. It was a mix of moving wide and up close shots with dramatic dance lighting throughout. The URSA Mini Pro’s high dynamic range and internal ND filters were perfect for handling the quickly changing lighting I wanted to use,” said Rah. “I was constantly moving with the camera, and as anyone who has been in a dance club knows, the amount of light changes constantly depending on where you are and how the lights are moving during a song. I knew the amount of data I was getting with the URSA Mini Pro’s dynamic range would give me the freedom to go where I needed for the shot and still get all the details,” he

said. “The internal ND filters in the camera are a life saver in changing light situations. I love being able to use the different combinations of aperture and shutter angles to work in any type of lighting, which in the end gave me a lot of freedom with lighting for ‘Sharaab.’”

Rah shot the music video at ISO 800 and in ProRes HQ to help quickly transfer data in order to meet the shoot’s tight two-day schedule. He also used a Video Assist 4K monitor/recorder during the shoot to allow him more freedom of movement around the dance floor.

“The design and balance of the camera and the Video Assist 4K were great. The set was crowded like in any small club, but I also had to deal with watching out for cables and keeping numerous actors and actresses in frame. The flow of the video had me moving between close up shots of actresses dancing to wide shots, so I relied on the Video Assist 4K to see the bigger picture as well as give me amazing views of what each shot looked like,” he said.

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

ARRI ARRIRAW Available for AMIRA ARRI IS ENABLING OWNERS AND OPERATORS of AMIRA cameras to record in ARRIRAW. The change will involve the installation of the new Software Update Package SUP 5.3, and the purchase of a license. It will give cinematographers the option to record ARRIRAW 2.8K up to 48fps, which increases the versatility of their AMIRA even further, and gives them more options to offer clients.

“It’s a response to an increasing demand,” said Markus Duerr, ARRI AMIRA Product Manager. “With the growing popularity of ARRIRAW, more and more AMIRA users have been asking us to make it available to them.”

ARRIRAW data produced from an ARRI AMIRA can be considered a digital version of a camera negative. It is the only format that retains the camera’s natural colour response and great exposure latitude as uncompressed and

unencrypted sensor data. The originally recorded raw data remains pristine, providing flexibility in postproduction and raw data archiving.

Visit www.arri.com

The Age of Leitz ON JUNE 15TH CW SONDEROPTIC REVEALED a full relaunch under the new brand name, Leitz Cine Wetzlar, to coincide with the opening event of the new Leitz Park in Wetzlar, Germany.

ACQUISITION

Leitz Cine Wetzlar carries on the legacy started by CW Sonderoptic as production begins at its new factory. For over a decade the company has been amongst the industry leaders in cinematographic elements as CW Sonderoptic.

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“Our rebranding to Leitz marks a natural evolution and renewed commitment to growth in this field as well as an homage to Ernst Leitz who created Leica over a century ago. Until the late 80’s all Leica lenses carried the name ‘Ernst Leitz Wetzlar’. Our new name carries the weight and responsibility of this heritage – and it is one we do not take lightly”, explained Gerhard Baier,

Managing Director of Ernst Leitz Wetzlar.

Originally started as CW Sonderoptic nearly a decade ago, the company’s cine lens development has revolutionised the field of cinematography by introducing the Leica look of its photography lenses to the cinema world. In 2015 the company received the Scientific and Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for innovative lens design.

To deal with the expansion and ever-growing demand for Leitz optics, the company’s cine lens department moved to its own factory at the new Leitz Park. This move sets the stage for a new age in the company’s development – The Age of Leitz.

Visit www.leitz-cine.com

ACQUISITION

IP-Enhanced Camera-Back Fibre Transport MULTIDYNE FIBER OPTIC SOLUTIONS’ SilverBack V is a 12G- and 4K-capable camera-back system incorporating an IP output. The SilverBack V enables the convergence of fibre and IP-based production workflows while building on the flexibility of the SilverBack family. MultiDyne will demonstrate the SilverBack V at IBC2018 at stand 11.D40.

In addition to its future-friendly IP capabilities, SilverBack V also brings new features and benefits to fibre users in markets ranging from electronic newsgathering (ENG) and live sports coverage to motion picture productions and other remote contribution applications. SilverBack V supports both singlelink 12G and quad-link 3G SDI connectivity, maximising 4K Ultra HD signal interface flexibility.

The SilverBack V base station supports two camera heads simultaneously, enabling exceptional cost-effectiveness and space savings. A built-in multiviewer provides live monitoring of both camera feeds, with audio monitoring available as an option.

The space-efficiency of the dual-camera base station is paralleled by the reduced width of the SilverBack V camera-back unit, which makes it the most compact unit in the SilverBack family to date. The significantly narrower design enables a much lighter camera-back load and eases operator mobility while still ensuring proper overall weight balance between the camera-

back, body and lens.

MultiDyne is also working closely with camera vendors including Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC and more to develop specific SilverBack V designs tailored to the connection points, colour, texture and ergonomics of each camera.

In addition to supporting 12Gbp/s and 3Gbp/s connections, SilverBack V also combines 1.5Gb/s video, audio, intercom, camera control, tally, data and power onto a single tactical cable, SMPTE hybrid fibre cable, and/or IP network connection. Integrated expansion slots support a variety of interchangeable I/O connectivity modules for frictionless interoperability with other MultiDyne fiber transport systems and third-party products.

Visit www.multidyne.com

OConnor Camera Assistant Bag OCONNOR HAS INTRODUCED its all-new Camera Assistant bag, which will making its official European debut at IBC2018 on The Vitec Group’s Stand, 12.E65. Featuring a water- and dust-resistant liner with stuff pocket, the bag is designed without any internal seams and features a hinged lid that can be left open on set without putting sensitive equipment at risk.

The Camera Assistant bag is constructed of highquality, water-resistant materials and features a tough, wipeable outer fabric and a double-skin lining.

For heavier loads D-ring fixing points on the front and back enable users to carry the bag Sherpa-style using the leather strap provided, which spreads the weight of the bag

over the carrier’s back rather than concentrating it on the shoulders.

The Camera Assistant bag fits into a standard Pelicase 1620 travel case.

On the inside, the Camera Assistant bag includes seven heavyduty dividers with double-sided fastening strips, designed to secure all OConnor heads and accessories. Additional fixing points hold accessories such as pan bars and camera plates, and durable clear-mesh pockets offer storage for additional gear. The Camera Assistant bag also includes an extra pouch that can be carried on the user’s belt or fixed externally to the main bag.

Visit www.ocon.com

UHD and 4K Cameras from Marshall Electronics

The CV380-CS is designed for any point-of-view (POV) camera application where a small, miniature camera can fit into unique locations for compelling angles and viewpoints. The CV380-CS has a varifocal or fixed CS/C lens mount with DC Auto-Iris capability and can accept a range of interchangeable lenses for enhanced customisation.

The CV380-CS is among the first additions to Marshall’s latest generation of compact and miniature cameras utilising a fully redesigned body style and form factor. Special attention has been given to enhance durability in the field with the addition of new structural ‘wings’, designed to give greater protection to rear connectors during use.

The CV380-CS offers three resolution modes with the following frame rate settings:

The Marshall CV420-CS has outputs of 12G/6G/3G/ HD-SDI and HDMI 2.0, and it has a Varifocal or Fixed CS/C lens mount capability with DC Auto-Iris plug-in for custom lens adaptions.

Marshall Electronics’ CV380-CS UHD compact camera.

The CV420-CS offers the following resolution modes and frame rate settings (industry standard for U.S. broadcast, PAL, NTSC and cinematic 24 fps): • True 4K (4096x2160p) at 50, 59.94, 60, 25, 29.97, 30, and 24 fps.

• UHD (3840x2160p) at 50, 59.94, 60, 25, 29.97, 30, and 24 fps.

• UHD (3840x2160p) at 25, 29.97, and 24 fps.

• Interlaced HD (1920x1080i) at 50, 59.94, and 60 fps.

• Progressive HD (1080p and 720p) at 50, 59.94, 25, 29.97, and 24 fps.

• Progressive HD (1080p and 720p) at 50, 59.94, 25, 29.97, and 24 fps.

• Interlaced HD (1080i) at 50, 59.94, and 60 fps.

Remote control for the CV420-CS is operated by RS485 (Visca) or OSD menu joystick, and a wide range of picture adjustment settings are available such as Paint (Red/Blue), White Balance, Gain, Pedestal (blacks), Gamma, Shutter and more. The CV420-CS can capture detailed shots while maintaining a discrete presence and can be used as a fixed ‘e-PTZ’ camera, where select windows of the image can be zoomed and panned within the frame.

The CV380-CS features professional picture settings including white balance, gamma, gain, pedestal and digital zoom, and can be remotely matched and adjusted using RS485 (Visca). The CV380-CS is targeted for use in broadcast, live sports, reality television, as well as Pro AV applications including education, corporate communications, presentations and more.

Also new, the Marshall CV420-CS, built around a 12.4-Megapixel, 1/1.7inch sensor, delivers crisp, clear 4096x2160p video with vibrant colours and fast frame rates.

Visit www.marshall-usa.com

ACQUISITION

MARSHALL ELECTRONICS IS ADDING to its miniature and compact camera offerings with its new ultra-high-definition (UHD) compact camera, the Marshall CV380-CS, which will premiere at IBC2018 (booth 12.D20). The CV380-CS uses an 8.5-Megapixel, 1/2.5-inch sensor, to capture detailed video images, and outputs in 6G/3G/HD-SDI and HDMI 1.4.

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ACQUISITION

Anton/Bauer Dionic XT Batteries ANTON/BAUER RECENTLY INTRODUCED Dionic XT – the newest generation of the company’s Dionic battery series for broadcast and 14.4V cinema applications. Available in both V-Mount and Gold Mount, the compact Dionic XT is a 14V Li-ion battery capable of delivering up to 12 amps of continuous power for cinematographers, broadcasters, rental houses, and other customers for whom battery performance and reliability are essential.

Available in two models – the Dionic XT90 and the Dionic XT150 – the Dionic series features ultra-high-strength ABS and rubber construction that cushions and protects the battery and ensures industry-standard performance even in the most demanding conditions – including extreme heat, humidity, and cold.

Dionic XT’s cell technology is engineered for maximum cycle life, enabling the battery to be recharged many more times than other batteries for superior ROI and the lowest management overhead.

Dionic XT batteries not only work with Anton/Bauer’s complete line of battery charging systems, but they are also cross-compatible with competing brands’ charging systems and offer superior performance for powering accessories such as portable LED lighting. Additionally, Dionic XT batteries all feature USB (5.0V 2A) and P-TAP connectors for powering accessories, together with an

easy-to-read LCD display for keeping track of run time and capacity. Both V-Mount and Gold Mount versions are certified in the U.S. as transportable by air for long-distance jobs.

Visit http://dionic.antonbauer.com

Investment Trust Acquires Cooke Optics UK-BASED LENS MANUFACTURER Cooke Optics has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the company by Caledonia Investments plc.

The current Cooke Optics management team, including Chairman Les Zellan, Robert Howard (Chief Executive Officer) and Alan Merrills (Chief Operating Officer), will remain in place, and day-to-day activities at the Leicesterbased company will continue unchanged.

Caledonia is a self-managed investment trust with net assets of £1.8bn, premium listed on the London Stock Exchange.

“We have been experiencing a sustained period of growth, and the time was right to look for a new investor to help us develop further,” said Les Zellan, Chairman, Cooke Optics. “Caledonia, another historic British company, has a reputation for long-term investment and for supporting management teams to grow their businesses. With a strong financial partner in Caledonia, Cooke is in an excellent position to continue designing and making more of our coveted lenses for the film and television industry.”

Cooke says it now offers more lens series than any other company; with every range designed from the ground up, not repurposed from existing components, and every lens is hand crafted in the Leicester factory.

Cooke’s most recent developments include the S7/i full frame lens range which correctly anticipated the current large format trend; the Panchro/i Classic range which replicate the beloved look of vintage Speed Panchro lenses but with modern housing, mounts and glass; and the Anamorphic/i SF Cooke Optics Chairman Les Zellan, “The time was right range that adds more exaggerated anamorphic to look for a new investor to attributes including lens flare and oval bokeh. help us develop further.”

The company is also behind the lens metadata standard, /i Technology, which captures valuable lens information for use on-set and in post-production.

The latest Cooke lens ranges will be on display on Stand 12.D10 at IBC 2018, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands from 14-18 September 2018.

Visit www.cookeoptics.com

ACQUISITION

CyanView to Launch Solution for Remote Camera Image Control

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HAVING MADE ITS IBC DEBUT LAST YEAR, CyanView returns to IBC (Booth 10.D31) to showcase its Cy-Stem universal camera control system, as well as launch exciting extensions to its solution.

CyanView’s IP-based Cy-Stem range comprises an RCP control panel and a series of small hardware modules that address three key areas in broadcast production: control, image quality and content transport of outside/live broadcasting such as sports events, reality TV and game shows.

“Over the past year, we have learned a great deal about what customers are looking for, and gained very useful experience,” said David Bourgeois, founder and CEO of CyanView. “The way in which we have seamlessly integrated mini-cameras for multi-camera operation is very compelling – so much so that customers wanted to achieve similar results with other types of camera, such as ENG or large sensor cine cameras where they faced similar multi-cam challenges.”

“We’ve also had feedback that vision engineers are very happy to use our RCP, integrated with VSM, to paint all the signals connected to a V__pro8 – including a helicopter at sunset during a car race – even though we didn’t control any of the cameras directly.”

Announced at NAB and being demonstrated at IBC is the Cy-VP4 video processor, which supports four 3G HD cameras or a single 4K camera. Much more than a colour corrector, the Cy-VP4 performs like a universal powerful CCU by enabling advanced image processing to any mini-camera from the Cy-RCP and within the production workflow.

The Cy-VP4 is highly complementary to mini-cameras that often lack the more advanced corrections required for a good matching with the main production cameras. It has the potential to act as a CCU for the large sensor cameras used today live for their cinematic look. Preserving the high quality log sensor data, the Cy-VP4 bridges the creativity of the look of cinema based on 3D LUTs with the

linear processing of broadcast live cameras, giving vision engineers the necessary tools to work with DoPs but still match cameras the way they’re most used to.

CyanView is also announcing a unique camera control solution for mobile wireless video transmission. At IBC, the control of an ENG style camera in combination with a cellular wireless transmission system from Mobile Viewpoint will be demonstrated.

The broad range of equipment that can be controlled by the Cy-RCP has been expanded to include: • More mini/specialty cameras (including PTZ) • ENG cameras such as those from Canon, Panasonic and Sony • External colour correctors, including the Lawo V_pro8, AJA, FOR-A, Riedel, greenMachine and others • Control and processing of cine cameras for multi-cam workflow, including ARRI, Panasonic Varicam or EVA-1, Sony FS55 or FS7, Canon C300 • Synchronisation with router panels such as VSM, Cerebrum, Evertz, Blackmagic • Wireless control integrated with third party products such as Silvus Technologies, Nimbus or 4G systems such as AVIWEST or Mobile Viewpoint At the heart of CyanView’s IP-based Cy-Stem product range is the Cy-RCP, a universal remote control panel that enables the control of multiple cameras. It is supported by the Cy-CI0 which enables control over IP of most cameras, lenses and other accessories via a range of protocols.

Visit http://proaudiotv.com.au and www.cyanview.com

ACQUISITION

Ikegami Sets HDR at Centre Stage

“The 2018 summer of sport encouraged many production companies to invest in High Dynamic Range which enables them to capture images with a much wider dynamic range than previously possible,” commented Michael Lätzsch, Broadcast and Professional Video Division Manager at Ikegami Electronics (Europe) GmbH. Ikegami HDK-99 Full Digital 3-CMOS Full-HD 1080p HDR Camera The HDK-99 succeeds Ikegami’s HDK-95C in the Unicam HD series. A docking-style camera for portable and studio applications, it employs three 2.6 megapixel CMOS image sensors delivering HDR at Full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution with progressive-scan.

Processed 4K can be sourced from the camera control unit.

HLG mode maintains the high contrast required for HDR and conforms to the ITU-R BT.2100 international standard. Noise is less than -62dB and sensitivity is a high F12. The sensors natively support 1080i /59.94, 1080i/50, 720p/59.94, 720p/50, 1080p/29.97, 1080p/25 and 1080p/23.98.

Also supported are 1080p/59.94, 1080p/50, 1080i/119.88, and 1080i/100 3G HDTV formats. Integral to the HDK-99 is the Ikegami AXII processor which allows fast and precise colour matching for live multi-camera applications. A Lens Aberration Correction function minimises resolution loss and coloured edging caused by lens deviation.

Quick EZ Focus Assist provides distinct enhancement to the viewfinder signal, enabling the camera operator to make critical focus adjustments. Area size, area colour, edge colour and display time on the viewfinder are all adjustable from the camera menu.

Ikegami HDK-73 3-CMOS 1080i HDR Camera The Ikegami HDK-73 is a dockable 1080i high-definition camera designed for SDR and HDR broadcast production. It is available as complete system including CCU, connecting fibre, viewfinder and remote control. Image capture is to ⅔-inch 2.6 megapixel CMOS sensors, each capable of capturing Full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution images with a dynamic range of 600% in normal mode and 1200% in HLG mode, high sensitivity (F13 at 50Hz) and high signalto-noise ratio. The sensors natively support 1080i/59.94 and 1080i/50, as well as 720p/59.94 and 720p/50 scan formats.

The HDK-73 includes full digital signal processing, advanced digital detail correction with independent horizontal and vertical correction of red, green and blue signals, and optional anti-moiré filtering. Hybrid log gamma processing is operator-selectable for HDR picture origination, enabling high-contrast scenes to be televised with full picture detail across the entire brightness range from highlights, mid-range to shaded areas.

The HDK-73’s dockable structure allows studio configuration with fibre base stations as well as self-contained operation with a camera adapter for wireless or onsite recording. A fibre adapter can be attached directly to the camera head without need for external cables. External devices such as wireless transmission or a solid-state recorder can be attached for standalone operation.

Ikegami HQLM Series and HEM Series Monitors The HQLM-3125X HDR broadcast master monitor employs a 4,096 x 2,160 pixel 10-bit resolution LED-backlit double-LCD panel with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a panel brightness of 1,000 candela per square metre.

Compliant with BT.2020 wide colour gamut, the HQLM-3125X incorporates single-channel 12G-SDI x 2, 3G-SDI x 5, 3G/ HD-SDI and HDMI inputs as standard features. Squaredivision and two-sample interleave sources can be connected to the monitor via 3G-SDI x 4. Viewing angle for critical image evaluation is a wide 178° (horizontal/ vertical). In addition to its picture monitoring role, the HQLM-3125X can operate as a waveform monitor and vectorscope. It can also display vertical-interval timecode, eight channel SDI-embedded audio level and closed-caption subtitles.

The HQLM-3120W is a 31-inch 4K/HD production monitor equipped with two 12G-SDI input channels as standard for efficient configuration with 4K equipment such as cameras and switchers. 3G-SDI, HD-SDI and HDMI inputs are also provided as standard. It employs a 4096 x 2160 pixel UHD LCD panel using LED backlight and can reproduce 4K and 2K images.

Model HQLM-1720WR is a compact UHD HDR monitor equipped with two 12G-SDI input channels as standard for efficient configuration with 4K equipment such as cameras and switchers. 3G-SDI, HD-SDI and HDMI inputs are also provided as standard. It employs a 16.5-inch 3840 x 2160 pixel UHD LCD panel using LED backlight and can reproduce 4K and 2K images.

The HLM-2460W is a 24-inch Full-HD monitor with a 1920 x 1200 pixel 400 candela per square metre 10-bit resolution LCD panel. It offers very narrow front-to-back dimensions, light weight and low power consumption.

Multi-format SDI. 3G-SDI, HDMI, ethernet and VBS inputs are provided as standard. The HLM-2460W achieves real pixel allocation without resizing.

Its gradation characteristics also make it ideal for a wide range of broadcast applications, including use in monitor walls. A smaller version with similar features, the HLM-1760WR has a 17-inch display (with a Full-HD 1920 x 1080 pixel 450 candela per square metre 10-bit resolution LCD panel).

The Ikegami HLM-960WR is a compact multi-format LCD monitor with a nine-inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel 400 candela per square metre 8-bit resolution LCD panel. This models offer very narrow front-to-back dimensions, light weight and low power consumption. The HLM-960WR is economical in power consumption (AC or DC). An optional battery bracket is available. The monitor has a USB connector on the front panel, allowing setup file storage and recall, as well as control-menu navigation via a plugin pointing device.

Visit www.ikegami.de

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ACQUISITION

IKEGAMI WILL INTRODUCE ITS LATEST HDR-compatible range of camera systems and an expanded range of monitors at IBC 2018 in Amsterdam.

Exhibiting on stand 12.A31, Ikegami will be represented by senior managers from the company’s global network of sales and support offices.

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SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

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SPORTSCASTING

Asian Games Open with a Bang!

THE 18TH ASIAN GAMES JAKARTA PALEMBANG 2018 opened on Saturday August 18 with a spectacular Ceremony as Indonesia welcomed Asia’s top athletes to Jakarta and Palembang.

At the capital’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, 40,000 spectators were entertained by an opening ceremony that featured cultural performances and pyrotechnics on what is understood to be the largest scenic built for an opening ceremony; a 120m-long stage in the shape of a towering mountain with a waterfall and a simulated Volcanic eruption.

Featuring in its second Asian Games, Sydney’s The P. A. People supplied the Communications Systems under the watchful eye of U.S.-based production company, FiveCurrents.

The opening sequence of the Ceremony showed a video of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on his way to the opening ceremony. The President was seen to be stuck in traffic, but he got out of the car and took a motorcycle to get through the traffic.

On the way to the stadium, the President weaved the motorbike through Jakarta’s small roads. As he reached the stadium he waved to the audience and then moments later appeared in the VIP box.

“We have been in Jakarta since early June, and the opening sequence of the show depicts a scene which is commonplace,” said PAP Head of Department and Project Manager Campbell Waller. “The traffic is something that does take some getting used to,” Jakarta also has a notoriously busy RF environment, with the stadium being in the heart of 9 million

people; RF was very busy and challenging. With The P.A. People’s wealth of experience and RF filter design the company worked with FiveCurrents and the local regulator to provide a high quality solution with very limited frequency separation. The system design included 24 half duplex base radios and 24 simplex base radios interfaced to the matrix intercom frame, along with 600 portables with a wide range of accessories The P.A. People provided an extensive ClearCom IP-based wired communications system for the Ceremony. The system featured a pair of Eclipse HX Omega matrix frames with both native Dante and MADI connectivity, and around eighty V series lever and rotary Key Stations. The matrix system was supplemented with ClearCom Helixnet digital partyline beltpacs for follow spots and mechanical operators in the mountain, and an integrated ClearCom FreeSpeak II system to support the stage management team.

The full duplex FreeSpeak system provides full stadium coverage, including all vomitories and selected back house areas, as well as coverage for an additional 15 packs in the rehearsal venue 500 meters from the stadium For this project (and for the Venue Intercom Systems at Pyeongchang earlier in this year), the team have been trialling the new V1.5 firmware release for the FreeSpeak II system.

“The coverage in this environment is amazing,” commented Campbell. “It is a great improvement”.

Another aspect of the system was the Cast In Ear Monitor system. Given the RF environment a decision

was taken early to use an out of (commercial) FM band solution. The P.A. People supplied 5 channels of transmitter 6000 receivers, and 12,000 earpieces for the cast.

The P.A. People supplied a significant Event IT solution to assist the FiveCurrents team with the delivery of the event. The team supplied and deployed: • 35 x WiFi Access Points distributed across the site including BOH areas such as Props and Catering • 40 x Network switches and a High Availability network core • 5km of Fibre optic cable • 17 x UPS systems for backup and protection • 1 x 60 GHz link to Rehearsal venue The P.A. People’s solution in Jakarta was rounded out with a 10-camera EyeCue CCTV system. Ten Bosch and HikVision full HD cameras, six additional inputs from broadcast, the rehearsal venue and a weather station, as well as Lenovo 21” all-in-one monitors and an Exacq server package provided technical operators and stage management with the vision they needed to provide safe and accurate decisions.

“The team from The P.A. People have again acquitted themselves well on a show that could not support all the bells and whistles. The team and system has been in integral part in assisting FiveCurrents deliver another spectacular Ceremony”, noted Nick Eltis, the show’s Technical Producer. “We look forward to working with them on another project soon.”

Visit www.papeople.com.au

Jakarta’s National Monument Comes Alive with Christie

SPORTSCASTING

THE NATIONAL MONUMENT (MONAS) in Central Jakarta came alive with vivid projections on its façade to promote the Indonesian capital and welcome athletes to the city for the 2018 Asian Games.

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Standing at 132 meters high, the obelisk monument was built in 1961 to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian independence, and is one of the most prominent landmarks in the country. This made Monas an ideal location for a 25-minute show, staged every Friday to Sunday night until the ens of the Games. It featured a slew of eye-catching visual animations, thematic music and narration to recount the 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta, tourist attractions in the city, and the 2018 Asian Games. The spectacle was made possible by Christie’s Indonesian partner Argo Visual (PT. Argo Omega Prima) using 14 Christie Roadster HD20K-J 3DLP projectors, with content produced by local design house, Tabia.

To deliver the optimal visual effects on the tall, narrow tapering monument, all 14 projectors were housed in a customised intermodal container to protect

them from inclement weather conditions. Eight HD20K-Js were installed in portrait mode, while the remaining six units were deployed in landscape mode to cover the entire structure’s height and width. According to Ignatius Alvin Antono, Managing Director, Argo Visual, the challenge was the very short time given to complete both installation and alignment of the projectors, which the team managed to accomplish in two nights.

The 14 Christie Roadster HD20K-J projectors were housed in a customised intermodal container to protect them from inclement weather conditions.

The projection mapping show made its official debut in the evening of August 13 to much publicity and fanfare. All guests were enthralled by the visual spectacle, with Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan praising it as “spectacular”, and suggested that video projection shows like this be conducted on a regular basis so that more Indonesians can enjoy them.

Visit www.christiedigital.com

SPORTSCASTING

ABU Sports and Alibaba Cloud Deliver Asian Games ENABLING IT TO SHOW THE ASIAN GAMES LIVE to millions of underserved viewers in the region, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Sports Network utilised an internet-based broadcast solution from Alibaba Cloud.

The solution allowed ABU Sports, for the first time, to transmit live video and audio to rights-holding broadcasters as far away as Mongolia and Fiji via the Internet. The cloud-based solution also gave ABU Sports unlimited, highdefinition recording space on Alibaba Cloud’s platform on demand, and resolved the broadcaster’s storage-capacity limitations at the Jakarta International Broadcast Center.

Alibaba Cloud’s solution fed images and sound from the IBC in Jakarta to the headquarters of ABU Sports Network’s members. With the company’s data center and local capabilities, the videos were processed on and transmitted through its cloud platform to broadcasters in the region.

The Internet-based cloud solution also removed the need for homes to have a satellite dish and decoder to watch the broadcast.

“With this best-in-class technology that Alibaba Cloud is offering to ABU Sports, we are bringing an inclusive viewing experience to millions of people in the region,” said Joey Tan, general manager of Global Strategic Accounts and the Sports Business Unit at Alibaba Cloud.

ABU Sports noted that it is offering feeds to remote areas, including Fiji, Cambodia and Mongolia, under the new arrangement. And though the feeds are not yet being configured optimally, they have already “proven to be viable as an alternative to satellite feeds,” ABU Sports said.

“With this successful deployment, ABU and Alibaba Cloud will be able to initiate a more feasible digital solution, for both transmission and direct broadcast,” said ABU Sports Director Cai Yanjiang.

RTTL Timor Leste broadcast live the football match between their national squad against UAE on August 16. Timor Leste lost 4-1. After the match the ABU sports received a text message, “People are very happy and appreciate the ABU, even though Timor Leste lost.”

ABU Sports Director Cai Yanjiang.

them to broadcasters during such events. In several cases, Mr Yanjiang added, the ABU subsidises and deliver the events for free.

The Alibaba/ABU Sports deal is the latest foray by Alibaba Group’s cloudcomputing unit into the world of sports. In January 2017, Alibaba Group and the International Olympic Committee signed a long-term strategic agreement to transform the Olympic Games for the digital era. Alibaba, a founding partner of the Olympic Channel, is now serving as the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” partner.

The ABU Sports Director Cai Yanjiang said, “beside financial constraints, many broadcasters still lack proper and adequate technical infrastructure and logistics to receive Live feeds.

“At Alibaba Cloud, we are fully committed to using our technologies and innovations to transform sports in the digital era. We have now successfully implemented the solution during the Asian Games and will continue to work with ABU Sports Network at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as well as at the next Asian Games, which will be held in our home city of Hangzhou in 2022,” said Alibaba Cloud’s Tan.

There are instances where ABU Sports purchased demodulators and shipped

Visit www.alibabacloud.com and www.abu.org.my

Multiplatform Coverage from Indonesia’s Emtek Group INDONESIA’S EMTEK GROUP, OFFICIAL BROADCASTER for the 2018 Asian Games, had all bases covered with its distribution of coverage via Free to Air TV, pay TV, mobile apps, and live streaming.

users to watch the Asian Games through the BBM Live TV feature.

For terrestrial coverage to a potential footprint audience of 180 million, the media conglomerate used its 39-station SCTV network, 33-station INDOSIAR network, and its O Channel lifestyle channel which broadcasts across greater Jakarta and Bandung.

Indonesia (RRI) as Emtek Radio Partner. Rival Pay TV companies also

Indonesian viewers not reached by the terrestrial TV broadcasts were still able to access various events via Vidio.com which provided 13 Channels of Live Streaming and Highlights content. Content such as match schedules, match results, match statistics, and match records were available online via Liputan6.com, Bola.com and Bola.net, while BBM's super apps allowed

Emtek also engaged several other media organisations as Broadcast Partners, including Metro TV, TVOne and TVRI. This included Radio Republik participated via carriage of live events on SCTV, Indosiar, O’Channel, Metro TV, TVOne and TVRI. With the exception of the live broadcast of the 2018 Asian Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, broadcasts of the Games could not be accessed via indonesia’s Palapa satellite. This was to comply with broadcasting rights provisions of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to avoid ‘spill-over’ broadcasting outside of the country

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SonyBui l tHD OBTr uck • 1 2Camer aCapabi l i t y • Basedi nAdel ai de,Sout hAust r al i a www. cent r al br oadcast ser vi ces. com. au

SPORTSCASTING

Phone:+61883524499

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SPORTSCASTING

NEP UK Brings IP-Based Broadcasting Systems to Wimbledon THIS YEAR’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS AT WIMBLEDON were significant for being the first to be broadcast utilising SMPTE ST 2110 compliant fully redundant IP technology. Providing technical Host Broadcast Services, NEP UK installed a distributed routing system, connected by main and back up MTP fibre optic cable, to serve on and off-site domestic and international broadcasters. For the first time, NEP UK, in partnership with ‘Wimbledon Broadcast Services’ (WBS) covered all the courts with a team of over 250 technical crew to record and replay every ball played.

Continuing its 35-year relationship with The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), NEP UK delivered IP technical facilities for its in-house production of The Championships as part of WBS. By deploying its new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks, NEP UK offered increased flexibility compared to coaxial cable connections and significantly reduced the expense and use of unsightly cabling throughout the Grounds. Furthermore, the latest OB vehicles expanded its capacity and facilities exponentially via modular connection with multiple IP fly-packs.

“Both the scale and range of requirements for this project are immense.

Compared to previous years our coverage has grown considerably. From distributing directly to rights holders own MCRs, the Central Content Store, the World feed, the Wimbledon Channel and now a transmission, distribution and quality control area, as well as an additional two courts,” commented Richard Lancaster, Technical Project Manager, NEP UK. The company also joined forces with Fletcher to provide coverage for the remaining seven courts, allowing all courts to have full coverage for the first time. Fletcher Group deployed its TRACE tracking system. The new system is based on the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensing method, picking up numerous points of fine detail on each player for tracking, which ultimately can create track control to multiple camera heads.

Along with the with Fletcher Group, NEP UK worked alongside SimplyLive to make use of its ViBox system for both switching and replays.

Since 2014, NEP UK has provided both host and domestic coverage of The Championships. This year, the number of custom built galleries almost doubled with 21 control rooms for the host broadcaster plus three for the Wimbledon Channel to serve the World Feed and archive. To support the broadcast, NEP employed 118+ camera positions and 41+ EVS servers, plus three major OB units and a large fly-pack core to broadcast the event.

P Davies, Head of Broadcast and Production at the AELTC said, “We have worked with NEP UK for a number of years and their experience, knowledge and expertise has ensured that Wimbledon has remained at the cutting edge of broadcast innovation throughout this partnership. This is the first year ‘Wimbledon Broadcast Services’ comes into operation and we are delighted to continue to partner with NEP for a further four years and are very excited to be covering Centre Court in 4K HDR.” “Our deep understanding of Wimbledon, the sport, the venue and its broadcast requirements has enabled NEP UK to work seamlessly with the AELTC to broadcast in

“Our deep understanding of Wimbledon, the sport, the venue and its broadcast requirements has enabled NEP UK to work seamlessly with the AELTC to broadcast in SMPTE 2110 for the first time.

SMPTE 2110 for the first time. Our new IP modular system will enable flexibility and scalability, whilst ensuring the highest standards of broadcast coverage,” added Rob Newton, Engineering and Technical Director, NEP UK. “Following Wimbledon, NEP UK will split the IP system into four separate structures for smaller scale live events.”

Visit www.nepgroup.co.uk

Telstra’s NetCam Tech Delivers Wimbledon Grand Slam IN A FIRST FOR THE ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS CLUB (AELTC), Telstra’s NetCam technology was deployed at The Championships, Wimbledon, this year, providing audiences with never before broadcast vision of the tournament.

SPORTSCASTING

Telstra Broadcast Services’ NetCam is the next evolution of Telstra’s Globecam unit - a world leader in live, point-of-view miniature camera solutions that specialise in live sport. Telstra’s NetCam was deployed on each side of the net to deliver audiences with an unprecedented panorama of Wimbledon’s Centre and No.1 Courts during match play. In addition to improving the fan’s viewing-experience, the miniature camera technology also provided players and officials with a unique, live net’s eye view of the on-court action.

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Trevor Boal, Head of Telstra Broadcast Services said, “After a series of successful debuts in Prague, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and now London, Telstra’s NetCam is a game-changer in delivering a more immersive broadcast experience for tennis fans around the world. Broadcasting vision from Telstra’s NetCam is a first for The Championships, Wimbledon, enhancing match coverage like never before.”

Paul Davies, Head of Broadcast and Production at The All England Lawn Tennis Club said, “Wimbledon has a rich tradition of broadcast innovation and we are delighted to bring these unique images from NetCam on

Centre and No.1 Courts. Never before have our global audiences had the opportunity to get so up close and personal to the action on SW19’s hallowed lawns.”

The NetCam device is the result of several years of research in Telstra’s Globecam facility in Melbourne working closely with tennis authorities and the AELTC to ensure viability. Globecam has its own proprietary camera and software allowing creation of a unique device in a custom-designed housing.

The technology captures live play during the broadcast production with high quality HD, stabilisation and degree of control once only dreamed of. The market leading device includes: • Full HD 1080i/50 • Full remote camera control for colour and exposure • Digital pan and image and framing adjustment • Light-weight unit discretely fitted to the net Tennis is the latest sport to feature Globecam after a number of sporting events around the world including cricket, all codes of football, motor racing and even live sky diving.

Visit www.telstra.com.au

SPORTSCASTING

SPORTSCASTING

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SPORTSCASTING

Shanghai Media Tech Outfits OB Van, EFP System with Calrec CALREC’S ARTEMIS CONSOLES are getting a workout in live sports this year in the wake of a deal with the China-based Shanghai Media Tech (SMT). SMT recently outfitted its HD9 OB van and Electronic Field Production (EFP) system with an Artemis Shine and Artemis Light audio console, respectively. Both the van and EFP system were used for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and will see action at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

YuanYue, Supervisor of the Technical Department at SMT commented, “We’re increasingly expanding our capabilities for 3D/4K capture and production, visual creativity, and product development - as evidenced by our newly upgraded OB van which is one of the first IP-based A/V broadcast systems in China. For this, we needed a console with rich IP protocol and interface support like the Artemis Shine. And for our EFP system, we needed a console natively designed to have a main and a sidecar surface, and the Artemis Light was the ideal fit.”

Prior to the purchase, SMT already had some experience with the Artemis console. YuHai, Chief Engineer of the Audio Department said it left a great impression with its user-friendly interface and its iPad app, as well as with its immersive monitoring function. Reviewing the market more closely, SMT made its decision on the Artemis when it became aware of the console’s enormous routing and processing capability and that it integrates flawlessly with other vendors’ IP products.

The installation was handled by Calrec’s official Chinese distributor Rightway Audio Consultants for SMT, part of the Shanghai Media Group (SMG). As a longstanding provider of equipment and solutions to the broadcast market, the company’s core business covers television program broadcast, pre-production,

post-packaging, transmission, station network operation and more.

“We’re so delighted that Shanghai Media Tech is using our Artemis consoles for two very prominent sports events. This project with them underscores the true benefits of the Artemis product line, which includes impressive routing and processing capacity along with a modular design that lets the I/O boxes be easily swapped out during a production. It’s this type of versatile combination that we want to continually offer our customers,” said Dave Letson, VP of sales for Calrec.

Visit www.calrec.com

World’s Smallest Video Replay Server AT IBC (BOOTH 8.B40), SLOMO.TV will debut the world’s smallest video replay server. Designated Ripley, this unique video replay server is configured within the form factor of the replay controller.

XDCAM 50, DVCProHD, AVC-Intro.

Ripley is configured with eight separate bi-directional HD/SD SDI-interfaces supporting HD/SD channels in a 442 configuration (4 record, 4 search and 2 replay channels). Despite its ultra-compact form factor, Ripley supports 2x-3x SuperMotion cameras.

As standard, the server has a 1GbE networking interface for file exchange between other systems.

This combo server also includes two free options – a transfer (networking) option for exchanging clips and playlists within Slomo.tv servers and a telestrator (Game Analyser), which allows drawing on the video being played.

Also, Ripley can be used as a four-camera sports video judging unit. It has two graphics ports for the main interface and multi-viewer monitors. If the operator has only one monitor available, he can easily switch between these modes using the unit’s MultiSkin function. For easy integration within wider workflows, Ripley comes fitted with LTC input, an RS232/422 port as well as two In and two Out GPO interfaces.

Another feature of Ripley is four SDHC memory card slots for video import and export. Four-channel recording is achieved with H.264 or AVC-Intra 50Mbit codecs. Within the server, the recorded material can be exported for NLE editing by most popular codecs including ProRes, AVID DNxHD,

Visit https://slomo.tv

Non Production Scores with Sony 4K THE WORLDWIDE SPORTS EVENT MARKET is exploding. With stadiums capable of holding only a number of fans at any one time, the demand for live broadcasts of sports like football, racing, golf, basketball and volleyball has increased. The pent-up demand for live sports content has given rise to a new breed of sports broadcast specialists worldwide.

One such player in Thailand is Non Production. Established in 2001, Non Production specialises in renting out broadcast equipment for sports events as well as providing Outside Broadcast support for a wide range of live sports events in Thailand.

SPORTSCASTING

“Our goal is to be a key player in the equipment rental market for international and local sports coverage,” said Senee Plainthap of Non Production. “We have the product range and expertise for live sports events of all sizes including outfitting OB vans for major events such as the SEA Games.”

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As a leading supplier of broadcast solutions for sports, Non Production has an impressive client list covering free-to-air TV stations, cable television networks as well as international clients.

To ensure that it meets the exacting demands of its clients, Non Production acquires a wide inventory of top notch broadcast equipment, many of them carrying the Sony label.

“Sony has revolutionised sports broadcasting. Whether it is HD, 4K or 3D, Sony has the full suite of products and solutions to raise our game. Our international

clients in particular, always insist on Sony for their events in Thailand,” added Plainthap.

A recent Sony acquisition for Non Production is the highly acclaimed HDC-4300 multi-format system camera. Designed specifically for the sports broadcast market, the HDC-4300 is the world’s first 4K system camera with three 2/3-inch 4K image sensors. This helps bring new levels of flexibility to live production, with the ability to shoot in HD, 4K, and up to 8x super slow-motion HD footage.

“We were impressed with Sony’s HDC-4300’s outstanding image quality and amazing super slow-motion capabilities.

“It helps that the HDC-4300 is also fully compatible with our wide range of existing Sony products and workflow, large lens adaptors and camera control units,” said Plainthap.

To bring out the full potential of the HDC-4300, Non Production teamed it up with the PWS-4500 live server system. Designed for 4K live production, the PWS-4500 also supports HD, High Frame Rate in both 4K and HD and Slow Motion replay. This compact server is one of the key elements of Sony’s next generation of 4K and HD live production solutions with Sony NMI IP technology.

“The PWS-4500 gives us the flexibility of simultaneous 4K and HD recordings and its large internal recording capacity is a big draw especially for major sports events coverage,” said Plainthap.

Visit https://pro.sony/en_SG

NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

Money Today Media Streams with Matrox MONEY TODAY MEDIA GROUP is one of the fastest-growing media organisations in South Korea. Specialising in financial and economic news, the group comprises 20 subsidiaries and media channels – the prime among them being Money Today Networks (MTN). MTN broadcasts global and local financial market analyses and metrics through cable TV, IPTV, and the web. The network streams video around the clock to provide its viewers with the most up to date financial news. Primarily targeted towards individual investors, MTN reaches 15 million households.

For close to eight years, MTN used a combination of hardware and software to live stream and record broadcasts for video on demand (VOD). This setup required the use of bulky computer equipment, which demanded a lot of time and resources to ensure they were operating correctly. Looking to minimize equipment and system maintenance, while improving video quality, MTN decided to upgrade its entire system setup.

TaenamDVI, an A/V integrator, worked closely with MTN to help improve its workflow, and recommended the Matrox Monarch HDX dual-channel streaming and recording appliance. Monarch HDX was easy to install, took up little real estate to store – reducing unnecessary clutter and wiring – and required less staff to manage than the previous setup. MTN tested other options at the same time, but none could match Monarch HDX in terms of performance, stability, usability, and scalability.

MTN’s studio is equipped with six Monarch HDX H.264 encoder appliances – two for live streaming, three dedicated to VOD, and the sixth is used to stream and record simultaneously.

Using a Sony camera, 1080 video is transmitted to Monarch HDX, while sound is captured with a CRESTAUDIO audio mixer via Monarch HDX’s analogue audio input. The two Monarch HDX appliances dedicated to live streaming each use both their encoding channels to transmit high-quality 1080p 30fps webcasts at 5 Mbps, and lower quality 480p 30fps webcasts at 1 Mbps. Streams are then sent to GABIA (a Korean CDN), YouTube, and Wowza Streaming Engine, as well as MTN’s own Flash Player to be viewed directly from its website.

Simultaneously, each day’s broadcasts are set to record for VOD at a higher quality than the streams. For redundancy, three Monarch HDX devices record 1080p 30fps at 10Mbps throughout the day. The Monarch appliances back up the recordings to the network attached storage (NAS) every 30 minutes to an hour using the Monarch HDX’s split file feature, but video can also be saved to an SD card or USB. This feature ensures that the majority of content will be preserved in the case of an unexpected event, such as a power failure.

Entire programs are sometimes uploaded for VOD, but primarily viewers are only interested in a specific news segment or stock update. To shorten news

items for VOD, an MTN editor copies the files stored on the NAS, and edits them into individual segments using Adobe Premiere. MTN then uses its own content management system, which was developed using Monarch’s API found in Monarch HDX’s Dev Tools, to upload the videos to GABIA and YouTube.

The MTN management application keeps operations on all the devices running smoothly. Through the application, administrators can take advantage of all the functionality built into the Monarch software such as view the status of all Monarch HDX devices, receive mobile notification status alerts, and schedule the devices to automatically reboot or start and stop recording at specified times.

Since introducing Monarch HDX to MTN’s workflow, video quality has improved significantly resulting in positive feedback from the network’s viewership.

Dual-channel streaming at different bitrates and to different destinations gives thousands of simultaneous viewers the ability to watch in the best quality possible based on their network bandwidth, viewing device, and chosen viewing platform. Due to Monarch HDX’s small footprint, IT administrators are able to manage and maintain the appliance with ease, especially when compared to the previous setup.

Though the Monarch HDX appliances are in operation almost round the clock – about 23 hours and 30 minutes every day – their performance has been exceptionally stable and reliable throughout. In the future, MTN plans to begin using Monarch HD and Monarch HDX to webcast in high definition from outdoor venues, or while on the go.

“Monarch HDX had it all: Highly-Customisable streaming and recording options, simple-to-install and easy-to-maintain design, and a very attractive price point,” said Hyok Kim, head developer, Money Today Media Group.

“Furthermore, space was saved and management tasks were reduced significantly. Needless to say, Monarch HDX made the upgrade project absolutely seamless, going above and beyond all our expectations.”

Visit www.matrox.com

Dejero Unveils Its Most Powerful EnGo Mobile Transmitter DEJERO IS INTRODUCING ITS MOST POWERFUl version of the EnGo mobile transmitter at the IBC2018, stand 11.C15. The latest EnGo is designed to give a picture quality advantage to broadcasters, especially when capturing high-motion news and sports content.

supports 1080p 50/60 for shots requiring the highest picture quality – features ideal for broadcasters covering sports and other high-motion events.

Broadcasters will benefit from the EnGo transmitter’s increased processing power and enhanced implementation of the HEVC compression standard.

Combined with Dejero’s industry leading auto-transport and adaptive bitrate encoding technology, this results in higher picture quality across a broader range of bitrates.

The additional processing power has paved the way for a new dynamic content adaptation feature that intelligently adjusts the encoding process based on the amount of motion detected within content that is being captured.

This allows broadcasters to automatically and seamlessly transition from a talking-head shot with limited motion to high-motion content without any softening of the picture or introduction of compression artefacts.

Reliable and simple to use, EnGo is designed for mobile video contribution professionals who require agility and versatility. The EnGo is a compact mobile transmitter that encodes high-quality video and transmits over multiple IP networks to reliably deliver exceptional picture quality with extremely low latency – even in challenging network conditions. It can be mounted on a camera or in a vehicle and worn in a backpack.

The new and improved Dejero EnGo can encode up to 20Mb/s and now

Visit www.dejero.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

“As the broadcast industry shifts towards the HEVC video compression standard to efficiently transport high-quality video from the field, the latest Dejero EnGo is equipped with increased processing power to boost overall performance and deliver enhanced picture quality to those shooting fast-paced highmotion video in the field,” said Kevin Fernandes, Vice President of Sales at Dejero.

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NEWS OPERATIONS

AP Launches Playbook Editorial Planning Solution THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS AIMING make newsrooms of world even more efficient with AP Playbook, a new planning system that allows editorial and corporate newsrooms large and small to effectively and efficiently manage coverage plans and assignments.

AP Playbook is a cloud-hosted software platform with an intuitive browserbased interface that enables users to quickly and easily access, update and collaborate on planning information with minimal training. AP Playbook was designed and developed by the same team responsible for the news production software, AP ENPS, and is accessible from anywhere on virtually any device. No local infrastructure is required.

According to Paddy Payne, Director of International Business Development for the AP’s ENPS and Playbook Division, “What it does, is it allows a editorial team to plan their news coverage and manage their time.

Essentially, in a 21st century newsroom, there's any number of different new outlets, there's a huge amount of news sources. Broadcasters and other news organisations need to assign tasks to journalists more efficiently. They need to make sure they’re not duplicating effort and they need to be able to track the costs of their coverage as well.

“We established ourselves, the Association Press, that our video, our text, our photo, our archive divisions, that there was duplication; there was overlap between those different teams. Some of them are using different technologies, sometimes we had two teams attending the same event to cover it in the different way. We're eliminating that cost. We've developed a system to do it for AP, who's trialling with AP at the moment. We're

launching it and bringing it to the market so that any AP customer, whether they use ENPS or not, can use Playbook to streamline their news coverage with AP Playbook.”

AP Playbook can be used to track personnel, physical assets and services.

According to Paddy Payne, “It can track the availability of a variety of assets. We're primarily talking about people, but we can track the cost, for example, to cover a particular story. You buy a feed or you buy satellite time, it can track those additional costs and manage the time and exposure you have to those. For managing all the OB trucks and the other resources with an organisation, we will integrate AP Playbook with other existing technologies in the market that already do that. We're not trying to track every employee's health care benefits and every registration plate for every vehicle, it's about the news gathering and the news coverage and the different platforms that we're going to target that at.”

Visit www.techtel.com.au and www.ap.org/playbook

DPP Launches News Metadata Guidance UK-BASED STANDARDS ORGANISATION the Digital Production Partnership DPP has released a new implementation guide: DPP Metadata Exchange for News. The guide is aimed at helping news organisations and suppliers of news systems and services, to implement a common metadata framework based on the International Press Telecommunications Committee (IPTC) NewsML-G2 standard, designed for the exchange of news metadata.

“The lack of basic metadata in end-to-end digital news workflows has introduced inefficiencies in newsrooms around the world,” said DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison. “The development of a common metadata framework will enable newsgathering organisations and their suppliers to increase efficiency by supporting and enabling faster discovery, better rights-informed exploitation, automation and greater re-use of captured content.”

DPP Metadata Exchange for News provides a standards-based approach to

implementing a common minimum metadata set that can be used across news agencies, television, and online. It makes it possible to automate news processes, manage multiple versions, enable workflow efficiencies, and importantly, manage rights and restrictions from planning right through to delivery of news packages. The result will be considerable cost and time savings.

Following the publication of the guide, the DPP will launch a testing programme for DPP Metadata Exchange for News tools. The DPP Tested mark will provide buyers and sellers with confidence that DPP Tested products and services are interoperable and can be exchanged internationally, delivering benefits across the whole supply chain.

Visit www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk

Dejero Takes to the Skies with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles DEJERO, THE DEVELOPER OF cloud-managed solutions that provide video transport and Internet connectivity while mobile or in remote locations, has formed a technology partnership with Canadianbased sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft System) industry experts, Draganfly Innovations Inc. The collaboration sees Draganfly’s Commander UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) quadcopter bundled together with the Dejero EnGo mobile transmitter – providing real-time video transport from the air. In addition, the companies’ combined expert knowledge will bring new and innovative solutions and services to Dejero’s broadcast customers and Draganfly’s customers across the many industry verticals they serve.

NEWS OPERATIONS

The collaboration enables broadcasters to integrate live video captured with UAVs into their newsgathering, sports and event coverage, and video production for television and online audiences.

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The Draganflyer Commander UAV is a remotely operated, unmanned, miniature helicopter designed to carry wireless camera systems. The professional quality, powerful, easy to fly aerial platform is specifically designed for high endurance applications such as public safety, search and rescue, agriculture, mapping, aerial photography, and more. Dejero’s highly versatile EnGo mobile transmitter will be instrumental in reliably providing

high-quality live video from Draganfly’s Commander, which will in turn allow Draganfly to elevate its offering.

“Historically, UAV use in broadcast has been challenging, in particular when it comes to providing high-quality video with low latency and with the reliability needed for live broadcasts,” explains Kevin Fernandes, VP of Sales at Dejero. “Through our collaboration with Draganfly, we can provide an effective solution for broadcast and media organizations, as well as other industries requiring the reliability and picture quality that customers require.”

“We are thrilled to be adding broadcast-quality live video feeds to our Commander vehicle,” said Draganfly President, Zenon Dragan. “The timing couldn’t be better as we’ve recently expanded into contract engineering and custom product development. Our partnership with Dejero will greatly support this.”

Well-versed in the design of sophisticated multi-rotor aircraft, groundbased robots, and fixed wing aircraft, Draganfly also provides custom payloads, ground-up software design, electronics, UAV program development, and flight training.

Visit www.dejero.com and www.draganfly.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

Cuescript Management Console to Launch THE CUESCRIPT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE will launch at IBC 2018, while several additional teleprompting products from CueScript make their European debut at the show.

The CueScript Management Console (CMC) offers a simple and efficient way to manage and monitor all CueScript prompting resources on a network, regardless of location. Every CueiT prompting application will be able to report all of its capabilities to the CMC, including settings, options, titles of each setting, resources available (i.e. prompters and controllers) and more. The CMC takes this data and renders it, offering the information in a very simple interface. The CMC will be an open API, allowing other third party broadcast network control systems the ability to configure, manage and monitor CueScript prompting systems via control profiles.

CueScript will also present the European debut of the CueB openGear card at IBC 2018. An alternative to the CueB product that forms the hub of the CueScript teleprompting setup and supporting identical connectivity, the CueB openGear card brings new levels of integration to studio builds and reduces

physical footprint. Studios can now deploy up to 10 prompting channels in just 2U of rack space, with all of the other advantages of power and connectivity that this brings. CueScript also has a roadmap that will see a number of software options for future connectivity with network management systems.

In addition, CueScript will also demonstrate the CueiT Messaging Centre. This new function of the user-friendly CueiT prompting software allows messages to be fully configurable within the Styles Menu, giving operators the ability to define the message size, position on screen, font, colors and formatting.

The messages are displayed on the prompter outputs as overlay, single or multiple messages. In addition to text messaging, operators can provide time information both in the form of a clock – sourced from a local PC clock or internal/external NTP server – and a timer via the MasterClock RC600 device.

The CMC, CueB openGear card and CueiT Messaging Centre, together with a range of CueScript’s range of IP-ready prompter units and accessories, will be available for demonstration on Stand 12.F41 at IBC 2018.

Visit www.cuescript.tv

LiveU Roams Globally 2018 HAS BEEN A MILESTONE FOR LIVEU with its LU600 4K HEVC

LiveU Matrix

solution offering quality and reliability, taking live sports and news coverage

LiveU will be showing LiveU Matrix, its platform for live contribution over IP, enabling broadcasters to view, manage and distribute live content. The dynamic cloud platform makes it simple to curate content through one interface. Users can search, filter, preview, and distribute live feeds to one station, multiple stations, or thousands of end points within their entire affiliate network.

to a new level.

LiveU will be presenting the latest product enhancements, including: • 4K SDI offerings – LiveU’s HEVC 4K-SDI card presents an additional 4K product offering within the LU600 suite. The LU600 4K-SDI solution facilitates 4Kp50/60 streaming, supporting VR and 360 applications.

• Built-in global roaming capabilities – The LU600 solution now offers an integrated hybrid roaming solution for local and global operation. With the dual-SIM modem configured with roaming SIMs, every LU600 can be a local and global unit without needing to replace or obtain local SIMs. Combining three key elements – dual-SIMs, global modems, and roaming software – the LiveU units are ready to roam instantly.

• Video return – targeted for professional broadcasters, this key product enhancement enables field crews to see what’s currently on-air and receive teleprompt information during live sessions.

LiveU’s LU600 solution with the HEVC Pro card offers video performance for live streaming in global newsgathering. Combined with the 4K HEVC Pro

LiveU Solo LiveU will be demonstrating the latest additions to Solo, LiveU’s highquality, plug-and-play live streaming device for the online media, including: • Newly enhanced Solo Studio Cloud Graphics suite. The suite provides customers with the ability to send a stream and insert innovative graphics in real-time in the cloud.

• New Solo app – the simplest way to get started with live content, the Solo app combines cellular and Wi-Fi connections for more reliable streaming than smartphones.

Built on LiveU’s bonding technology, Solo is a streaming solution of choice for major online media companies, and is easy enough for anyone to use.

Solo allows users to live stream directly to Facebook Live, Twitter, YouTube Live and other social media and online video providers.

Card, the LU600 allows broadcasters and content creators to benefit from

Full product demonstrations will be available at stand 3.B62.

high video performance and bandwidth efficiency.

Visit www.liveu.tv

Wisycom to Showcase Two-Channel MPR52-ENG Receiver WISYCOM, DESIGNER AND BUILDER OF RF solutions for broadcast, film and live production, will highlight its MPR52-ENG Dual Channel Diversity Receiver at IBC 2018 (stand 8.D78). With two built-in diversity receivers with both analogue and digital outputs, the MPR52 is best-suited for professional ENG applications.

The receiver also boasts an extreme low-noise voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with automatic and ultrafast spectrum scanning, which works via infrared technology and can be controlled via USB with the Wisycom Manager Software. The MPR52-ENG is also DSP-based for extreme flexibility and multicompanding operations.

As one of the latest additions to Wisycom’s range of products, the MPR52ENG has up to 790MHz bandwidth in the 470/1260MHz range and features next-generation multiband front-end filtering. Country specific Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters are also available (USA: 935-960MHz and Japan: 1240-1260MHz). This feature, combined with software selectable wideband and narrowband DSP-FM operation, gives users options to suit the needs of any production.

Matching the MPR30-ENG receiver offered by Wisycom, the MPR52-ENG features a dual diversity configuration with two whip antennas, along with convenient function buttons, such as a dedicated frequency scan option.

Battery management is flexible and conducted via standard alkaline batteries or lithium battery packs that can be charged with the dedicated charger or through the micro USB connector.

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NEWS OPERATIONS

Visit https://wisycom.com

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Qvest Media Introduces Qvest.Cloud AT THIS YEAR’S IBC in Amsterdam (stand 3.B40), Qvest Media will be showcasing its latest product development, Qvest.Cloud, in a pre-launch presentation. Qvest.Cloud is an advanced management platform that enables third-party cloud applications to be networked into one integrated end-to-end workflow and used and monitored via a central user interface.

Integral components of the platform that has been designed as cloud native application are cross-application functions such as workflow orchestration, cloud automation, user management with single sign-on, access management, monitoring, measuring and billing and comprehensive IT security.

Qvest.Cloud is designed to make it easier than ever to integrate and operate media services and applications using modern web technologies. Qvest.Cloud breaks down the barriers between installations in local data centres, private clouds and public clouds – such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. Based on an open interface design, third-party IT and media applications can be easily aggregated with Qvest.Cloud, merged together and used without having to deal with the hurdles of as many user and administration interfaces: Qvest.Cloud gives users direct access to all functions enabled for them.

This benefits not only traditional media companies, but all companies wishing to efficiently manage, edit, distribute and monetise media assets along their digital media supply chain. With Qvest.Cloud, almost all business processes and media workflows can be accelerated and made agile in order to be able to react flexibly to changing market conditions and production requirements at any time. Vertical and horizontal scalability of the Qvest.Cloud platform allow for the short-term and temporary addition of required services and additional computing power. Load peaks of on-premise applications can be

automatically scaled using cloud resources as a hybrid solution, eliminating the need for the technically complex and costintensive expansion of locally operated infrastructures.

Contract management is also radically simplified, as only one usage contract is concluded with Qvest Media.

Qvest Media offers its new product for applications of all sizes: from payas-you-go models and bundles for traditional media production to tailored corporate solutions and enterprise installations that can be used to integrate the infrastructural requirements of large companies.

“After a multi-stage evaluation process, we made the decision in autumn 2017 to realise Qvest.Cloud. The acquisition of the software specialist HMS media solutions was subsequently completed and we entered into development. Qvest.Cloud will be fully market-ready at the NAB show next year,” said Peter Nöthen, CEO of Qvest Media Group. “The pre-launch at IBC is an important milestone on this development path. Here we will get to know first-hand what business and technological aspects can play an additional role for Qvest.Cloud. Moreover, the trade show offers the best opportunity to win further manufacturers and partners for the Qvest.Cloud ecosystem.”

Visit www.qvestmedia.com

Exception-based Monitoring and Content Matching from Mediaproxy MEDIAPROXY, A LEADING PROVIDER of software-based IP broadcast solutions, has announced that its new source comparison feature for real-time identification of mismatched content, will make its European debut on stand 7.B44 at IBC 2018, 14 – 18 September at the RAI Amsterdam.

This new engine enables network operators, managing multiple stations and playout facilities, to compare video content from one or more live sources and provides real-time alerts when there is not a match.

At IBC 2018, Mediaproxy will also demonstrate its new AI engine that has been added to LogServer to detect advertisers’ logos, parental guidance and viewer warnings, offering operators multiple monitoring and competitive analysis options.

LogServer supports Newtek NDI and both SMPTE 2022-6 and SMPTE 2110 media over IP formats, enhancing the input matrix into its compliance recording and monitoring solutions. Through capturing uncompressed IP sources, including metadata, LogServer enables broadcasters to be fully compliant during their IP deployment.

In addition, LogServer offers full compliance support for the logging and monitoring of radio stations, including Internet radio, AM, FM, and DAB+ RF

digital radio alongside video sources.

Also featuring will be Monwall, Mediaproxy’s interactive multiviewer software with new and fully customizable penalty boxes, enabling operators to monitor events by exception through configurable threshold for various video, audio and metadata events.

Finally, Mediaproxy will demonstrate the latest version of LogPlayer. This leading-edge HTML5-based platform allows access to recorded content from anywhere in the world and includes automated workflows, enabling instant publishing to social media channels.

Erik Otto, CEO Mediaproxy said, “Broadcasters are managing a number of live content streams for television and OTT platforms. Video streams and metadata require effective monitoring, especially given the increase in feature requirements such as closed captioning, multiple languages, and ad insertion.

We have enhanced the software to include exception-based monitoring within workflows to provide both compliance and quality control and are looking forward to demonstrating such capabilities on our stand.”

Visit www.mediaproxy.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

NEP Selects Techtel to Provide DR Solution for Fox Sports Oz

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NEP GROUP RECENTLY CHOSE Techtel to provide a disaster recovery solution for Fox Sports Australia to protect its content and preserve business continuity of the leading sports broadcaster, as the production industry moves towards remote production.

Throughout the course of the partnership, Techtel is providing terminal equipment consisting of Net Insight VA 225 encoders and decoders at two newly established remote production centres, connecting to 11 OB Trucks via a secured private IP network. The solution also includes a comprehensive Network Management System (NMS) and a set of professional services consisting of commissioning, testing and training. The robustness of this design allows for efficient backup of up to three concurrent events across 29 sporting venues throughout Australia.

“Techtel is excited to contribute to NEP’s HUB remote production facility

with the leading contribution over the internet platform from Net Insight.

This novel combination of coding, decoding and transmission processes are powering the creation of a highly robust network the entire production can depend on,” said Mal Chandler, CEO of Techtel.

“In a remote production environment for sports broadcasting, where tolerance for content and data loss is zero, it is imperative that a robust, reliable and efficient disaster recovery plan is in place. We are confident that Techtel is the ideal broadcast systems specialist to provide a comprehensive back-up service to protect vital content and enable reliable remote production for our customer,” said Marc Segar, Director of Technology at NEP. Visit www.nepgroup.com and www.techtel.com.au

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

The Digital Supply Chain – Managing Media in a New Paradigm

By Tony Taylor, Executive Chairman, TMD Ltd. Today’s media networks are under enormous pressure. The industry is in a state of disruption as consumers drive demand for more content.

As broadcasters move to OTT, the volume of business is substantial, but the margins are not, making profitability a challenge. This drives the need for cost efficiencies, flexibility, and speed throughout the supply chain. The need for an agile, software-defined process orchestration platform that delivers business intelligence and automated decision making for cost savings and efficiency is essential.

Broadcast television production has always been based on a series of processes, from acquisition – shooting on location or in the studio – to postproduction then distribution and final transmission. In the days of 16mm film and early videotape, these were more self-contained steps rather than an integrated chain. The advent of digital brought the concept of the workflow, a smooth, interconnected structure that has become more end-to-end with the wide-scale adoption of tapeless, file-based operations.

The need for such an incorporated approach was always apparent on the professional production side of broadcasting, but now there’s an ever greater requirement for an all encompassing infrastructure that connects with the way people are receiving and watching media content.

There has been a proliferation of devices such as smartphones, tablets and smart TVs, all connected to an array of platforms, from conventional TV channels to OTT services such as Netflix and Amazon, to millions of YouTube channels, supplying a broad variety of content. This is being matched by the

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

growing demand for films and other programming, with a parallel rise in the number of formats being developed to reach these new platforms. The situation can be summed up by the term 'content everywhere'. This is not just another technology buzz phrase. It does convey a situation where there is more material available on many more outlets, received by even more devices.

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To make this work together calls for a new concept behind how existing workflows are organised. The result is what TMD term the ‘Digital Supply Chain’ (DSC). This is an enlargement of end-to-end workflows and goes beyond the studio or playout centre to encompass the means of acquisition at the beginning of the production process through to final delivery.

Existing technologies and processes such as transcoding, quality control (QC) and post-production, form part of the DSC. But these will have to work with new techniques that are needed to bring everything together to form software-defined, agile workflows. The key here is orchestration, which sums up the concept of combining disparate components to work alongside each other in an integrated whole.

The aim of this white paper is to discuss the evolution of both the DSC and the technologies that are making it possible, the obvious example being the cloud, and examine how it can be used to create a service oriented architecture that cost effectively interlocks the production domain with the consumer world of

multiple platforms and devices.

A digital supply chain can be defined as the means by which digital media is delivered from its source, in this case a broadcaster, OTT streaming service or other content provider, to the consumer – specifically the audience watching on TVs, computers, mobile phones and tablets.

The diagram below provides a simplified view of the DSC relating to a content provider or broadcaster. At the centre is the digital ecosystem of the media organisation, with the content acquisition processes, content management and preparation processes, and content packaging and distribution processes.

Each of these areas have interactions with third-party suppliers as well as geographically dispersed internal divisions and departments.

On the left you’ll see inputs to the acquisition process from third-parties. This might be film studios, production houses, content owners, and any number of other suppliers. There are also outputs to these third-parties during

negotiations, or, for example, if content doesn’t pass the specified format or quality standards.

At the bottom there are inputs from and outputs to third-party suppliers such as subtitling, closed captioning, transcription, audio dubbing and post production, along with other geographically dispersed internal operations.

Then on the right are outputs to third-parties and internal divisions for the distribution of media content to linear and on-demand platforms, as well as consumption environments such as international sales and licensing.

So you’ll can see even from this simplified view that there are a significant number of content, business, and technology processes, both internal and external that need to be co-ordinated and managed if the volume of content to meet increasing consumption demands is to be achieved. This is where orchestration solutions come to the fore.

The Evolution of Media Asset Management The industry has had many solutions to manage media content. In the early days, playout automation was the only broadcast operations solution that managed content in file form. It would ingest the content from tape to the playout cache or directly to the servers. And it was only important within a fairly short window prior to transmission. Playout automation was essentially

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

All these processes are established parts of today's broadcast production workflows, but to create a full DSC they need to be completely integrated with each other. Managing a DSC is becoming increasingly complex because of the growing number of platforms, devices, formats, and technologies involved. There is also greater third-party involvement, with broadcasters and content providers working with different manufacturers and services providers (including playout). On top of this, the amount of distributed storage needed is increasing which needs to be processed and managed.

Bringing these functions together as a DSC comes under a heading of media orchestration. This covers not only how automated playout is controlled and the MAM involved, but also how material is configured and monitored. In effect, orchestration facilitates and streamlines the supply process, as well as connecting and integrating the different elements involved.

The roots of orchestration lie in early playout automation systems for linear broadcast centres. This expanded to include the first iterations of MAMs, which could be used to search for information about content but were rarely able to orchestrate major tasks without referring to a file system that enabled a process to be performed manually.

More sophisticated MAMs were developed that used scripting and watch folders to move content from one storage location to another, or send it to be transcoded. The crucial part of any MAM is metadata. Information about a file should not be only for the creation stage, it has to be updated and enriched at every stage of the production process. Every parameter and change should be noted in the metadata to ensure it remains in the correct format, conforms to standards including those for video coding on different platforms and audio loudness, and is directed to the correct outlet.

Agile software development is now being used to define workflows, using automated business decisions based on adaptive planning contained in metadata values. It is these technological implementations that make the DSC possible and enable it to be fully orchestrated.

The ideal orchestration platform has to be significantly more sophisticated and intelligent than its scripted predecessors if broadcasters and media groups are to satisfy the demand for content while meeting monetisation needs.

To do this an orchestration system has to not only control and monitor a platform, but also receive feedback and metadata from all third-party devices and systems in the supply chain, including transcoders. In effect it has to both gather the data, and use it to apply intelligent decisions across the DSC. Content Everywhere – The Cloud and Beyond Content is no longer just stored at a broadcaster's premises. Neither is it delivered to an audience over a single medium. Programmes and other material can be held at third-party facilities such as playout centres, from where it can be distributed to multiple platforms and devices.

Another possible dimension to the modern DSC being increasingly adopted by media organisations is the cloud. Essentially, cloud computing is an IT infrastructure based on computer networks, servers, storage systems and software applications that allows content owners to store large amounts of data in locations other than their own premises – but with full access and control.

There has been a lot of hype and discussion surround ‘the cloud’ in recent years, but the concept behind it is not new. What we work with today is the third iteration of the cloud. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, mainframe and mini-computer bureau offered time-sharing and subscriptions to fulfil the vision of computing as a utility. By the mid-to-late 1990s there was the ASP (Application Services Provider) model. This was not wholly successful due to the lack of virtualising technologies, combined with restricted availability of fast, affordable communications links. Today’s cloud is well established and will continue to be successful for a number of reasons: • Affordable fast communication links are readily available.

• Hardware platforms are powerful enough to support virtualisation software to create sufficient economies of scale.

• Organisations are seeking to benefit from an OpEx (operational expense ledger) model rather than investing in hardware that requires a refresh every three to five years.

• The OpEx model for software subscriptions is gaining momentum.

Despite these obvious benefits, the cloud is not suited to every organisation or application. When considering cloud systems and technologies for a DSC, the potential user has to make judgements concerning the development and implementation of an overall system, and what orchestration platforms will be

needed for management.

The first major decision in selecting a cloud is the type. Clouds can be public, private, or hybrid. If going for public there is the question of which service provider to choose. Suppliers include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and a host of others. A private system can be housed in a company's own data centre, at a commercial complex, or a combination of the two. A hybrid cloud can be any permutation of public and private.

Making this decision requires an understanding of what services are needed and which will be housed in the cloud environment. For example, do you want to use Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) in the cloud to store material that can be accessed by third parties for collaborative working?

A digital supply chain can be defined as the means by which digital media is delivered from its source, in this case a broadcaster, OTT streaming service or other content provider, to the consumer – specifically the audience watching on TVs, computers, mobile phones and tablets.

A major content producer and broadcaster faced such questions when producing programmes for several online platforms, including YouTube. The aim was to implement an orchestration layer with cloud integration to make this possible. Producers and editors search for and then select material using the MAM. Editing is carried out on a non-linear desktop system, from where the finished package is loaded back into the MAM.

This starts the orchestration process, which integrates an Amazon S3 storage system with the encoding and distribution platforms. This happens through APIs (application programming interfaces), which signal if the process has been completed successfully or why it is interrupted or has failed.

Benefits of Cloud Implementation and Orchestration Content is a valuable commodity and digital technology has made it possible for unauthorised and unscrupulous entities to access material. Controversy over leaked episodes of the TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ amply illustrates this.

But digital technology can also make systems extremely secure, which is why security is a primary advantage of cloud-based storage and distribution.

Access to Cloud instances (virtual servers), services, traffic and storage has to be thoroughly secured using access policies, secure protocols and firewall rules, including IP range and geo-fencing. There are also extensive options for encryption, digital watermarking and other security measures involving DRM. Budgeting for cloud deployments is a challenge because it is harder to estimate costs when comparing with on-premises installations, which involves complex pricing of storage, transfer, and computing.

This is complicated by the rise of non-linear and on-demand services, including OTT, VoD and IPTV. The need to expand facilities to accommodate more outlets makes the traditional CapEx approach of buying equipment and software difficult to accurately estimate.

The implementation of an agile cloud-native platform with full orchestration will provide comprehensive workflow solutions and capabilities. It will also allow monitoring and control of operations through a centralised 'dashboard' display covering all systems, whether on-premises or in the cloud.

Broadcasting and the means of distributing material has changed and will continue to do so. Streaming and other non-linear platforms are now firmly established and growing. In several cases they are run by corporations with a lot of financial, technological, and production clout. And their reach is only extending.

During 2017 one of the big players in OTT, Netflix, reached 104 million subscribers. This means potentially every hour of the day Netflix could be streaming 104 million unique hours of content. That is a lot of programming to deliver manually.

Therefore, a Digital Supply Chain backed up by intelligence in how all the processes involved in acquisition, production, and distribution are orchestrated, is the only logical approach to take.

Visit www.tmd.tv

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

the first orchestration layer for linear broadcast environments. Then came the early iterations of media asset management systems (MAM).

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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

Bringing Colour to Dark Period of History PARK JIN-HO IS SENIOR COLOURIST at Cinemate in Korea and recently worked on the first Korean film ever to win a UK BAFTA award for best foreign language film, The Handmaiden.

Inspired by Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel, Fingersmith, The Handmaiden is a poisonous and feminist tale from director Chan-Wook Park. Having transposed to the 1930s colonial Korea and Japan, Park presents a gripping and sensual tale of a young Japanese lady living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman who is hired to serve as her new handmaiden, but who is secretly involved in a con-man’s plot to defraud her of her large inheritance.

Behind the mood and the stunning colour of this movie is colourist Park Jin-Ho. After working on almost 200 films in the space of 14 years, Park experiments with colours like a painter who constantly pushes the boundaries of colour grading giving voice to his art.

Being a graphic artist, initially, what brought you into colour?

“I discovered colour in 2004 when the first Baselight system was installed at Sebang Film Lab in Korea. I had just started with the company and was working to build up an internal VFX team in the lab. I got myself up to speed on Baselight in my spare time.

“I was using a very early version - Baselight 1.0 - and grading images scanned from film. Now all the footage is imported from digital cameras, but it’s still just as impressive to work on the grading desk.”

Could you tell us a bit more about your first experience with colour grading?

“I learned the colour grading language through Baselight, right from the beginning. It felt wonderful to sit and work on a grading panel in a DI room that was exactly the same as a theatre. I touched the Blackboard trackballs and I could change each RGB colour to what I wanted. It was very similar, to me, to digital palettes for moving images. The panel is so tactile, whenever I see the trackballs I want to move them, even in my dreams.”

Do you still feel you have things to learn or master?

“To me, personally, counting projects is pointless and I am thankful for the trust placed in hiring me every time. I always try to start with a fresh mindset.

I have a desire to do my best in my role as colourist, not forgetting that I am just one member of a movie project, among many other ones.”

Recently you’ve worked on the luxurious imagery of The Handmaiden. What brought you to this project?

“I have worked on several movie projects with director Park Chan-wook since my time as a junior colourist. The very first time I worked on his Oldboy DVD, I was with a more senior colourist.

“Park Chan-wook’s partner, DOP Chung Chung-hoon, has also worked with me continuously. This meant that when The Handmaiden project started, I was able to join in discussions at the pre-production stage. This gave me the time to test and adjust the camera and lens characteristics that had been chosen by the DOP in advance.”

What was the collaboration like between you and the cinematographer Chunghoon Chung?

“Chung Chung-hoon used the Alexa camera and vintage lenses to try to create the feeling of Joseon during the Japanese occupation of the 1930s.

“In recent years, most movies use very similar digital cameras and lenses.

In the case of The Handmaiden, the Alexa was combined with the Hawk 74 Anamorphic to create a differentiated look in terms of texture and aspect ratio. I felt that it was the closest expression to the film texture among the projects I have worked on recently.”

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Where did you find most of your inspiration for The Handmaiden?

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“I tried to tread a line that did not harm the texture already created by the combination of camera and lens. But, I made the overall tone dark and cold to represent the historical background suppression of the Japanese colonial period, and the pitiful human relationships of deception and exploitation.”

Did you approach the more intimate scenes the same way, in terms of colour?

“To keep the under saturation of the overall movie, yes, I graded these scenes in a similar way.”

Colourist Park Jin-Ho.

How long did it take you to grade the film? What part took the most time?

“The colour grading work was completed in two weeks, but it took about four weeks to wait until cuts of the CG work were applied and could then be graded again. The longest time was the wait for the red brick to change to gray in the Seoul asylum.

What was the biggest challenge in achieving the final look on this movie?

“The challenge was to express the wet and humid weather after the rain. It was difficult to recreate the sense of a wet and muggy scene on the screen. I found it really useful to mix several grades in one stack. It meant I could catch a thought and grade immediately before the idea disappeared, then blend it into the overall grade.”

Can you describe how you used Baselight’s grading tools to get the look you wanted?

“I lowered the overall saturation and desaturated the reds and blues further using Dkey. I use Dkey a lot, independently or alongside MatteMerge or other tools. It’s one of my favourite Baselight tools.”

How has your role as a colourist changed in the past decade?

“In the early days, tone matching played an important role in the field. Now the emphasis seems to be more on providing tone matching with more incidental creative colour.

“In addition, the Korean production system is still significantly lower than the Hollywood system’s capital strength, making it impossible to shoot with perfect settings on location. So, it seems that there are lots of cuts that depend on CG or DI for at least part of the image. In the past, if the emphasis was on getting the look right at the scene, it seems that the frequency of fixing the colours during post-production is increasing.”

Visit www.filmlight.ltd.uk

POST PRODUCTION

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POST PRODUCTION

Rising Sun Pictures Brings VFX Magic to Chinese Feature IN WHAT WAS ITS FIRST MAJOR PROJECT for a Chinese film production aimed at an international audience, South Australia-based Rising Sun Pictures has produced 86 visual effects shots for Dongwu shijie (Animal World). Directed by Han Yan and shot by director of photography, Max Da-Yung Wang, the film stars Yi Feng Li, Dongyu Zhou and Michael Douglas.

causing it to explode in flames. All the vehicles had to be made photoreal down to the tiniest detail so that practical and CG elements could be used interchangeably.

“The hero vehicle was challenging because it had been previously damaged and suffers additional dents and scrapes as the scene progresses,” says CG Supervisor Ryan Kirby. “The rigging and shading was also quite involved, because the cars are all metal and have headlights, taillights and rubber tires.”

Produced by Shanghai Ruyi Film and TV Production Co., Ltd, Shanghai Huolongguo Film and TV Production Co., Ltd; distributed by Beijing Enlight Pictures, Animal World is based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s manga Ultimate Survivor Kaiji.

The film centres on a young man named Zheng Kaisi (Li Yi Feng) who, caught up in a shady deal to pay off his mother’s hospital bills, becomes trapped on a gambling ship operated by a menacing impresario (Michael Douglas).

In a project spanning six months, Rising Sun Pictures drew on the full gamut of the studio’s core strengths and included everything from a cardplaying creature to a loopy dream sequence, a mind-blowing car chase and a moody hero shot of “Destiny,” the hulking freighter-turnedfloating-casino that serves as the film’s primary location. In all, RSP contributed to seven key sequences in the film, amounting to nearly nine minutes of material that was either fully or nearly fully CG.

Weta Digital Adds ‘Class Clown’ to Animal World NEW ZEALAND-BASED WETA DIGITAL created the opening title sequence and a gory train fight scene for the newly released Chinese feature Dongwu shijie (Animal World). Animal World takes viewers into a hyperstylised world with mutated humans and a sword-wielding hero clown.

Martin Hill undertook the role of VFX Supervisor for Weta Digital.

“We contributed to the mind-blowing title sequence and delivered the high energy train scene, where our hero morphs into a clown and battles his way through CG creatures oozing rainbow coloured blood,” says Hill “Our artists revelled in the opportunity to have deeper creative input on this particular film. In addition to the creatures, parts of the train and much of the city were visual effects creations. It all came together in a visual spectacle quite unlike anything else we’ve seen.”

The studio worked under the supervision of Yan Han and production Visual Effects Supervisor Visit www.wetafx.co.nz John Dietz, whose company, BangBang Productions, has provided world-class visual effects support for several recent films made in China, including Jiang Wen’s Gone with The Bullets, Sun Zhou’s Impossible and John Woo’s The Crossing.

“BangBang and I have a long history with Rising Sun Pictures and their work is second to none,” said Dietz. “Yan Han was particularly attracted to RSP’s incredible work on X-Men: Days of Future Past and wanted to bring that talent into key sequences in Animal World. RSP again delivered exceptional work.”

Despite language differences and the geographic distance separating RSP and the production in China, the collaboration worked exceptionally well.

“Filmmaking has become a global business,” says RSP Executive Producer Gill Howe. “We’re used to working over long distances and across cultures. We communicated with the production team in China via cineSync and Skype, just as we do with US and UK-based productions. This ensured the team could create amazing visuals that would be in line with the filmmaker’s vision.”

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One of the film’s most exciting sequences is an elaborate car chase where Kaiji, driving a BMW coupe, is pursued by ninjas on motorcycles through a crowded city. RSP created a central part of the sequence where the pursuit enters a tunnel and things literally spin out of control.

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“There’s a lot happening in the tunnel … speeding cars, collisions, gunfire, explosions … and our job was to make it look as fast and dangerous as possible,” recalls RSP Visual Effects Supervisor Malte Sarnes. “Most of it was far too dangerous to shoot practically, so the motorbikes, the hero car and other vehicles had to be done in CG.” The studio’s 3D team produced CG models of the BMW, the motorcycles and various other vehicles, including a truck that collides with one of the bikes,

technically, says Kirby.

The studio’s 2D team assembled the scene into its final form, placing CG vehicles into the background environment and adding actors and stunt talent who had been shot separately on green screen (including a ninja who crashes through the windshield of the BMW). Each bit of action was choreographed to the millisecond. Pyrotechnics and other environmental flourishes supplied the finishing touch.

Many of the film’s visuals have a hallucinatory quality. In RSP’s longest sequence (occupying more than 90 seconds of screen time), a dejected Kaisi wanders through a door of the casino and suddenly finds himself tumbling in space. He falls through the clutches of a clawlike patch of clouds before landing in an ocean where he is attacked by giant sharks. He is only saved from the jaws of the fish when the ocean magically freezes over. Except for Kaisi, everything in the scene is CG. Choreographing the scene was demanding both artistically and

“A single camera move is sustained for the full 90 seconds as Kaisi passes through four crazy environments,” he explains. “We go from a corridor into space, into water, into a frozen droplet and back to the corridor. It was challenging in terms of physical space and the changing scale.”

Nearly as complex, is a sequence involving an exterior view of the Destiny that appears at the opening of the film. Both the ship and the surrounding ocean environment are CG creations.

Artists spent months honing the details of the ship, the sky and the ocean.

Burnheim notes that the length and prominence of the sequence made it essential to get the details right.

“The audience has a lot of time to scrutinise the work and if something looks false, they’ll notice,” he says. “So, we used everything in our bag of tricks, adding flares and lights, wisps of smoke in the background, to give it an increased sense of realism.”

RSP’s character animators got to flex their creative muscles with a sequence involving a creature called Hightower. Elsewhere in the film, the tall, reptilian creatures are portrayed as vicious warriors, but here they sit in the casino relaxing over a game of cards.

“We had to modify the creature for our sequence to give it hands,” explains Kirby. “That required high-definition muscle simulation. We needed to make sure that the body performance was up to scratch because we had them so close to camera. They also had to act a bit more, and even be a bit silly.”

Visit https://rsp.com.au

POST PRODUCTION

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic eGPU BLACKMAGIC DESIGN HAS ANNOUNCED the Blackmagic eGPU, a highperformance graphics processor for pro creative software such as DaVinci Resolve, 3D games and VR. Designed in collaboration with Apple, the Blackmagic eGPU features a built-in Radeon Pro 580, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI 2.0, 85W of charging power and four USB 3.1 connections. It comes in an integrated design that brings high-end desktop class graphics processing to MacBook Pro for professional video workflows, 3D games and immersive VR. And, the Blackmagic eGPU is the first to support Thunderbolt 3 displays.

The Blackmagic eGPU is available now exclusively on Apple.com and in select Apple Retail stores worldwide.

Designed to address the needs of professional video editors, colourists and visual effects artists who need to remain mobile, but want the power of a desktop class GPU added to their MacBook Pro, the Blackmagic eGPU is incredibly flexible and simply plugs in via Thunderbolt 3, so users can benefit from improved graphics performance and acceleration of computational tasks. It’s suitable for speeding up professional creative application workflows including editing, colour correction and visual effects with DaVinci Resolve.

The Blackmagic eGPU features a Radeon Pro 580 graphics processor that delivers stunning graphics and incredible computational performance. You get

8GB of GDDR5 RAM, 256-bit memory bandwidth and 36 discreet compute units for up to 5.5 teraflops of processing power. The Radeon Pro 580 can fill a massive 38.4 billion textured pixels per second! In addition, the Blackmagic eGPU supports Metal graphics technology from Apple, which provides neardirect access to the GPU for maximising graphics and compute performance with games and applications.

Customers running DaVinci Resolve 15 can expect increased performance for editing with more real time effects, colour corrections with more nodes and spectacular ResolveFX such as film grain, light rays, blurs and more. DaVinci Resolve 15 also fully supports multiple GPUs, as well as Metal, so it’s the best way to get the full benefit of the Blackmagic eGPU. Customers can download DaVinci Resolve 15 now free of charge from the Blackmagic Design website.

In addition to graphics and computational acceleration, the Blackmagic eGPU is also a docking hub for connecting devices such as keyboards, mice, Thunderbolt monitors, big screen HDMI televisions, high speed storage and more. It features two 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 connections, a built-in 4 port USB hub and HDMI which supports 4K output. Plus, the connections are ergonomically spaced, making it easy to connect and disconnect peripherals.

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

AJA Ships KONA HDMI, KONA 1 and Io IP with Desktop Software v14.2 AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS HAS RELEASED the KONA HDMI multi-channel HD/ single-channel UltraHD HDMI capture card, KONA 1 3G-SDI capture/ playback card, and the Io IP Thunderbolt 3 equipped video and audio I/O box.

Simultaneously, AJA delivered Desktop Software v14.2, which introduces support for KONA HDMI and KONA 1, 10GigE support for 2K/ HD video and audio over IP with Io IP,a ‘Deep Buffer’ setting in AJA Control Panel, and new KONA, Io and T-TAP improvements.

KONA HDMI is a flexible HDMI video capture card that supports live streaming, broadcast, production, post, vlogging, video game capture/ streaming, VR, projection mapping and more. It enables four simultaneous channels of HD capture with streaming and switching applications including Telestream Wirecast and vMix, or one channel of UltraHD up to 60p over HDMI 2.0 using AJA Control Room software for file compatibility with most NLE and effects packages, and other third-party applications. Featuring AJA SDK and Video for Linux support, KONA HDMI can also be used by developers to build multi-channel HDMI ingest, switching, monitoring and communication solutions.

KONA 1 simplifies capture/playback over 3G-SDI in broadcast, post and ProAV. The robust single-channel 3G-SDI 2K/HD 60p I/O PCIe card features standard application plug-ins and supports capture, monitoring and/or playback with industry-standard applications from AJA, Adobe, Apple, Avid, Apple, Telestream and more, in addition to the AJA SDK for developers.

KONA 1 supports simultaneous monitoring during capture (pass-through) and includes a host of other features.

The Thunderbolt 3-equipped Io IP provides reliable ingest/output from/to IP networks for HD/SD video/audio workflows. Compatible with Macs and PCs, Io IP works with production, post, mastering and streaming tools from Apple, Adobe, Avid, Autodesk, Telestream and others. Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports enable daisy chaining, and two SFP+ cages allow video and audio routing over 10 GigE IP networks. The rugged device supports SMPTE 2022-6 uncompressed video, audio and VANC data over IP, as well as SMPTE 2022-7 for redundancy protection.

Desktop Software v14.2 includes support for KONA HDMI and KONA 1; 10GigE support for 2K/HD video and audio over IP (uncompressed SMPTE 2022-6/7) with the new new Thunderbolt 3-equipped Io IP, a ‘Deep Buffer’ setting in AJA Control Panel for improved handling of storage interruptions during ingest; and other enhancements for KONA, Io and T-TAP products. Io 4K Plus, DNxIV and Io IP users benefit from a new feature allowing all eight analogue audio channels to be configured for either input, output for full 7.1 ingest/monitoring, or a 4-In/4-Out mode or I/O for stereo plus VO and discrete tracks.

Visit www.aja.com

Shared File System Advancements from Facilis Technology

The latest release of the Facilis Shared File System builds on version 7.0 which included an all new web console interface and shared file system enhancements. Version 7.1 added many additional features that will help with the administration of large and small environments alike. Features include real-time and historical bandwidth monitoring of volumes and workstations; RAID50 and RAID51 management through Admin Console; Preferred connection address for multi-path networks; Automatic load balancing of clients across server IPs; Remote client deployment for ease of upgrades in multi-client facilities.

With Facilis FastTracker 2.5, users can get organised with custom ingest-to-

archive workflows to LTFS and disk-based backup. Previews of local storage assets, as well as LTFS and network-based assets can be generated and stored for easy locating. Catalogs can be created for separation and security of indexed data, and using the new Adobe Panel for Premiere Pro and After Effects, all indexed data is available directly in the Adobe interface.

The new Facilis Hub Server, which has been deployed at several large and notable customer sites, will also be on display. The Facilis Hub Server optimises drive groups and increases the bandwidth available from standard TerraBlock storage systems. It gives new customers a way to scale bandwidth through dynamic aggregation, and current customers a way to extend the usable life of older systems. It features speeds over 4GB/sec available from a single virtual project-based volume.

Visit www.facilis.com

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POST PRODUCTION

AT IBC 2018, Facilis (Stand 7.C14), a developer of shared storage solutions for collaborative media production networks will demonstrate Version 7.1 features and FastTracker 2.5.

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AUDIO Digital soundwaves

TV Tokyo Upgrades Tennozu Studio with Calrec Apollo

www.content-technology.com/audio

HARMAN Consolidates Singapore Distribution HARMAN PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS has announced it has consolidated distribution of BSS, Crown, dbx, Digitech, Lexicon, JBL Professional, Soundcraft and Studer in Singapore by strengthening ties with Electronics and Engineering Pte Ltd (E+E).

Building on more than 15 years of experience patronising various HARMAN brands, E+E will expand its portfolio to include HARMAN Professional’s integration, installation and retail audio product suite. All other HARMAN partnerships serving the Singapore market for Karaoke Solutions, Cinema Solutions, AKG Professional, AMX Video and Controls and Martin Lighting Solutions remains unchanged.

JAPANESE NETWORK TV TOKYO, known for its extensive lineup of anime, has brought on a broadcasting big gun – a new, 80-fader Apollo console from Calrec.

Provided by Calrec’s exclusive distributor, Hibino Intersound, as part of a major upgrade of TV Tokyo’s flagship Tennozu studio, the Apollo has been a significant improvement over the broadcaster’s legacy analogue desk.

“TV Tokyo has received many years of service and great sound out of its old desk, but it was time to trade up and bring the Tennozu studio’s audio mixing into the digital world,” said Mr. Yosuke Maruyama, Hibino Corporation. “Their challenge was to source a desk that could match the old console in sound quality.

The Apollo more than exceeds TV Tokyo’s expectations for pristine sound, and its impressive feature set is also a huge improvement. The new desk brings industry-standard reliability, ease of use, and unmatched power to Tennozu, with the ability to squeeze in more faders than any other comparable console on the market.”

The Apollo joins other Calrec desks in the broader TV Tokyo operation, including another 80-fader Apollo, a 48-fader Artemis Light that’s installed in the broadcaster’s OB van, a 56-fader Artemis Beam, and a 48-fader Artemis Beam.

“It’s a pleasure to continue our relationship with TV Tokyo, one of Japan’s most popular television networks,” said Anthony Harrison, Calrec’s International Sales Manager. “They are big supporters of our products, as evidenced by their Calrec lineup. The addition of the Apollo console has modernised the Tennozu facility by offering unsurpassed processing power. We’re excited to continue our relationship as TV Tokyo goes from analogue to digital.”

Visit https://calrec.com

Hunan TV Modernises OB Van with Stage Tec STAGE TEC, the Berlin-based manufacturer of pro audio equipment, has equipped a second Hunan Television OB van. Hunan TV is a Chinese satellite TV station with headquarters in Changsha and has the highest audience ratings in the country after CCTV. Hunan TV has a total of five OB trucks. A Stage Tec AURUS has already been installed in one. Hunan TV has now modernised another OB van with a CRESCENDO. The audio technology renewal in the OB van had become necessary because the previous broadcast console was increasingly unable to meet the requirements of large productions. On the one hand this was partly due to lack of capacity and on the other to its rigid bus structure.

The newly installed CRESCENDO, however, offers up to 96 input channels with 48 buses or up to 108 input channels with 32 buses and solves all bottlenecks and configuration problems with its flexible routing. The new console has 24 faders and is integrated into a NEXUS network. The STAR router is equipped with two powerful RMDQ DSP boards for maximum console performance.

AUDIO

Due to the positive experience Hunan TV has had with an AURUS in an OB van, the station again decided in favour of the Berlin manufacturer. The OB van with CRESCENDO is used for important live events, like national congresses, major sporting events and show productions.

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Visit www.stagetec.com

“In line with our overall business strategy aimed at simplifying our distribution and enhancing customer touch-points across brands, solutions and verticals that we serve, we are happy to appoint E+E as our distribution partner in Singapore,” said Ramesh Jayaraman, VP and GM, HARMAN Professional Solutions, APAC. “The new distribution model leverages our brand strengths and E+E’s strong distribution capabilities in providing innovative technology solutions to our Singapore customers.

Delivering on this strategy also creates the opportunity for further investment and expansion by HARMAN Professional Solutions in the Singapore market, as E+E extend their capabilities and support across the entire HARMAN Professional audio range.”

“HARMAN Professional Audio Brands and Solutions are well established for their technological superiority and world class quality and E+E with more than 65 years of professional audio solutions know-how is known for our broad scope of services,” said Gary Goh, Deputy Managing Director, Electronics and Engineering Pte Ltd. “We understand our customers’ need for solutions and support, and with our hands-on experience in the Singapore market, we are thrilled to bring HARMAN Professional Audio products to our customers and elevate their experiences.”

Visit www.harman.com

Doordarshan Goes IP with Lawo for New OB Truck ONE OF THE INDIA’S LARGEST broadcasting organisations in terms of studio and transmitter infrastructure, public broadcaster Doordarshan, has installed a 16-fader Lawo crystal desk with full I/O extension in its latest New Delhi-based OB Van. The IP-based broadcast production console is the centerpiece of the vehicle’s main audio control room, which was constructed under the direction of main contractor, AGIV/SatCom. “We have chosen Lawo as the brand stands for reliability and quality, and we selected the crystal console as it provides us with state-of-the-art IP technology, enabling us to evolve our workflows with its flexibility in operation and routing,” says JK Chandira, Additional Director General of Studio Design at Doordarshan. “The Lawo crystal fits the Doordarshan OB workflow because it can be customised to do anything. With a mix of sports, news and music programming, we really needed that ability. Being slim and easy-to-use were further key points in our decision.”

“We are very pleased with our new Lawo crystal board,” says Goutam Bera, Director AGIV India Pvt. Limited. “The Lawo system provides the necessary flexibility and range of functions for our diverse tasks without unnecessary user complexity. Plus, it looks clean, and has a minimal footprint – just power and network cables.”

Visit www.lawo.com

AUDIO

DirectOut Adds EARS to EXBOX.MD Dante Interface DIRECTOUT TECHNOLOGIES has expanded the capabilities of its EXBOX.MD Dante/MADI interface, with a major firmware and software update.

The company previewed the updated EXBOX.MD at the AES Milan 2018 Convention, demonstrating it to be a flexible Dante bridge. Concurrently, EXBOX.MD has been integrated in the new ‘globcon’ global control software.

The highlight of the enhancements is the EARS (Enhanced Automatic Redundancy Switching) technology, which was designed to improve reliability of digital multichannel audio systems. EARS offers different modes of operation and methods of triggering automatic input switching.

The upgrade also adds a channel-based routing matrix to allow access to all inputs and outputs, and offers the option to present new output streams to the Dante and MADI domains.

Further building on its ability to provide extremely reliable and flexible MADI

SMPTE Standards for Binding IDs to Media Assets SMPTE HAS PUBLISHED standards for binding Ad-IDs to commercials and Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) codes to programming content. The standards specify use of Kantar Media’s audio watermarking technology, an open solution available for licensing.

The SMPTE 24TB Open Binding of IDs Drafting Group created and published two new sets of standards: ST 2112-10 and RP 2112-11 for the Open Binding of Content Identifiers (OBID), and ST 2112-20 and RP 2112-21 for the Open Binding of Distribution Channel IDs and Timestamps.

Supporting real-time identification of a piece of content or an ad – whether on a TV set, in a set-top box, or outside of the set using a metering device or smartphone app – the standards will help mitigate numerous inefficiencies in the cross-platform video distribution and measurement workflow, including time-consuming, legacy processes for matching program and ad names back to the time of airing and the distributor.

The ability to embed standardised identifiers throughout the media ecosystem will have a significant impact on the efficiency of cross-media workflows for ad agencies, media companies, and marketers. Television networks and digital content publishers will also be better equipped to create integrated multiscreen experiences.

settings, with all modes supported and detected automatically on inputs.

By facilitating faster reporting for ad verification and audience measurement, the use of standardised identifiers will eventually enable marketers to better optimise live and on-demand advertising much as they now optimise online advertising.

Visit www.directout.eu

Visit www.smpte.org

systems interfacing, DirectOut has extended options to configure the unit’s MADI outputs, including for 48/96kHz operation and 64/57/56 channel

NUGEN Bundles with Upgrade Options NUGEN AUDIO HAS ANNOUNCED the release of six new bundles designed to deliver its proprietary algorithms in workflow enhancing combinations for music and post-production.

Post-production Bundles Loudness Toolkit: The industry standard toolset is now updated to include the DynApt extension for LM-Correct. LM-Correct works in concert alongside VisLM and ISL to deliver unsurpassed quality and workflow efficiency.

Surround Suite: A new toolset including Halo Upmix, Halo Downmix, ISL surround limiter and SEQ-S surround match and morph corrective spline EQ. From stereo to 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos 7.1.2, Auro 3D and Ambisonic output, the new surround suite is a perfect complement to any multichannel workflow.

NUGEN Post: A collection of 11 plug-ins for broadcast, film and game audio production. Containing a complete loudness solution including true-peak limiting, leading upmix and downmix tools, a comprehensive audio analysis suite, transparent auto-match EQ and three stereo control plug-ins, NUGEN Post delivers the same essential post-production tools used by leading facilities around the world.

Music Production Bundles Focus: This bundle includes Stereoizer, Stereoplacer and Monofilter, and

provides reliable, full-frequency stereo enhancement, correction and bass management. These award-winning plug-ins can naturally widen or reduce the stereo image, focus and define low frequencies, and move specific captured spectra within the stereo sound field.

Modern Mastering: A complete toolset for mastering, with confidence and precision in today’s world of digital consumption through music streaming services. Including MasterCheck streaming service auditioning and metering, ISL True Peak limiter and Visualizer comprehensive audio analysis.

NUGEN Producer: Designed specifically for today’s mix and mastering challenges, these eight leading plug-ins that comprise NUGEN Producer expand and enhance any production environment.

CEDAR Noise Suppression and Audio Restoration CEDAR AUDIO HAS ANNOUNCED CEDAR Studio 8, the latest incarnation of the CEDAR Studio suite of plug-ins, and now more affordable than ever before.

Building upon the foundations laid down by CEDAR Studio 7, the new release improves existing capabilities, adds new modules and extends the suite’s compatibility with a wider range of plug-in formats.

tape or disc, whether analogue or digital. Manual Declick is suitable for restoring these, and its dual algorithms optimised for long clicks and scratches will remove noises ranging from those found on optical soundtracks, to dropouts and extended digital errors.

CEDAR Studio 8 is supplied as a range of AAX, VST 2, VST 3 and AU plug-ins (as well as offering a standalone version of Retouch) and comprises eleven processes allowing users to eliminate a range of common problems. Each CEDAR Studio 8 process has been derived from the CEDAR Cambridge flagship

Conventional declicking processes are unsuitable for restoring audio containing extended low-frequency thumps. Dethump eliminates these, replacing the unwanted sound with restored low frequency audio. This makes it the ideal tool for removing many of the previously intractable problems associated with optical soundtracks, cylinders, discs, and even microphones and stand are bumps.

The algorithm in DNS Two has already proved to be the quickest, simplest and most effective dialogue noise suppressor. In almost all cases, using DNS Two is as simple as switching on LEARN then adjusting the attenuation to the desired amount of noise reduction.

Declip 2

Manual Declick (Pro Tools only)

Declip 2 removes clipped samples and reconstructs the original signal, improving clarity, eliminating distortion, and restoring the original dynamic range of the damaged audio.

Extended scratches and clicks are encountered on many audio media – film,

Visit www.cedaraudio.com

AUDIO

DNS Two

Dethump (Pro Tools only)

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AUDIO

Marshall Electronics’ Multi-Channel Digital Audio Monitor MARSHALL ELECTRONICS announced the release of a new multi-channel digital audio monitor at NAB 2018, the Marshall AR-DM61-BT. Packed into a 1RU design, the Marshall AR-DM61-BT allows users to monitor up to 64 channels of audio vertically, or two detailed audio channels horizontally, and also includes a live video confidence monitor. It also is equipped with two stereo speakers that feature a maximum volume of 100dB. The AR-DM61-BT has two dedicated 3GSDI inputs with loop through (MADI compatible), and one additional HDMI input. It has four stereo AES inputs and outputs, supports eight channels on D-sub input and output (-10dB or

+4dB switchable), and has speakers powerful enough to be heard in a noisy control room environment. The 10-inch LCD touchscreen panel uses Loudness, K-weighted, relative to full scale (LKFS) bars and peak indicators.

The AR-DM61-BT is compatible with the latest Dolby and Dante formats, and has a built-in web server for software updates, storing, and retrieving presets.

It is AES67 compliant and accepts inputs from multiple signal types with format conversion and matrix routing.

Visit www.marshall-usa.com

Studio Technologies Introduces Dante Alert Unit STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCED a product to strengthen its intercom offerings at NAB 2018.

The Model 391 Dante Alerting Unit offers both visual and audible indications that operator attention is being requested. The unit can be used in conjunction with Dante audio over ethernet-based intercom belt-packs and user stations that support call light functionality. The tabletop, PoE unit offers extensive configuration choices to optimise alerting performance. The unit is suitable for a wide range of theatre, corporate, industrial, and broadcast applications where party-line and four-wire intercom is utilised.

The Model 391 gains the attention of nearby personnel via an audible sounder as well as a prism-shaped lens with multiple full-colour LEDs for visual alerts. The unit responds to 20kHz ‘call’ signals used in both legacy analogue and contemporary digital party-line and matrix intercom circuits.

Upon detecting a call signal, the Model 391 can provide a visual indication, enable an audible buzzer output, and activate an analogue line output. The Model 391 is directly compatible with the call signals generated by popular Studio Technologies products like the Model 370 and Model 371 Danteenabled intercom belt-packs, which generate a 20kHz tone whenever their call button is pressed.

The Model 391’s balanced line-level analogue output can be configured as a general-purpose, always-active output associated with either of the Model 391’s two Dante audio inputs. Alternatively, it can be configured to be active only when a call signal is present.

Using the STcontroller software application, an extensive set of configure choices allow the Model 391 operation to be optimised.

Available free of charge and supporting many Studio Technologies products, STcontroller is compatible with version 7 and later of the Windows operating system. STcontroller is used to configure the colour, intensity, and lighting cadence for visual alerting as well as selecting the level range and audio character of the sounder. In addition to responding to intercom call signals, the Model 391’s visual and audible resources can serve as general-purpose status indicators.

As a Dante-compliant device, the Model 391’s two audio input audio channels are assigned from source devices using the Dante controller software application. The Model 391 is compatible with Dante digital audio sources at 48kHz and 24-bit. Only a connection to a PoE network port is required for full operation.

Visit http://studio-tech.com

Barnfind Expands BarnOne With Analogue Audio Transport NORWEIGAN MANUFACTURER Barnfind Technologies has responded to industry demand for a frame that transports analogue audio signals with the launch of its BarnOne BTF1-10AA. Wiggo Evensen, CEO, made the announcement about the latest addition to the company’s multi-functional, signal neutral fibre transport platform from headquarters in Sandefjord, Norway, during NAB 2018.

interfaces, converts MADI from electrical to optical and from single mode to multimode at the same time, and vice-versa. It can also distribute one MADI source to several destinations simultaneously. To complete the picture, the BTF1-10AA frame houses an audio board with a 264×264 channel audio matrix featuring four bi-directional MADI interfaces that connect to the main matrix of the frame, and eight balanced analogue line level inputs and outputs.

“We’ve already introduced the unit to several customers that requested it, and have received extremely positive feedback,” said Evensen. “They are very pleased with the features that BarnOne BTF1-10AA offers, and noted that it meets their needs, especially when targeting the sports market.”

The board offers audio routing on a per-channel base for all four MADI streams and the eight analogue ports, making the card a single channel MADI-Router with analogue interfaces. In conjunction with the main matrix it can be used for MADI electrical-optical conversion or distribution. Alternatively, it can connect analogue audio equipment directly to the MADI interfaces of an audio console or core. The interface to the console can be optical single mode or multimode fibre, or electrical by coax (BNC).

AUDIO

The BTF1-10AA features an analogue audio interface and incorporates eight balanced analogue line level inputs and outputs. The frame is equipped with high-end AD/DA converters which convert analogue audio to MADI (AES10), enabling audio signals to be transported along with others in Barnfind’s portfolio.

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MADI has been a staple in Barnfind’s signal transport spectrum from day one.

BarnOne’s signal neutral crosspoint matrix, together with the SFP and BNC

The BTF1-10AA also serves as a MADI-router for four MADI streams with interchangeable optical/electrical interfaces that house all the functionalities of a BarnOne frame.

Visit www.barnfind.no

RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

Astro Radio Makes ‘High Stakes’ Commitment to Lawo INSTALLING A THIRD GENERATION of consoles in its radio studios, Kuala Lumpur’s Astro Radio has standardised on virtual studio technology from German broadcast manufacturer, Lawo.

“We had to re-think how a studio broadcast console should be in a rapidly evolving commercial FM radio industry,” said Astro Radio Chief Technology Officer, Bala Murali Subramaney.

Astro began operation in 1996 using a cutting-edge audio routing system and digital broadcast consoles custom manufactured to meet its specific technical requirements. By 2006, greater functionality was required to simplify studio workflows and to allow on-air talent to focus on content.

“We took the best features of our first console, analysed common operator mistakes and asked for improvement suggestions, then we condensed this data into a comprehensive document and presented it as our mandate to Lawo – whose response was the Zirkon-2s modular broadcast console,” says Bala of its ‘second generation’ of console. “The Zirkon-2s was simplicity personified in both form and function. For example, a press of a macro button could simultaneously record telephone calls, edit talksets and run an outside broadcast.”

This success has now taken Astro Radio to its third generation of console for new studios in Kuala Lumpur as, in 2017, the operation acquired two new radio stations and needed space for new on-air studios, producer workstations and equipment room – on top of its existing 13 on-air studios, seven news studios, three voice booths, eight audio production studios and edit suites, and six equipment rooms. Plans for the consoles and routing system were already in hand, when the station relocated to share premises with other Astro company divisions in order to accommodate its expanded studio requirements.

“In mid-2016, we had begun sketching out plans for a virtual console, which would challenge the industry perception of a broadcast console,” Bala recalls. “We wanted to radically re-imagine what an on-air studio would look like, including what to fit inside the studio and what to leave out. The studio environment would impact how the on-air talent uses the technology inside the studio with the new virtual console as its focal point.

“Our mandate to the interior designer was to create designs for three on-air studios that were minimalistic, stunning, functional and meet Noise Criteria (NC) rating 20. We wanted designs that would inspire our on-air talent to deliver compelling content on-air and on-line for today’s radio.”

The mixing requirements were all met by Lawo’s Virtual Console, whose control surface is software, driven by a multi-touch interface on a high-resolution computer display, and which had been successfully the trialed in Astro Radio’s news room. Without the limitations of physical knobs, buttons and faders, the screen presents users with only relevant controls and information, hiding anything not needed for the task at hand.

Along with screen brightness and reliability – which the Virtual Console comfortably addressed – operational flexibility and cost had ranked high among Astro Radio’s concerns. “A great advantage of the Virtual Console is the cost-

savings over physical consoles – there is no need to stock-up on console spare parts and accessories. It is also aesthetically more pleasing to the eyes, and gentle on the hands,” Bala said.

“In addition to the standard Virtual Console control features, Lawo’s VisTool-PC also shows all the virtual modules of both touchscreens – a user can control all channels, faders and buttons on the touchscreen from the VisTool-PC interface.”

Astro Radio’s on-air talent is drawn from established online personalities with huge followings, allowing it to grow its radio listenership through on-line streaming and on social media platforms, as well as FM broadcasts. Presenters are not necessarily conversant with broadcast technology, however.

“Content managers expect new on-air talent to quickly build momentum, and get up to speed with listeners on social media regularly during their shifts – every day. There is very little time for training or familiarisation with the technology in the studio,” Bala confirms. “The Virtual Console, therefore, had to be very simple and intuitive to use for first-timers.”

Use of the Virtual Console also offers a faster software development cycle: “We are able to develop new features and functionality both for default and userspecific snapshots. We can easily customise the console layout – or skins – redesign and re-size fader and button shapes and colours, incorporate macros and GPIO signalling. This flexibility gives us the freedom to explore new possibilities in console design paradigm. For example, we added more channel faders per screen and moved monitoring controls to a pop-up screen.

“We took a huge risk by implementing fully touchscreen Virtual Consoles, but from the faces of our on-air talent and their content managers, our ‘high-stakes’ gamble has paid off handsomely,” Bala concludes.

Visit www.lawo.com

Lawo Crystal Top of the World for HITS FM 91.2

Lawo delivered a 12-fader split version crystal with countersunk kit and analogue extension IO, and pre-configured settings. After phone calls between HITS FM’s independent Technical Consultant and Lawo Sales Director for Southeast Asia, Tan Boon Siong, to understand the basic setup, the team was able

to modify and fine-tune the system – a clear indication that the crystal with the powerful VisTool is easy to set up and adapt to the requirements and to provide full functionality for different operational needs.

Crystal is available with RAVENNA/AES67 compatibility. The latest generation of crystal mixing consoles comes with VisTool, powerful touchscreen-optimised PC software for extended visualisation and control of crystal installations.

In its basic version, VisTool is designed for clear visualisation, while the unlimited version of VisTool can be customised to meet any requirements, displaying all parameters or only those essential to operators’ needs.

Visit www.lawo.com

RADIO

REPLACING AN OUTDATED CONSOLE that no longer met the requirements of its programming, Nepalese radio station HITS FM 91.2 has installed a Lawo crystal radio broadcast console – the first placement of a Lawo system in Nepal. Chosen to serve lively programming and modern workflows using advanced efficiency and flexibility, the updated studio was unveiled in a recent inauguration ceremony overseen by HITS FM’s independent Technical Consultant, Ram Saran Karki.

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RADIO

AEQ’s SYSTEL IP Talk Show System AEQ HAS BEEN FOR 30 YEARS manufacturing telephone solutions for Broadcasting and SYSTEL IP is the third generation of its talkshow solutions.

touch terminal with automated functions for a simple intuitive talkshow

SYSTEL IP 16 is a VoIP phone system engine with Dante connectivity and SIP signalling protocol, compatible with PSTM, GSM and ISDN phone lines.

advanced Radio and Television operations.

management and more sophisticated SYSTEL IP-PC-based controllers for

It has the capacity for up to 16 simultaneous IP phone lines that can be simultaneously operated from one to four or more Studios.

SYSTEL IP 16 provides analogue, digital and AoIP Dante-AES67 I/Os for full

SYSTEL IP 16 provides three different types of controllers. SYSTELSET+

Visit www.aeq.es

interconnectivity in a flexible way from different devices in an AoIP network.

RCS Helps TEABBA Broadcast from Paradise WHEN RCS SAYS ITS SOFTWARE is used by stations on the furthest reaches of the planet, it’s no exaggeration. For this report, we will travel to Warruwi, Goulburn Island. It’s a tiny spec with about 300 inhabitants located 5km off the coast of the Northern Territory. Maung is the main language, and 90% of the population are Cook Islanders or Aboriginal. But, despite the remoteness and size of Goulburn Island, it does have its own radio station.

The station is part of TEABBA, (Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association), a group of 29 RIBS (Remote Indigenous Broadcast Stations) spread across the Northern Territory. They have begun to broadcast as a large community network. TEABBA airs regular programmes from both its Darwin hub studio and the community stations by using dial-up program lines. However, the old analogue dial-up modems have given way to the latest digital devices that can deliver broadcast quality programs over a regular phone line. Part of the massive infrastructure upgrade involves bringing the Internet to locations which have no access, or very limited access. At the same time, mono transmitters are being upgraded to stereo.

The Darwin hub utilises RCS’ Zetta and GSelector for automation and music scheduling. Aquira is slated to be online by the end of the year to

add commercial integration. When the project is complete, logs will be created in Darwin with GSelector, and will be replicated out to the station in each market, which already has Zetta installed. Once Aquira comes online, commercials and community service announcements will be scheduled which target each market’s local issues. Two of the indigenous communities, Warruwi and Beswick, have already gone live, with the remainder to follow soon.

Zetta makes it easy for these RIB sites to broadcast over the entire TEABBA network. Stations currently build a “MiniLog” for the time that they are broadcasting to the network. Each of the 29 stations usually broadcasts 2-3 hours a week to the entire Northern Territory.

TEABBA is not the first indigenous broadcaster in Australia to use Zetta, GSelector and Aquira. They decided to go with RCS based on the user feedback from their indigenous partner stations, Caama Radio (8KIN – Northern Territory), Kool N Deadly (3KND – Melbourne) and BlackStar (QRAM – Queensland).

Visit www.rcsworks.com

Reducing the Cost of Outside Broadcast EXHIBITING AT IBC FOR THE FIRST TIME (booth 10.F42), On-Hertz is a new company whose aim is to make radio outside broadcasts more costeffective and logistically simpler.

On-Hertz produces web-based radio studio solutions, providing a complete workflow on a local laptop/tablet or in the cloud. On-Hertz’s LUMO virtual radio studio responds to the challenges faced by radio stations, enabling presenters to broadcast live from anywhere easily and efficiently, at lower cost.

The LUMO Virtual Radio Studio was recently used by Belgium’s VRT Radio 2 to enable a live OB from a hot air balloon where conventional equipment was deemed too bulky and impractical.

On-Hertz was founded by software developer Renaud Schoonbroodt and Benjamin Lardinoit, a seasoned broadcast industry professional.

Schoonbroodt has 15 years’ experience in the radio industry – from product development to large project integration – while Lardinoit brings a highly successful track record of international sales to the world’s largest events and broadcasters.

RADIO

“We could clearly see that radio stations are facing a number of challenges,” said Schoonbroodt. “They need to differentiate themselves from music streaming services. They need to counter the threat of revenue shift away from radio at a time when subsidies for public radio are being reduced. And: they need to create stronger brand engagement.”

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new tools, a radio solution that is more mobile, more autonomous, more flexible,” said Lardinoit. “The solutions available today are often based on expensive, proprietary platforms, and are often bulky – making transportation a challenge, and limiting the locations from which a broadcast can be made. A software-based solution that leverages the power of the cloud, together with inexpensive hardware such as a tablet or laptop will, we believe, be hugely appealing in terms of lower cost and greater flexibility.”

“How should they respond?” he continued. “They need to leverage the immediacy of radio as a live medium; to get closer to their audience; and to generate greater interactivity. The good news is that the technologies exist to enable those things to happen – and that they’re very affordable.”

Target customers for the new solution from On-Hertz will be live radio stations of all sizes – of which there are tens of thousands around the world – who are looking to improve their workflow, increase their mobility and reduce their cost structure.

“We believe that the radio industry – presenters and DJs, for example – needs

Visit www.on-hertz.com

RADIO

Brunei’s Nur Islam FM Upgrades with Studer MAHAJAK TRIO RECENTLY UPGRADED Nur Islam 93.3 FM’s studio with a Studer by HARMAN OnAir 1500 radio broadcast mixing console.

seamless integration with the existing studio technology, Mahajak Trio selected the Studer OnAir 1500 radio broadcast mixing console.

Founded in 1984 by Radio Television Brunei (RTB), Nur Islam 93.3 FM is a state-funded radio station with mostly religious programming, dedicated to helping listeners develop their spiritual lives. Alongside other RTB stations National FM, Pilihan FM, Pelangi FM and Harmoni FM, Nur Islam FM is one of the most popular radio stations in the nation of Brunei, with listeners tuning in online or over-the-air. To keep up with rising global broadcast standards, station managers reached out to audio distributor Mahajak Trio to replace the studio’s ageing mixing console with a digital mixing solution.

The Studer OnAir 1500 is a 12-channel console designed specifically for radio broadcasting and production.

Innovative features like USB jingle playback/record and complete integration with radio automation systems make the OnAir 1500 the idea choice for stations like Nur Islam FM, which require a flexible compact mixing console for their production needs. Bridging the gap between onair and production needs, the OnAir 1500 provides Nur Islam FM’s staff with the premium quality and efficient workflow needed to consistently produce great programming. Finally, the OnAir 1500’s built-in MADI network enabled Mahajak to interface the console with the studio’s existing MCR network router with zero latency issues, as well as connecting the station’s intercom panel to the Studer’s talkback function.

According to Mahajak Trio Senior Sales Manager, Lee Chin Kah, a key requirement to be considered was that the new console needed to be fully integrated with the studio’s existing MCR audio and control network such as talkback function between Master Control Room (MCR) and radio studio.

In order to ensure premium audio quality for the station’s programming and

Visit www.studer.ch

WorldDAB Takes on Radio’s Digital Strategy at IBC WORLDDAB HAS ANNOUNCED the programme for its conference session at IBC, ‘Radio’s Digital Strategy’, taking place on Monday the 17th of September.

Moderated by Lindsay Cornell from the BBC, Radio’s Digital Strategy is the only session dedicated to radio in the IBC conference programme. Speakers will discuss how radio is delivering new content and catering to what the listener wants in the face of increased competition from the likes of Google, Amazon, Sonos and Apple Music. The session will celebrate the fact that radio is alive and continues to grow and innovate in the face of dynamic and ever-evolving challenges, remaining free and easily accessible across platforms thanks to its high quality and relevant content, and its ability to embrace and adapt to change.

Speakers include Daniel Karlsson, VP Business Development, EMEA-APAC, Triton Digital, who will look at the evolving audio landscape; Graham Dixon,

Head of Radio, European Broadcasting Union who will discuss getting radio into smart speakers; and Simon Mason, Head of Broadcast Radio Technology, Arqiva who will present the findings of brand new research measuring the quality of radio signal over 4G compared to DAB. Patrick Hannon, President of WorldDAB, will provide an update on DAB+ deployments around the world, and Ole Jorgen Torvmark, CEO of Digital Radio Norway will give an update on the impact of Norway’s digital switchover. Wim Moortgat from VRT in Belgium and Joan Warner from Commercial Radio Australia join a panel discussion, showing how broadcasters are delivering new content to listeners in an evolving audio landscape.

Radio’s Digital Strategy takes places in the Emerald Room at IBC2018 on Monday September the 17th. Visit the WorldDAB stand during IBC at Hall 10, F27 to find out more about DAB+.

Broadcast equipment you can rely on Visit Comrex at BIRTV - we will be at: RADIO

JCE Electronic Equipment booth #2003 info@comrex.com | 1-978-784-1776 | www.comrex.com

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CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/delivery

BTV Vietnam Expands with PlayBox AirBox Neo BINH DUONG RADIO AND TELEVISION (BTV), has chosen AirBox Neo and TitleBox Neo from PlayBox Technology as the central element of a large-scale technical upgrade and expansion at its headquarters near Ho Chi Minh City.

“We invested in PlayBox Technology AirBox playout and TitleBox channel branding nearly ten years ago,” said BTV Senior Engineer, DucThuan Vu. “They proved highly reliable and our operators find them a real pleasure to work with.

In 2014 we extended the system with AirBox HD and TitleBox HD to power our migration to 1080i high definition. AirBox is also highly scalable and easy to integrate with third-party devices. We are now building a new studio which will be centred on AirBox Neo and TitleBox Neo. Most of our output is newsbased so we need a high level of flexibility in the way we handle programme scheduling.

“ListBox Neo is ideal for schedule creation, enabling our programme editors to create and refine schedules days or weeks ahead of transmission. It allows text searching, clip copying and pasting and schedule printing, plus the ability to perform very fast programme editing with a clip trimmer.

“PlayBox Technology supervised the installation from its Malaysia office, including secure online configuration. The system itself is quite conventional with servers located in our main apparatus room and operated from our master control suite.

“BTV is a model of excellence both in the editorial quality of its programmes and in its production standards,” adds PlayBox Technology’s Asia Pacific General Manager, Desmon Goh. “The BTV team makes full use of the graphic design and automated playout features available within AirBox Neo and TitleBox Neo, plus the ability to override with live or near-live content which is essential to any efficient news-oriented broadcaster.

“Scalability and open interconnectivity have long been core elements of the

Powered by Playbox, BTV Vietnam master control.

PlayBox Technology ethos, both with the original AirBox and to an even greater degree with our latest-generation Neo and CloudAir solutions. AirBox Neo is also highly future proof, adding UHD capabilities to the PlayBox Technology content playout system which now supports UHD, HD and SD in single server.

“AirBox Neo is designed for 24/7 unattended operation and can also be operated manually, including the ability to handle live-to-air throughput.”

Visit https://playboxtechnology.com and http://btv.org.vn

Sports Star of Pakistan Adds HD Channel ‘Public News’ – AsiaSat 7 ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY LIMITED recently announced an expansion of services for Sports Star International Private Limited (Sports Star) of Pakistan on AsiaSat 7, to deliver an HD news channel ‘Public News’ across the Asia-Pacific.

Sports Star currently transmits entertainment channel ‘A-Plus’ as well as Pakistan’s first women’s channel ‘A-Lite’ on AsiaSat 7, targeting different audience segments locally and across the Asia Pacific. Public News is Sports Star’s latest HD service to bring daily news bulletins to viewers by leveraging AsiaSat 7. AsiaSat will also offer Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 7 for ‘Public News’ SNG services in news gathering and contribution.

Barrie Woolston, Chief Commercial Officer of AsiaSat said, “Pakistan

CONTENT DELIVERY

Yousaf Baig Mirza, Vice Chairman of Public News, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with one of the most reliable names in the Satellite Industry.

We look forward to continued success with AsiaSat as we work together to deliver more diverse programming in HD quality to audiences locally and beyond.”

Visit www.asiasat.com

October Launch for CCTV 4K UHD Channel

Globecast Delivers English-Language Channels for OONA

CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION plans to accelerate the development of 4K UHD in the People’s Republic with the launch of a test channel on the 1st of October, 2018. The first step in the construction and implementation of a 4K UHD broadcasting network, the test channel is also a strategic goal for CCTV to promote the application of advanced TV technology.

GLOBECAST IS DELIVERING 11 English language channels for carriage on the Indonesian mobile TV platform OONA. The English-language channels, which are on air, bring high-quality content to 135 million viewers in Indonesia. The channels are supplied to Globecast via Virginia-based telecommunications company Interconnect Media Network (IMN) Systems and include a mix of sports, drama, action and children’s shows.

Dayang China was successful in bidding for the project, and helped CCTV build an advanced 4K broadcasting system integrating management, monitoring and control. The project a 4K ultra HD project in Guangdong.

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represents one of our most important and largest media markets. We are thrilled to offer additional capacity to Sports Star, strengthening their ability to diversify content for Asia-Pacific audiences. The launch of Public News on AsiaSat advances our goal of growing our HD bouquet of international and local news channels.”

Based on CCTV requirements, the system combines a software-defined IP network, and application virtualisation. As well as UHD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) will be tested on the channel. The 4K broadcast system will integrate with existing program production management processes in terms of content preparation, media asset management, and scheduling system.

The channels include: SoundEmerge, Lifestyle Channel, SciFi Dimensions, Ready, Set, Action, Kartoon Festival, Kid Central, Spydar TV, Cowboy Theater, Comedy Channel, The Xzone, The Syndicate Channel

According to Dayang, “The development of 4K ultra HD TV is an inevitable choice of CCTV to deepen the supply-side reform of radio and television in the new era and lead the development of radio and television industry.”

Natalie Rouse, Vice President of Content Acquisition, Aggregation and Distribution (CAAD) at Globecast, commented, “We’re delighted that OONA’s Indonesian subscribers have a variety of fresh programming to choose from, thanks to IMN Systems’ keen ability to provide high quality entertainment to such an emerging and important market like Indonesia. This project is a great step forward in our trajectory to build out our CAAD business around the globe and provide our customers with innovative content for today’s multi-platform, multiscreen world.”

Visit http://en.dayang.com.cn

Visit http://imnsys.com and www.globecast.com

CONTENT DELIVERY

A Conversation with… Your TV?

By John Lee, Vice President, APAC Sales, TiVo. WHEN HARRY HOUDINI MADE A SILENT FILM that contained the first appearance of a robot interacting with humans in 1919, little did he know he was making an accurate prediction of what the 21st century would look like. Last year, Gartner predicted that by 2020 the average person will have more conversations with ‘bots than with their spouse. This bold declaration is indicative of the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and conversational user interfaces. This will have an impact on all aspects of human’s lives, including how we access and consume entertainment.

Voice capabilities go as far back as the 1960s when IBM introduced Shoebox, an early voice recognition system that could do simple mathematics in response to voice commands, and recognise a mere 16 words. Since then there has been various efforts to improve on the technology, but it wasn’t until 2010 that voice control became more mainstream, no doubt attributed to the first wave of voice-based assistants like Apple’s Siri and Google Now. The availability of this technology on a mobile medium such as the smartphone has been instrumental in making voice interfaces mainstream, and as a result, generated interest in using the technology on other devices, including the television.

With the popularity of voice capabilities spreading like wildfire, it’s time to take deeper look at how this technology will shake up the entertainment industry. According to Grand View Research, the Asia Pacific market for voice recognition is anticipated to observe the fastest growth in the next eight years, with a predicted market revenue of close to US$30 Billion by 2024.

The opportunities are evident, but in order to reap the full benefits of the technology it must first be understood by those wanting to implement it.

Humanising Content Through Meta-Data For voice capabilities to be delivered across households and become truly mainstream, technologies will need to reflect the mind of the consumer.

Robust search capabilities and detailed metadata are key to enhancing the human understanding of the machine. For example, when a viewer says, “Jon Snow”, the system should be able to understand that the user wants to watch Game of Thrones.

Apart from actors and actresses, content synopsis and even famous quotations from films, the next-generation of enriched metadata can also take into account human nuances like mood, context and tone, allowing the system to take it one step further and process more complex or subtler requests like “in the mood for fantasy” followed by “with dragons”.

A voice interface that isn’t smart enough to handle these complex searches or maintain context for follow-up questions will not be able to truly provide a value-added entertainment experience. To do so, it must be intuitive, flexible, and be able to shift in context and match the speed at which people minds can switch subjects.

Could Voice Capabilities be the TV industry’s Comeback?

In a study by TiVo, over 70% of participants stated they would consider switching their pay-TV provider to gain access to conversational interface technology. The participants also cited that the ease and speed of using a voice interface to find content resulted in increased viewing times, and added a fun element that contributed to their overall viewing experience.

In addition, 60% of the participants felt conversational interfaces would significantly improve the way they search for content.

to talk to a television allows consumers to be in control of how much time they spend on content discovery, and therefore creating an experience that is hassle-free and less time consuming. Voice capabilities might be a saving grace for the television industry considering the constant decline in viewership. By providing interaction, accessibility, and convenience to consumers, voice interfaces will shape the future of user experience, and may be the bait that reels viewers back to the square box at the centre of entertainment delivery for over 90 years.

As with all other adoptions of new technology, voice will only truly take off if its implementation solves a definable problem. Poor implementation of voice features can do more harm than good, leading to failed search results and frustrated users who become disengaged and stop using the function or service completely.

The voice interface can be thought of as a nexus through the user interface.

Instead of navigating through endless menus that only very few viewers succeed in mastering, a cluttered screen can be replaced by a clean and intuitive user interface allowing voice interaction. The challenge then becomes not only providing a set of results for a given search, but also to interpret the intent of the viewer, and act upon that intent in a meaningful way so only the most salient results are seen and are personalised to the individual’s interests.

John Lee leads the sales of TiVo's solutions within the APAC outside Japan and China. John has 25 years' experience in Asia Pacific roles in the broadcast and communications industry, leading sales and engineering teams to drive the delivery of software and services.

Most recently, John was the CTO at CJ HelloVision, the largest cable operator in Korea. In the fiercely competitive broadcast landscape, John was responsible for the strategy and implementation of solutions at CJ Hellovision, including the first commercial UHD TV service in Korea. John played a pivotal role in establishing CJ as Korea's leading Multi-Service Operator, with a growing subscriber base and revenues.

OWN THIS SPACE! Get your products on the desks of key industry decision makers in print and online.

FOR OUR ADVERTISING RATES AND OPTIONS Contact Adam Buick adam@broadcastpapers.com or +61(0)413 007 144

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The chaos of today’s available content and limited time for recreation are key factors supporting the growing need for voice capabilities. The ability

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CONTENT DELIVERY

Imagine Showcases Business Transformation Strategies IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS INVITES ATTENDEES at IBC 2018 to visit its stand at the Amtrium, 4.A01. Industry experts will be on hand to demonstrate practical innovation and migration strategies that enable media companies to personalise the path and pace of their transition to next-generation architectures and business models.

IBC attendees are invited to bring their technical, operational and business questions to Imagine experts who can share insight on key industry issues from how SMPTE ST 2110 actually works in the real world, to how value can be extracted from remnant advertising inventory, to when it makes sense to virtualise playout operations or transition content origination and distribution to a public cloud.

“The end goal of an all-IP environment is now widely agreed upon across the industry, but the journey will be unique to every customer,” said Imagine CEO, Tom Cotney. “The timing and availability of capital will be different for every customer. And there are various schools of thought about when to buy into the maturity curve of new technology. Our goal is to serve our customers regardless of how the variables converge for them and help them meet their goals.”

Cotney continued, “With their businesses in transition, our customers need partners, not vendors. Partners need to have a complete understanding of how a media company makes money today and where capital is being applied to enable them to compete – and be ready with a solution that matches their strategy. People come to Imagine because we can take a 360-degree view of their business and present them with a new technology solution or the migration strategy that is right for them.”

At IBC 2018, Imagine Communications will demonstrate practical innovation and strategies for making a gradual, managed transition to next-gen architectures and business models across three major solution pillars.

Ad Tech Visitors to the Imagine stand can explore a unique portfolio of integrated inventory management and optimisation, data analytics and targeted delivery solutions designed to help media companies increase revenue and decrease costs across multichannel, multiplatform and multimarket operations.

Highlights include the worldwide debut of xG Scorecard, a business intelligence solution that provides at-a-glance, real-time insights and precise knowledge of how spots drive sales for advertisers. The first-of-its-kind reporting tool blends data from traditional sales and traffic systems, operational databases, ratings, clickstream and even social networks into a single view that can be customised

to meet the needs of specific users. By bringing together data that is normally siloed, xG Scorecard simplifies the process of discovering trends and spotting correlations vital to growing a media company’s business.

Live Imagine will showcase its latest innovations for live production, including industry-first, high-capacity 100GbE network links, an intuitive live sports control panel that provides enhanced automation break manipulation, and SMPTE ST 2110-capable processing for HD, UHD and IP. Highlights include a demonstration of Imagine’s ward-winning Selenio Network Processor and UHD-ready EPIC MV multiviewer working together to efficiently monitor the signals of multiple dedicated screens, with inputs and monitor outputs all in IP. To address the enormous bandwidth challenge associated with monitoring uncompressed UHD signals, SNP makes a proxy signal from every UHD signal that it touches in both directions. EPIC MV uses these proxy signals – which are full-colour, full-frame-rate, and typically HD resolution – rather than the UHD original, resulting in a significant reduction in overall system cost.

Playout Visitors to Imagine can get hands-on experience with proven, nextgeneration playout innovation, such as Versio Platform, the first cloud-native, microservices-based playout ecosystem, Versio IOX, the only high-availability, parity stack, multi-petabyte storage solution designed from the ground up for the reliability and performance demands of broadcast; and Nexio+ AMP, the industry’s highest-density media server with hybrid SDI/IP and H.265 capability.

Imagine will also demonstrate various transition scenarios for migrating from traditional to next-generation playout operations at a pace that works for each individual customer. For example, media companies using Imagine’s ADC and D-Series automation can continue on their platform of choice, while layering in new features and capabilities that the Versio playout engine offers. As customers seek more flexibility in deployment platforms, move to standard commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) infrastructure, or consider datacenterbased or cloud-ready operations, Imagine offers multiple transition paths for seamlessly migrating ADC, D-Series and Nexio+ customers to Versio Platform.

Visit Imagine Communications at IBC 2018 at the Amtrium, stand 4.A01.

Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

Agama Offers Containerised Solutions for Video Monitoring and Analytics AGAMA TECHNOLOGIES RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the launch of a fully containerised solution for monitoring, analytics and customer insights. This new functionality will be showcased at IBC 2018.

The continuous evolution of OTT and other video services increase demand for flexible deployments and operations. Agama’s solutions now offer full support for cloud-based and containerised services throughout the operator’s production environment. These cover virtualised in-house

“We are proud to introduce container-based support for our products that enable operators to efficiently and quickly deploy systems in any

Visit http://www.agama.tv

“Today’s market requires any vendor to be at the forefront of cloud and virtualisation” said Johan Görsjö, Agama Director of Product Management.

CONTENT DELIVERY

Containers allow for efficient use of computational resources. They provide fine-grained scaling and deployment of services instead of monoliths, as well as reduce dependencies between components. This lowers cost, reduces risks and increases operational agility for DevOps teams.

All Agama software has the possibility to deploy in container environments, such as Docker. The solution has extensive automation features, enabling systems to be automatically deployed and configured using the orchestration tool of the operator’s choice, such as Ansible or Chef – all to fully realise the potential that containers give.

deployments as well as public cloud environments, such as AWS and GCE.

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environment: cloud, on-premises, or any combination, to support customers wherever their video services are created and consumed.”

Join over 9,000 industry professionals who receive our weekly e-newsletter. Sign up at www.content-technology.com

Stay informed. Sign up today.

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The Challenge of DVB-T2 THE DVB-T2 TERRESTRIAL DIGITAL TV FORMAT is the current generation standard from the DVB family of standards. According to the DVB standards organisation, “DVB-T2 uses OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplex) modulation with a large number of subcarriers delivering a robust signal, and offers a range of different modes, making it a very flexible standard.

DVB-T2 uses the same error correction coding as used in DVB-S2 and DVB-C2: LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) coding combined with BCH (BoseChaudhuri-Hocquengham) coding, offering a very robust signal. The number of carriers, guard interval sizes and pilot signals can be adjusted, so that the overheads can be optimised for any target transmission channel.”

Additional new technologies used in DVB-T2 are: • Multiple Physical Layer Pipes allow separate adjustment of the robustness of each delivered service within a channel to meet the required reception conditions (for example in-door or roof-top antenna).

It also allows receivers to save power by decoding only a single service rather than the whole multiplex of services.

• Alamouti coding is a transmitter diversity method that improves coverage in small-scale single-frequency networks.

• Constellation Rotation provides additional robustness for low order constellations.

• Extended interleaving, including bit, cell, time and frequency interleaving.

• Future Extension Frames (FEF) allow the standard to be compatibly enhanced in the future.

As a result, DVB-T2 can offer a much higher data rate than DVB-T OR a much more robust signal.

According to Rich Redmond, Managing Director, International, with transmitter manufacturer GatesAir, “Arguably, T2 is one of the most advanced standards for delivering television”, but that’s not to say there are not challenges in rolling the standard out.

“I think, for a lot of countries in Asia, they carefully took their time on deployment somewhat earlier than others,” says Redmond. “The ones who've gone closer to the current time had the opportunity to pick T2 perhaps instead of T or ISDB-T, or another standard. They got to take advantage of the additional payload, they got to use MPEG-4 compression as opposed to MPEG-2 on some earlier ones. I think, for a lot of Asia, they had an opportunity to almost leap-frog over where some of the early adopters went.

“We've seen the rollout moving forward well. A lot of countries, especially in South East Asia, picked the standard. We've been involved in a number of the rollouts going on in Vietnam and Thailand; they're making really good progress in nationwide coverage and a lot of channels and potentially adding some more multiplexes, so that's going well.

Rich Redmond, Managing Director, International, GatesAir.

“Australia was a real leader in the market when it came to deploying DVB-T. They did a very organised and excellent rollout to transition from analogue, got everybody on it, and now they're looking at what's the next generation.

I think looking hard at T2 makes a lot of sense. I think they're probably going to want to look at what else is available today but arguably, T2 is the most widely adopted advanced standard for digital television.”

But, what are the challenges in migrating from DVB-T to T2?

“The first is, the receivers aren't really backwards compatible in a way, you need a multimodal receiver to do both,” says Rich Redmond. “And, the transmitters don't transmit both simultaneously. If I want to watch T2 it's not like it's a software flash to set-top-box, I need to go get a different box.

While the transmitters are upgradable most of the time by either software, if it was a later generation one or if it was earlier generation maybe swapping an exciter, they only do one standard at a time. That means if you want both available simultaneously, you need to rework some of your multiplexes. Some countries have done that. You may need to add spectrum if you want to keep everything whole. Or you may need to flash cut and say, ‘Today it's T2, yesterday it was T’.

“That's got a lot of consumer implications. The technology part is pretty straightforward. The political, societal and consumer issues, those are more of a challenge. If you asked an engineer, they would say that it was obvious, of course we should go tomorrow. More payload, better compression, why in the world wouldn't you go? These are complex questions that really, you have to look at all the stakeholders and it's not just technology; it's everybody's business model, there's social impacts. A lot of these broadcasters are public service broadcasters, so they have public service requirements that they have to live up to and that's important to address.

You really need to look at the whole ecosystem.”

Visit www.gatesair.com

DVB Green Lights Targeted Ads and HDR Dynamic Mapping

Targeted advertising is defined as the ability to display an individually selected (on a screen-by-screen basis) television advert, replacing the normal broadcast advert. Co-chaired by Angelo Pettazzi (Mediaset) and Vincent Grivet (TDF), the Commercial Module’s working group on targeted advertising delivered a set of CRs that distinguish four possible scenarios, with several use cases for each.

The scenarios include a horizontal broadcast TV model, two vertical models – one broadcaster-driven and one platform operator-driven – and OTT delivery as the fourth scenario.

An earlier DVB study mission had concluded that targeted advertising was likely to be a major trend in the market and that, given the lack of directly applicable standards enabling targeted advertising in classical horizontal broadcast TV, DVB could make a positive contribution in this area.

In creating a technical specification for targeted advertising, DVB will work closely with HbbTV, which has been identified as offering a promising starting

point for many of the requirements. DVB’s final specification will build on work done within HbbTV. HDR DYNAMIC MAPPING The Steering Board also approved CRs for High Dynamic Range (HDR) Dynamic Mapping extensions to DVB’s core video and audio coding specification (TS 101 154). The extensions will apply to the production, delivery and display of UHD services.

Dealing specifically with the PQ10 system for High Dynamic Range, the CRs identify the potential benefit in being able to "map" the HDR as graded on a professional reference monitor to the usually lower performance TV displays in the consumer environment. Dynamic mapping facilitates this functionality via information inserted into the HDR video bitstream. A suitably equipped display can use dynamic mapping information to adapt the rendering of video content to its own capabilities and viewing environment, including the possibility to replicate as closely as possible the intended appearance of that content as produced in the reference viewing environment. The CRs for HDR Dynamic Mapping were developed within the CM-AVC group.

Visit www.dvb.org

CONTENT DELIVERY

THE RECENT 89TH MEETING of the DVB Steering Board approved two new sets of Commercial Requirements (CRs), paving the way for the creation of new technical specifications. The documents in question deal with Targeted Advertising and the dynamic adaption of High Dynamic Range video signals to the characteristics of a display.

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ASIA ASIA +ANZ +ANZ

C+T AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FEATURES + DEADLINES 2018 ISSUE Nov-Dec

EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES

PUBLICATION DATE

Editorial Submissions: 17-10-18 Ad Bookings: 23-10-18 Ad Artwork: 01-11-18

2nd Week November

PRODUCT ROUND-UP +C hannel-in-a-Box Solutions +C able & Satellite Delivery +P roduction, Post & Locations round-up

SHOW COVERAGE + Preview: Screen Forever Conference

C+T ASIA FEATURES + DEADLINES 2018 ISSUE

EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES

Oct-Nov

Editorial Submissions: 01-10-18 Ad Bookings: 08-10-18 Ad Artwork: 15-10-18

PUBLICATION DATE

3rd Week October

PRODUCT ROUND-UP + Cable & Satellite Delivery + Digital Asset Management Solutions + OTT/IPTV/HbbTV Solutions

SHOW COVERAGE + Preview: CASBAA (Cable& Satellite Broadcasting Assoc of Asia) + Preview: Broadcast Indonesia

PHIL SANDBERG

ADAM BUICK

LUCY SALMON

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER

CO-FOUNDER

He has also produced the ABE2016, Sportscasting (2014-2016), and 3D-Day (2011) industry conferences.

Adam’s previous role as Manager of the SMPTE Australia Exhibition, along with strong family ties in Australia and SE Asia, has given him a unique perspective on the broadcast and content creation sector throughout the region.

Co-founder and Production co-ordinator Lucy Salmon has worked with Broadcastpapers.com since its inception.

She also holds a PhD in the field of sports medicine.

Contact Phil via +61(0)414 671 811 or papers@broadcastpapers.com

You can contact Adam on +61(0)413 007 144 or adam@broadcastpapers.com

You can reach her via +61(0)412 479 662 or production@broadcastpapers.com

Phil Sandberg has spent 28 years reporting on technology issues across the Asia-Pacific.

His credits include launching Content+Technology, Broadcastpapers.com, the SMPTE Australia Exhibition, Directory, and Cinema Technology Asia-Pacific.

What’s On SEPTEMBER IBC2018 14-18 September RAI Amsterdam The Netherlands www.ibc.org InfoComm India 18-20 September Bombay Exhibition Centre Mumbai, India www.infocomm-india.com News Technology Summit Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport 25-26 September Linthicum Heights Maryland, USA www.newstechnologysummit.com OCTOBER IEEE Broadcast Symposium 9 -11 October Key Bridge Marriott Arlington Virginia, USA https://bts.ieee.org/ broadcastsymposium

Prolight + Sound Shanghai 2018 10-13 October Shanghai New International Expo Centre https://prolight-sound-shanghai. hk.messefrankfurt.com NAB Show New York 2018 AES New York 2018 17-18 October Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, USA www.nabshowny.com www.aes.org Radio Alive 2018 19 October 2018 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Melbourne, Australia www.commercialradio.com.au SMPTE 2018 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2018) 22-25 October Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles, USA www.smpte2018.org Broadcast Indonesia 24-26 October Jakarta International Expo Indonesia www.broadcast-indonesia.com

Broadcast India 25-27 October Bombay Exhibition Centre Goregaon, Mumbai India www.broadcastindiashow.com/ home

Advertiser Index

Asia Video Summit (Formerly CASBAA Convention) 29 October-1 November Hong Kong www.casbaa.com

Comrex……………………………………………..41

NOVEMBER

AsiaTelevision Forum……………………………..33 Asia Video Forum…………………………………..23 BroadcastIndonesia2018…………………..IBC Central Broadcast Services…………………..21 Elevate Broadcast…………………………………..4 EMC…………………………………………………..5 GatesAir…………………………………………..9 Ideal Systems………………………………………..3

CBAA Conference 8-10 November Gold Coast Convention Centre Queensland, Australia www.cbaa.org.au/conference

IHSE……………………………………………………..8

InterBEE 2018 14-16 November Makuhari Messe Chiba, Japan www.inter-bee.com/en/

Riedel…………………………………………..11

Screen Forever 20-22 November Crown Conference Centre Melbourne, Australia http://screenforever.org.au

Magna Systems & Engineering……………IFC Mediaproxy…………………………………..29 Ooyala…………………………………………..13 Super Loop………………………………………..OBC VizRT……………………………………………..OFC

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