Content+Technology ANZ February 2017

PP: 255003/06831

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 2017

MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

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Migration is a matter of survival

For nearly 50 years Magna has been providing a competitive advantage for its customers in the broadcast industry through the timely adoption of innovations with minimal risk of disruption.

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VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 2017

Streamtime for OZFLIX, page 58.

REGULARS

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02 EDITOR’S WELCOME

50 INDUSTRY FOCUS

04 NEWS Telstra Broadcast Services Launches

64 CLASSIFIEDS

Studio T, Judd Overton Shoots ‘No Activity’ with Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K, 700MHz Spectrum Auction, ARRI Australia Exports Experts for Korean HDR Event, Ross Video Opens Office in Sydney, Melbourne Expansion for Silver Trak, People Moves.

FEATURES 12 STANDARDS ITU Goes Beyond HEVC, HDMI

36 POST-PRODUCTION Animal Logic

Supports Dynamic HDR, AIMS Adopts IS-04, HbbTV Streaming Reference App.

14 TAKING STOCK MCN Goes Live with

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Dynamic Trading on Network TEN, Australian Pay-TV Subscriptions Make Big Leap, Media Entrepreneurs Acquire NETIA from Globecast, Avid China Partnership, Southern Cross, WIN in Talks Over Assets.

16 ACQUISITION Documentary Maker Reaches Manhood with Sony, Panasonic 4K Broadcast Cameras and Developing 4K/HD Recorder, DPP Location Workflow Guide, DJI Flying Cameras, ARRI Accessories for Canon EOS C700.

24 SPORTSCASTING Nine Network signs deal with Surfing Australia, Gearhouse Develops Sportscom for AFL, Echo Sports Network: from the Niche to the National, The Gold Coast Diaries – Chapter 2, Commentary Box with Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany.

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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

30 NEWS OPERATIONS TEN Restructures

Academy Underway, Asian Animation Festival, Pacific Island Workflow with Bear Grylls, EditShare Lands at Beach House Pictures.

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD Tape Archiving Up for Post Houses, Automated TV Programmes with Ooyala, Digistor Announces Major Projects Team, Protecting the Content Value Chain.

48 AUDIO Tape Archiving Up for Post Houses, Automated TV Programmes with Ooyala, Digistor Announces Major Projects Team, Protecting the Content Value Chain.

52 RADIO ABC Radio Ceases Shortwave Transmissions, Oz Digital Radio to Expand, Radio NZ Drives User-Generated Content, Mediaworks NZ Launches Streaming App, WorldDAB Revises DAB Standard, Commercial Radio Selects AudioNET to Automate Ad Buying.

56 CONTENT DELIVERY World-First 10Gbps Fibre Network for NZ, Streamtime for OZFLIX..

News Teams, ABC Upgrades with Grass Valley, On the Move with Fairfax Media, Q&A with Dejero’s Mark Moore.

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

A Heave-Ho for Pirates

By Phil Sandberg DECEMBER 2016 SAW A VICTORY in the war

explaining that access has been disabled by court order for facilitating copyright infringement;

against content theft with the Australian Federal Court handing down its judgment in Roadshow Films Pty Ltd & Ors v Telstra Corporation Ltd & Ors and Foxtel These are the first cases to be decided under section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), where an internet service provider (ISP) can be ordered to block

TV shows. The case was filed against a number of Australian ISPs including Telstra, Optus, TPG, and iiNet. At the same time, Foxtel Management filed its case

isoHunt, and TorrentHound, which provide .torrent files

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against the same ISPs, applying for a section 115A injunction against websites The Pirate Bay, Torrentz,

and more timely access to content, court action of this type is just part of the arsenal to use in the ongoing battle against those who have no regard for intellectual property rights.

to enable copyright infringement of films and TV shows.

• The injunctions are to last for three years, and may be extended upon application from the content-owners. The ISPs have 15 days from the date of decision to implement the site blocks.

A third section 115A case is still in progress, filed by various Australian music labels and APRA|AMCOS who

And, it is not just a battle. With new platforms emerging all the time, it is an arms race.

This was amply demonstrated by the recent illegal “retransmission” via Facebook of the February 3rd MAIN EVENT boxing match featuring Anthony Mundine vs Danny Green, shown on Foxtel.

In what was a testament to Foxtel’s investigative capabilities, one of the copyright infringers was contacted with a desist request mid-stream. Instead of prosecution, Foxtel gave the individuals involved the opportunity to formally apologise via a public social 03:00

providing unauthorised online streaming of films and

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injunction against SolarMovie, an overseas website

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applied to the Federal Court for a section 115A

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Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, and Warner Bros.,

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number of film companies including Disney, Universal

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In February 2016, Roadshow Films, together with a

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infringement.

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And, really, that is the point. Along with cheaper, easier

• the applicants pay a portion of the ISPs’ compliance costs. The quantum was based on the estimation of Optus ($1,500) and TPG ($50 per domain name), rather than Telstra’s estimation of some $10,000 in set-up costs.

The applicants were also ordered to pay the ISPs’ agreed costs of putting on further evidence.

access to overseas websites which facilitate copyright

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directors and other creators the world over.”

• the injunction be subject to court oversight, including allowing the operators of the blocked websites be permitted to apply to vary or stop the injunction if they so wish; and

Management Pty Ltd v TPG Internet Pty Ltd & Ors.

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seek to profit from the hard work of actors, writers,

media post, acknowledging the impacts of Illegal streaming and file sharing.

are seeking a section 115A injunction for Australian

Sometimes, you need a sledgehammer to crack a

The Federal Court handed down a single judgment

ISPs to block access to the website KickAss Torrents.

for the two matters on 15 December 2016. In both

walnut and, sometimes, you don’t.

While groups like Internet Australia described the action

matters, it ordered that:

as pointless, likening it to a game of “whack-a-mole”,

• the ISPs must take reasonable steps to disable access to the named websites, and reroute any connection attempts to a webpage

Thanks for reading

it was welcomed by the likes of Foxtel whose Chief Executive, Peter Tonagh, said, “This judgement gives

Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher papers@

us another tool to fight the international criminals who

broadcastpapers.com +61(0)414671811

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

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Jakarta

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

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HELO offers a range of professional workflow options with both 3G-SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, and the power to handle up to 1080p 60 recording formats. Small and portable, HELO offers dedicated record and stream buttons, and a web-based user interface for easy configuration.

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

Telstra Broadcast Services Launches Studio T TELSTRA BROADCAST SERVICES has added to its arsenal of facilities in the Sydney CBD with the launch of Studio T, an all-HD studio space complete with editing facilities, and national and international connectivity.

According to Trevor Boal, Head of Telstra Broadcast Services, the new studio, housed in Telstra’s George Street Customer Insight Centre, represents a new opportunity for the telco’s broadcast business unit.

• Ooyala Live platform.

• HD Sony switcher.

• EVS – 2 record, 2 play channels (capable of 20TB in-house storage).

• Yamaha CL5 – 72 channel audio mixer.

“It’s a really well-connected facility because it’s connecting directly to our Digital Video Network, our DVN network, which obviously then also has access to our Global Media Network. So, from here in this studio we can broadcast to pretty much anywhere in the world. And the on top of that, we obviously can livestream broadcast over an IP network, once again to customers’ own internal networks - but also across the internet. So, yeah, fantastic connectivity options.”

• Multi-monitor wall.

• 1 x high definition robotic remote camera.

• 1 x autocue machine (camera mounted) .

• 6 x wireless professional lapel microphones.

• 6 x hard wired professional lapel microphones.

• IFB for talent.

• 3m x 6m professional lightbox backgrounds.

• 2 x dual video fallback floor monitors.

• Studio lighting ceiling grid: Professional Arri LED L5 studio lights, Honeycomb diffused led studio lights, Slash/hard LED studio lights.

• Professional glossy black studio stage (up to 6 talent).

Studio T’s Modular Studio Set is equipped with: • 4 x interchangable led walls (full colour spectrum).

• 2 x interchangable led pillars (full colour spectrum).

• 1 x led curved news desk − Can sit up to 4 people w/ TV in the middle − Can dismantle for 1 x host desk.

• 1 x 3 person lounge.

• 2 x set cushioned chairs (interview chairs).

• 1 x large black roundtable.

• 1 x set rug.

• 1 x 50-inch freestanding TV for background (wooden framed to match set).

Trevor Boal, Head of Telstra Broadcast Services.

• Chyron graphics suite .

• Autocue suite.

• 3 x 1080i high definition broadcast cameras with gas-lift dolly pedestals.

NEWS + PEOPLE

• Telstra Digital Video Network (DVN) and Global Media Network (GMN) broadcast connectivity.

“What we’re doing is expanding the offering we deliver in the market to include studio capabilities here in the CBD of Sydney in a prime location, which many of our customers are looking to leverage. So it’s a really exciting opportunity,” says Boal.

Features of the new Studio T include:

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The Studio T Control Room incorporates:

• Reidel wireless packs + control room comms.

• Technical director desk w/ Sony RCP & MSU. • Element DMX studio lighting desk – controls all lights on grid.

• Genelec 8060 high-end studio speakers.

The Studio T Edit Suite features Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2016, Adobe After Effects CC 2016, Adobe Photoshop CC 2016, Adobe Audition CC 2016, DaVinci Resolve 12, and a 4K broadcast editing monitor.

Telstra’s new Studio T.

The adjacent Telstra Theatre is equipped with an 8.5 x 6.2m 4K projection screen, six robotic cameras, an event stage for concerts, live entertainment or corporate events, integrated lighting capabilities and a Meyer Sound Constellation system.

Studio T also features connectivity to the Telstra Broadcast Operations Centre as well as the Artarmon-based facilities of Chief Entertainment.

The launch of the new studio comes on top of an already busy year for Telstra Broadcast Services with cricket – Big Bash League, tennis – the Australian Open, and a new contract with Perform Media to deliver the Women’s Tennis Association global women’s tennis tour consisting of 45-50 events per calendar year.

Telstra’s new Studio T.

Other projects include the British and German versions of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, shot in northern New South Wales and Queensland respectively.

“To have some facilities here, in the CBD, is really important,” said Trevor Boal. “We’re really seeing demand from a mix of different organisations.

Overflow for media operators themselves, including some of the major metro broadcasters and channels that have presence here in Australia.

Also, international providers that might have folk on the ground here that are looking for facilities. But we also see a big opportunity in the government and enterprise sector where, increasingly for AGMs, staff communication forums and the like, these sorts of facilities are a fantastic tool – much like what we’ve leveraged internally at Telstra to provide for staff and internal communications. So yeah, it’s a great opportunity.”

Visit http://telstra.com/broadcastservices

The Studio T control room.

The Studio T editing suite.

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Judd Overton Shoots ‘No Activity’ with Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K BLACKMAGIC DESIGN has announced that DP Judd Overton is using a Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K EF to shoot the Australian television show ‘No Activity’ created by production company Jungle for the Stan streaming network. Overton has served as the show’s DP for both seasons and previously used the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K for select rig shots on season one.

‘No Activity’ is a comedy that follows a team of police detectives and dispatch officers as they investigate crime. Written and directed by Trent O’Donnell (Review with Myles Barlow, New Girl), ‘No Activity’ is a Stan Original series that recently debuted its second season. Starring Patrick Brammall and Darren Gilshenan as detectives Hendy and Stokes, season two introduces several new characters, including affluent businessman Bernie (Damon Herriman) and his wife Elizabeth (Rose Byrne), whose kidnapping sets the course for the show’s season.

“Going into season two, I was really excited to add an URSA Mini 4.6K to our shooting package.

The show is shot at a very fast pace with a lot of improvisational humour. We needed a compact camera that was easy to use and could easily fit into our workflow,” said Overton.

“With the URSA Mini 4.6K, we were able to take it straight out of the box and get shooting with no lag time or learning curve, which was really important for our fast paced schedule,” continued Overton.

“Its usability was impressive but it’s already gotten better with the Camera 4.0 update. The new menu system and interface is very user friendly – and all at

a touch rather than pages of sub menus. Overall, the camera’s versatility and usability has really helped save the schedule many times.”

Heading into the second season, Overton and his team needed to not only match, but also enhance the show’s look that they’d defined in season one.

“While ‘No Activity’ is a comedy, it has a drama look with its darker tones. We use high contrast with dark shadows to amplify the show’s feel, which can be much more dark and dry than most comedies.

The URSA Mini 4.6K’s dynamic range captured that look perfectly,” explained Overton.

“A lot of the show is cross shooting, playing off two actors that are conversing with each other. For this

season, we had a particular scene with Byrne and Herriman tied up facing each other in a basement.

They’re both hilarious, and once they get riffing you don’t want to have to start and stop the scene.

“We knew we’d want closeups, so we mounted the URSA Mini 4.6K to shoot Byrne for one take and then Herriman for the second. We only ever get two takes but we were able to capture exactly what we needed with the camera. Its reliability is crucial to the show’s improvisational nature because we can’t miss a shot – we’d risk missing comedy gold.

The URSA Mini 4.6K is the camera I use when I really need to get that shot,” concluded Overton.

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com/au

Oz Govt Invites Applicants for 700MHz Spectrum Auction THE AUSTRALIANCOMMUNICATIONS COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY inviting This applications participants in –the Apriladvertises 2017 auction per head of populationiscovered. is the from prospective • January 16th 2017 ACMA auction, THE AUSTRALIAN equivalent of the 2013 ‘digital dividend’ auction AND MEDIA AUTHORITY is inviting publishes the Applicant Information Package applications from prospective participants in the April 2017 auction of spectrum licences in the 700MHz band. The lots on offer remained unsold following the 2013 digital dividend auction.

“This spectrum band – made available after Australia switched from analogue to digital TV – is highly valued for mobile broadband, in particular 4G services,” said acting ACMA Chairman, Richard Bean. “We expect the spectrum will be used to provide high-speed mobile voice and data coverage to regional and metropolitan Australia.”

NEWS + PEOPLE

The blocks of 700MHz spectrum to be auctioned remained unallocated following the digital switchover of TV broadcasts from analogue.

The first 700MHz blocks were sold by auction to Telstra and Optus in 2013. However, 30MHz (2×15 MHz blocks) of spectrum remained unsold.

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Australia’s Minister for Communications, Senator Mitch Fifield, has directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to set a reserve price of AUD$1.25 per MHz,

reserve price, adjusted for a shorter licence term.

Acting on the advice of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Minister has also directed the ACMA to set an allocation limit of 2 x 20MHz blocks. This means that no mobile network operator can own more than two 20MHz blocks of spectrum in the 700MHz band, ensuring the auction promotes competition and that the spectrum is allocated in the long‑term interests of end-users.

The Ministerial direction will allow successful bidders to pay for spectrum in instalments, as long as certain conditions are met. The direction also allows for a subsequent allocation process, open to all bidders regardless of their existing spectrum allocation, should any spectrum remain unsold. This will help ensure valuable spectrum is not left unused at the end of the process.

A summary of the key auction dates is as follows: • December 16th 2016 – ACMA made allocation instruments and registered them on the Federal Register of Legislation.

and applications open.

• February 13th 2017 – Application deadline.

This is the date by which auction applicants must submit completed auction forms and pay the application fee.

• March 16th 2017 – Preference deadline. This is the date by which auction applicants must submit completed lot preference nomination forms and make a substantial deposit.

• To be announced – Mock auction and notification of start date.

• April 4th 2017 – Estimated auction commencement.

The Applicant Information Package (AIP) and Auction Guide provides information on the spectrum products on offer, the auction rules, and how interested parties can participate in the auction.

Visit www.acma.gov.au

ARRI Australia Exports Experts for Korean HDR Event

Smith explained: “The ‘Top Creative Skill Training for 4K Broadcast Professionals’ event was the result of a Korean government initiative. They wanted the very best experts and speakers.

Having discussed the event with Carlos I realised this couldn’t be a one person event, so I got in touch with DOP and AFTRS lecturer, Richard Wilmot, to see what kind of team we could put together.”

Smith and Wilmot quickly realised that in order to do the topic of HDR justice they would need a DOP, gaffer, grip, and a lighting expert.

Wilmot said, “We already had ARRI’s Middle East GM and resident DIT, Phillip Chudalla in place.

Alongside Philip we got in David Burr ACS (Mad Max: Fury Road, San Andreas), as the event required a DOP with a recognised Hollywood presence, Grant Wilson as our gaffer, Glen Bielenberg as our lighting expert, and myself as a second DOP and team coordinator.”

With the team in place, Wilmot and Smith set about preparing a comprehensive agenda and presentation that included film clips, links to

media, content hardware, and full facilities in just two weeks.

As the four-day workshop kicked off in Gangham’s Dae Yoo Studios, it became clear to Wilmot and the team that the level of presentation had to be first class.

Wilmot added: “It was a good job we’d done our homework and got the cream of Australian talent for this event, as the attendees were interested in all aspects of HDR. We used ARRI ALEXA SXT cameras and ARRI Master Primes for show and tell style presentations, and ARRI SkyPanels, LED ribbon lights and a Grand MA2 console for the lighting sessions. On day four we all came together for a DIT presentation that covered all the disciplines.”

Wilmot and the team also shot and recorded footage at the studio so they could then discuss different techniques and approaches that best suit HDR in realtime. The discussions also extended to post-production which meant the use of high-end LG and Canon HDR monitors as part of the demonstrations.

Wilmot continued: “The number of attendees grew each day, as did the level and depth of their interest and interactivity. This was a very serious event. As a result we set up and tested

many different scenarios using all the ARRI cameras and lighting equipment. No creative stone was left unturned. As a result these cameramen and lighting operators from Korea’s best broadcasting crews walked away with a far better understanding of HDR and the dynamic range of ARRI cameras. That combined with a broader knowledge of how creative lighting can enhance shooting with HDR made the event a huge success.”

Visit www.arri.com.au

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WHEN ARRI KOREA’S CARLOS CHU needed a team of industry experts to bring the Korean TV and movie industry up to speed on HDR, he turned to ARRI Australia’s Brett Smith.

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NEWS + PEOPLE Amanda Morrison to Drive APAC Expansion for Komixx INDEPENDENT FILM AND TV production company, Komixx Entertainment, has announced it has expanded operations into Australia to identify and develop local IP for TV and film production in the Asia-Pacific market. Former RKPIX founder and leading figure in the APAC TV and entertainment industry, Amanda Morrison, will lead the Australian (Perth) office and drive the company’s strategy in the region.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the international transmedia production industry, including media advisory roles for Australian government agencies, Screenwest and Screen NSW, Amanda has a track record in producing popular content within the APAC market. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for The Centre For Interdisciplinary Arts and PVI collective in Western Australia.

Amanda founded Transmedia For Change, an independent documentary and children’s production company. She has also produced content for international distributors and broadcasters such as NTL and Channel 5.

Amanda Morrison said, “I’m really excited to be founding Komixx Entertainment Australia. I have wanted to collaborate with the Komixx team for a long time, as they truly understand the substantial disruption the global film and TV industry is facing from digital technologies and business models. We all agree it is critical to harness the opportunity the digital revolution represents.”

Visit www.komixx.com

Magna Helps AVE with OB WHEN SYDNEY-BASED independent multi-media television production company, AVE, wanted to build a new high-end OB truck, it turned to its technology partner, Magna Systems and Engineering.

The Ikegami HDK-55 HDTV camera features a new FPGA with full digital process ASIC, video processing technology to maximise the benefit of 16-bit, and 2/3-inch 2.3 Megapixel AIT CCDs (1080i/59.94Hz, 50Hz).

Specialising in the production of sport, lifestyle and music programmes, AVE produces over 250 hours of TV content annually for FTA and pay TV networks, both locally and internationally.

The Shax System from Bluebell allows SD-SDI and HD-SDI broadcast cameras fitted with Standard SMPTE 304M hybrid connectors to be deployed using ordinary single mode optical fibre. This allows the user to replace the fibre/copper hybrid cable between the camera and the CCU with standard fibre cable.

According to AVE Broadcast Engineer, Les Bishop, “We decided to bolster our OB fleet and build a new truck that could do work for pay TV channels like Fox Sports and broadcast work for all the commercial channels.”

With Bishop in charge of truck design and project management, he turned to Magna’s Barry Pegg and Lucas Bohm for help with cameras, fibre infrastructure and intercoms.

After discussions with the Magna team, AVE decided on Ikegami HDK-55 cameras, Bluebell Shax fibre and RTS comms to populate the Sony-built truck body.

The RTS Zeus III is a 32-channel intercom matrix where each channel can be used to connect to a keypanel or 4W audio. By using either the dedicated DB-9 trunk connector with standard RS485 protocol, or ethernet trunking, the Zeus III is able to communicate with an RTS trunk master system.

Visit www.magnasys.tv

Andy Kay Appointed GM of Seven Adelaide SEVEN WEST MEDIA has confirmed the appointment of Andy Kay as General Manager of Channel Seven Adelaide. Mr Kay will return to his hometown of Adelaide to take on the new role, in addition to his current role as General Manager of Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Mr Kay joined Seven in 1984 and held a number of key roles in the Adelaide newsroom for 13 years before taking on his current role. He has now been at the helm of Seven’s coverage of 11 Olympic Games over the past two decades, last year working with the team that delivered the coverage of Rio 2016.

Announcing the appointment of Mr Kay, Tim Worner, CEO of Seven West Media, said, “Andy has played an integral role in our company for more

than three decades, for most of that time at the forefront of one of the most significant aspects of our success and progress – that being Seven’s coverage of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.”

Mr Kay said, “Almost 33 years ago I began working at Seven Adelaide and I always said I’d be back. It is a privilege to take this role at such a pivotal and exciting time for Seven, and personally to be moving closer to family. I’m looking forward to the challenge of this position and to work with an exceptionally talented team.”

Visit www.sevenwestmedia.com.au

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Ross Video Opens Office in Sydney ROSS VIDEO HAS EXPANDED its Asia-Pacific reach with the opening of a new office in Sydney.

The move follows the opening of a new office in Singapore in late 2016.

Speaking at the opening of the new office in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria, Ross Video EMEA/ Oceania Marketing Manager, Stuart Russell, said, “We made a decision, about six months ago, that Australia and New Zealand now was doing well enough as a territory, as a bloc, that it should be a little bit more standalone. It’s traditionally been part of our APAC region, though we made a decision to, effectively, set it up as a separate bloc – which we’ve called Oceania. So, it’s Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

“Amanda [Leighton, Sales Director] has been doing a terrific job over the last few years. She’s been ploughing a little bit of a lonely furrow, because Europe is a long way away from her – and Canada even further. And, she’s been trying to get a little

bit of additional resource to help her out in the region, and slowly, but surely, [Ross Video HQ in] Canada has been investing a bit more here in the same way they did in Europe, just four and a bit years ago when I started.”

According to Stuart, the new office will play host to regular product demonstrations, customer training and additional on-the-ground staff.

“I think boots on the ground make a huge difference,” says Russell. “I have to give Amanda a huge amount of credit for this. She’s worked very, very hard to build Ross up in the region, she’s been out there fighting hard in the trenches. This gives us a great springboard to push on from. It gives Amanda a bit of extra resource and a nice home that she can build on.”

“We’re really pleased about it. It’s a great move for the company. I’m completely convinced it’s going to pay its way in a short period of time and it’s just

a really nice move on from where we’ve been.”

The Ross Video Australia office is located at: B4 15-21 Doody Street, Alexandria, NSW 2015.

Tel: +61 (0)2 8020 5844 Technical Support: 1300 007 677 Visit www.rossvideo.com

Melbourne Expansion for Silver Trak SILVER TRAK DIGITAL has recruited media professional, Tim Symons, to head up the new Melbourne arm of the company. Symons, who brings a wealth of experience to Silver Trak, was most recently Content Manager, Broadcast Services, APAC, for Deluxe Australia where he was responsible for the management of the content acquisition, logistics, operational and delivery needs of Deluxe’s broadcast and nonbroadcast clients.

Symons’ recruitment is part of Silver Trak’s broader expansion plans and is key to the company now offering its range of video and file based services to broadcast, media, production, distribution and corporate markets in Melbourne and Victoria.

Symons reports in to Silver Trak MD Christian Christiansen, who explained, “Tim is a great and valuable addition to Silver Trak, especially with the increased demand for media services in

Victoria. Ever since a few facilities closed down in Melbourne we have had an increasing demand for all of the services we offer. With that in mind, and in order to take care of our clients in the best possible way, we now have a key local resource on the ground they can turn to for any of their requirements.”

Silver Trak’s jewel in the crown is its Media Room smart media asset management service, something unique to Melbourne-based businesses. As well as Media Room the company now offers its range of broadcast and media services, including authoring, DCP, duplication, QC and high-end broadcast transfers.

Christiansen added, “Our Melbourne clients will have full and complete access to all of our services and Tim’s many years of professional experience as support. We are also offering our Melbourne clients the same high quality

digitisation, management and delivery of content for clients anywhere in the world, encoded for any platform. If you are based in Melbourne you now have your very own, personalised Silver Trak service available to you 24/7.”

To contact Tim Symons call 0408 133 026 or email tims@silvertrak.com.au Visit www.silvertrak.com.au

NEWS + PEOPLE

Grass Valley Appoints Hansford, Moran

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GRASS VALLEY HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Ward Hansford as General Manager – Oceania. Based out of the Sydney office and reporting to Stephen Stubelt (Senior Vice President – Global Sales), Ward will head Grass Valley’s activities throughout the region.

key sales and general management roles within Tandberg Television/ Ericsson Australia and Sony where he held the role of General Manager.

Ward is passionate about the broadcast industry and has been active over the years as a SMPTE member and as the Australian Section Chair.

With over 30 years’ experience in general management, sales and marketing, Ward has strong expertise in creating business growth, strategic planning and focused execution. Before returning to Australia and joining Grass Valley, Ward was Head of APAC at Ericsson based in Hong Kong. Prior to that Ward held a number of

Ward’s appointment will ultimately replace the interim position currently being fulfilled by Andrew Sedek who will begin transitioning the role to Ward.

Grass Valley has also announced that Tony Moran has joined as Key Account Manager in its Sydney office, reporting to Ward Hansford.

Tony Moran.

Ward Hansford.

With over 15 years of experience in solution sales and key account management of major broadcast media clients, Tony is coming to GV from Ericsson where he was managing tier-one key accounts within the region. Tony will be a core member of the Oceania team in delivering end-to-end broadcast solutions.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

Changing of the Guard at the ABC evolved from an analogue to a digital broadcaster.”

Broadcasting Corporation’s Director of Television, has announced his resignation, and will finish up with the ABC at the end of March, 2017.

ABC International Chief Executive Officer, Lynley Marshall, has also announced she will leave the broadcaster in February 2017 to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer of Museums Victoria.

In a statement released by the ABC, Finlayson said, “I have decided that after more than three very satisfying and rewarding years as Director of ABC TV, it is time to move on to the next stage of my career. After a short break at Christmas I indicated to the Managing Director, Michelle Guthrie, that as I finalise my next venture we should begin arrangements for my departure. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve our audiences and work with the best talent in the industry. I am confident I leave the business well positioned to succeed.

The ABC’s Chief Operating Officer, David Pendleton, has notified the ABC that he will be leaving the broadcaster on June 30, 2017.

The ABC has acknowledged the pivotal role Mr Pendleton has played in shaping the ABC’s operational base and in its digital expansion. Mr Pendleton said it was an appropriate time to flag his intention to leave the Corporation to focus on new challenges.

“It has been a privilege and an honour to contribute to Australia’s most respected media organisation. I am proud of my team’s achievements during my time here as we have

ABC Chairman James Spigelman, and Managing Director Michelle Guthrie, paid tribute to Ms Marshall’s career at the ABC. “I speak for the entire ABC Board when I say Lynley is held in high regard, and her strategic insights and energy will be missed,” Mr Spigelman said.

“Lynley’s sense of purpose and drive are boundless,” Michelle Guthrie said. “Lynley has been instrumental in leading the recent evolution of ABC International and the ABC is richer for her contributions over the last 16 years.”

“It has been such a privilege to lead three different divisions of the ABC, and I extend my thanks to the many talented teams I have worked with over the years. I look forward to an exciting future for the ABC, as it continues to evolve under the leadership of ABC Managing Director, Michelle Guthrie,” said, Ms Marshall.

The Australian Government has requested the Independent Nomination Panel for the ABC conduct a selection process to appoint a new Chairperson to the Corporation’s Board.

The request comes as the term of the current

Chairperson, the Hon James Spigelman AC QC, is due to conclude on 31st of March 2017.

The Independent Nomination Panel, chaired by Mr Ted Evans AC, will conduct a merit-based selection process for the vacancy. The selection process will be conducted in accordance with the ABC Act 1983, and will develop a list of suitable candidates which will be provided to Communications Minister, Mitch Fifield, and Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull for consideration.

Visit www.abc.net.au

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RICHARD FINLAYSON, the Australian

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TECHNICAL STANDARDS www.content-technology.com/standards

ITU Exploring Beyond HEVC ITU-T STUDY GROUP 16 (SG16) and the ISO/IEC Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) are inviting experts to submit evidence supporting the case for a future video coding standard beyond today’s ‘High Efficiency Video Coding’ (HEVC, published as ITU-T H.265 | ISO/IEC 23008-2). Such future standardisation could take the form of additional extension(s) of HEVC or an entirely new standard.

The ‘Preliminary Joint Call for Evidence on Video Compression with Capability beyond HEVC’ is in search of advances in video coding with potential to drive the development of a standard with double the video compression capability of HEVC. Should the ‘Call for Evidence’ support a strong case for the development of a future video coding standard, SG16 and MPEG will issue a ‘Call for Proposals’ to fuel the new standardization project, targeting the completion of this project by late 2020.

The SG16-MPEG Joint Video Exploration Team (JVET) is studying the feasibility of the project and evaluating candidate technology designs. JVET is reporting roughly 30 per cent improvement in compression capability relative to HEVC with its preliminary ‘Joint Exploration Model’, with the qualification that this improvement comes with high computational complexity. This work is considering a wide variety of video source content, including new types of content such as high dynamic range video and virtual-reality/360° omnidirectional video.

The preliminary ‘Call for Evidence’ will be followed by a final ‘Call for Evidence’ on 7 April 2017. Responses to these calls will be evaluated by a meeting of JVET in Turin, Italy, 14-21 July 2017.

Visit https://itu.int/en/ITU-T/studygroups/2017-2020/16/ Documents/201701/Video-CfE-SG16R1-AnnexH.pdf

AIMS Adopts IS-04 Specification THE ALLIANCE FOR IP MEDIA SOLUTIONS (AIMS) has announced that it has added the IS-04 specification to its roadmap. IS-04 will bring critical uniformity to the use of video, audio, and ancillary data on a network of devices. The specification is important because it defines how IP-enabled devices can discover each other and connect compatible IP streams as part of a workflow. Furthermore, IS-04 automates that process, making discovery and connection more fluid than in a conventional SDI environment.

“IS-04 provides the next level of interoperability beyond transporting data. By adding it to our roadmap, AIMS is not just advocating for protocols related to video, audio, and data transport, but for protocols that determine how multivendor solutions can create seamless interoperable environments,” said Michael Cronk, AIMS board Chair. “The membership agreed that a common approach to managing discovery and registration was important, as such an approach provides a clearly defined way for SMPTE 2022-6- and SMPTE 2110-compliant devices to find and connect to each other. This allows us to leverage the benefits of IT and networking technologies to create a more flexible and scalable solution than conventional SDI routing systems will allow.”

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

Visit http://aimsalliance.org

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HDMI to Support Higher Video Resolutions, Dynamic HDR THE HDMI FORUM, INC. used CES2017 to announce the upcoming release of Version 2.1 of the HDMI Specification. This latest HDMI Specification supports a range of Higher Video Resolutions and refresh rates including 8K60 and 4K120, Dynamic HDR, and increased bandwidth with a new 48G cable.

Version 2.1 of the HDMI Specification is backward compatible with earlier versions of the Specification, and was developed by the HDMI Forum’s Technical Working Group.

HDMI Specification 2.1 Features Include: • Higher Video Resolutions support a range of higher resolutions and faster refresh rates including 8K60Hz and 4K120Hz for immersive viewing and smooth fast-action detail.

• Dynamic HDR ensures every moment of a video is displayed at its ideal values for depth, detail, brightness, contrast, and wider colour gamuts—on a scene-by-scene or even a frame-by-frame basis.

• 48G cables enable up to 48Gbps bandwidth for uncompressed HDMI 2.1 feature support including 8K video with HDR. The cable is backwards compatible with earlier versions of the HDMI Specification and can be used with existing HDMI devices.

• eARC supports the most advanced audio formats such as objectbased audio, and enables advanced audio signal control capabilities including device auto-detect.

• Game Mode VRR features variable refresh rate, which enables a 3D graphics processor to display the image at the moment it is rendered for more fluid and better detailed gameplay, and for reducing or eliminating lag, stutter, and frame tearing.

The new specification will be available to all HDMI 2.0 Adopters and they will be notified when it is released early in Q2 2017.

Visit www.hdmi.org

HbbTV Reference App for Online Streaming THE HBBTV ASSOCIATION has announced a Request for Proposals (RfP) for the creation of a reference application for online streaming of DRM protected video to HbbTV televisions and set-top boxes.

Through this initiative, HbbTV aims to make it easier for broadcasters and content providers to monetise content in the HbbTV ecosystem by providing a known working application with content that they can use as a model for their own services. The HbbTV Association has approached DRM suppliers for support on this project, as it does not include specific DRM systems in its specifications.

The installed base of HbbTV TVs and STBs now reaches 46 million, of which a large majority support DASH and DRM. The commissioned reference application will work on as much of this installed base as possible, as well as on HbbTV 2 products entering the market in 2017.

Visit www.hbbtv.org

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13

TAKING STOCK Moves in the business of content + technology

www.content-technology.com/mediabusiness

Australian Pay-TV Subscriptions Make a Big Leap AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTIONS for over-the-top (OTT) TV services

MOBILE DEVICE ADOPTION FAVOURS THE YOUNG

such as Netflix and Foxtel Play have shown major growth since 2015, with the proportion of consumers of OTT surging from 26% in 2015 to 40% in 2016, according to research from subscription, billing and CRM specialist, Paywizard. While more Australians use at least one OTT service in 2016, the figure still trails the 45% global average with subscriptions increasing at a slower rate than the other five bellwether markets surveyed.

The research revealed 37% of consumers intend to use a mobile device for at least part of their Christmas TV viewing, while 88% intend to use a TV or smart TV.

However, the research, commissioned by Paywizard and conducted by Research Now, reveals the Australian OTT market was about to get a boost during Christmas 2016, when 46% of consumers planned to watch more TV than usual. The research showed 23% of all consumers plan to either sign up for an OTT subscription for the first time prior to the holiday season, or add an extra service – up from 18% in 2015 but lower than the global figure of 30%.

The survey of over 6,200 consumers worldwide – including 1,037 in Australia – showed 14% of Australians intended to sign up to an OTT service for the first time, which would bring the total proportion of subscribers to 44%.

However, it’s clear that many new pay-OTT subscribers in Australia are uncertain about making a long-term commitment to on-demand television providers, as the survey also found that 59% those planning to subscribe to internet TV for the first time during Christmas 2016 intended to cancel within six months – higher than the global figure of 50%.

The research also examined Australian consumers’ pay-TV consumption across cable, satellite, and internet TV operators. The findings reveal that in addition to Foxtel and global OTT giant Netflix, there is ample choice in the pay-TV marketplace with seven services registering between 3% and 12% uptake.

Bhavesh Vaghela, Chief Marketing Officer at Paywizard, noted: “The last few years has seen Australian consumers gain access to a lot more pay-TV options, and although the market is growing slower than others, the pace of adoption is consistent.”

The younger the Australian consumer, the more likely they are to use a mobile device, with more than 50% of each demographic under age 45 doing so, while just 16% of the 55-plus age group intended to go mobile during the 2016 Christmas period.

LOCAL CHALLENGERS STILL IN THE FIGHT With 51% uptake among pay-TV subscribers, Netflix has taken Australia by storm since its launch in 2015. Nonetheless, it has a strong video-ondemand competitor emerging through Foxtel, which complements its core satellite TV service with its Foxtel Play and Presto TV services. After the launch of Amazon Prime, and reality TV channel, Hayu – which join Stan and Fetch TV – it’s clear Australian audiences are open to a range of on-demand choices.

Vaghela observed: “The Australian pay-OTT market has seen strong growth for early mover Netflix, but it’s unclear whether subscribers will stick with this service for the long run in the face of so much competition.”

Australian consumers planning on taking a first OTT subscription over Christmas 2016 were asked to name the reasons they would retain a service. Value for money came out on top at 56%. The next most popular factor – listed at 38% – was a provider offering flexibility in allowing customers to adjust their services as required.

Vaghela concluded: “The big takeaway for pay-TV operators in Australia is that there is still a huge untapped market waiting to be unlocked. 44% of Australian households don’t yet pay for TV services. This suggests operators need to do more to meet the needs of a largely underserved audience, which means they need to find better ways of both cultivating, and keeping strong subscriber relationships.”

Visit www.paywizard.com

Media Entrepreneurs Acquire NETIA from Globecast NETIA, THE FRENCH MEDIA SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS COMPANY,

technology businesses in synergy with customers, partners and staff.

has announced that its sole shareholder, Globecast (part of the Orange

Both businessmen exceed 25 years of experience in media IT, and have

NETIA’s CEO, Thierry Gandilhon said, “Having new private owners committed to our roots in the south of France, and to our core business, will give us the autonomy to focus on a more efficient operation. Our teams have already started a dialog with several customers, and we are confident they will benefit from this new arrangement.”

an impressive and recognised track record in successfully transforming

Visit www.netia.com

group), has sold all its shares in the company to two French media entrepreneurs, Anthony Savelli and Vincent Benveniste. The acquisition was made via Radio Act SAS, NETIA’s consulting and services agency.

TAKING STOCK

Board Directors Depart from Nine Entertainment

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT CO. HOLDINGS LIMITED (ASX: NEC) has

The Chairman, Mr Peter Costello said, “Holly and Elizabeth have both been

advised that Ms Elizabeth Gaines and Ms Holly Kramer, have both tendered their resignations as directors of NEC, with effect from the 3rd of February, 2017.

valued members of the board of Nine Entertainment during their time as

Ms Gaines’ retirement follows the announcement of her appointment to the role of Chief Financial Officer of Fortescue Metals Group Limited, with effect from the 6th of February, 2017. Ms Kramer has retired to allow her to restructure her board portfolio.

directors. They have also made significant contributions as Chair of the People and Remuneration Committee, and the Audit and Risk Committee, respectively. I thank each of them for their excellent contribution as directors and wish them both much success in their future endeavours.”

Visit www.nineentertainmentco.com.au

TAKING STOCK

MCN Goes Live with Dynamic Trading on Network TEN MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK (MCN) is establishing what it calls “a new benchmark for highly targeted and efficient television trading on Australian free-to-air channels” by offering its Dynamic Trading model on Network TEN. The announcement follows a successful trial of the model across Network TEN’s channels at the end of 2016.

This latest technical evolution for MCN and Network TEN’s partnership follows the latter’s move to Imagine Communications’ Landmark system in May 2016. It means MCN will now offer advertisers the opportunity to trade audiences rather than just airtime across Network TEN, helping improve targeting and audience campaign delivery. The rollout will progress over 2017 with selected partners.

MCN’s trading product uses up-to-date audience predictions to respond to changes in viewing behaviour, in turn, optimising campaign placement. In

2016 MCN demonstrated the success of this Dynamic Trading model by meeting the end-of-year goal to deliver 60 per cent of all Foxtel advertising campaigns through Dynamic Trading. The achievement reflected the market’s enthusiasm around dynamic trading, as well as MCN’s ability to deliver results.

MCN Chief Sales and Marketing officer, Mark Frain, said, “As the industry landscape becomes increasingly more complex, sophisticated and automated tools like Dynamic Trading play a significant role in helping advertisers trade with greater ease, flexibility and efficiency. This is the future of the television industry, and we’re excited to be the first to deliver Visit www.ten.com.au www.imaginecommunications.com and www.mcn.com.au

Southern Cross, WIN in Talks Over TV and Radio Assets SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP (ASX:SXL) has announced that it has entered into discussions with WIN Corporation for the sale by SCA of its Northern NSW (NNSW) television assets and operations to WIN and the acquisition of WIN’s i98FM radio station.

Under an affiliation agreement with Network TEN, SCA broadcasts TEN programming in the NNSW television licence area. The affiliation agreement is for a five-year term ending on June 30, 2021. Completion of the proposed transaction with WIN will be subject to consent from Network TEN. WIN already broadcasts TEN programming in several regional television licence areas, including regional Victoria, southern NSW, and regional Queensland. The proposed transaction would enable WIN to sell advertising for TEN programming in the four aggregated regional markets on the eastern seaboard.

SCA has a programme supply agreement with the Nine Network under which SCA broadcast Nine programming in regional Victoria, southern NSW (including Wollongong) and regional Queensland. SCA also provides national sales services for Nine’s NBN channel in northern NSW, providing advertisers with a centralised port of call for their regional advertising on Nine’s content along the eastern seaboard.

SCA has 68 regional radio stations, but does not currently operate a radio station in the Wollongong licence area. The proposed transaction would create a multimedia market for SCA with the ability to cross-sell radio and television in this market.

SCA says it will make a further announcement if agreement is reached on the transaction proceeding.

Visit www.sca.com.au

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NEW ZEALAND www.proaudiotv.co.nz P: 0800 002 417 E: sales@proaudiotv.co.nz

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Pushing the Envelope.

15

ACQUISITION

ACQUISITION

www.content-technology.com/acquisition

Documentary Maker Reaches Manhood with Sony IN THE ‘BOY TO MAN’ SERIES, adventurer and filmmaker Tim Noonan embarks on a solo journey of self-discovery to unlock the mysteries of what it means to be the ultimate man. Throughout the series, Noonan has to earn the trust of some of the world’s least known tribes. With just the clothes on his back and a Sony F55 camera, he is put through rituals, initiations and gruelling tests to ‘man-up’ and prove himself worthy of their respect.

Noonan’s choice of camera was critical for the unique series. “Moving to the Sony F55 was my first real foray into Sony’s high-end cameras,” he said.

“For years as a reporter-cameraman on Seven’s Sunday Night programme, I was wedded to the Sony F3, so the F55 was a natural progression for my Boy to Man series.”

It was nearly two years ago that Noonan embarked on this worldwide quest to film the most extreme coming of age rituals in some of the most brutal and remote locations on the planet. He knew this was always going to be tough, but he also knew he didn’t just want to film the rites of passage, he wanted to put himself through them.

According to Noonan, “I needed a camera to match the challenge and the Sony F55 is a resilient, bullet-proof weapon that can withstand the harshest conditions while still delivering blue-chip pictures. Because the camera could be stripped down, I could run for days and take it virtually anywhere without being too precious. At the same time, when I wanted to kit it out for more complex shoots, I had the choice.”

Noonan added, “You name it we went through it. In the heat of an initiation the last thing I wanted to worry about was my camera. I travel with only one offsider, my best mate and long-time editor, Jimmy Hamilton. So when I had to be in front of the F55, I’d set up the sticks, frame-up and hand over the controls. If a guy with no camera experience was able to navigate the basics of the F55 fast, in my eyes it’s a testament to just how user-friendly this camera really is.”

my own scene files in camera. This freed up my online editor to focus more on effects and polish the films, rather than design the colour palette from scratch. This wouldn’t suit every production, but I knew the colours I wanted and the post team was thankful for the results. I love the capability to shoot 4K, and the XAVC codec is incredibly stable. On Boy to Man, I used the camera almost everyday for nearly 18 months. I like to mix up my shooting-style depending on the scene – the camera worked as well off the shoulder as it did on the tripod. I shot the series with a mixture of PL and EF lenses and the ability to shift between them is easy and fast.”

As Noonan is shooting the series himself, he can’t afford for gear to fail or the whole project comes to a halt. In remote locations he’s often days away from medical help, and for his camera, weeks away from any servicing centre.

Noonan has put his F55 in some wild places – without access to conventional rigging. He has abseiled with it, roped to the bonnets of countless vehicles, and had it in the middle of violent horse games in Kyrgyzstan.

As he explains, “After months on the road, I would return to Sydney, recoup for a few weeks before heading back on the road again. During which my camera would be serviced by Sony in Sydney, who thankfully were always fast. Despite its quality and the pictures it pumps out, it’s a no-fuss camera. I can focus on what’s most important, storytelling and getting out alive. I love the way so much can be customised on the F55 – from the viewfinder to the buttons and fast menus. Shifting between 25fps and slow-mo is always a custom button away. When you’re shooting once in a lifetime scenes, I’m ever-grateful I can capture the moment whatever the frame-rate. Focus peaking is perhaps the greatest attribute of this camera.

There’s nothing worse than soft pictures because you couldn’t find focus.

Finding focus is rarely an issue with the F55. It’s almost impossible to get it wrong.”

“The Sony F55 is my fifth limb and seen more of the world that most people,” said Noonan. “It’s endured -40°C in Siberia, the heat in Africa, the humidity in the Amazon, the salt of the South Pacific, and torrential mud and rain in Venezuela. I’ve flirted with other cameras but no other set-up seems to get the balance right for me. The SXS cards are extremely solid and reliable. Every night I would transfer the clips using Sony’s Content Browser and as far as I’ve seen corrupt files with this camera are nonexistent.

ACQUISITION

As there were no limits on Noonan’s quest, the F55 survived the most extreme conditions imaginable, including heat, salt, mud, dust and dirt.

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Noonan also cites the F55’s output as a boon in the post-production suite. “The pictures straight out of the camera barely needed grading. For convenience, I didn’t shoot flat images or use SLOG, preferring to create

“I can take the F55 anywhere, any time, with confidence that it will deliver unbelievable pictures and not fail – no matter the conditions. In two intense years filming non-stop, I can put my hand on my heart and say I’ve never had any random errors or unexplained tech problems in the field. Was I pleased with the images? Let’s just say I’m not swapping the F55 anytime soon. In fact, I’m busting to get my hands dirty with the next incarnation.”

Visit http://pro.sony.com.au and http://pro.sony.co.nz

17

IBC 2016

ACQUISITION

Panasonic Developing 4K/HD Portable Recorder PANASONIC IS DEVELOPING the professional AG-UMR20 HD/4K Memory Card Portable Recorder and optional AG-UCK20 Compact Camera Head. Both are scheduled for release in early 2017.

Panasonic has offered the AG-HMR10A HD Portable Recorder since 2009.

The AG-UMR20 being developed as a successor model, links with IP networks and combines with optional AG-UCK20 Compact Camera Head to form a 4K image production system in addition to high-resolution HD images.

As a standalone recorder, the AG-UMR20 enables HD (1080/59.94p) acquisition from 3G-SDI input (with 23.98PsF compatibility). The AGUMR20 features double SD memory-card slots for SDXC memory cards, to allow extended, non-stop relay recording. A newly equipped LAN terminal allows IP connection for external remote control and network streaming. It is also capable of linking to Panasonic remote camera systems. In addition, a range of functions including HDMI output and mic/line input are equipped on the lightweight (650g) recorder. The use of an optional AG-UCK20

Compact Camera Head also enables 4K (2160/29.97p) acquisition.

The AG-UCK20 Compact Camera Head features a wide-angle, 20x zoom, 16-axis independent colour correction, five-axis hybrid image stabiliser, infrared shooting, and ND filter setting. Camera remote operation from the AG-UMR20 is possible by connection with an optional 20-meter cable. In addition to record start/stop and zoom operation using the remote terminal, focusing and iris adjustment are also possible by fingertip control.

Main features • Compact, lightweight, free-style shooting inherited from the first generation POVCAM. • Network operation through IP remote and IP streaming.

• 4K image production when used in combination with the optional Compact Camera Head.

Visit www.panasonic.com

Page Layout Tool Designed Specifically for Storyboards MEKAJIKI HAS RELEASED its first commercial software application,

Boardfish’s features include:

Boardfish, a stand-alone page layout application designed specifically for storyboarding. Boardfish instantly assembles panels into a professional storyboard layout with the flexibility to edit and customise layouts.

• Drag and drop images to instantly create boards.

Developed as an in-house tool at San Francisco-based design and production company, Swordfish, Boardfish is the first tool productised through Mekajiki, Swordfish’s sister company. “Since we started up Swordfish we have created numerous tools to help solve our production problems,” said Matt Silverman, Executive Creative Director/CEO, Mekajiki/ Swordfish. “Most of our projects require boards of some sort, and I have always been frustrated by the inefficient toolsets found in off-theshelf software. Over the past decade I’ve helped design and develop storyboard plug-ins and scripts for After Effects and InDesign, but nothing completely solved my production problems. I finally decided the only way to do it right was to build a full-blown OS X application.

• Panels can be rearranged, deleted or hidden with automatic animated reflowing.

SB High Definition USB Video Recorder QUINTO COMMUNICATIONS is the distributor of DTL Broadcast’s new multi-channel Buzz-USB Recorder – a high definition 1RU video recorder that enables users to record HD-SDI or SD-SDI video with embedded audio directly to a USB drive.

Designed to provide an efficient way of capturing HD video and embedded audio to MPEG4 files, the modular design of the Buzz-USB means users can start with a single USB recorder and add up to four additional USB channels.

This enables users to make up to five copies, or five different versions of a recording onto five USB drives.

ACQUISITION

Being flexible with industry applications such as streaming, compliance recordings and even security applications, Buzz-USB is aimed toward sports production. Operators just have to press the record buttons to record five different versions of a feed, such as a clean feed, a dirty feed, a directors feed, a coaches feed, and an official’s feed.

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Buzz-USB is a complete recording system with an optional monitoring bridge that provides five 2.8-inch high-quality, picture monitors, each of which can display signal format and audio meters. In addition, a UMD and tally option is available which has fixed UMD source identification and dynamic red and green tally lights. The X-Y switcher option has eight input signals and four outputs allowing users to do individual recordings or multiple copies.

Visit www.quinto.com.au

• Up to four captions per panel can be positioned on any side of the image.

• Complete control of page size/orientation, panel layout, panel spacing, fonts, and colours.

• Panel labels for panel numbers and scene/shot numbers.

• Ability to import corporate logos for title page and headers/footers.

• Custom layouts can be saved into preset templates.

• Export to PDF or print directly from Boardfish.

• Native OS X Application.

Visit http://boardfish.io

New DPP Guide Helps Bring Best Practice to Location Working THE DIGITAL PRODUCTION PARTNERSHIP (DPP) has published its ‘Ten Things You Need To Know About Location Workflows’ guide. It is now around 10 years since production teams began to work with file-based content, yet production companies still report that location workflows are a source of confusion. The new guide seeks to address this.

“The move to file-base shooting has brought many benefits,” said DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison. “But the lack of standardisation of location workflows and technologies, combined with the inherent pressure of being on the road, has meant many of the challenges that emerged a decade ago are still here today.”

The guide was created following a DPP event on location workflows, with input from Blast Films, the BBC, The Farm, Mission Digital, and freelancer Jonathan Smiles. The impact of UHD, connectivity, the role of the DIT and data wrangler, as well as approaches to planning and testing, are just some of the subjects explored in the guide.

The new guide is the fifth in the ‘Ten Things Guide’ series of DPP reports.

The guides are available free of charge to all DPP Members.

Visit www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk

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18–21 JULY 2017 TUESDAY – THURSDAY 10AM – 6PM | FRIDAY 10AM – 3PM INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE SYDNEY Exhibition categories include: 1. Content Creation 2. Production 3. Post Production / Delivery 4. Aerial Robotics & Drone Displays 5. SMPTE Village – Industry Services 6. Motion Capture/Virtual

STANDS SELLING FAST. LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE. BE SURE TO SECURE YOUR PLACE AT SMPTE 17.

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ACQUISITION

Panasonic Australia Strengthens 4K Broadcast Camera Range PANASONIC HAS EXPANDED its 4K camera range with a new 4K production camera and two high-power zoom, integrated lens camcorders.

Panasonic has also introduced two new professional 4K camcorders, with

The multi-purpose AK-UB300 camera is a 4K box camera equipped with a B4 mount. It’s aimed at sports, remote studios, live concerts and aerial shooting, and provides 4K output and HD-SDI output simultaneously.

camcorders. The AG-UX180 model is equipped with a one-inch MOS sensor,

The AK-UB300 is equipped with a one-inch MOS sensor that outputs a UHD signal up to 3840 × 2160/50p, with the ability to simultaneously output HD up to 1080/504p.

The camera uses existing 2/3-inch lenses and features high sensitivity (F10/2000lx), low noise (S/N 60dB) and dynamic range measured at 600 percent (-6dB36dB). The UB300 is compatible with Panasonic’s line of indoor/outdoor pan-tilt systems, and using IP live remote monitoring, up to ten cameras can be both viewed and controlled simultaneously from a web browser.

DJI Introduces New Flying Cameras DJI HAS INTRODUCED two new drones: Inspire 2, the ready-to-fly platform for high-end film and video creators, and Phantom 4 Pro. Inspire 2 offers a powerful feature set and is easy to operate. It has a top speed of 108km/h and takes four seconds to accelerate to 80km/h. With a dual battery system, flight time is up to 27 minutes. A forward-facing camera offers the pilot the best flight view for operating the master controller, while the camera operator receives a separate feed from the Zenmuse camera mounted on the main gimbal. The Inspire 2 supports the Zenmuse X4S and X5S cameras and will support additional cameras in the future.

A new image processing system, CineCore 2.0, is embedded into the airframe, which allows for faster of processing large files. Inspire 2 captures 5.2K video at 4.2Gbps for Adobe CinemaDNG RAW videos and leverages a newly-designed, fast CINESSD storage. A variety of video compression formats are supported by CineCore 2.0, including Adobe CinemaDNG, Apple ProRes 422 HQ (5.2K, 4K) and ProRes 4444 XQ (4K), H.264, and H.265. When recording 4K video in H.264 and H.265, the bitrate is up to 100Mbps.

the UX Series – successor to the company’s AVCCAM Series of AVCHD optical 20x zoom, UHD 60p recording, and a Leica Dicomar 4K compact lens with a wide 24mm angle. The standard AG-UX90 features a one-inch MOS sensor, optical 15x zoom, UHD 30p recording and 24.5mm lens.

The AG-UX180 supports Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160) at 24p, 4K (3840 x 2160) at 50p/60p, dual 4K and FHD (via dual SD cards), infrared, and HD super slow-motion (120fps 60Hz/100fps 50Hz). Both models offer two SD memory card slots supporting relay/simultaneous/backup recording, and also support UHD/FHD dual codec recording.

Visit http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en climbing at 6m/second and descending at 9.1m/second. The master and slave controller range now extends to 100m and users can switch between 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies.

DJI is enhancing the imaging potential of the Inspire 2 by expanding its line of Zenmuse cameras, designed for aerial imaging and communicate directly with the aircraft’s gimbal and flight controllers. For situations that require a balance between weight and image quality, the Zenmuse X4S has a one-inch, 20-megapixel sensor with 11.6 stops of dynamic range and a 24mm equivalent focal length. The Zenmuse X4S offers aperture control (f2.8-11) and a mechanical shutter that cancels rolling shutter distortion. The Zenmuse X5S has a larger Micro Four Thirds sensor with 20.8 megapixels and 12.8 stops of dynamic range.

Phantom 4 Pro offers a powerful imaging system for professional photo and video creators as well as non-professionals. The camera packs a one-inch 20-megapixel sensor, and almost 12 stops of dynamic range.

Its mechanical shutter eliminates rolling shutter distortion in fast-moving scenes. Phantom 4 Pro can capture slow-motion 4K video up to 60fps at a maximum bitrate of 100mbps.

The dual-battery system ensures that if one battery fails, the other will allow a safe return. Stereo vision sensors are included on the front and bottom for obstacle detection, and upward facing infrared sensors add protection when flying in enclosed spaces.

Phantom 4 Pro’s compact remote controller comes with an optional high luminance display, providing an HD view from the main camera. The aircraft will automatically choose between 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz once powering on to gain a clear signal in areas with high radio interference.

The new controller has a built-in GPS, compass, Micro-SD card slot and HDMI port.

The propulsion system can carry Inspire 2 through vertical camera moves,

Visit www.dji.com

ARRI Pro Camera Accessories for the Canon EOS C700 ARRI HAS ANNOUNCED its range of pro camera Accessories for the Canon EOS C700, equipping the camera with professional on-set functionality and rugged durability. The accessory sets have been endorsed by Canon and will feature in the company’s upcoming official camera presentations.

ARRI Plate for Canon C700

ACQUISITION

This hybrid base plate adapts to documentary-style setups as well as traditional rental configurations. It allows precise balancing of the camera on the shoulder and features a comfortable non-slip shoulder pad for effective handheld operating, even with a studio bridge plate attached.

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motors and viewfinder mounts. It offers accessory threads at the most convenient, versatile positions, as well as interfaces for most ARRI handles.

The original Canon accessories, such as the handle and microphone bracket, are also compatible with this top plate.

ARRI Viewfinder Bracket for Canon EVF This viewfinder adapter sits permanently in place of the original EVF mechanical interface. The bracket offers a quick release system, as well as compatibility with all current viewfinder mounting brackets in the ARRI

ARRI Top Plate for Canon C700

camera range.

This lightweight low-mode support features built-in rod support for lens

Visit www.arri.com

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From simple picture monitoring through highend editing, colour grading and reference monitors, there is a professional monitor to suit your needs.

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ACQUISITION

SONY Expands FS Series with New FS7 II Camcorder SONY IS EXPANDING its Super 35mm FS series with the FS7 II camcorder.

This model builds on the original FS7 by adding features including Electronic Variable ND technology, a lever lock type E-mount, and a new mechanical design. The FS7 II also supports Sony’s α mount system.

Sony’s FS7 II camcorder’s Electronic Variable ND filter system, combined with its large sensor, delivers greater exposure control with the option of preset or variable operation modes. Variable ND mode allows users to adjust the density of the ND filter during shooting and achieve seamless transitions between steps.

The camcorder’s expanded ND operations enable fine exposure adjustment by relegating iris to set depth-of-field, preventing soft focus caused by diffraction, and colour shift caused by stacking multiple external ND filters. The FS7 II can compensate for exposure fluctuation caused by iris control while adjusting

With the E-mount (lever lock type), Sony’s FS7 II allows the change of lenses by rotating the locking collar rather than the lens.

Sony is also introducing a new E-mount, Super 35mm lens designed for documentary and motion picture production. The new lens, model E PZ 18110mm f/4 G OSS, covers Super 35mm and APSC sensors. The lens uses a mechanical/servo zoom switchable system, capable of snap zooms entirely devoid of lag. The focal range is also optimised for Super 35 and APS-C sensors.

Visit www.sony.com.au and www.sony.co.nz

AJA Ki Pro Ultra v2 Firmware Supports Avid DNxHD

THE PANAVISION MILLENNIUM DXL was developed through a collaboration of four companies, bringing together large-format optics and modular accessories from Panavision, an 8K sensor from RED, wireless synchronisation and metadata distribution from Ambient Recording, and new colour science and optimised workflow from Light Iron.

AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS recently released v2.0 firmware for Ki Pro Ultra, adding Avid DNxHD support to the portable file-based 4K/UltraHD/2K/ HD video recorder and playback device. Available as a free software download, Ki Pro Ultra v2.0 enables users to record and playback Avid DNxHD .mov files, expanding production workflows.

The DXL features:

Supported Avid DNxHD codecs:

• Proprietary high-resolution, large-format camera with 8K RED sensor.

• DNxHD HQX (220x)

• Optimised for Panavision large format lenses.

• DNxHD SQ (145)

• Delivers 21 megapixels of 4K anamorphotic images.

• DNxHD LB (36)

• Optimised 8K and 4K workflows embedded into the camera.

• Open file architecture.

• Built-in ACN wireless synchronisation and metadata system.

Ambient Communication and Synchronisation Network

Supported video frame-rates: • 1080p 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 • 1080i 25, 29.97 • 1080PsF 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 • 720p 50, 59.94

The integrated ACN chip of the Millenium DXL enables the camera to directly interact with the wireless Ambient Communication and Synchronisation network (ACN). This delivers line-accurate syncing of all production cameras while syncing picture with sound. Furthermore, the camera automatically communicates the most important metadata to script, continuity, and DIT. No additional cables are required.

Additionally, Ki Pro Ultra, Ki Pro Rack and Ki Pro Quad now include Ki Protect, a feature to helps ensure data integrity if a media drive is accidentally removed or loses power mid recording. Ki Protect automatically pre-allocates recording space on the media drive for video, audio, and timecode when the record button is pressed. While recording, the file header is continuously updated every time new data is written, minimising potential data loss if operations are interrupted.

Frames already recorded will be preserved and are recoverable.

Visit http://ambient.de

Visit www.aja.com

The ACN provides a metadata collection/management system and distribution which enables a smooth workflow from set through to post.

Odyssey7Q+ to Support Sony FS7 II THE ODYSSEY7Q+ and Odyssey7Q already support more RAW camera signals than any other device. Convergent Design recently announced that RAW support will also include the new Sony FS7 II camera. Support for the camera will be included in the Odyssey RAW Bundle at no additional charge.

ACQUISITION

Preset mode allows users to assign three ND settings to the filter turret – useful when selecting an appropriate filtration range in changing light conditions. Auto ND mode is also available, allowing exposure to stay at a fixed level while adjusting depth-of-field with iris control.

Panavision Millenium DXL with Ambient ACN

• New Light Iron colour science at sensor level.

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depth-of-field.

Convergent Design’s Odyssey7Q+ offers more support for the Sony FS-series cameras than any other device. The FS7 II will offer RAW data output with the addition of the XDCA-FS7 Extension Unit. RAW data formats include DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) up to 60p, and DCI 2K (2048 x 1080) up to 240p. All frame rate and resolution combinations are supported by the Odyssey RAW Bundle, with recording in CinemaDNG or Apple ProRes (HQ/422/LT/Proxy). Cropped recording of the DCI 4K and DCI 2K signals to UHD and HD are available in Apple ProRes. Convergent Design’s proprietary SuperSampling of the DCI 4K signal to either 2K

or HD in Apple ProRes will yield a higher quality image than is available directly from the camera. The Odyssey LUT system supports both Sony S-Log2 and S-Log3 output from the camera, including several exposure compensation LUTs. The FS7 II 4K RAW output is also supported by the new Titan HD Extract option for the Odyssey7Q+ and Odyssey7Q. Titan will take the 4K RAW signal from the camera, SuperSample the full frame to HD, as well as extract up to two HD pixel-for-pixel windows from the 4K resolution. The result is three HD frames, a wide and two tights, from a single camera source. The three HD frames are all recorded in Apple ProRes, and a fourth recording of a Live-Switch (cuts and dissolves) between the three frames is also available. The two window extractions can be moved smoothly via finger-drag within the larger field of view. The RAW Bundle and the Titan HD Extract are available separately and one is not required for the other.

Visit https://convergent-design.com and www.newmagic.com.au

ACQUISITION

ACQUISITION

DIGITISE, DIGITALISE & DOMINATE

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SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

Surf’s Up at Nine with Two Year Broadcast Deal

SPORTSCASTING

THE NINE NETWORK AND SURFING AUSTRALIA have announced a new two-year partnership that will see activations across free-to-air television and digital channels.

The partnership confirms the broadcast of 15 half-hour episodes of mySURF.tv plus the broadcast of 12 monthly half-hour shows called Surfing Australia TV. The 15 mySURF.tv shows will be hosted by WSL Commentator Ronnie Blakey and feature high quality surf lifestyle and culture content from around Australia and abroad. The programmes showcase stories on not only Australia’s best current surfing talent but the iconic characters and legends of the sport in Australia.

Surfing Australia TV, hosted by Nine sports presenter Sam Squiers, will include feature pieces on Surfing Australia programs like the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle Series, Wahu Surfer Groms Comps presented by Woolworths, and Subway Surf Series, Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, and much more.

As part of the partnership Nine will support Surfing Australia charity foundation programs including the Surf for Life Project and Soldier On Surf Therapy program through community announcements on their free to air television channels.

The Surf for Life program raises funding to enable the delivery of surfing to underprivileged kids Australia wide and the Soldier on Surf Therapy program

helps to facilitate surfing for the ex-service men and women of Australia who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Both of these key foundation programs are extremely important to Surfing Australia and are true to the organisational purpose to ‘Create a Healthier and Happier Australia through Surfing’.

Andrew Stark, Chief Executive of Surfing Australia, said, “We are thrilled to announce this major partnership with the Nine Network that will confirm the broadcast of our key TV shows in Surfing Australia TV and mySURF.tv. This partnership is critical to ensure we are able to continue to deliver quality sport development programs with iconic sponsors that ensures we deliver on our purpose to create a healthier and happier Australia through Surfing. We have had a long and fruitful partnership with Nine and we are very excited and appreciative to firm this up for the next two years.”

Amanda Laing, Nine’s Managing Director said, ”Nine is proud to continue our support of Surfing Australia. Australia has the best surfers in the world and surfing remains one of the nation’s favourite sports. Now confirmed for the Tokyo Olympics, the profile of the sport and our world champion surfers will go from strength to strength.”

Visit www.nineentertainmentco.com.au

Gearhouse Broadcast Develops Sportscom for AFL and AFLW GEARHOUSE BROADCAST’S Event Communications team has designed, developed and implemented a custom intercom solution specifically for umpire communication at AFL and AFLW games.

Gearhouse Broadcast Event Communications Manager, Jason Owen, explained, “SportsCom was born out of our desire to develop and build an intercom solution that offered great flexibility as well as high-quality performance. We approached the AFL with our ideas for an alternative system but took care to fully understand the AFL’s needs, discussing both current and desired functionality at length, before sitting down to begin the final design.”

Although Owen developed and built SportsCom initially for the AFL, he then also expanded the system to be compliant for all other Australian sporting codes as well.

He continued, “The AFL had a very comprehensive set of requirements for SportsCom to meet. They wanted to be able to talk to individual umpires as well as a group. The system needed to provide a robust interface to both TV and radio broadcasting and improve the sonic quality and RF performance. They also wanted SportsCom to provide flexibility in how the AFL Match Day team’s workflow was delivered and to be able to record the audio mix for archival, post-match review and future training opportunities. It was quite the list but I’m happy to say we met all their requirements.”

SPORTSCASTING

The core element to the SportsCom system is a ClearCom PiCo intercom matrix which provides Gearhouse and the AFL with all routing and mixing capabilities along with managing the intercom panels in the system.

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Owen added, “Supporting this is a suite of Shure Radio Mic and IFB systems and a BSS Blu 100 which delivers audio processing. The real beauty of SportsCom is that, even though the system is made up of three different vendors’ products, we have built it into a consolidated, seamless, high quality intercom solution.”

SportsCom will be utilised at all AFL fixtures for the next four years including the new NAB AFL Women’s League, JLT Community Series and the Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

According to Owen, the system setup, once SportsCom is in place, is particularly straightforward, another key selling point of the new system.

As he explained, “Setup includes doing some basic frequency scanning and programming using Shure’s Wireless Workbench software. Umpires’ vests are easily populated with the Radio Mic and IFB belt-packs, range checked and then fitted on to the umpires. After that it’s ready to go. To provide an even more efficient solution for the AFL, we have also built a sizeable fleet of kits that will be semi-permanently installed at core venues.”

As a comms veteran, Owen sees technology-driven systems like SportsCom as the way of the future. He concluded, “SportsCom is class leading in terms of flexibility and RF performance. There is literally nothing like it anywhere else in Australia. SportsCom provides the AFL with an improved performance and for bigger projects we can easily connect multiple systems together to achieve one larger system. We can also provide multiple outputs that each have a different set of sources and finally, the icing on the cake is the performance of Shure’s RF products leaving traditional analogue systems behind.”

Visit www.gearhousebroadcast.com

SPORTSCASTING

Sound amazing. With groundbreaking audio quality over IP networks, STAC VIP leads the charge in migrating old-fashioned on-air telephones to dramatically clear wideband audio quality.

STAC VIP smoothly integrates legacy POTS lines with VoIP technology to deliver a new way to manage telephone calls for talk shows, interviews, and contests.

Able to take traditional calls, STAC VIP also breaks new ground by handling calls from “HD Voice” capable telephones and smartphone apps.

As live as it gets. Comrex LiveShot delivers live, two-way, HD video and audio over a range of IP networks at latencies as low as less than 200mS. Utilizing sophisticated CrossLock VPN technology, LiveShot can make use of even the most challenging 3G/4G, Wi-Fi, and satellite networks to maintain a secure and stable connection.

Compact with a versatile interface that can be cameramounted or slung over your shoulder in LiveShot Pouch, and light-weight at only 3 pounds, LiveShot is portable and GHVLJQHG IRU WKH PRVW GHPDQGLQJ ƓHOG EURDGFDVWV

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SPORTSCASTING

Used by TV stations, networks, sports franchises, and government organizations for a broad range of applications, LiveShot is ideal for streaming low-latency broadcast quality audio and video from anywhere Internet is available.

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SPORTSCASTING

Echo Sports Network: from the Niche to the National

By Phil Sandberg THE RETREAT BY LARGER MEDIA ORGANISATIONS from covering rural and regional sports competitions, along with the increased popularity of “nonprime time” codes, has seen the rise of a number of niche producers employing traditional and non-traditional technologies to fill the gap in the market.

One such operator is Canberra-based Echo Sports Network. Boasting a crew of 10, the company has tapped social media and streaming using the PlayBox AirBox Neo Channel-in- a-Box (CiaB) platform from Redwood’s Technology Solutions to make the grass roots feel “like a national product”.

A former journalist with a local television provider, ESN Managing Director Kieran Deck, says despite a shift in the attitude towards local sport coverage, there is still public demand.

“People still want local sport,” he says. “They will always want to see local sport, whether that’s in news coverage, whether it’s live streaming or whether it’s a recording. And, it’s following them to where they’re watching the sport and that is through social media. Using that national ethos, that bigger, broader attitude towards sport coverage and bringing it down to that grass roots level is the attitude that we’re taking towards our broadcasts.”

Aside from the streaming of sporting fixtures, one of the ways ESN gives local sport a national feel is the creation of content around what he calls “touchable role models”, profiles of local sporting stars.

“If you look at the chain between amateur sport up to professional sport - one of the main ways that the audience can really expand was through creating these profiles,” says Deck. “They weren’t just athletes, they were people, like you and me, who have a whole range of experiences that you could understand.

“With new media technology - the ability to get out live, the drop in the production costs, but maintain that production value - we’re able to create this understanding of a local athlete as someone like you or me, who’s doing extraordinary things.”

The other tack taken by ESN is to give equal time to both men’s and women’s sport.

“Women’s sport becoming a lot stronger, in terms of its coverage,” says Kieran Deck. “The Wallaroos (women’s rugby), the new AFL deal, the WBBL (cricket).

We want to see women’s sport regarded as much in entertainment value as we see with men’s side of things.

“One thing we’re working on, at the moment, is with the Canberra Heat volleyball team and we’re doing both [men and women] with equal value. We’re pushing both to the market in the same sort of sense and trying to maintain those high standards of journalism through the coverage, steering away from any realm of sexualisation of sport, or anything like that, and sticking with that these are awesome athletes, just like you and me - if we had any skill.”

Of course, achieving such coverage hasn’t been without its challenges. As a small company covering niche sport, ESN has had to make do and make it up

when it comes to both production and delivery technology.

According to ESN producer, Murray Barton, the company has had to work around the limits of public infrastructure to deliver programming to its audiences.

“Despite Canberra being the capital of Australia, NBN (National Broadband Network) really hasn’t penetrated our market much yet,” he says, “and NBN doesn’t actually have a commercial product. It’s a residential product. So, for users as well as us, as a broadcaster, it’s been quite difficult.

“Initially, we live-streamed entirely using 3G and 4G access and that worked well - unless the sport actually had lots of people [and their phones] coming to their games. So, the more successful we were, the harder it got for us to stream, because the more people that came to the events, the less bandwidth we had to actually work with. We were experiencing all sorts of dropouts and buffering and lots of issues “We searched for solutions for a long time - compression and other aspects of how we could get our signal out - and we were really lucky we were able to partner with a local internet provider who was using another, more mature technology in microwave RF, to actually come and install microwave RF stations at our venues where we broadcast from.

“This changed the game, in terms of our ability to broadcast in high definition and give users a higher level, higher quality experience of the games that we broadcast. And it’s only with that provider that we’ve actually been able to move forward with getting some high quality – or higher quality – competition and coverage going. It has been a great challenge and I suspect it’s a great challenge for many other people who are working in the sportcasting area.

It’s the patchy infrastructure of the telecommunications network in Australia.

It shouldn’t be that way, but it is, so we just have to deal with it as it is. Using new codecs - the ability to use H.265, to compress our signal, our video signal, a lot more than what we did previously, but really the ability to connect with someone who had their own network, was the key for our success.”

Visit www.facebook.com/echosportsnetwork

SPORTSCASTING

Tennis Australia Aces Online Video

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WHILE THE 2017 AUSTRALIAN TENNIS OPEN served surprise after

• Snackable highlight clips with average completion rates of over 80 percent.

surprise on the court, Tennis Australia kept tennis fans around the world in the loop, posting thousands of videos covering live press conferences, behind the scenes interviews and tournament footage to its website and mobile app, attracting three million live views and 8.2 million views for its video on demand (VOD) during the tournament.

• 233 countries from around the world tuned in led by the United States in terms of viewership.

Behind the success of Tennis Australia’s streaming of the tournament was online video provider, Brightcove. Brightcove’s cloud platform delivered up to 17 live streams at any one time during the Australian Open, and enabled it reach a large international audience.

Tournament streaming stats included:

“This record highlights the importance of video in offering a complete content experience on and off the court – comprising of live broadcasts, key replays from the matches, post-match speeches, behind-the-scenes moments and post-match press conferences – at any time and on any device,” said Mark Stanton, Vice President, ANZ at Brightcove.

• Combined audience views of over 11 million (live streams and VOD).

Visit www.brightcove.com

• Denis Istomin v Djokovic’s match highlights earned the title of most watched video, followed by the match point cliffhanger from Federer and Rafael Nadal’s final.

SPORTSCASTING

Commentary Box: Patrick Delany, CEO, Fox Sports Australia

By Phil Sandberg FOX Sports took out ASTRA’s Channel of the Year in 2016.

What do you put that down to?

“I think the days of just pointing a camera in the general direction of the live sports event and hoping that the rights and the event do the job are long passed.

“So, I think it comes down to being a contrarian in sports coverage, seeing what the best is around the world and how we can improve it, never kowtowing to people telling you that sports should be done a certain way. I mean, there are certain rules, but if you get those principles right, then shaking it up is exactly what consumers love.

“I think the introduction of fun characters like Matty Johns, in AFL the Bounce Show. They're sort of fun formats to do previewing. We all feel more relieved after a big game, getting into the analysis, which is a certain type of fan. So, I put it down to that, that we haven't rested on our laurels. We've looked to always make things different, better and special than anyone else has done.

And I always say to my team, ‘Why can't we be the best production company in the world?’”

On the technology side, how closely do you work with developers? “[Head of Innovations and Outside Broadcast Special Events] Todd Procter's got a full-time job just on sports broadcasting innovation and there's a team around him. I think he's pretty good at what he does, but occasionally he'll come to me and say whatever we're talking about can't be done and sometimes I don't accept that. I send him back to the drawing board. To answer your question, they've got to stay close to the providers. Sometimes, and I found this in my job at Foxtel, sometimes the technology's developed by the provider for a certain application, but when you see it, you know you can use it for another application. So, we're constantly doing that.

“Virtual reality, I've got a bit of a fascination for. There have been a few fizzers in the past. High definition was great. 3D was a fizzer.”

How do you see the difference between 3D and somebody strapping goggles on for augmented reality/virtual reality?

“It's a matter of working out what application you think will work. Todd's actually had me in the tech room with some virtual reality, and he put me in a fish tank. He put me in a roller coaster and he put me in a car, and all of those experiences were really interesting experiences. Then he put me onto a field and it was too real. I can go into a field anytime, I can go to the game, so that's one - I don't know - we'd need to think about because the broadcast actually makes things unbelievably special in terms of what you can see and hear.

“The challenge, of course, with broadcasting is trying to suck up the emotion that the field has. So, I think it's horses for courses, keeping a good eye on what people are providing and trying to be just a little bit ahead of the curve.

You don't want to be too far ahead because we're a little country with smaller resources than big ones.

"What Fox Sports has done is taken existing technologies, but applied them in a different way. A lot of what we're doing in subscription TV is showmanship. In our business, we need to make sure that subscribers are seeing value in writing cheques, and so a lot of that is getting into the perception of Fox Sports as being a leader in innovation, and technologies are a very important part of that.”

You're a regular at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. What have you seen there that would influence programming?

“Probably our move, quicker than anybody else in Australia, into digital. Not so much with live, but with video clips and developing our own news and opinion capabilities in digital. We've seen massive growth out of that. So, it's mainly, for me, given we don't do our own distribution of live pictures - it's done by Foxtel - it's mainly seeing what the trends are and seeing what a lot of these kids how they've got apps and various things moving, where the analysts think the world's moving.

“Four years ago, we were told, "Mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile first," and so that's something that Fox Sports has taken very seriously with our early use of m.sites, use of apps.”

The recently arrived OTT players are impacting on drama and movies. Do you see a day when they’ll intrude into sports?

“I don't see why not. This is going back to the anti-siphoning regime. At some point, where the means of distribution are ubiquitous and they're quite cheap to get into, I don't know how you can differentiate between technology. So, I think the challenge for us, which [Foxtel CEO] Peter Tonagh has taken up, is to make sure that we're there, that we've got lower-cost packages, that our interfaces are fabulous, that everything works seamlessly and simply, and Fox Sports' job is to make sure that we're their sports producer so that no matter what the means of distribution, we can be there.”

And, the Federal Government, is it listening?

“I understand it's hard for them, but they really do need to have a look at the whole thing because it's leading to nonsense outcomes. They've got laws that don't say something needs to be free, doesn't have to be live and it doesn't even have to be shown. But, there's a certain class of media proprietors who are allowed to buy it and others that want to show it and do all those things, can't. So, somewhere, there must be a new framing of that law.

There’s talk of jousting on Fox Sports. What plans, if any, do you have for non-mainstream sports, or middle-tier leagues, etc?

“We would love to show more. We've recently gone into the NRC for the rugby union, FFA Cup, so there's second-tier competitions. In terms of third-tier competitions, which would mean more streaming and two- or three-camera coverage, it's really a function of how we can use technology to reduce down the price of outside broadcasts. So, we'd love to get into it. The jousting's interesting because, I mean, for our little sense of humour, it's where darts meets UFC. These guys do dress up and they can be killed, that's where technology can absolutely reduce down the cost.”

SPORTSCASTING

“So, we've been doing that. The graphics have been a really big part of it virtual graphics, more cameras, all that sort of stuff. The next big frontier for us is to get our casting right on air. The weekly shows have been a huge hit for us, and we move through a range - understanding what fans want from the beginning of the week with review of the weekend, into the middle with analysis, and that's a different type of fan that wants the deeper analysis, and then getting into previews.

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SPORTSCASTING

The Gold Coast Diaries – Chapter 2

by Jeff Coleman THURSDAY DECEMBER 15 2016.

BUNDALL QUEENSLAND. I arrive at the office after my morning swim and run along Broadwater just as Coordinating Producer Mario Silvestri, and broadcast engineers Neil Smith and John Galea, head out to the Nerang State Forest to survey the proposed mountain bike course.

With over 1,000 trails, Nerang is renowned for its world-class cycling routes. The wealth of options is partly why the final bike course for the 2018 Commonwealth Games has not yet been signed off. This is making production plans, and therefore a broadcast engineering solution, difficult to confirm. This morning’s objective is to survey a particularly challenging stage of the course that we know will be included, and determine what, if anything, can be seen from a helicopter given the thick forest canopy. To that end, Neil will fly a drone and video Mario cycling the route wearing a high-vis vest, with John handling logistics and making sure they capture everything. Shooting conditions are ideal, and we agree to view the footage this afternoon.

It’s a spectacular summer day on the Gold Coast. The temperature is already 25°, the humidity is not as fierce as usual and a fine day is forecast. It’s good timing, as our Host Broadcast team Christmas party is at the Currumbin Surf Club today, which we’re all looking forward to.

Following the briefing, RHBs tour the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition

The festivities will cap off an intense period for everyone. Venue surveys have

Centre, the Gold Coast Aquatics Centre, Carrara Stadium – venue for the

been frequent during the past few months, and a number of the sites, such as

Opening and Closing ceremonies, and the Athletics and Velodrome. The

the Anna Meares Velodrome, look fantastic. Another tick off the list was our

broadcasters clearly enjoyed the Gold Coast, with a lot of interest in potential

second survey of the Oxenford Studios – the venue for boxing, squash, and

locations that show off the coastline. Evening brought RHBs, the Host

table tennis. Our first visit was in March, and access since has been difficult due to movie production at the complex. It’s the first time Mark Corser, the Coordinating Technical Manager responsible for the engineering plans for Oxenford, has seen the venue. It’s possibly the only time he gets in there until 2018. However, Mark is confident he has the details he needs and is well advanced on the engineering solution.

The October-December period has also been about issuing expressions of interest to suppliers from around the world: outside broadcasting facilitators, specialty cameras, power for the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC), helicopters and aircraft, and lead vehicle camera rigs. In anticipation of the Games’ telco partner being announced, the Host Broadcast team has spent considerable time researching system designs and equipment. Required broadcast signal cable quantities have been calculated, and with that comes planning for cable installation and containment designs.

The biggest single event in the last quarter has been preparing for, and then hosting the first Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) briefing in October. For the gathering we’ve chosen the Red Zone at Griffith University, a Games sponsor and a participant in our Host Broadcast Training Program. Assisting us on the day and in the lead up are two students who are part of our training

Broadcast team and GOLDOC together for a drink and a meal – helping develop relationships.

Fourth quarter activity followed a major milestone month in September; our Host Broadcast website launch. The site provides a central communications and news channel for staff, freelancers, RHBs, vendors and student trainees.

In September we also submitted updated telecommunications services plans, our revised initial production plan along with updated camera and commentary positions, and Broadcast Venue Plan No.1 to GOLDOC. I bury myself in emails and don’t realise I’ve missed lunch until Mario, John and Neil return from Nerang. We review the drone footage and decide a helicoptermounted camera can see enough of the course to warrant the investment.

The route is split into east and west sides, with varying degrees of visibility.

But coupled with an overhead view of the start and finish area the helicopter shots will be fabulous, especially with the Gold Coast skyline and Coral Sea as a backdrop. We quietly ask the broadcast gods for a day like today.

That settled, we join the Host Broadcast team and head to Currumbin Surf Club for our Christmas party. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. It’s been hectic but extremely satisfying. 463 days to go – bring on 2017!

SPORTSCASTING

program, Rachel Shapiro and Chelsea Lahra from Griffith University. Both

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interned with NEP during our facilitation of the Seven Network’s Rio Games

Jeff Coleman is Head of Engineering and Technical Operations for NEP

coverage: Rachel as a media assistant and Chelsea as production assistant.

Australia, Host Broadcaster of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The experience has given them meaningful perspective for the RHB briefings,

This is the second in a series of reports for Content+Technology in which Jeff

and they’ve been a great help.

will outline the 26-month project’s objectives and milestones. The GC2018

We were able to update RHBs on the IBC building design and operations plan

Host Broadcaster – led by NEP Host Broadcast with the support of production

submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation. Our rate card for services

partners Seven Network and Sunset+Vine – will deliver the event television

was available in September so they’ve had the opportunity for consideration

and digital broadcast to rights-holding broadcasters around the world – all up

before the briefing, and they still have time before further confirmation.

some 1,100 hours of live television.

SPORTSCASTING

Ooyala Flex Simplifies Clip Distribution for Sky with Ooyala Flex, its media logistics solution. With Ooyala, Sky Sports is able to deliver hundreds of Premier League in-game clips and highlight packages for online and linear consumption to 40 international licensee partners, all in a small number of minutes.

In addition to Sky Sports’ portfolio of UK linear and digital rights, it is also responsible for delivering clips to over 40 international licensees in multiple file formats based on each individual licensee’s regional or platform requirements. Further, they must have all in-game clips available for download and redistribution for all licensee partners within minutes from when the actual highlight is broadcast live.

Sky Sports turned to Ooyala as it could quickly adapt to its needs and technical requirements, rapidly deploying an integrated solution in time for the beginning of the Premier League season.

Once a notable event occurs during a live match, a Sky Sports production team is responsible for quickly creating the clip, inputting metadata, and transferring the file into their cloud storage system. Once uploaded, Ooyala Flex automatically detects the clip, ingests it into the system and triggers a series of workflows that transform the clip into 20 different renditions. Once final, Ooyala Flex creates and delivers a number of unique

packages, each with a subset of those 20 different renditions based on the preferences for every partner – including the corresponding metadata. This process is repeated and automated every time Sky Sports uploads a clip into Ooyala Flex, occurring numerous times per game, with as many as six to ten games per day, multiple times a week – with some games occurring simultaneously. This is a process that if done manually would require an immense amount of resources and hands-on work.

“This is an extraordinary syndication contract and set of requirements,” said Ooyala General Manager of EMEA, Rags Gupta. “Today, TV, whether online or linear, and especially for sports, is in a constant state of immediacy, requiring broadcasters and publishers to rethink foundational systems and processes that have worked for decades. Without Flex and the art of automation for Sky Sport’s unique use case, they would not be able to meet the syndication demands from the Premier League.”

“Ooyala Flex gives us the confidence, and frankly, the capability to meet the Premier League’s requirements,” said Phil Marshall, Head of In-House Production at Sky Sports. “There’s no question that automation has a significant role in video production today. Using Ooyala Flex, we’re able to meet the complex demands associated with this project.”

Visit www.ooyala.com and www.sky.com/corporate

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SPORTSCASTING

OOYALA IS AUTOMATING the global syndication of clips for Sky Sports

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NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

TEN Restructures News Teams NETWORK TEN HAS ANNOUNCED a new, uniform look for its TEN Eyewitness News First at Five bulletins around Australia.

As of Monday 13 February, TEN Eyewitness News First At Five is being presented

by Sandra Sully in Sydney, Stephen Quartermain in Melbourne, Georgina Lewis in Brisbane, Narelda Jacobs in Perth and Rebecca Morse in Adelaide.

Network TEN Executive Director, News, John Choueifate, said, “We have had single

presenters of our 5pm News in Adelaide and Perth for years. It makes sense to move to that model in the other cities and, at the same time, strength our reporting teams.”

The Perth and Adelaide bulletins have had single presenters – Narelda Jacobs and Rebecca Morse respectively – for several years. The TEN Eyewitness News Weekend News bulletin will continue to be presented by Natarsha Belling.

As part of the introduction of single presenters in each market, Hugh Riminton, Candice Wyatt and Lachlan Kennedy will take on new roles as Senior Reporters in TEN’s Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane News departments respectively. Hugh

There will be no change to the TEN Eyewitness News First at Five sport and weather presenters in each capital city.

Visit www.ten.com.au

Reuters Brings Photo and Video Library to Adobe Stock

TEN Perth Prompts with AutoScript

REUTERS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED it is partnering with Adobe to bring Reuters video and photography to Adobe’s new editorial offerings for Adobe Stock. Adobe Stock is the industry’s first stock content service to be integrated directly into the content creation process and the tools creatives use every day. Available through Adobe Creative Cloud, creatives will be able to access Reuters editorial content, as well as over 60 million royalty-free commercial photos, videos, illustrations, graphics, 3D assets and templates in Adobe Stock.

AS PART OF NETWORK TEN’S relocation of its Perth Studios

• Reuters photos covering news, sports and entertainment events with thousands of images added every day and over twelve million images in the archive.

• Reuters video footage covering all major events across the globe, including the unique Reuters archive library of historical news footage featuring over a million news clips.

“Our partnership with Adobe will allow us to deliver the quality of Reuters visual assets to a global creative audience, right in their workflow,” said Claudia Palmer, Chief Commercial Officer, Reuters. “The strength and depth of Reuters visuals paired with Adobe’s universal creative platform will unite content search and licensing in an unparalleled user experience.”

Bryan Lamkin, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media at Adobe, said, “We’re thrilled about our partnership with Reuters as we’re now able to offer powerful news, editorial and sports imagery and archival coverage to our customers, dramatically expanding the range of stock assets available directly in their Creative Cloud apps.”

NEWS OPERATIONS

Mr Choueifate said, “Hugh, Candice and Lachlan are quality journalists who add years of experience to our reporting line-up. I’m thrilled to have them back on the road.”

The changes announced cover the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane News Bulletins only.

The partnership will allow Adobe customers to view and license Reuters entire photo and video collection in Adobe Stock, including:

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Riminton will specialise in political and foreign coverage, plus special investigations.

to a brand new state-of-the-art facility, the network has new AutoScript teleprompters, supplied by Quinto Communications, to meet its requirements for live news teleprompting at the new studios.

Camera pedestals in TEN’s new live production studio in Perth will be equipped with AutoScript teleprompters that mount direct to the camera pan and tilt head, and feature LED backlit 15” TFT displays for both prompting text display and for talent feedback.

The AutoScript range of LED backlit TFT display teleprompters was selected by TEN for Perth following a previous very successful deployment of this product in the Networks Sydney Studios, where TEN have found that their on-air talent benefits considerably from the many advantages of these LED backlit displays over conventional fluorescent backlit prompting monitors, including higher display brightness, higher contrast levels for greater text clarity, and smooth, fast refresh, for scrolling prompting text, all resulting in less strain on the eyes and better script readability for the presenters, which is essential when doing a live read to camera.

The AutoScript LED prompt monitors also offer increased longevity and lower energy consumption and offer both composite and HDSDI/SDI digital inputs for the prompter text as standard.

The Reuters integration into Adobe Stock is expected in the first half of 2017.

TEN has also chosen to equip each of the new prompters with AutoScript 15” widescreen HDSDI talent feedback monitors, that directly face the on-air news presenters and allows the presenter to see high quality HD program video, showing exactly what is currently on-air at any time during a live news bulletin, and without needing to divert their eyes and attention from the camera and teleprompter.

Visit www.reuters.com and www.adobe.com

Visit www.quinto.com.au

ABC Upgrades with Grass Valley Switchers

Both Karrera and GV Korona K-Frame switchers feature multiformat support, including 1080p and 4K UHD. These capabilities are offered as two system packages, with 3 M/Es or 2 M/Es, while a compact 6 RU video frame delivers a high level of functional integration for space efficiency.

WHEN THE Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) began its latest

The ABC has taken advantage of the flexibility of the K-Frame engine to be paired with different control surfaces. The new switchers will join the existing fleet of Grass Valley Kayenne K-Frames currently in operation in the ABC's studio production facilities. The 13 studios are responsible for the playout of ABC news and current affairs and will work closely with the ABC Integrated Media System (IMS) system that Grass Valley is providing to help the ABC renew its entire television, radio and web news production across Australia.

project to upgrade 13 studios in eight capital cities across the country, it selected Grass Valley's K-Frame-based switchers for all 13 locations, with a mixture of Karrera and the new GV Korona switcher panels.

The Grass Valley K-Frame systems are replacing a fleet of older Grass Valley Kayak switchers and will continue to be instrumental in the production of news programming for the company.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

SPORTSCASTING

SPORTSCASTING

MOBILE

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NEWS OPERATIONS

Speed, Agility Key for Fairfax Online Video

By Phil Sandberg

WITH ITS HIGH-PROFILE newspaper mastheads, including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age in Melbourne, the Canberra Times, New Zealand’s Dominion Post, as well as numerous regional titles, Fairfax Media has spent the bulk of its 175-year history as a “manufacturer” of printed media.

With the rise of the Internet and online video, the company has been steadily transforming itself from a manufacturer into a multi-platform information company.

According to Fairfax Media’s Head of Production, David McMillan, the company’s video evolution began in the late 1990s when the Sydney Morning Herald’s website gave visitors access to webcams positioned around Sydney. In 2000, this was followed by video-on-demand content, produced with Hi-8 cameras, around the Sydney 2000 Olympics which was streamed using Windows Media and Real Media platforms.

“We’ve also jumped into using Google hangouts and Skype. We’ve found this a really great way to be able to get people involved and to do the kind of discussions that would be very complex for a traditional broadcaster to do.

When it comes to more complex video coverage, the Fairfax team looks for multi-purpose equipment that is adaptable to a variety of situations.

In 2003, McMillan came to work for Fairfax Media in the position of Production Services Manager. He describes being in the online video team as “… a bit like being the youngest of three siblings - the youngest child who no one paid any attention to and who no one took seriously at all. Like siblings, as we’ve got older, it’s become a much more even playing field. We all rely on each other now and work together much better.”

“We really try and get things that can do multiple purpose, everything can be used in more than one way,” says McMillan. “We use a lot of Sony cameras. We generally will only go for the lightest cameras that we can that will still have an SDI output so that we can use them. If we do an OB setup, we have a small vision mixer that has comms and sound built into it and we run occasional OB’s and so we just plug those cameras straight in and away we go.

However, the younger sibling still faces its challenges, including one of limited resources compared to the larger, traditional broadcasters.

“We also use Sony AS7S DSLRs as ‘B’ cameras a lot, so one producer will go out with a large camera for their primary camera and an AS7S as their second view camera and they can carry it all in one bag very easy, but also particularly for the more remote stories we’ll only send one person so the video producer will be required to take stills for the paper as well. So, having a good quality DSLR with them is a really big plus. It also means we can use all the photographers’ lenses with them which is great.

“We really need to minimise the amount of gear that our guys carry,” says McMillan. “They’re journalists, primarily, and they always work as one-person teams, so they really want to have as little stuff on them as possible and when we looked at how we would get live video back and get them filing stuff as quickly as possible, we looked at bonded cellular units, and even things like the Teradek CUBE and those kinds of things.

“Then we came across this JVC camera (GY-HM650) which has network connectivity and Zixi protocol streaming built into it. That meant with Zixi’s servers and one of these Wi-Fi units, the producer could get high quality video back to us from anywhere that they can get network access.

“We tested every bonded unit we could get our hands on and we found that this set-up worked as well or better than any of the bonded units, was a fraction of the price and a lot easier to use. I should say, the only place where this is a problem is if you’re in a contested area. If it is a big news event and all the networks are there and they have their bonded units running this will have problems, but we’re flexible enough that we can avoid that and use it where we can.”

“We’ve set the cameras up so that there’s one button on the side of the camera.

The producer in the field presses that button, they get a live warning up in their viewfinder, and that sends the signal to Zixi’s server which is on our premises and there’s a simple web interface where we say we want this output and this input, connect them up and off it goes. From there, we can send that either to a decoder on our premises and convert it back to baseband or send it straight to Akamai for regular web streaming, or straight to Facebook for social media streaming.

“All our journalists we encourage to get set up so that they can contribute stuff on their mobile phones and I think this is going to happen more and more often.

The basic kit is a selfie stick, RØDE SmartLav+, a RØDE VideoMic, and those Gorilla tripods with bendy legs. Attach the selfie stick adapter to that and they can clip it onto anything they need to.

“We also use a product which is called Andy Grace developed by a guy called Andy Grace, which is an App which all our journalists have on their mobile phones and it allows them to almost with one touch submit video to us via FTP, so they can essentially open the App, shoot video, and either stop it, trim it and send it back, or they can have it set up so the moment they button off the file is heading back to us, and it sends out notifications to everyone that needs to know that a new piece of content has arrived. That’s been a really useful tool to us.

“We take advantage of technology that is actually getting developed for other workflows. The kind of equipment that’s being developed for places of worship, the universities and things like that, is equipment that we’re able to grab and see, okay, well this will work for us in this way. We use a lot of stuff which, I think, without those kinds of businesses being out there, wouldn’t have been developed.”

Visit www.smh.com.au and www.fairfaxmedia.com.au

RMIT and ABC News Relaunch Fact Check

NEWS OPERATIONS

RMIT UNIVERSITY AND ABC NEWS have partnered to relaunch the Fact Check news service, to be based in Melbourne at the University’s new state-of-the-art Media Precinct. Originally operated in-house by the ABC, the unit became a casualty of budget cuts in 2016.

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discourse – the basis of democracy – is based in fact.

ABC Director of News Gaven Morris said the innovative partnership would bring great value to audiences.

From March 2017, RMIT ABC Fact Check will once again test and adjudicate on the accuracy of claims made by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions engaged in public debate.

“ABC News is delighted to be able to work with the academic community, as well as other groups and institutions, in this way,” he said. “Sharing resources, and collaborating on analysis and original research, helps us better serve the broadest possible audience.

Dean of the School of Media and Communication, Professor Martyn Hook, said the nonpartisan, non-profit collaboration aimed to reduce the levels of deception and confusion around public policy issues and debates.

RMIT ABC Fact Check will research and publish Fact Checks, Fact Files and restart the Promise Tracker. Content will be published through the ABC’s Digital platforms and a dedicated RMIT portal.

According to Hook, “In a time of ‘post-truth’, ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’, it is ever more critical to hold public figures to account and ensure that public

It will be headed by Director Russell Skelton, a Walkley Award-winning journalist who founded and ran the original ABC Fact Check from 2013 until mid-2016.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Dejero to Bring Remote Broadcasting and Fast Data Transfer to NAB DEJERO IS ATTENDING the 2017 NAB show (booth C1307) to showcase its latest developments in the field of IP connectivity for electronic newsgathering (ENG) and remote broadcasting.

Making its official debut at NAB, the LIVE+ Gateway solution enables news crews to access media assets, research stories, and transfer large files by providing fast, reliable, and secure access to the public internet and private networks in the field. Leveraging patented network bonding technologies, the solution creates a virtual network of multiple IP connections with the necessary bandwidth and reliability to enable bi-directional data transfers from newsroom and production systems. The complete Gateway solution includes in-vehicle equipment, cellular connectivity services, cloud management, and support.

New capabilities of Dejero’s highly flexible LIVE+ EnGo mobile transmitter will also be showcased at the Dejero booth. EnGo can be camera mounted or carried in a sling bag or the new ergonomic backpack. Key features include a user-accessible SIM module, global roaming packages, and the ability to transmit multichannel audio. EnGo encodes high-quality video and transmits it over multiple IP networks to reliably deliver exceptional picture quality with extremely low latency in the most challenging cellular network environments.

Dejero will also showcase the recent enhancements to its LIVE+ Multipoint cloud service. Broadcasters and media organisations can now share live HD content simultaneously across multiple locations and between different entities anywhere in the world. New capabilities include multichannel audio and closed captioning. Group and single event point-to-multipoint packages

are now available in addition to a fully customised, unlimited use package for multipoint-to-multipoint content sharing scenarios.

Visitors to the booth will also see a demonstration of the new capabilities of Dejero’s LIVE+ Control cloud-based management system. LIVE+ Control enables the management of transmitters, gateway devices, servers, and content from a web browser. Users can geolocate and remotely control transmitters, configure broadcast and cloud servers, view performance data and detailed analytics, preview low-latency feeds, and route live or recorded content to playout and online delivery workflows.

January saw Dejero setting up camp in Washington D.C. to support its domestic and international customers as they broadcast the 2017 Inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

NHK, ABC7 Los Angeles, CTV and Australia’s Nine Network were among the news crews who employed Dejero’s LIVE+ range of IP newsgathering equipment, including the EnGo and GoBox mobile transmitters.

Dejero deployed a number of private Wi-Fi hotspots for the Inauguration to ensure its customers could broadcast live in key locations surrounding the White House, including the parade route, the South Lawn, the center of the National Mall, the North Lawn, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

Broadcasters covering the event used Dejero’s cloud management tool, LIVE+ Control, to monitor and route feeds and remotely manage the equipment in the field.

Visit www.dejero.com

Development Kit for User-Generated Content

Dubbed Camera SDK, Camera SDK will allow Forscene clients to integrate Forscene’s Mobile Upload app into their existing applications – so that content recorded on mobile devices can be transcoded, uploaded to the cloud and made available in targeted projects on the cloud video platform. In this way, high quality user-generated content can be gathered at speed, reviewed by team members anywhere in the world and included in edits or published to social media directly from Forscene.

Camera SDK recently saw its first commercial implementation by UK-based Licklemor Productions to increase audience engagement on its Sky 1 youth magazine show, ‘What’s Up TV’.

Licklemor Productions incorporated Forscene into What’s Up TV’s workflow late in 2016, primarily as a tool for producers to create rough cuts of inserts

before the formal edit.

After experimenting with Forscene’s Mobile Upload App to incorporate behindthe-scenes footage into their stories, the producers saw the potential for using an app to increase audience engagement. This led to the decision to create MYapp – an Android app that will use Forscene’s Camera SDK to gather content from the What’s Up TV audience. Initially user generated content will be featured on What’s Up TV’s social channels – giving the audience an opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences relating to topics raised in the broadcast.

Visit www.forscene.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

BROADCASTERS and programme-makers can now easily incorporate user generated content into their edits and on social media with a new software development kit available on the Forscene cloud video platform.

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NEWS OPERATIONS

Dejero – Increasing Contributions Dejero’s Director of Sales for APAC, Mark Moore, talks cellular bonding and the cloud with Phil Sandberg.

What’s been happening with Dejero since you were appointed late last year?

“For me, Dejero is a young company. It’s been around for eight years and they’ve had some tremendous growth, so for me to come on board at this time as part of the growth where they’ve got some customer base, but now they’ve at the point where they actually have to start growing. Putting some investment into it. So not only myself. I’ve come on for APAC, but we’ve also got a field service engineer that we’ve put in in Malaysia who’s covering the region.

“We have competition and they’ve been in it a little bit longer than we have, so what I’m facing when I’m travelling around to visit customers is they’re always asking, ‘How do you compare to these guys and these guys?’ So, we’ve got some work to do but I think being new in the industry is also good because people want to have a fresh look at something. And, we have a little bit more in Australia. Dejero started working with Digistor sometime back and we have a really good presence here. But, some of the other Asian countries, we’re just kind of getting into it.”

business management side of the operation you can also work on that as well.

For those who are unfamiliar, where does the

And once you’ve captured the signal and transmitted it,

Dejero portfolio currently stand?

how do you distribute it?

“We always talk about this as a platform. So, we have capture, connect, manage, distribute. All of our capture devices would be anything from our cameramountable EnGo or a GoBox which is an Appalachian case, a little bit more sturdy. We also have the IOS app so basically for an iPhone or a News Book, so it’s the same thing on the computer. And then we have a transceiver, a VSET. “So, the transceiver will take in the signal and also put out a signal, so you

in the field and it will support those if you want more. Of course, you just add more servers. And we just came out at IBC with an IP out on that as well. So originally it was SDI. Now we have SDI or IP so we can plug it straight into an IP infrastructure.

“We also have Cloud services. If you want to go straight into, say, CDN or

somewhere else. And the VSET is mainly for truck application and its modular, so

Facebook Live, YouTube, we can provide that as well. They would transmit

you could have just the SIM’s, the bonded SIM’s or you could have connectivity

straight into the Cloud and then straight into the live streaming application.

to satellite, things like that.

Then, on top of that, we have multipoint, where you can take, choose the

Ethernet, of course, all your mobile Wi-Fi medium, so we’re really, I think, the only company that can bond all those signals together. So, it’s not just about video over bonded SIM’s, but it’s connectivity of all these different types of interfaces.”

So, some data be sent through a mobile network and other data through

number of inputs or sources and the destination. So, if you want to send one source to 10 or 100 destinations, you can do that. It’s all done – it’s all managed in there in our portal as well.”

Is newsgathering still the strongest end-user segment for Dejero?

Wi-Fi and then it’s all combined at the end?

“I think we see it changing very quickly. There’s so many applications now

“Oh yes. Even from the same stream, from the same video. Or audio.

that we’re seeing opportunities for this technology. For example, if you’ve got

Okay, and then we’re onto management.

of the stadium. Something’s trending and they can quickly get someone to go

sporting events going on or something’s trending, they’re using the data out

“So, what we do is we manage everything in the Cloud. Our customers have

and get that content, so there’s more and more of that content that’s coming in.

access to what we call the portal or LIVE+ control. It’s web-based, and what

There’s a lot more uses for this kind of technology.

we do is we actually take metadata from signals that we’re sending out and we’re able to do things like provide a multi-viewer view on the web of what their signals are - sort of low-res proxies. They’re able to manage that content as well, so you can take source signals and then allocate them to your servers where you want to decode those. It does dual location and things like that. It will look at the SIM performance as well, so you have six SIMs in a unit. We’ll actually show you how all those SIM’s are performing and it allows you to track

NEWS OPERATIONS

“We have a server product which has two outputs. You could have two units

have a network where you’re bringing in content and you want to send it off

“Then, in terms of connectivity, pretty much anything from microwave, satellite,

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usage and things like that as well so you can sort of on the management, the

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POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

SyncBac PRO Slashes Post Time for ‘The Island With Bear Grylls’ TIMECODE SYSTEMS has revealed postproduction time on the current series of “The Island With Bear Grylls” was reduced massively by using the SyncBac PRO to timecode-sync all GoPro HERO4 cameras. This is expected to result in significant cost savings in media management and postproduction.

The show, now in its fourth series, features a cast of very ordinary British people attempting to survive on a remote, uninhabited Pacific Island. Left completely alone, the show is recorded entirely by the castaways themselves. A handful of the islanders are trained camera operators, but a large volume of content is captured via GoPro cameras attached to the contestants. Synchronising huge volumes of GoPro footage has historically added significant time and costs to the edit process for earlier series of “The Island.”

“It previously took a phenomenally long time for us to sync GoPro media without timecode; using SyncBac PROs has reduced this to seconds per clip,” said Toby Robertson, technical operations manager, Princess Productions. “Using the SyncBac PRO to embed timecode into the GoPro camera media has completely streamlined our workflow. It’s saved us a huge amount of time, and by extension, money, and we wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. Now that we know this solution just works out of the box, we plan on implementing it on other shows that we edit such as ‘Hunted’.”

Using timecode to synchronise footage at the point of shooting offers massive benefits, especially for production teams working on tight budgets or operating with short turnaround times.

“Deciding to create a series that was completely self-shot by contestants is an example of the groundbreaking approach this production team takes to creating

unique, exciting, and engaging television,” said Paul Scurrell, CEO of Timecode Systems Limited. “Filming using GoPros puts the audience for ‘The Island’ right where they want to be — in the middle of the action, peeking over a castaway’s shoulder. We’re thrilled to be able to provide a workflow solution that not only supports their ambitious vision for the show, but also allows them to achieve cost savings along the way.”

Visit www.timecodesystems.com and www.syncbac.com

Asian Animation Summit Back in Australia THE SIXTH-ANNUAL Asian Animation Summit will once again take place in Brisbane, Australia this year from the 29th of November to the 1st of December.

An initiative of KOCCA (Korea), MDeC (Malaysia) and SIPA/DITP (Thailand), AAS 2017 is owned and produced by Kidscreen, hosted by Screen Queensland and Brisbane Marketing, and supported by AINAKI (Animation and Content Industry Association of Indonesia). Its organisers are anticipating that 200 to 250 attendees will take part in this year’s event, which is designed to attract producers of animation who are interested in co-producing projects with partners in Asia-Pacific, as well as broadcasters, distributors and investors from the region.

Over the course of the three-day event, more than 20 projects from Australia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and elsewhere in Asia-Pacific that are new to the market and looking for financing and partners will be presented.

Each day will begin with a panel discussion or presentation that explores new

market trends, business models or creative techniques relevant to AsianPacific producers.

“Speaking on behalf of all of our AAS partners, we are very proud to provide this platform for supporting and promoting the impressive animation talent pool in Asia-Pacific,” says Kidscreen VP and Publisher Jocelyn Christie. “To know that so many projects have made the financing connections and partnerships needed to get off the ground at the Asian Animation Summit is incredibly gratifying.”

Screen Queenland CEO, Tracey Vieira, welcomed the AAS animation producers, distributors and broadcasters to Brisbane for a second time.

“Following last year’s successful event, Screen Queensland looks forward to the AAS returning in 2017,” she said. “Screen Queensland is perfectly positioned to play a role in partnering with Asian-region animation projects for television, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and the internet.”

Visit http://aas.kidscreen.com

Students in the Pipeline at Animal Logic Academy

POST PRODUCTION

BOLSTERING AUSTRALIA’S VFX talent pool, the first cohort of students has commenced its Masters of Animation and Visualisation (MAV) at the UTS Animal Logic Academy (UTS ALA).

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Announced in 2016, the UTS ALA is located at UTS in the heart of Sydney in a professional studio setting that emulates the working environment of studios like Animal Logic.

The Master of Animation and Visualisation program is designed to foster the development of Australian creative talent in the animation and visualisation industries.

To aid with his tuition fees for the Master of Animation and Visualisation, Animal Logic digital artist, Alejandro Garrido, received the Animal Logic UTS ALA scholarship.

Visit www.animallogicacademy.uts.edu

POST PRODUCTION

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POST PRODUCTION

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POST PRODUCTION

EditShare Lands at Beach House Pictures SINGAPORE-HEADQUARTERED Beach House is a global production and post production media power house with locations in Australia, China, Taiwan and the United States. Beach House Pictures (BHP) has produced such highly rated series as the David Attenborough narrated Wild City (CNA), China from Above (Nat Geo), Asia’s Next Top Model Season 3 (Starworld), Nomad Chef (Discovery) and Hiccup & Sneeze (Okto).

BHP has produced over 500 hours of HD and UHD content and growing, across a wide array of genres – from travel to science, kids to reality formats and food to wildlife. Since 2014, BHP expanded its capabilities and brand by launching four new divisions – Beach House Kids (children’s content), Beach House Entertainment (drama, formats), Beach House Studios (animation, VR/ AR) and Beach House Labs (Digital, Branded). BHP is a multiple international awards winner and was recently voted into Realscreen’s Global 100 of the world’s most innovative and influential production companies. BHP recently launched a brand new global series Machine Impossible (Nat Geo) and the third season of Photo Face Off (History). It is currently in production on a 10part series on Borneo for Discovery, as well as close to 100 new episodes of kids’ content for Okto and Australia’s Channel Nine.

Beach House Pictures Singapore recently upgraded its legacy media infrastructure with EditShare media management solutions: EditShare Flow media asset management (MAM), 235 TB EditShare EFS XStream shared storage and EditShare Ark tape-based archiving.

Replacing the existing attached storage units with a MAM-enabled tiered storage environment provides Beach House with a media infrastructure and control layer that supports production and post activities from ingest to archive.

Steve Pelluet, head of technology for Beach House, commented on the evolution of the team and its operation, as well as the pain points they experience, saying, “Beach House Pictures now employs up to 100 people who work on an ever-growing range of content. The established ‘sneakernet’ workflow of drives being passed from one stage to another is just not conducive to the demands of the industry anymore.

“In any given project, we can log up to 50 terabytes of rushes and transcoded files, stored on attached drives which are shared among the various producers, transcribers, editors and other creatives. Swapping drives from one docking station to another to share and access content was fine when we were much smaller and delivering more traditional broadcast content, but today it simply does not work. We needed a logical way to centralize content and make it easily accessible to users in the way best suited to their needs.”

Under the previous workflow, Beach House Pictures production and post production staff would copy content from one drive to another to share media, requiring an enormous amount of attached drives and a manual cataloging system via Microsoft Excel to track media assets.

“We have been wanting something like EditShare for quite some time,” commented Jocelyn Little, Managing Director of Beach House Pictures. “With the support of the Info-communications Media Development Authority, we are able to implement a state-of-the-art media infrastructure that will not only make us more productive, it will give younger staff more time to learn the more creative aspect of editing content and weaving together a story.”

POST PRODUCTION

The Beach House Pictures installation features EditShare’s most advanced storage platform, XStream EFS. The distributed architecture is designed to manage large media volumes and workgroups with a fault-tolerant design that ensures no work is ever lost. The XStream EFS is fully integrated with the tape-based archiving system EditShare Ark, with Flow MAM serving as global media governance across the facility.

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“EditShare will make content readily available across the facility without the headache of tracking down drives or resources to navigate complex systems,” stated Peter Lambert, Head of Sales for EditShare. “Producers and directors can log into Flow from any laptop or system on the EditShare network, search the EditShare main storage system or archives and pull up their project. No more copying content from one drive to the next or waiting in an edit bay for someone to be available. They can call up a project, view the proxies,

storyboard or make notes and send back to the editor. It’s really a game changer for how they will manage their productions going forward.”

In addition to the fast search and production tools, EditShare Flow offers key automation capabilities for a wide range of media processes, including transcoding the many formats Beach House Pictures must deal with. Under the new workflow and infrastructure, the Beach House Pictures team can freely share assets, collaborate on stories and repurpose content for trailers, commercials and even vignettes for social media quickly and easily.

“EditShare really helps us eliminate inefficiencies and a lot of the risks that we had in the siloed workflow,” added Beach House’s Steve Pelluet. “Previously we had at least ten media copying steps, which meant there was more chance of the wrong media or sequence going to the next person in the chain.

“We do not have this with EditShare. There are only three file copying steps now, including the final export. At every stage, we know exactly where the media is, which project to open and the right sequence to use.

“The toolset in EditShare is fantastic because it has really taken into consideration the actual user, which makes it a much easier transition for the team from a traditional to digital workflow.”

Beach House plans to move all of its existing content from the various attached drives onto the EditShare Ark, making past programs searchable through the Flow database.

Visit www.editshare.com

POST PRODUCTION

Sonnet Thunderbolt 3-to-PCIe Expansion Systems SONNET TECHNOLOGIES recently launched its first Thunderbolt 3-to-PCIe card expansion systems, the Echo Express SEL – Thunderbolt 3 Edition and the Echo Express SE I – Thunderbolt 3 Edition. Like the other members of the award-winning Echo Express family, the SEL and SE I enable the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCI Express (PCIe) cards with computers equipped with Thunderbolt ports. Both the SEL and SE I are compact and lightweight single-slot Thunderbolt 3 expansion systems, differing only in size, that are ideal for use in situations in which users only need to connect a single PCIe card. With the new interface, both systems enable users of computers equipped with 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, such as the new MacBook Pro, to take advantage of Thunderbolt 3’s 2,750MB/s of PCI Express bandwidth to support the most demanding, highest performance adapter cards. Sonnet is also making available Thunderbolt 3 upgrade cards for existing Thunderbolt 2 Echo Express SEL and SE I expansion systems, enabling those models with all the capabilities of the new Thunderbolt 3 Editions.

The Echo Express SE I — Thunderbolt 3 Edition weighs just 1.17kg and measures only 14.2 wide by 22 deep by 8.9cm tall, accommodating one-half length (up to 19.7cm long), full-height, single-width PCIe 3.0 card with additional mounting space for a daughter card. With its Thunderbolt 3 interface, the SE I delivers ample bandwidth for the majority of Thunderboltcompatible PCIe cards including pro video capture, digital audio interface, 6Gbps or 12Gbps SAS or SATA host bus adapters, 16Gb or 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit ethernet, and RAID controller PCIe cards.

The Echo Express SEL – Thunderbolt 3 Edition is the smallest and quietest Thunderbolt 3 chassis yet, measuring 10 wide by 21 long by 7.1cm tall and weighing just 0.8kg. The SEL houses one low-profile, single-width PCIe 3.0 card, including the majority of the most popular Thunderbolt-compatible 16Gb and 8Gb fibre channel, 40 and 10 Gigabit ethernet, 6Gbps or 12Gbps SAS and

SATA host bus adapters, RAID controller cards, and even low-profile pro video capture cards like the BlueFish 444 Epoch 4K Neutron.

The Echo Express SE I and Echo Express SEL Thunderbolt 3 Editions feature dual 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 ports that support the daisy chaining of up to five additional Thunderbolt peripheral devices. Both models support backward compatibility for 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2- and 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped devices when connected via the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter. As an added benefit, the second Thunderbolt 3 port also supports a variety of displays and a multitude of USB 3.1, USB 3.0, and USB 2.0 devices when connected with the proper cable, and also fully support the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol, which enables streaming to one 4K display at 120Hz, or two 4K displays at 60Hz, or one 5K display at 60Hz. Both the Echo Express SE I – Thunderbolt 3 Edition and the Echo Express SEL – Thunderbolt 3 Edition are housed in rugged aluminium enclosures and each features an ultra-quiet, temperature-controlled fan that automatically speeds up and slows down as necessary to cool the installed card. Each Echo Express Thunderbolt 3 Edition chassis also includes a 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) cable as well as Sonnet’s exclusive ThunderLok 3 Thunderbolt Connector Retainer Clip to secure the cable to the chassis and prevent accidental cable disconnects.

Visit www.sonnettech.com

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POST PRODUCTION

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POST PRODUCTION

ROI-SDI Scan Converter from AJA AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS has commenced shipping its ROI-SDI scan converter.

Wrapping ‘region-of-interest’ (ROI) controls for SDI sources into a portable miniconverter form factor, it includes a 3G-SDI input and simultaneous 3G-SDI and HDMI outputs, and facilitates high quality image scaling in addition to image rotation at a range of resolutions and frame-rates.

ROI-SDI addresses a growing demand for customisable video signals to meet a range of display and workflow requirements. It features extensive aspect ratio conversion and audio functionality, and allows users to rotate source signals, define a portion of an image, or reframe the source image from any 3G-SDI signal. Paired with free AJA Mini-Config software, ROI-SDI makes it easy to select a region-of-interest in realtime and on screen with complete control over how that region is scaled to the output resolution.

ROI-SDI feature highlights include: • 1x 3G-SDI BNC input.

• 2x mirrored processed outputs (1x 3G-SDI BNC and 1x HDMI).

• 1x clean 3G-SDI BNC loop out.

• 1x USB port for device configuration via free AJA Mini-Config software – macOS or Windows.

• Support for a range of video formats.

• Two-channel analogue RCA audio outputs, embedded eight-channel SDI audio, and two-channel or eight-channel embedded HDMI audio.

Visit www.aja.com

EDIUS 8.3 Upgrade

Firmware update 1.3 adds ‘De-Interlacer’ to view interlaced video in progressive mode. It also adds V-Log, S-Log 3, DeLOG and HDR Preview support. A new ‘Color Picker’ tool has been added to view specific colour values of a selected pixel of the video signal displayed.

The upgrade also supports a ‘Studio Mode’ for SmallHD’s 1303HDR 13inch monitor, which provides a brightness setting engineered for studio environments. Additionally, the multi-view function has been simplified to allow viewing of two video outputs only for A/B camera setups, and repeated pressing of the input button now cycles through all available inputs.

The free firmware upgrade can be installed on the following models: 1303 Studio, 1303 HDR, 1703 Studio, 1703 HDR, 2403 Studio, 2403 HDR and 3203 HDR. Visit www.smallhd.com

NewBlue Launches Titler Pro 5 NEWBLUE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the latest version of its flagship titling tool, Titler Pro 5. The tool accelerates titling with an easy-to-learn and familiar workflow alongside a range of pre-built templates and animations, compatible with top non-linear video editing programs.

“Our goal was to build the fastest and most efficient titling solution for any editor.

We felt it was important to show editors that creating beautiful titles could be easy, and didn’t require a large investment of their time,” said Todor Fay, CEO of NewBlue.

Features include:

introduced a number of features to make video editing more productive and creative. The new version brings high-quality slow-motion, more DVD/Blu-ray burning options, and other improvements to all EDIUS Pro and Workgroup 8 users.

• Faster titling and animation creation.

Specific improvements for EDIUS Pro 8.3 and EDIUS Workgroup 8.3 include: • High-quality slow-motion using optical flow interpolation.

• Bin now shows timecode information.

• Many more burn-to-disc options for DVD and Blu-ray.

• More proxy resolution options.

• GV Browser improvements.

• GUI improvements.

• F-Log (Fujifilm) colour space.

EDIUS 8 supports more formats and more resolutions in real-time than its competitors, with more creative options and real-time, no-render editing of all popular SD, HD and 4K formats.

POST PRODUCTION

SMALLHD HAS ANNOUNCED a free firmware update, adding features to increase the functionality of its line of 13-, 17-, 24-, and 32-inch production monitors, including HDR displays.

WITH VERSION 8.3 of EDIUS Pro and EDIUS Workgroup, Grass Valley has

“Our customers choose EDIUS because they know that it’s a smart investment that will keep up with their needs as technology advances,” said Steve Wise, Director of Product Marketing, Grass Valley. “We are constantly adding features and improving performance in response to feedback from users, which means the software never falls behind the needs of the market.

And, the permanent license structure is such that existing users have access to the incremental upgrades within a version at no additional charge.”

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Firmware Upgrade for SmallHD Production and Studio Monitors

EDIUS is available in two versions: EDIUS Pro 8 is targeted at the professional production user, while EDIUS Workgroup 8 is aimed at editors working within a broadcast-based, collaborative editing environment that may require GV STRATUS or third-party MAM connectivity, or to edit-in-place on K2 server/ storage.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

• Over 100 customisable animated templates.

• Create a title then apply animation to grow, slide, bend, or rotate.

• Bulk edit numerous titles.

• Integrated multi-title management system to quickly edit text, colour, and more.

Titler Pro 5 mirrors many of the familiar controls in popular NLE platforms. Titler Pro 5 is compatible with professional video editing tools including Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, Black Magic DaVinci Resolve, Grass Valley Edius, HitFilm Pro, and Sony Vegas Pro. Visit www.newbluefx.com

Flanders DM Series Monitors With HDR Preview Modes ALL DM SERIES Flanders Scientific monitors now feature three selectable HDR Preview modes. FSI CEO/GM, Bram Desmet, had this to say about the new features, “Our aim with these new HDR monitoring modes is to allow users to leverage current technology for High Dynamic Range signal monitoring in production and quality control applications. While not intended for HDR mastering, these modes do provide a simple and cost effective way to monitor PQ or HLG signals.”

Three monitoring modes are available: • Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG).

• ST2084 clipping at approximately 300nits.

• ST2084 with a highlight roll – allows operators to visually distinguish all code values in a PQ signal.

Visit www.flandersscientific.com

POST PRODUCTION

Not All

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Today’s high resolution media demands massive amounts of storage.

Avid created shared media storage to serve the world’s biggest studios.

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Not sure which collaborative storage solution suits? Take advantage of a no-obligation “discovery” session with one of Digistor’s consultants to find out.

02 9431 6000 | enquiries@digistor.com.au | digistor.com.au © 2016 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid ,the Avid logo, and MediaCentral are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of the respective holders.

POST PRODUCTION

digistor.com.au/avidnexis

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM Quantum Announces StorNext 5.4 QUANTUM CORP HAS ANNOUNCED the StorNext 5.4 workflow storage platform that brings efficiency and flexibility to media content management.

StorNext 5.4 enhancements include the ability to integrate existing public cloud storage accounts and third-party object storage (private cloud) – starting with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, NetApp StorageGRID, IBM Cleversafe and Scality RING – as archive tiers in a StorNext-managed media environment. Another new feature enables users to deploy applications embedded within StorNext-powered Xcellis workflow storage appliances.

DAE adds application flexibility and compatibility to the storage environment.

Ten media technology companies certifying their applications for deployment on Xcellis include: Aspera, CatDV, Cantemo, Elements, Evolphin, FocalPoint Server, GLOOKAST, IPV, Metus, and Telestream.

StorNext 5.4 provides users with new connectivity options for Xcellis workflow storage – quad 16Gb fibre channel and dual 40Gb ethernet – as well as new NAS capabilities such as NFS 4.0. Other StorNext 5.4 enhancements include:

StorNext Storage Manager now offers automated, policy-based movement of content into and out of users’ existing public and private clouds while maintaining visibility and access. Additional benefits include:

• Support for a broader range of flash-based metadata controllers, including lower-price options for smaller deployments with high-performance requirements.

• Integration for public and private clouds within a StorNext-managed environment that can also encompass primary disk and tape storage tiers.

• Improved monitoring and reporting for real-time insight into the entire tieredstorage environment.

• Full user and application access to media stored in the cloud without the need for additional hardware or software.

• Automated over-the-air upgrades.

• Extended versioning across sites and the cloud.

• The ability to leverage integrated cloud transfer acceleration, a broad selection of third-party WAN acceleration tools and high-speed connectivity options for high-volume data transfers.

• Xcellis Storage Support for Application Deployment By enabling applications to run inside its Xcellis Workflow Director, Quantum’s new Dynamic Application Environment (DAE) capability in StorNext 5.4 allows users to leverage a converged storage architecture to reduce the time, cost and complexity of deploying and maintaining applications. The DAE supports embedded applications in self-contained virtual machines (VMs), with a hypervisor dynamically allocating resources as needed to guarantee both storage and application performance. With support for both Windows and Linux VMs, the

In conjunction with the release of StorNext 5.4, Quantum has refined its StorNext Connect management tools with an app-based framework that facilitates the independent installation, operation and updating of individual components while they are online.

• The enhanced Installation App simplifies the initial installation and configuration of Xcellis systems, providing step-by-step walk-throughs and visual guides that match the new configuration options in StorNext 5.4 and on Xcellis.

• A new NAS App simplifies and consolidates management of NAS functionality.

• A Discovery App and a total environment Capacity Reporter App are also being developed.

Visit www.quantum.com

Post Houses Increase Demand for LTO Tapes THE LATTER HALF OF 2016 and beginning of 2017 has seen a

Fujifilm’s LTO Ecology Pack (EcoPack) offers post houses the same high quality

significant increase in the demand for LTO tapes from the post production

tape whilst being kinder to the environment with 85 percent fewer CO2

industry, as compared to the same period 12 months ago, according to Fujifilm

emissions created due to less packaging, when compared to Fujifilm standard

Australia.

LTO product packaging. Post houses also save on effort as tapes load more

As Fujifilm Australia GM Recording Media and Optical Marc Van Agten explained, “We’ve really seen a major increase in the usage of LTO tapes in the

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

post production industry compared to last year and this demand seems to be

42

easily without a P-case, have lower disposal costs as a result of reduced packaging and save on space as the EcoPack takes up 30 percent less room than Fujifilm’s standard LTO products.

continuing. Whist demand for older LTO formats is still strong there’s been a

Van Agten concluded, “The feedback we’re getting from post houses is that

particular requirement for LTO7 and our LTO Ecology Pack.”

they are backing up and archiving more data than ever and for efficiency,

Fujifilm’s LTO Ultrium 7 Data Cartridge (LTO7) allows for the backup and

speed and cost per GB stored, LTO tape continues to be their chosen media

archive of large volumes of data and high-speed data transfer at 300 MB/s

for this process.”

and offers a storage capacity of 6TB.

Visit www.fujifilm.com.au

Metro TV Jakarta Complies with Mediaproxy MEDIAPROXY RECENTLY ANNOUNCED that Metro TV in Jakarta has

built around monitoring closed caption data allows for accurate reconstitution ‘as

selected its LogServer platform for its next generation compliance system.

broadcast’ and enables quick export with optional burn-in for verification.

Initially recording and monitoring eight channels, the solution will be installed

“Being able to access compliance, monitoring and analysis functions from one

and supported by Ideal Systems, Indonesia.

place, Mediaproxy’s unified solution provides our customers with a powerful and

Mediaproxy’s LogServer platform provides 24/7 SD and HD multichannel

cost effective set of tools,” said Awan Setiawan, Ideal’s Operations Manager in

recording and live monitoring of video, audio and real-time data sources from

Indonesia. “Having all user interfaces available in our local languages, provides

one place. Contents may be reviewed and managed long after the event for legal

seamless interaction for all users.”

and commercial compliance requirements and competitive analysis. A feature set

Visit www.metrotvnews.com and www.mediaproxy.com

POST PRODUCTION

POST PRODUCTION

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

This TV Program is Brought to you by Automation

By Barry Hartman, Product Director of Media Logistics, Ooyala.

CONSUMERS AND PRODUCERS BOTH WANT more video content.

concern, and the management of existing day-to-day needs, combined with the

Viewers are dying to see another season of Game of Thrones, up-to-the-

requirements of the increased demand creates a ripple effect felt throughout the

minute clips from their favourite team’s game, or the next episode of the local

entire organisation.

drama series they're following. Content producers are motivated to create more programming in order to capture the hearts, minds, and wallets of viewers. As a result, we’ve recently seen producers ‘pump up the content’. This past year Netflix promised to double content production, and Amazon committed to tripling the number of its original shows. Pundits believe the uptick will continue, predicting that by 2017, output could reach more than 500 scripted shows.

While it’s exciting to be part of a growth industry, in reality it’s neither easy or straightforward for content producers, broadcasters or VOD service providers to keep pace with increasing demand for video. Some are saying this massive increase in programming – coined ‘Peak TV’ – is unsustainable, and that producers may simply run out of resources.

Today’s content producers need to produce great shows amidst increasing competition across a scarce supply of talent, such as writers, actors and crew members. These challenges are compounded when content must meet the needs of different delivery platforms, devices, syndicate partners, regional variations, technical standards, and more – often without budget increases.

Organisations across the industry are struggling to meet this challenge, and few are sure where to turn for solutions.

Some producers are hoping to meet these increasing demands, while simultaneously reducing costs and manpower requirements through use of technologies that automate various aspects of production. The National Basketball Association, for example, uses a software application that generates game highlight clips that are customised to individual fan preferences, and then delivers those clips following games or during games in near real-time.

These technologies hold promise for the production of content that already exists, but what about automation to help with the production of original content? Original content producers would welcome assistance with both non-creative and creative parts of production – but is automation the answer?

How far will producers go with automation – and do they even know enough to decide?

The Long Road from Creation to Distribution When ‘pumping up the content’, producers must consider every facet of

However, technology can be employed for other creative processes. For example, tasks that require human input, such as collaboration on a script, can be orchestrated with automation. By removing the barriers to collaboration – the large chunks of time and the byzantine logistics required – a production can speed up reviews and conduct more in total.

Of course, there are many non-creative aspects of original programming production that producers can automate, including quality control (QC), versioning, standards and format adherence, ingestion, packaging, delivery, content commissioning and pre-production workflows.

Automation Increases More than Volume By automating production, producers can eliminate many manual tasks and shorten production cycles, in turn reducing errors and increasing productivity.

One Ooyala customer reported that automation technology reduced the length of its average job from 90 minutes to just 10 minutes. Another commented that automation allowed them to on-board new clients or launch new services in a fraction of the time, making them significantly more agile.

Automation can also provide content producers with increased control over a production, eliminating waste and saving money. These savings allow organisations to do more work with the same budget, or to accomplish the same work at a lower cost. The savings can be reinvested, for example, to hire star-quality on-screen talent, better producers, or better directors. The visibility afforded by automation can also be invaluable in risk assessment and growth management, which can help an organisation determine if it can add distribution partners without adding resources.

All these steps have to be completed for each episode in the series, on a schedule calling for production of roughly one episode per day. Scaling is a major

Visit www.ooyala.com

delivery, and often must customise those processes for dozens of partners.

Consider this example; a production company signed a contract with a distributor to produce over 10 animated cartoon series based on characters in its films. To meet this demand the company needs to find animators, writers, and production

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

So, can automation do for original content and complex programming what is does for repackaged videos? Well, yes – and no. Production of original content is generally more creative, nuanced and involved than repackaged video production.

Particularly when that programming is licensed to scores of outlets requiring fast turnaround and delivery. Given this complexity, it’s unrealistic to think that automation could help original content producers to the extent it's helping repackaged content producers. It won’t take the place of Aaron Sorkin’s stellar scriptwriting in West Wing.

For all its many benefits, automation will never be a complete substitute for human creativity – the subtleties of plot development, nuances of language, and artistic flair required in design, staging and lighting – but it can significantly augment creative processes such as collaboration, and perform a good share of the non-creative tasks such as ingestion. All told, automation technology saves time and frees up resources needed to add creative cycles that can improve the quality of programming, and to realise greater overall efficiency and cost savings.

And yes, automation can also help organisations ‘pump up the content’ to meet the demand for ‘Peak TV’ – an outcome that will please both viewers and content producers.

production, from concept development to scriptwriting and editing, through to

44

Not all Video Production is Created Equally

studios, then deliver each show in multiple languages with various versions and subtitles – obligations that often required script changes. Additionally, the company has to package the content to meet distributor’s preferences.

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Digistor Announces Major Projects Team AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY solutions provider, Digistor, has announced the formation of its ‘Major Projects Team’ to handle complex and large-scale implementations. �We’ve been handling major client work for over 20 years, but today’s projects are much more complex,� said Digistor’s Managing Director, Andrew Mooney. �In response to this we’ve formed a dedicated Major Projects Team to focus the relevant experience and appropriate resources to clients.�

The team is tasked with managing projects that include large, multi-seat facilities, multi-location implementations, high-volume media content management, and government/corporate upgrades and roll-outs. These projects involve considerable budgets and require detailed analysis, planned strategic implementation, human resource management and on-going support. “It’s critical our customers feel confident that we have the resources and they’re not talking to sales reps. They have access to our pre-sales planning, implementation, delivery and support team members throughout the life-cycle of the project,� added Mooney.

The Major Projects Team is headed by Senior Sales Consultant, Matt Wood, Pre-sales Solutions Architect, Patrick Trivuncevic, and Service Delivery Manager, Jordan Tiburcio. “We’ve seen new corporate players needing to manage digital media with increasingly complex projects, so a more structured management process is required,� detailed Mooney. “As well as traditional broadcasters, we’re now working with telcos, banks, advertising agencies and corporate entities.

Accordingly, these projects involve more legal compliance so it makes sense to keep everyone involved throughout a project.�

It’s All About Workflows “Rather than simply supplying products, we deliver integrated solutions.

The complexity arises because of the way all parts of a system connect.

A prime example is asset management. We analyse the requirements and

define upfront the most suitable solution, so everyone is comfortable prior to deployment,� continues Mooney.

Technology Options and Vendor Support �A range of topics and technologies apply to any project, at many levels,� said Mooney. “Considerations include data migration, security, disaster recovery, business continuity, along with support and training. Our experience in these areas is what our customers rely on for the successful setup, maintenance, and future-proofing of their operations.�

Cloud Solutions Cloud-based applications and operations are increasingly providing advantages for many workflows, and there are numerous options to investigate. Clients can implement their own private cloud using one of the many mid-tier local telcos, or the large-scale multinationals.

Mooney points out that content creators need to understand the fine-print to ensure they know what is happening with their data. In many cases, content licensing requires strict security and data sovereignty that can be a legal minefield if not addressed. The cloud can be used in workflows purely for file transfers, or as a collaborative server where everyone is working from a central hub. “We thoroughly collaborate with clients to identify the best current and long-term solutions for their needs. The launch of our Major Projects Team is a big step up in our ability to provide clients access to wider resources at a company level.�

Visit www.digistor.com.au

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Pay-TV Content Protection: Protecting the Content Value Chain

By Christopher Schouten, Senior Product Marketing Director, NAGRA CONTENT IS NOW MORE AVAILABLE than ever before. Video consumption

CCTV, filed a lawsuit against HTV,

is at its highest level in history. As the amount of video content grows to

which had allegedly set up a pirate

meet demand, so does the threat of piracy. With the growth of broadband

broadcasting network to capture

and advanced consumer devices, the threat to the premium video value chain

programmes and distribute online.

is also evolving. Today, content protection is no longer only about protecting

However, in the long term, the best

the broadcast signal and the set-top box, it’s also about having an effective strategy for protecting the service, the device, and the content.

way to fight the threat of content sharing is to insert an imperceptible

The Impact of Piracy

watermark in the video or audio,

A global threat, piracy takes place in every country that watches television.

enabling the rights owner to pursue

According to a report by Sycamore Research, over half (61%) of the

the leak directly and halt it at the

Singaporean adult population (16-64 year olds) stated they had participated

source. Forensic watermarking is

in movie and TV or music piracy. And contrary to the view of piracy as a

also a key part of the MovieLabs

victimless crime, its impact is hardly small. For instance, a 2015 study by the Indonesia Film Producers Association (Aprofi) found that the Indonesian film industry loses Rp 437.5 billion ($30.3 million) annually to piracy.

The estimated global cost of peer-to-peer piracy to content owners and distributors is US$90 billion dollars annually.

The Evolving Threat Although service piracy such as smart card cloning still presents a threat to

Enhanced Content Protection requirements, and will be required by most Hollywood studios for the licensing of 4K and HD HDR content. While visible fingerprinting was often used in the past, this both disrupts the experience and gives pirates the opportunity to remove or cover up the fingerprint. That’s why Kudelski Group

pay-TV operators, it occurs primarily when using older conditional access (CA)

acquired Civolution’s NexGuard technology.

technologies rather than state-of-the-art systems. Better CA technology,

Technologies like NexGuard’s watermarking solutions represent a leap forward

together with the ubiquity of high-speed broadband has driven pirates

in the fight against piracy, as they are resistant to attempts of tampering.

online. Today, pirates record the output of the STB or even use high-quality

Using a watermark enables companies like NAGRA to scan the internet

cameras to film the image on the screen before distributing it via the internet – and becomming increasingly sophisticated at doing so. Many illegitimate content streaming services are now so well packaged and advertised that they strongly resemble legitimate pay-TV and OTT services. One illegitimate service offers 2,000 streamed pay-TV channels from the largest content

and pirate streaming services for illegally redistributed content. When such content is identified, it empowers the rights owner to take steps toward stopping the illegal flow of content, helping to keep the value of content in the legitimate value chain. When integrated with CA and DRM systems,

providers around the world for only €130 per year, which equates with the

watermarking and the associated detection services will ultimately form a

price for a single month of triple-play service in the United States. Another

closed-loop solution, protecting content for delivery to any device. Ultimately,

pirate IPTV provider even created an 18-minute American-style infomercial

illegally-distributed content can then be automatically detected and shut

with stars from the music industry endorsing the product. It’s no wonder

down, offering 360° content protection and a fast and effective response to

some consumers buy these services without knowing they’re illegal.

content theft. Through the tight integration of these important technologies

Finding a Solution

and services, the Kudelski Group continues to play a leading role in the holistic

There are several ways to attack this threat. The legal route is one option.

Earlier this year, U.S. providers DISH and TVB, alongside Chinese broadcaster

protection of the premium video value chain.

Visit www.nagra.com

Seagate Launches New Backup Plus Hub

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY recently announced that its Seagate Backup Plus Hub is now available in Australia. Based on Seagate’s Backup Plus Desktop, Seagate Backup Plus Hub is an external storage hub providing a complete backup solution, while also acting as a desktop organiser.

46

For typical computer users, this drive provides up to 8TB capacity to better manage data, rather than juggle that data across multiple USB storage devices.

Its intelligent two-port USB hub also makes the Backup Plus Hub a charging station. The integrated USB slots allow users to charge two USB-connected devices at any time, even if their computer is not powered on. Users can also connect their devices directly to the Backup Plus Hub for data transfers and access two USB-connected devices as if they were plugged directly into the computer. With the Backup Plus Hub, Android and iOS device users are able to easily backup photos and videos, and free up their mobile device memory.

Seagate Backup Plus Hub includes the Seagate Dashboard software with two free years of 200GB Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage so users can back up, access, and share their files from any device or location.

The product is now available in Australia. The RRP for the 4TB Backup Plus Hub is AU$229 and AU$419 for the 8TB Backup Plus Hub. Visit www.seagate.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Crucial DDR4 DIMMs Boost Server Performance CRUCIAL HAS LAUNCHED its latest DDR4 server DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules). With speeds of 2666MT/s (megatransfers per second), new Crucial DDR4 server memory modules allow for increased performance and bandwidth within data centres and hyperscale environments. They’re also available in a variety of server module types and densities, ranging from 8GB to 64GB. New Crucial 2666MT/s 8GB-based server memory modules are approximately 11% faster than the previously 2400MT/s DIMMs. Additionally, the newly expanded portfolio of Crucial server memory will support cloud and enterprise environments that are migrating to next-generation Intel server platforms.

“Improving system performance in the data centre is one of many priorities

organisations are looking to address as the need to meet ever-increasing and more demanding workloads evolves,” said Michael Moreland, Crucial Server DRAM Product Marketing Manager. “Crucial’s new 2666MT/s server modules can help data centre and hyperscale customers reduce performance burdens by using faster memory to help advance the efficiencies of their server systems.”

The new modules are available for purchase via Crucial’s web site and through select global partners. All Crucial memory is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Visit www.crucial.com/memory-server

Lexar 512GB Pro Memory Card for 4K Capture

The Lexar Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card line, specifically optimised for ARRI cameras, will also double in capacity to 512GB in the first half of 2017.

Features include: • 512GB Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card provides read transfer speeds up to 525MB/s and write speeds up to 445MB/s.

• Captures highest-quality 4K video and beyond with next-generation, cinemagrade video cameras.

• Provides high-speed file transfer that accelerates workflow.

• Also coming soon, 512GB Lexar Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card optimised for ARRI cameras.

Micron Consumer Products Group Marketing Manager – APAC, Mathew Luu said, “As professional imaging technology continues to advance, it’s crucial

that memory storage formats keep pace with data needs. When shooting 200fps on a production-level camera, it’s easy to fill a 256GB card in just 17 minutes. The 512GB 3500x CFast 2.0 card can capture more than twice that.”

The Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card also includes a lifetime copy of Image Rescue software to recover most photo and select video files, even if erased or the card is corrupted. The card is also backed by expert technical support and a limited lifetime warranty. The new card capacity will be available in Q1 of 2017.

The Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 card line is also available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities. In addition, the Professional 3600x CFast 2.0 card line is available in 128GB and 256GB capacities.

Visit www.lexar.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

LEXAR HAS DOUBLED CAPACITY for the Lexar Professional 3500x CFast 2.0 memory card, providing the capacity and speed thresholds needed for cinematographers, filmmakers, and content creators to capture the highestquality 4K and ProRes video and RAW photos.

47

AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

Dante Integrated in Over 1000 Products AUDINATE, developer of the Dante media networking technology, has celebrated an adoption milestone in 2017 with over 350 manufacturers having now licensed Dante, an increase of 75 in the last year.

Recent licensees span a broad spectrum of markets, including installed sound, live sound, broadcast, transportation and CEDIA, and include notable brands such as Beyerdynamic, Clear-Com, JBL, Lawo, Panasonic, Riedel, Sony, ARX Systems, and many more.

“The continued adoption of Dante by AV manufacturers such as these shows that Dante truly has become the market leader in audio networking,” stated Lee Ellison, CEO of Audinate. “Manufacturers are responding to market demand and recognising that they need to offer Dante to remain competitive.”

The seeds of the company were sown in Sydney, Australia, where a small team of engineers was designing new technologies for Motorola Research Labs. Motorola shuttered the facility in 2003, but a few members of the team stayed together, securing backing from the National Information and Communications Technology of Australia (NICTA), a government research institute whose goal is to spawn innovative technology to benefit the growth of industry in Australia.

The company, which was established in 2003 by a group of Sydney-based, exMotorola engineers, has also announced that there are now over 1000 different commercially available products on the market, including interface cards, that have integrated Dante.

“For five years, we have been tracking the adoption of audio networking technology by both OEMs and customers,” notes Roland Hemming, Principal at RH Consulting. “Our research has shown us that the top criteria customers look for when selecting an audio networking technology is the number of products available on the market. By passing the 1000-product milestone, Dante has more products available on the market than all of the other audio networking technologies combined, and has cemented their position as the market leader.”

Audinate recently unveiled its new Dante Domain Manager platform, a complete network management solution bringing enterprise-grade system administration to the AV world. According to Audinate, Dante Domain Manager makes audio networking more secure, more scalable and more manageable than ever before.

Dante Domain Manager allows administrators to secure their audio networks from unwanted changes and modifications, and provides the ability to scale and segment audio networks regardless of the physical constraints of the network. With Dante Domain Manager, integrators can define specific AV device groupings, by room, building and site, allowing for the creation of independent Dante Domains and enabling a single Dante Domain to encompass multiple IP subnets.

Dante Domain Manager provides robust security for IT departments and AV managers, including user authentication and control, role administration, and integration with Active Directory. System managers gain complete visibility and accountability through a suite of user-defined dashboards, audit trails, alerts, and messages.

Visit www.audinate.com

Richard Cabot to Manage AES Standards THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY has announced that Dr. Richard C. Cabot will be assuming the duties of Standards Manager. A former President of the AES, Dr. Cabot has been involved with AES Standards since its early years, having chaired the development of the AES17 standard on digital audio measurement. He was one of the founders of Audio Precision and developed its digital audio measurement technology. In addition to his standards work, Dr. Cabot's company, XFRM, Inc., designs professional audio equipment, consults on Intellectual Property patentability and infringement issues, and evaluates technology to guide companies in their investment decisions.

The announcement follows that of a new Society President in the form of Alex Case who currently serves as an Associate Professor of Sound Recording Technology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

President Case has dedicated his professional life to the study of aesthetics, perception, signal processing, electro-acoustics and room acoustics for the creation and enjoyment of recorded music.

Bringing a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience to his pursuits as an audio engineer Richard Cabot. and as an educator, Case’s background has served him well in his roles as a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society and Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, also serving on the Education Committee (past chair) and the Technical Committee for Recording Technology and Practice.

Visit www.aes.org.

AUDIO

JBL 7 Series Powered Master Reference Monitors

48

JBL PROFESSIONAL RECENTLY ANNOUNCED the new JBL 7 Series Powered studio monitors. Featuring patented driver and waveguide technologies developed for the JBL M2 Master Reference Monitor, the new 705P five-inch and 708P eight-inch monitors deliver high output, detail and accuracy for postproduction, broadcast and music recording facilities.

to 35kHz. These proprietary drivers allow the 7 Series to deliver two to three times the output of existing studio monitors.

Patented and patent-pending driver and acoustic technologies provide greater output, dynamic range and detailed imaging to help professionals work from greater distances and overcome less-than-ideal placement. Proprietary JBL waveguide technology delivers neutral response and room-to-room consistency, while onboard room EQ solves low frequency problems.

Inside each monitor is a built-in dual amplification system that’s optimised for the high-output drivers. A 120W amp powers the 2409H high-frequency transducer, while a 250W amp is dedicated to the 725G and 728G low-frequency transducers.

Both models feature the 2409H high-frequency compression driver, which incorporates a low-mass annular diaphragm to deliver low distortion, with response beyond 36kHz.

Both models feature analogue and AES/EBU digital inputs at sample rates of up to 192kHz. Internal sample rate converters can be enabled to allow the monitors to receive digital signals of uncommon sample rates.

The 725G five-inch low-frequency transducer used in the 705P model provide 14mm peak-to-peak excursion with greater linearity, delivering low-frequency output down to 39Hz. The 728G eight-inch low-frequency transducer inside the 708P leverages JBL Differential Drive technology to reduce power compression and provide greater sustained output and extended, linear low-frequency performance

A compact two-way design minimises interference with video displays and sight lines, while providing output comparable to larger speakers. The reinforced enclosure includes bottom and rear mounting points allowing wall and ceiling mounting in either vertical or horizontal orientations.

Both the 705P and 708P feature the JBL patent-pending Image Control Waveguide that provides an acoustically seamless transition between the woofer and high-frequency transducer, and a wide sweet-spot with increased sonic detail.

Onboard DSP-based room equalisation compensates for acoustic issues in any room, delivering the most accurate sound reproduction.

Visit www.jands.com.au

AUDIO

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49

AUDIO

2017 Winter NAMM Anaheim, California THE 2017 WINTER NAMM SHOW in Anaheim, California covered anything and everything in the world of creating and projecting music and audio to the world. Countless demonstration booths covered the Anaheim Convention Center, with preeminent names in the pro audio world popping up all over the show floor. Peter Asher, Tom and Chris LordAlge, Mark Frink, the Talking Heads' Jerry Harrison, Australia’s own Orianthi and Richie Sambora, among many others, were all there to enjoy the world’s biggest professional audio show. Amongst the guitars, drums and plug-ins there were the latest incarnations of professional audio production tools. Here’s just a few highlights of the industry’s latest innovations.

Lynx Studio Technology introduced its latest Aurora line of A/D and D/A converters. The initial fourteen models will include some offering up to 32 channels with connectivity options to include Thunderbolt, USB, Dante and ProTools | HD. The Aurora features an I/O platform that can be configured using different modules. The first three of these modules will include a preamp, an analogue summing module, and digital (AES3+ADAT) module to be released in 2017. New features and capabilities will be added periodically via firmware updates. All units include an onboard micro SD player/recorder capable of up to 32 channels of direct recording and playback.

The Antelope Audio Orion32 HD delivers 64 channels via HDX or USB3, and is compatible with any DAW. It also delivers Antelope Audio's clocking technology and field programmable gate array real-time effects modelling. With HDX, USB3, MADI, ADAT and S/PDIF connectivity and 32-in/32-out analogue input via DB25, the Orion32 HD covers a variety of installation scenarios.

The Orion32 HD includes Antelope’s 64-bit ‘Acoustically Focused Clocking’ jitter management, two wordclock or Loopsync Outs allowing the Orion to serve as the wordclock centrepiece, and also features mastering-grade monitor outputs borrowed from Antelope’s Pure2 Mastering Converter.

Again with the concept of modularity, MOTU introduced three new audio interfaces – the M64, 8D and LP32 – intended for routing digital audio streams in live performance systems, AVB/TSN network installations or recording studios.

The interfaces offer complementary digital audio I/O configurations and include low-latency USB drivers, flexible internal routing, 48-channel mixing, DSP effects and Wi-Fi control.

Housed in half-rack enclosures, the M64, 8D and LP32 can be mixed and matched for custom configurations. The M64 provides one bank of optical MADI I/O, plus a second bank of coaxial MADI I/O on BNC connectors. The 8D provides two stereo pairs of AES3 I/O and two stereo pairs of RCA S/PDIF I/O, while the LP32 provides four banks of eight-channel ADAT optical Lightpipe I/O for 32 channels at 44.1/48kHz or 16 channels of SMUX at 88.2/96kHz. Crane Song revealed that its entire line of digital hardware products has been upgraded to take advantage of the company's proprietary fifth generation digital to analogue converter technology. The Egret eight-channel D/A converter and summing mixer joins the Avocet monitor controller, HEDD 192 AD/DA and Solaris standalone D>A converter to complete Crane Song’s products to be equipped with Crane Song’s Quantum DAC. The Quantum DAC uses a 32-bit converter and asynchronous sample rate conversion for jitter reduction with up-sampling to 211kHz. The reference clock uses a proprietary reconstruction filter for accurate time domain response. Crane Song claim jitter is less than 1pS. Digico celebrated its 15th anniversary by unveiling the new SD12 console, which it says is encapsulates the best features of both the SD and S Series. The SD12 features 72 input channels, 36 aux/group busses, a 12 x 8 matrix, LR/LCR buss – all with full processing – along with 12 stereo FX units, 16 Graphic EQs, 119 Dynamic EQs, and 119 multiband compressors. The SD12 includes SD Series Stealth Core 2 software, making it compatible with all other SD Series sessions.

AUDIO

JoeCo released the BBWR24B, the latest of the company’s range of BlueBox workstation interface recorders. Offering 24 balanced line inputs, 16 ADAT Lightpipe inputs with SMUXII support and 24 balanced outs, the BBWR24B is able to back-up all of a users source recordings, providing a safeguard against unexpected DAW freeze and failure. Each BBWR24B can carry up to 24 channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio in both directions simultaneously over USB 2.0.

50

On the analogue front, Brent Averill Engineering revealed two new products: the 500C FET lunchbox compressor and the R53 three-slot horizontal 500 series

rack with linking. The 500C represents two firsts for the company; it’s both BAE’s first FET compressor and its first 500 series format compressor.

API released two new microphone preamps: the 3124V and 3124MV. The 3124V is essentially the same as the company’s current 3124+, while the 3124MV is the same unit as the 3124mb+, but both share additional features.

Firstly, both units offer front panel variable output level (oh joy), and secondly, the new models add a switchable 3:1 output transformer selection.

Rupert Neve Designs announced two new products: the R10 ten-space 500 series rack, replacing the R6 introduced in 2015, and the SwiftMix MC5 Master Control module for the company’s 5088 consoles outfitted with SwiftMix moving fader automation.

Control room monitoring saw many additions to the near- and mid-field market, with many manufacturers incorporating adjustable DSP into their monitor designs. Neumann announced the launch of the KH 80 DSP, its first DSP nearfield studio monitor. This two-way active loudspeaker features a DSP engine with network control. Available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android platforms, the Neumann Control app lets you control the KH 80 DSP via a standard IP network so you can calibrate them to your listening environment.

Dynaudio provided details of the latest addition to its LYD studio monitor range.

The new LYD 48 features a three-way speaker design, coupling an eight-inch and a four-inch driver, joined by a one-inch tweeter. Each of the woofers and the tweeter are powered by a Class D amplifier, delivering 80/50/50W of power per monitor. The amp features a 96kHz/24bit signal path and selectable input sensitivity.

ADAM Audio announced its new flagship line of nearfield, midfield and main studio monitors – the S Series. Set to ship in February, the S Series is comprised of five models: the S2V, S3H, S3V and the largest-of-the-range – S5V and S5H. All feature new long throw ELE (Extended Linear Excursion) woofers and a one-piece DCH dome/cone hybrid mid-range driver. There’s also a high-power DSP engine based on the latest SHARC chips. The DSP optimises the loudspeaker crossovers to create linear responses for the entire range, as well as providing user equalisation and in-room tuning/voicing functions.

Finnish manufacturer, Amphion, announced the availability of MobileOne12, a mobile studio monitor system. The portable studio monitor system features the One12 studio monitors along with a pair of Amp100 mono block amplifiers and Amphion’s bespoke speaker cables, all housed in a sturdy wooden padded travelcase. MobileOne12 is aimed toward home studios, small post production edit bays and mobile trucks.

PMC announced two additions to its Main Monitor range of transmission line monitors. Like their predecessors, the MB3 and BB6 feature a hand-built 34mm soft-dome tweeter and 75mm fabric midrange driver, coupled with the latest generation of the Radial low-frequency driver built specifically for use with PMC's ATL designs. The amplifier modules incorporate DSP which optimises the drivers and crossovers, and provides shelving EQ for in-room tuning.

JBL Professional announced its 7 Series powered monitors featuring driver and waveguide technologies developed for the JBL M2 Master Reference Monitor. The 705P five-inch and 708P eight-inch monitors deliver high output and accuracy for post-production, broadcast and music recording. Both models feature the 2409H high-frequency compression driver delivering response beyond 36kHz. Both models feature analogue and AES/EBU digital inputs allowing connectivity to a range of production hardware with sample rates of up to 192kHz, while internal

AUDIO sample rate converters allow the monitors to receive digital signals of uncommon sample rates.

new AC4099 Clip for the accordion, SM4099 Stand Mount and CM4099 Clamp

In the audio capture arena, Sennheiser introduced its XS Wireless 1 series of six wireless microphone sets designed for the budget-conscious user. Sennheiser also previewed XS Wireless 2, available later in 2017 to 'take the benefits of XSW 1 further’. Sennheiser also presented its AMBEO VR Mic, an Ambisonics microphone designed for the VR community. The AMBEO stand area also showcased the company’s AMBEO Music Blueprint microphones – namely the Neumann KU 100 dummy head – along with the Sennheiser MKH 800 Twin.

mic.

Beyerdynamic debuted its TG 500 wireless system. Envisioned as the successor to the Opus 600 series, the new system focuses on modern features and can be used licence-free almost all over the world – depending on the frequency band selected.

systems.

The TG 500 system has an operating range of up to 120 meters. The switching bandwidth is up to 40MHz, and when all four frequency bands are used (518-548, 606-636, 794-832 and 1.780-1.810MHz), up to 72 channels (18 compatible frequencies per band) can be operated simultaneously. Each of the five TG 500 sets is available for use in one of four frequency bands, so there are 20 different sets in all.

Shure announced two of its digital wireless systems are now available in the VHF spectrum. The ULX-D and QLX-D VHF systems have the same features the UHF systems offered.

Mount being the latest additions to the instrument mounts for the d:vote 4099 DPA also featured its handheld microphone range – entirely modular and including the 4018VL Linear Vocal Mic. The capsule can be removed and replaced with any other DPA capsule to suit different requirements. Also, using DPA’s adapter system, the microphone can be transformed from a wired version with a handle, to a handheld wireless microphone capable of integration with all other wireless At the virtual end of the scale, Eventide announced its new plug-in technology, ‘Structural Effects’. Structural Effects apparently splits a sound into its tonal and transient components, then each of the components can be individually processed before being recombined for output.

NUGEN Audio presented its latest mix, mastering, and post-production software, with the spotlight on MasterCheck Pro, a codec and loudness auditioning plug-in.

MasterCheck Pro lets producers hear and visualise what music streaming services do with their mix – including the playout encoding and loudness matching in use by Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, digital radio, and a plethora of others.

NUGEN also introduced ISL DSP for Avid Venue S6L, a new addition to the ISL

The ULX-D offers efficient RF performance, networked control, Dante digital audio (on ULXD4D and ULXD4Q dual and quad receivers), and AES-256 encryption, with the QLX-D delivering 24-bit digital audio.

True-Peak Limiter product line. The update for ISL DSP introduces support for Avid

Also, a variety of VHF-ready accessories are available with the VHF versions of ULX-D and QLX-D units, including the UA844+V antenna distribution system, UA834V in-line amplifier, UA874V active directional antenna, and the UA860V passive, ground-referenced omnidirectional antenna. The UA845UWB antenna distribution system is switchable for UHF/VHF.

which include mono and dual models of both active FET and passive designs.

Venue S6L live systems.

At the nick-knack end of the pro audio world were Telefunken’s new direct boxes, The Telefunken TDA-1 (mono) and TDA-2 (dual) are active FET units employing discrete Class-A FET circuitry coupled with a high quality transformer. The TD-1 and TD-2 are passive transformer designs that combine premium quality

DPA Microphones showcased its range of modular microphones and accessories.

DPA’s booth was guest to Colorado bluegrass band, Trout Steak Revival. The winners of the 41st Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition were demonstrating DPA mics during their booth performances.

components with rugged construction. The circuits are housed in a 'virtually

DPA displayed the company’s instrument microphones and accessories, with the

dousing them in beer (German of course).

indestructible' extruded aluminium enclosures. They’re so rugged, in fact, that the ‘Telefunken scientists’ attempted multiple forms of destruction on the units – such as driving trucks over them, dropping them off really high cherry pickers and

Superior Audio via Bonded Transport ‘QUANTUM’ SERIES BONDED MOBILE TECHNOLOGY from Prodys transmits audio by bonding up to four 3G/4G sim cards, one Wi-Fi and two Ethernet links back to a 1RU or 3RU base unit. Field units range from a 5-channel mic/line mixer configuration to a 20kHz stereo handheld reporter’s model. Features include SIP diversity enabling (Ethernet) connections from Quantum portable units into the existing Prontonet IP codecs widely used in Australia. Dante/AES67 options have also been added for the connection of the 5 audio inputs into an audio matrix or mixing console.

The Quantum Lite handheld audio codec enables reliable field audio contributions over wireless networks by means of the concurrent use of two UMTS /LTE (3G/4G) network connections, or the Quantum Lite can combine up to 4 uplink connections: 2x 3G/4G Sim cards, 1x Ethernet & 1x Wi-Fi for any scenario. One of the main drawbacks of SIP communications until now has been the impossibility of combining several transmission interfaces in a single communication. With BRAVE protocol it is possible to use Bonding and Diversity strategies with Ethernet, Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connections. Diversity is also possible in SIP communications allowing reliable audio transmissions over IP, especially for those that use less sturdy media such as wireless networks.

The Quantum Lite also turns off-line jobs into easy tasks with its embedded

audio recording and FTP transfer. Included with this is a rechargeable lithium battery life of over five hours and superior audio quality up to 384Kb. The Quantum XL is a powerful portable IP audio codec with built-in audio mixer, has automatic jitter buffer, adaptive bit rate, and bonding of up to 7 IP links (Ethernet, 3G/4G, WiFi) for secure audio streaming with the best possible audio quality. Up to three Stereo Audio Inputs (five mic/line mono inputs) are available to be mixed, encoded and streamed in stereo mode. As an option, it is possible to replace the audio inputs for a Dante/AES67 interface. The Quantum W is the smaller version of Quantum XL, with three microphone/line inputs instead of five, but with all the power of its bigger brother.

V-Quantum is a powerful portable unit that includes everything needed for conducting a successful audio contribution in any scenario. With two modes of operation the V-Quantum doubles as a commentary unit, allowing the connection of any audio input to the audio infrastructure present at a chosen venue using audio over IP protocols, Dante or AES67. In codec mode, it acts as an audio mixer, encoder and transmitter, allowing you to send two of the stereo programs directly to the studio via IP networks, both fixed and by wireless (Wi-Fi or LTE/3G/4G).

Visit www.eavtech.com.au

Reliable Connection? Prodys Quantum is the answer! ·Use two to four SIM cards from different providers and choose diversity mode. ·Ability to lower the bit rate configuration and decrease the chance of drop outs.

EAV Technology

284 Wingrove Street Fairfield Victoria Ph 03-9489-0010 www.eavtech.com.au

AUDIO

·Include the available corporate Wi-Fi in the bonding diversity mode for a more stable connection.

51

RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

ABC Ceases Shortwave Transmission CITING HIGH COSTS and low audience numbers, the Australian Broadcasting

The ABC will also supply a VAST satellite system unit to all Royal Flying Doctor

Corporation has ceased shortwave transmission service to international audiences, as well as its domestic audience in the Northern Territory.

Service bases and some 4WD Radio club bases in the affected region, allowing

The ABC has not broadcast domestic shortwave outside the NT for many decades, including areas with parallel challenges of isolation and distance.

According to the ABC, shortwave technology is expensive to maintain and complex for audiences to use – involving a change in frequency depending on the time of day.

satellite service is used across other large parts of the remote Australian

“It now serves a very small audience, which we estimate to be in the hundreds rather than thousands of people,” said the national broadcaster.

serves a very limited audience. The ABC is seeking efficiencies and will instead

ABC International’s shortwave services are currently broadcast to PNG and the Pacific. Savings realised through decommissioning this service will be reinvested in a more robust FM transmitter network and an expanded content offering for the region that will include English and in-language audio content.

The ABC, working alongside SBS, is planning to extend its digital radio services

International listeners can continue to access ABC international services via:

overall reach of ABC digital radio to 60% of the Australian population.

• a web stream at: www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/listen

ABC Radio says it is also investigating transmission improvements to address

• in-country FM transmitters, see Radio Australia’s ‘Ways to Listen’ at: www. radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/waystolisten/fiji

reception gaps in the existing five DAB+ markets. It aims to ensure a resilient

• the Australia Plus expats app (available in both iOS and Android)

necessary.

• partner websites and apps such as www.tunein.com and www.vtuner.com.

“Extending our DAB+ offer will allow audiences in every capital city in Australia

Northern Territory listeners will be able to access ABC services via AM and FM. Additionally, all ABC radio and digital radio services are available on the VAST satellite service.

equal access to our digital radio offering, as well as representing an ongoing

them to rebroadcast emergency or warning messages as required. The VAST outback where there are no shortwave broadcasts – such as in parts of the NT, all of WA, SA, QLD, and NSW. Michael Mason, ABC’s Director of Radio, said, “While shortwave technology has served audiences well for many decades, it is now nearly a century old and service this audience through modern technology.” in Darwin and Hobart, and to make permanent its current digital radio trial in Canberra. Extending DAB+ into the nation’s eight capital cities will ensure ABC digital radio services can reach an additional 700,000 people, increasing the

DAB+ service in every capital city, with enhanced bitrates and infill where

broadcast cost saving owing to lower transmission costs,” added Michael Mason.

Visit www.abc.net.au

WorldDAB at ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium WORLDDAB HAS ANNOUNCED it will be participating in the Asia-Pacific

covered include: international update on DAB+, including Norway’s digital

Broadcasting Union’s 2017 Digital Broadcasting Symposium being held from

switchover from FM to DAB+, hybrid radio, DAB+ in smartphones, commercial

6th – 9th March in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

radio business case for DAB+, and a Q&A session on regulation, technical

WorldDAB will present a DAB+ pavilion in collaboration with DAB+ supply

aspects and content on DAB+.

chain companies with a footprint in the Asia Pacific region – Connects2, Factum Radioscape, GatesAir, IZT, Paneda and RadioDNS. Attendees are invited to meet experts who can provide information and advice on implementing DAB+ digital radio.

WorldDAB will also take part in a workshop entitled, DAB+ expansion in the Asia Pacific, on Monday the 6th of March from 14:00 – 17:30. Topics to be

DAB+ will also feature throughout the main conference programme, including DAB+ technology enhancements, spectrum efficiencies, opportunities for new content on DAB+, hybrid radio, DAB+ digital infrastructure, and cost savings.

Visit www.worlddab.org

RADIO

Australian Digital Radio Coverage to Expand

52

DIGITAL RADIO SERVICES are expanding across Australia with trials in

plans for Canberra, Darwin, Hobart and the Gold Coast. These plans will make

Canberra and Darwin to transition to permanent services, and digital radio to be

frequencies available to broadcasters wishing to provide ongoing digital radio

added to Hobart in Tasmania and Queensland’s Gold Coast over the next two to

services in those areas. Details of the timing of commencement of digital radio in

three years.

these markets will be determined by the broadcasters.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority, in consultation with the

The Australian Government has asked the ACMA to facilitate the rollout of digital

Digital Radio Planning Committee, has prepared a package of planning papers for

radio in regional areas where licensees make the commercial decision that they

the future development of DAB+ digital radio across Australia.

wish to offer the service.

“The commercial radio industry has indicated there are a significant number of

“Agreeing to the planning principles and settling the initial rollout markets

regional licensees that have expressed interest in offering digital radio services

represents a significant milestone in the work of the committee. It’s a credit to

in the next three to five years,” said acting ACMA Chairman, Richard Bean. “The

the members who have worked collaboratively to resolve complex technical,

ABC has also announced its intention to commence new services in Darwin and

policy and regulatory issues around the planning of regional digital radio

Hobart.”

services,” Richard Bean added.

The ACMA is facilitating the digital radio rollout by preparing digital radio channel

Visit www.acma.gov.au

RADIO

Radio NZ Drives User-Generated Content RADIO NEW ZEALAND is tapping into its audience’s smart phones with the launch of an app designed to record and upload opinions on topics of the day.

where producers or journalists process it for broadcast.

Called VoxPop, the app creates a dynamic source of content for RNZ

listeners the chance to have their voices heard on-air. “In the past we’ve relied on

broadcasters using mobile devices. It enables the radio network to easily collect, package and play the voices of its audience.

VoxPop allows the media to ask questions of people on the street without sending out a reporter – people comment via the application on their android smartphone.

Using VoxPop is simple – the smartphone owner presses a button on a device to begin recording, then presses another button to stop the recording. After previewing the audio clip it can be uploaded to the servers of the radio station

RNZ’s Head of Digital, Glen Scanlon, said VoxPop was a clever approach to giving reading out people’s reactions from emails and tweets, but now we have a way to make New Zealanders a part of what we do.”

He said the app, the brainchild of RNZ reporter Peter Fowler, had been created to use with other radio stations in mind. It allows producers and journalists to use listener generated content in a very quick and highly efficient manner. While initially only available for Android users, an iOS version is also being developed.

Visit https://play.google.com

Mediaworks NZ to Launch Combined Radio Streaming App NEW ZEALAND’S MEDIAWORKS has announced that its new digital

Leon Wratt, Group Content Director – Music, said, “rova is a new way of

audio streaming platform ‘rova’, is live as of January, 2017.

doing radio. A natural next step for MediaWorks, it builds on our strength of

The platform brings together all MediaWorks’ radio entertainment stations

having the best talent and best content – but goes a giant step further than

into one app, offering New Zealanders a streamlined way to access their

traditional digital streaming services.

favourite Kiwi radio content digitally. rova will offer audiences a range of

“Not only will we offer Kiwis the very best radio content accessible wherever

channels streaming their favourite MediaWorks’ entertainment programmes –

they are, our ‘podcast’ potential is almost limitless. As our new shows and

podcast style.

hosts get underway in the studio, we’ll be creating new channels. We’ll also

rova will provide 24/7 streaming of highlight packages on dedicated channels from a range of MediaWorks’ entertainment and news brands, including the

be aggregating the best of MediaWorks content – sport, entertainment, travel, news – everything that resonates with New Zealanders.”

Mai Morning Crew, More FM’s Si & Gary, TV3’s 7 Days and The Edge’s Jay-Jay,

rova is available for iOS and Android devices via the App Store and Google

with more to come. The service will also offer live-streaming of MediaWorks’

Play, and will be continuously expanding new functions and content.

local radio shows across the More FM and The Breeze network.

Visit www.mediaworks.co.nz

Comrex Introduces Codec Commander

A Microsoft Windows application, Codec Commander enables users to interface with a single Comrex codec. With Codec Commander, users can manage

connections, check statistics, view audio metering, adjust audio profiles, and make changes to the system settings.

Codec Commander is compatible with ACCESS, BRIC-Link, and BRIC-Link II units with firmware version 3.0p13 or later installed. Codec Commander is a free application, and is now available for download through the Comrex website.

Visit www.comrex.com

Professional FM/DAB+ Monitor Receiver The PLUS1 family of FM/DAB+ broadcast receivers responds to demands from the professional market and fills the gap between a low-cost consumer and a high-end measurement unit.

With the PLUS1 FM/DAB+ Monitor Receiver from PROFline, you can measure and monitor your DAB+ and FM broadcasts.

Bringing together a unique, High Power, Low Noise RF front-end designed for both FM and DAB+, the PLUS1 provides professional grade monitoring, alarming and local audio streaming.

The PLUS1 includes an intuitive front panel that makes the unit extremely easy to operate. All functions are fully remotely operated by a browser and SNMP

pa c i f i c

PLUS1 Dual Tuners (DAB+ and FM) Simulcast Operation 2 Antenna Inputs with Matrix Switch Stereo Monitor Speakers Digital, Analog and Streaming Audio Out High Res Front Display MPX Output for Rebroadcast RDS Data Decoding Network Port for Browser Control and SNMP Alarms and Log facilities for RF, Audio, BER, FIC

www.pacificlivemedia.com | +61 2 8458 0701 | sales@pacificlivemedia.com

RADIO

COMREX HAS RELEASED Codec Commander, a management and monitoring application for its line of IP audio codecs. Codec Commander provides the same control capability as the company’s existing browser-based tools for individual codec management, but doesn’t use Adobe Flash, making it an alternative for users who are concerned about frequent updates and security risks.

53

RADIO

WorldDAB Revises DAB Standard WORLDDAB HAS COMPLETED completed a comprehensive review and

Summary of Changes

revision of the DAB standard (EN 300 401), identifying obsolete features, clarifying the description of features for interoperability, and updating features.

This was undertaken by the WorldDAB Technical Committee’s ‘Task Force Clean’ to ensure the standard is ‘fit for the future’.

Transmission modes

WorldDAB says for many broadcasters the changes will have little impact. This is because the aim of Task Force Clean was to ensure changes were compatible with the way that DAB is used. However, to make the system work better, some changes were made to the multiplexing equipment of all broadcasters, while other changes are only needed if certain features are used.

Essential Updates Broadcasters do not need to make changes in regard to transmission mode, audio coding or PAD (including dynamic label).

Some updates to multiplexing equipment are required for all broadcasters because of changes to the FIC – especially those that regularly use reconfiguration – although most of these changes are needed following the publication of TS 103 176 V1.2.1 in May 2016 which included the definition of FIG 0/20 and rules on the use of FIG 0/8 and FIG 1/4 to help receivers manage service lists..

The new EN 300 401 introduces clearer rules on MCI repetition. Reconfiguration signalling has also been simplified so all broadcasters need to update multiplexing equipment. The changes are backwards compatible. Manufacturers are aware of the changes to TS 103 176 and EN 300 401, and are working on software updates. Broadcasters should talk to their equipment manufacturer about availability.

Programme Associated Data • F-PAD type "10" removed as obsolete • Dynamic label editorially revised to incorporate the requirements for commands (including DL Plus commands), but with no technical changes Packet mode • FEC for packet mode made mandatory for transmission • Data Group CRC made mandatory for transmission • Auxiliary Information Channel (AIC) removed as obsolete Fast Information Channel (FIC) • MCI signalling procedure and reconfiguration process clarified • FIG repetition rates provided for all FIGs • FIG 0/0 (Ensemble information): description of function of Alarm flag clarified and use of change flags for reconfigurations simplified • FIG 0/6 (Service linking): description clarified in line with TS 103 176 • FIG 0/7 (Configuration information): additional MCI FIG for fast configuration checking • FIG 0/8 (SCIdS): usage defined for primary service components containing data applications (and value fixed as 0) and for all secondary components

The signalling of user applications requires the provision of FIG 0/13. This FIG has moved from SI to

• FIC 0/12 (FIC redirection): removed as AIC is removed

MCI with the new EN 300 401. Providing the FIG 0/13 is already signalled in conformance with EN 300 401 V1.4.1 (i.e. the X-PAD field is provided for user applications in PAD) then in many cases the move from SI to MCI does not make much difference. However, given that some updates are in any case needed for changes to MCI signalling, this change should also be requested from multiplexer manufacturers.

• FIG 0/16 (Programme Number): removed as obsolete

Some features have been updated or removed. Broadcasters may wish to review their use of Programme Type (FIG 0/17) in order to conform to the new rules.

This means not using the language field and providing only one PTy, which is chosen as either static or dynamic – previously both were permitted. The use of the complementary code is withdrawn.

If announcements are used, it should be noted that in the announcement support the alarm bit cannot be set any longer because of the new definition and operation of the Alarm flag in FIG 0/0.

For packet mode sub-channels, the use of additional FEC is now mandatory. This is not expected to require any changes as this was already routinely applied. The mandatory use of the Data Group CRC flag means that data applications should be checked for correct encoding settings.

The generation of Frequency Information (FIG 0/21) should be checked, but it is unlikely that any changes will affect current broadcasters.

The signalling of removed FIGs should also be checked: Programme Number (FIG 0/16), TII database (FIG 0/22), Region definition (FIG 0/11, FIG 1/3) and FIDC (Paging, TMC, EWS).

RADIO

• The text describes the two audio coding methods, DAB audio and DAB+ audio. DAB audio coding is moved into TS 103 466, including annexes, but no technical changes have been made. The ASCTy definition is moved to the Registered Tables (TS 101 756).

FIG 0/7, a new MCI FIG, has been introduced. With agreement from manufacturers it has been decided to use the transmission of FIG 0/7 as an indication that the ensemble is compatible with the revised EN 300 401 V2.1.1.

This will allow receiver algorithms to be tailored to take advantage of more precise rules of behaviour specified in the new version of the DAB standard.

When all aspects of the ensemble encoding are in line with EN 300 401 V2.1.1, the transmission of FIG 0/7 should begin.

Other Updates

54

• Only Transmission mode I is retained; the other modes are obsoleteAudio

Broadcasters with services from different countries using SIds with different country codes may be using the extension field in FIG 0/9 to indicate different ECCs. The simplification of this FIG is unlikely to have any impact.

• FIG 0/9 (ECC and LTO): extension field simplified by removal of per service LTO; SIV use removed • FIG 0/10 (date and time): long form made mandatory for transmission • FIG 0/11 (Region definition): removed as obsolete • FIG 0/13 (User application information): changed from SI to MCI • FIG 0/17 (Programme Type): language field removed as feature provided by FIG 0/5; second code removed; static/dynamic use clarified • FIG 0/18 (Announcement Support): SIV use removed • FIG 0/20 (Service Component Information): additional SI FIG for managing service lists (definition moved from TS 103 176) • FIG 0/21 (Frequency information): Region Id and transmission mode signalling removed; DRM+ frequency signalling added • FIG 0/22 (TII database): removed as obsolete; note that TII in the null symbol is unaffected • FIG 0/25 (OE Announcement Support): new definition separating OE announcement feature from tuned ensemble announcement feature • FIG 0/26 (OE Announcement Switching): new definition separating OE announcement feature from tuned ensemble announcement feature • FIG 0/27 (FM Announcement Support): removed as obsolete • FIG 0/28 (FM Announcement Switching): removed as obsolete • FIG 1/3 (Region label): removed as obsolete • FIG 1/4 (Service component label): restricted to secondary components only • FIG 2/x (Extended labels): user defined character coding removed, maximum byte count reduced from 64 to 32, maximum segment count reduced from 8 to 2 • FIG 5/x (FIDC applications: Paging, TMC, EWS): removed as obsolete; note that TMC is carried in TPEG, EWS is supported by clearer Alarm Announcement functionality The new standards are available for download from http://www.etsi.org/ technologies-clusters/technologies/broadcast/dab

RADIO

Australian Commercial Radio Selects AudioNET to Automate Ad Buying COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA (CRA) has announced the first step

which we believe to be an Australian and possibly world first. It’s an all of

in a fully operational all of industry automated holdings system, appointing AudioNET as the industry partner to automate the radio buying process.

industry approach allowing automation and simplification of the interaction

The CRA Automation and Programmatic Committee established late in 2015 and chaired by NOVA Entertainment Chief Executive Officer, Cathy O’Connor, has selected AudioNET to create automated holding software that will allow agencies to interact with all radio stations’ traffic management systems.

AudioNET Chief Executive )fficer, Dave Cox, said, “AudioNET is passionate

The system will allow a media agency to view radio spots that are perfectly matched to their system, as well as spots that have been changed and allow them to accept the changes or query them with the station.

Ms O’Connor said, “An industry wide automated holdings system will make radio easy to transact with and is the first step for radio as an industry to move forward into the automated transaction space.”

The software has been developed, testing between agencies and stations will take place in the first quarter of 2017. Rollout will follow across stations and the target is to have the system operational across the entire industry by the third quarter 2017.

Joan Warner, Chief Executive Officer of CRA, said, “We’re very pleased to be partnering with AudioNET on this exciting development for the radio industry,

about making radio advertising more attractive, relevant and profitable.

Together with CRA we’re creating solutions to allow agencies, advertisers and radio networks to seamlessly deliver effective radio campaigns.”

In addition to increasing efficiency, the automated holdings system will reduce the enormous amount of paperwork generated by the ad booking process.

AudioNET estimates stations and agencies across Australia each year generate paper that if stacked would reach 170 metres high, as tall as the Australia Square Tower in the Sydney CBD. The second phase of the process will investigate data segmentation. This investigation will commence in early 2017 and will review all of the rich research data already available such as GfK ratings, online and app statistics and consumer insights research. In partnership with agencies, the industry aims to identify and establish data segments that integrate the massive amount of data already collected in relation to commercial radio for use by advertisers and agencies.

The third phase will build on the feedback of the first two phases to develop an appropriate approach for the commercial radio industry to programmatic trading.

Visit www.commercialradio.com.au

RADIO

The Committee selected a system that will fulfil the needs of all 261 CRA member stations and a technology that can integrate with pre-existing traffic and yield management systems. This automated holdings system will be the first fully operational common automated holdings system to operate across an entire media industry in Australia.

between the media buyer and a radio station.”

55

CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/delivery

World First 10Gbps Fibre Service for New Zealand CALIX, INC., THE DEVELOPER OF Subscriber Driven Intelligent Access

of UFB shifts from the cities to bring fiber broadband to more rural areas,

solutions, has announced that NG-PON2 (Next-Generation Passive Optical Network 2) has made the leap from promising technology to reality with the world’s first NG-PON2 demonstration in a live network. New Zealand’s Northpower Fibre leveraged the same E7-2 Modular Access System that it is deploying throughout its network to deliver 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) speeds over multiple wavelengths to 812NG GigaHubs located in a business premises and residential home in Whangarei.

Northpower Fibre will be leading the way having committed to connect 12 new

NG-PON2 (Next-Generation Passive Optical Network 2) is a 2015 telecommunications network standard for a passive optical network (PON).

The standard was developed by ITU and details an architecture capable of total network throughput of 40 Gbit/s, corresponding to up to 10 Gbit/s symmetric upstream/downstream speeds available at each subscriber.

towns to fiber within the next four years. With Calix as our partner and the AXOS E7-2 supporting the deployment, we have been amazed by how quickly we had jaw-dropping speeds and services up and running. We’ve shown the world that NG-PON2 is real, and we are excited for all of the new efficiencies and opportunities NG-PON2 will bring to our future business.”

NG-PON2 provides Northpower Fibre with new business efficiencies in their open access model. Multiple wavelengths on a single fibre can be divided up for use by different service providers, instead of each service provider requiring a separate PON. NG-PON2 enables the isolation of services between the providers, allowing one to make service updates and changes, with no impact on the other

Calix Inc. says the demonstration ushers in a new era for service providers, “as they begin to fully leverage the true potential of fibre for both an unmatched subscriber experience as well as for business transformation”.

providers. In addition, with the AXOS “always on” capability, Northpower Fibre

As Northpower Fibre begins in the future to deploy more widely NG-PON2 enabled systems armed with Calix AXOS Software Defined Access (SDA) architecture, the company can begin to drive down its OPEX and CAPEX profile by further converging disparate business, residential, and backhaul services onto one simple-to-operate network. In time, NG-PON2 will enable Northpower Fibre to continue to truly differentiate itself in a growing Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) marketplace stimulated by the New Zealand Government’s second phase of its UFB programme.

“Calix has been the leader in PON technology from the beginning, starting more

“New Zealand is undergoing a major broadband vitalisation effort, and we see the emergence of NG-PON2 technology as a major enabler going forward,” said Darren Mason, CEO of Northpower Fibre. “As attention in the second phase

can make its own live upgrades without service disruption or impact to the multiple service providers utilising their fibre infrastructure. than a decade ago with the first GPON deployments, and now ushering in the new era of NG-PON2,” said Shane Eleniak, Calix vice president of product line leadership. “This is more than just a world first with a groundbreaking technology – it’s a demonstration of the power of AXOS, which allowed Calix to integrate advancements in NG-PON2 technology into our solutions well before anyone else. Northpower Fibre has the vision and desire to set the bar for the rest of the industry, paving the way for AXOS and SDA to bring true 10 gigabits per second multi-wavelength services over NG-PON2 to service providers around the world.”

Visit www.calix.com and www.northpowerfibre.co.nz

Internet Australia CEO Describes National Broadband Network as “Crap” A REPORT COMMISSIONED BY NBN, and produced by Western

otherwise known as fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp). Every week that

Sydney University, highlights the need for an urgent change in Australia’s

goes by they are wasting money building nodes (the big green cabinets

broadband strategy according to Internet Australia, the NFP peak body

that sit on the footpath) and supplying them with power. These will all be

representing internet users.

redundant when we inevitably move to FTTdp”.

The report, entitled ‘gen NBN: 2020 and beyond’, states that the NBN is

Internet Australia is also concerned at what it describes as an attempt

“an essential piece of national infrastructure that enhances connectivity

to “spin the facts to look like we don’t really need high speed broadband

throughout Australia’s vast continental landmass. Connectivity is arguably

universally available.”

the quintessential resource of the new century …”

Commenting on the report, Internet Australia CEO, Laurie Patton, who recently described the NBN as “crap” and “cobbled together using Telstra’s ageing copper wires”, complimented its authors on their critical finding that, “optimising Australians’ ability to make the most of the digital age will require considered, continued, and coordinated investments.”

Mr Patton observed that this is firmly in line with IA’s belief that a short term focus on the cost of the NBN has resulted in the adoption of inferior technology.

CONTENT DELIVERY

“We are not building the NBN simply for today. It is a project originally

56

“The latest report from the ACCC has found that the 25/5 Mbps speed tier has had the highest customer take-up,” says Internet Australia. “It also notes there has been a 28 percent increase in consumers opting for the 100/40 Mbps tier.

“There are a number of reasons why it might look like people only want lower broadband speeds. Firstly, the RSPs (NBN’s retailers) make better margins selling lower speed tiers so they don’t benefit from upselling. There’s a flaw in the NBN’s wholesale pricing regime, which communications minister, Senator Mitch Fifield, has acknowledged and undertaken to have reviewed.

designed to last for many decades to come. Unfortunately, the current model

“Secondly, the feedback we get from NBN customers is they’re not confident

using ageing copper wires will not go the distance. Internet Australia’s world

about signing up for higher speeds on the copper wire FTTN network

renowned technical experts say we will need to junk the FTTN network in 10

because they’ve heard that it can’t deliver. In fact, only this week I spoke to

to 15 years’ time, if not sooner. It simply will not deliver the speeds required

someone who’s just been connected to the NBN and paid for the 100Mbps

for the applications that will be available to consumers by then.

tier only to see their speed max out at 12Mbps.”

“We urgently need bipartisan support for a move to fibre to the driveway,

Visit www.internet.org.au

RADIO

RADIO

57

CONTENT DELIVERY

OZFLIX – Tell’em They’re Streaming!

Phil Sandberg talks to Ron Brown, founder of Australian OTT platform OZFLIX, about technology preserving (and serving) local content.

OZFLIX founders Ron Brown [left] and Alan Finney.

have disappeared. Some of them have passed, obviously, or the provenance of the film has changed hands numerous times and nobody's exactly clear who should pay and who's responsible. The NFSA, by the way, has about 300 films in its collection which are orphaned, that have no copyright owners attached to them at all.

THE IDEA FOR AN AUSTRALIAN MOVIE CHANNEL came to Ron Brown

“We're saying that we will raise money and digitise and stream those films because we feel that if our service is comprehensive and has all the Aussie movies ever made, that's very attractive to a whole range of people. It's attractive to film buffs, but it's also attractive to film scholars, to students. Lots of people will appreciate the fact that we're going to find every single Aussie movie and put them up there eventually.”

in 2006. After unsuccessfully pitching to a number of parties, including Foxtel, the concept was put on the backburner - until the advent of OTT streaming services.

STREAMING QUALITY

“The subscription streaming services started to make announcements that they were coming to Australia, Netflix in particular,” says Brown. “At that point, I thought it's a viable technology now and it seems that people are able to tune in and watch films at reasonable image quality, and there's a payment system. It seems to be something that we should look at it.”

In 2015, Brown approached longtime industry colleague, producer Alan Finney, Chair of the Australian Film Institute and a former CEO of Disney Australia, and the two set about formulating a business plan for the new venture.

“We did market research and we asked consumers what they would pay, what sort of technology access they wanted, what sort of devices they wanted to watch on, what their favourite Aussie movies were and so on,” says Brown. “We developed a strategy quite quickly that, for Australian movies, people would prefer a pay per view rather than a monthly subscription. There was considerably stronger response for pay-per-view rather than monthly. As it turned out there was an enormous benefit for us in doing that which is that we were able to get the films at the same release window as DVD and Blu-ray. The other streaming services often have to wait six, 12, even up to 18 months in some cases to get movies onto their services.

“The other thing that we discovered was that most people didn't know that many Australian films. They could really only name ten. If they were real film buffs they might be able to name 20 or so, but it was in that order of magnitude. What we then realised is that there's literally a couple of thousand Australian films that are able and should be streamed.

“People just didn't know these films, so we could relaunch them. We could launch them almost as if they were previously unseen and unheard of. We thought that was an enormous opportunity. Obviously, it needs a lot of marketing to get people aware of these films and to relaunch them as if they were unknown films, but we saw that as a real opportunity.”

CONTENT DELIVERY

“We're now talking about 4K,” says Brown, “Whereas 720P passed in the past for high definition, we're now saying that we think 2K is probably a good medium, but we will scan at 4K where we can. We've got a number of suppliers in Sydney and in Melbourne who've now get the new Blackmagic 4K scanners, and we're planning to restore films by scanning them at 4K and archiving them at 4K, and then making 2K reductions which will be suitable for streaming in high definition.”

THE APP To deliver its expanding library of Australian films, OZFLIX enlisted a New Zealandbased company, Shift 72, as its technology partner. The company, whose clients include France’s Cannes Film Festival and the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, designed the user interface and apps across a range of devices including PC and iOS web browsers, Android and iOS phones, and tablets.

‘We've got some further refinements to do to those apps,” says Brown. “There's lots of tweaks and improvements that we can make. We will be rolling out more applications and devices as we go along. It's our intention to keep adding those periodically every few months as we go along.

“Even though we're a small Australian start-up, we're using top of the line international suppliers for everything. We are using AWS, Amazon Web Services, for our cloud storage. We're using Akamai as our content distribution network, and so on. Nobody should have any kind of problem with buffering problems or synchronisation problems or logging in difficulties or whatever. Providing their own ISP and their own connection is solid they will have world class service anywhere in the world.”

CURATION

Taking into account the cost for the producers of those films to get them out of mothballs, to digitise them, and to make them streaming ready, Brown and Finney proposed a 50/50 revenue split.

While it’s one thing to store video files in the cloud, it is another to promote and drive traffic to those files. One OZFLIX’s key points of differentiation from other Australian services is curation.

“The producers give us a streaming ready file of their film and every dollar that it makes from that point forward, there's no deductibles, we don't take any money out for our marketing costs or overheads or anything like that, we just split everything cleanly 50-50 with them,” says Brown.

“We've reached out to the best film critics and film historians in the land,” explains Rod Brown. “We've gone out and talked to just about everybody, actually, everybody from guys writing blogs all the way right through to David Stratton who's probably the top film critic in the country. We talked to them all and we've invited them in to help us make some decision making about the process.

FUNDING DIGITISATION

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According to Brown, OZFLIX streams in HD where a high definition copy of a title exists, otherwise it is streamed in standard definition until an HD version becomes available.

To help fund the digitisation of older Australian films and ensure a wider selection on the service, OZFLIX has set up a non-profit arm.

“That's crucial,” says Ron Brown, “because there are literally hundreds and hundreds of films, possibly up to a thousand films, that are not streaming ready and many of them don't actually have an active producer still alive, particularly if we go back to films from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and so on.

“Often the people that used to be the custodians and copyright administrators

“We ended up deciding that we'll create four original TV shows. We're actually making TV shows about Australian movies. So, FAQ is the first and that's our flagship show. FAQ is a one hour program that we'll make fresh every month.

That's a big production for us because it's a five camera OB. We've got a live theatre, we've got all the audience that comes into the live theatre, a couple of hundred people, we have a guest on stage that we film for two hours and then we edit that down to the best hour. That's a program that we'll produce and stream once a month.

CONTENT DELIVERY “As well as that, every week we're making a show called At The Flicks. At The Flicks is two hosts, Thomas Cornwall and Rochelle Siemienowicz and those two hosts talk about five films that we're offering in a bundle. The bundle concept is a value proposition that allows people to rent five films for $5.79, basically around a dollar a film.

feature were made. We're making ten of those fresh every month as well. They'll be on the channel, but they'll also be disseminated out through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and so on.”

“They're very well curated bundles. Thomas and Rochelle choose the bundles based around themes. It's a lovely mix of films. There's always a few that you've heard of and a few that you've never heard of. There's a lot of commentary around them in the At The Flicks program. There's two or three minutes of discussion about the film, why it's in the bundle, who's the star of the film, what's the storyline, we show clips from the film. That's a show that runs for about 18 to 20 minutes and we make that fresh every week.

As well as a catalogue of past and current films, Brown says OZFLIX is also keen to talk with producers of unreleased titles with a view having them debut on the service.

“The third show that make is called Fresh Flicks and that's a new movie of the week proposition, basically. We've got about 25 movies signed to our Ozflix channel already that have never been released, never been seen, they haven't hit the cinema screens or DVD stores or cable. Those new release films, we need to raise awareness, so we're going to have a new release movie of the week and people will be able to go in and they'll be able to watch a five to seven minute program called Fresh Flicks which is going to be about that film and it'll show clips from the film and talk about the storyline and the cast and the reason why you might want to click through and watch that.

“Then the fourth show that we make every month is called Bytes, short one to two minute programs which just focus on one film. They're very much focused on millennials, on people 35 years and under, who probably weren't going to the cinema let alone renting or even born when many of the films that we're going to

sonoVTS Taps PAT for ANZ MONITOR MANUFACTURER, SONOVTS, has announced the exclusive distribution of its professional LCD monitor range by Professional Audio and Television for the Australian and New Zealand market. sonovts GmbH finalised the negotiations during recent talks at its HQ office in Munich, Germany. Managing Director of sonoVTS Franz Olbert outlined, “…as part of expanding our international market share, we were looking for a progressive, pro-active and competent distributor in Australia and New Zealand. PAT’s technical expertise, service and support mentality and involvement in some of the largest cutting edge broadcast projects in that region meant that they certainly met the brief. We are looking forward to servicing our existing customers in Australia and New Zealand via PAT and expanding our footprint in the region.”

NEW PRODUCTIONS WELCOME

“I think it's not going to be very long before we become partners with people on getting films made,” he says. “We know already from the people that we've been talking to over the last two years that there's a great deal of frustration by Australian film makers in not being able to get films in front of audiences. That often leads to the corollary which is it's hard to get investment funds because they can't guarantee that there'll be an audience and what size of an audience they might have.

“I think once Ozflix gets up to speed and we can start talking about significant audience numbers, I think it'll be probably only one to two years before people start coming to us and asking us to partner with them in terms of getting their films into production. It's not a core value for us at the moment to produce original films or to facilitate, but I just know from talking to people already they're saying, ‘If you can screen my film and it can get out to a global audience and you've got all that marketing push behind it and all that technology focus, I would love to go and make a film. Now I can make it because I know that it'll get out there’.”

Visit www.ozflix.tv Professional Audio and Television will also distribute sonoVTS’s hd2Line Pro – VIDEOWALL XSB-B Series. Hd2Line Pro XSB-B represents the latest generation of video wall broadcast monitors, featuring a super narrow bezel with a minimum of 1.8mm thinness (bezel to bezel) for seamless large screens. The XSB-B family allows either horizontal or vertical installation, without any difference in panel lifetime.

PAT’s Managing Director, Patrick Salloch, welcomed the new appointment: “sonoVTS have long been known as high quality manufacturers of LC Displays. The HDQLINE and hd2Line Pro – already used by various Australian customers – provided us with a natural synergy, which offers significant integration flexibility with our existing product range such as VSM and of course theWall from LAWO. We are delighted to have been appointed the exclusive distributor in Australia and New Zealand, and are looking forward to growing sonoVTS’s market share in our region.”

Visit www.proaudiotv.com.au and www.sonovts.com

Position Vacant | VIZRT AUSTRALIA - PRODUCT AND SUPPORT SPECIALIST The Vizrt office in Sydney, Australia, is looking for a Pre- and Post- sales product and support specialist.

• Broadcast experience

We wish to strengthen our operations team in Sydney with a full-time employee and are looking for a motivated, quick learner with a passion for new technology and working with customers. You would travel throughout our region to demonstrate and install our products, and teach our customers how to best use them. You will also support our sales director during product presentations. You will provide our customers the best possible support when they contact Vizrt.

• Ability to travel on short notice

• Demonstration of Vizrt products for potential customers • Training customers in the use of Vizrt's applications

• Fluency in English, both oral and written

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE • A degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Media or equivalent • Experience with Vizrt products or other similar products • Customer Support Experience • Programming skills

WE OFFER

• Perform on site and remote installations of software and hardware

• A friendly, youthful and dynamic work environment in a highly skilled team

• Customer support via customer portal and through direct contact with our customers by phone, email, or on-site

• Competitive conditions

REQUIRED BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

• Training in the Vizrt product portfolio

• Excellent communication skills • Excellent troubleshooting skills

For more details about the position or the company, please contact Matt Phelps, mph@vizrt.com or mobile +61 400 11 6161 Application with cover letter and CV should be sent by email as soon as possible.

CONTENT DELIVERY

WORK CONTENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ability to work independently

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CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS DEMONSTRATION ARTIST AND TRAINER - OCEANIA SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Duties, Responsibilities and Accountability DEMONSTRATIONS • On-site, off-site and online/remote customer demonstrations and tradeshow events.

• Ensure integrity of the demo experience and provide feedback and input re: areas for improvement.

• Assist with demo equipment set-up and preparations/testing of gear to demos.

• Report back to the Sales and Marketing Product Management (PMP) groups regarding current industry trends and customer feedback.

• Maintain about average knowledge base and skill set in the functionality and demonstration of Ross Video's product lines, which include: Production Switchers, Automated Production Control, Robotic Cameras, Augmented Reality and Virtual Sets, Character Generation & Graphics, Routing Systems, Video Servers, Master Control, Social Media Management and Network Control & Monitoring Systems.

• Primary focus on the following product lines: switchers, augmented reality and virtual sets, XPression.

TRAINING • Perform customer training - on-site, off-site and online/remote customer training sessions.

• Internal training - other Ross staff members.

• Maintain integrity of the training experience and provide feedback and input re: areas for improvement.

• Assist with set-up and preparation/testing of gear prior to training sessions.

• Help develop customer training methods, materials and techniques working collabortation with the Product Primes, Marketing and Technical

Product Managers, demonstration artists, trainers and customers.

CUSTOMER ADVOCATE • Champion customer needs as applies to Ross Video's mission to provide a superior customer experience, notably operational features, roll-out and training methods as well as future feature requirements.

• Actively participate in Ross Video's user forums and answer operational questions, assist our customers in getting the most out of their systems and provide a superior customer experience.

KNOWLEDGE/EDUCATION/TRAINING/TRAINING • Excellent communication and presentation skills.

• Experience and knowledge of production switchers and broadcast production systems.

• Experience in automated production control operations is an asset.

• Post-secondary degree related to television broadcast or broadcast production related experience.

• Experience in the selling and marketing processes for broadcast equipment is ideal.

• Familiarity with key components used in broadcast electronic products.

• Above average computer skills and technical aptitude.

• Knowledge of use of Ross Video products and a willingness to learn how to provide demonstrations and training on them.

TRAITS • Passionate about Ross Video's broadcast production solutions.

• Strong interpersonal and observational skills.

• Organized and very detailed oriented.

• Ability to problem solve and troubleshoot.

• Must be able to work under pressure and adapt to changing environments.

• Self-starter, motivated quick learner with ability to work under minimum supervision.

• Ability to work independently or as part of a team.

EXPERIENCE • Previous experience in providing training and demonstrations is required.

• Minimum of 5 years' experience in a broadcast/ post/corporate video production environment.

• Broadcast television systems experience is an asset.

OTHER • 65% domestic and international travel is required (Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands).

• Must have a valid passport *please advise if any travel restrictions.

• Must have a valid driver's licence.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS • Requirement to set-up and tear down equipment - involves lifting up to 50lbs, reaching, bending, stooping, cabling, etc.

WORK ENVIRONMENT • Ross Video's Sydney facility.

• Various customer locations (broadcast studios, control rooms, educational facilities, houses of worship, sports arenas, tradeshows...)

TO APPLY Visit http://careers.rossvideo.com/jobs/6327303-demonstration-artist-and-trainer-oceania/apply

SALES DIRECTOR BROADCAST & MEDIA, SINGAPORE

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF RESPONSIBILITIES • Management of sales activities and performance of the sales team.

Our client is a global organisation and a market leader in the provision of equipment, technology and ground-breaking solutions for the constantly-evolving broadcast and media industry. They are a customer-focused, privately held organisation with over 10 thousand employees around the world.

CLASSIFIEDS + EVENTS

We are now looking for a senior Sales Director for their regional headquarter based in Singapore (Hong Kong is also an option), to provide both strategic and tactical sales & marketing activities across the Asia Pacific region.

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• Reporting on market trends.

• Leading a group of sales managers and presales engineers.

• Planning and executing regional marketing activities and exhibitions.

reproduction & storage systems, digital film distribution and/or encoding & multiplexing solutions.

• Demonstrated success in driving and achieving sales revenues and achieving financial targets • Appropriate negotiation regional experience and advanced written & spoken English language skills.

• Providing regular reports and updates to Regional Headquarters and Munich head office.

• Ability to travel extensively.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE INCLUDES

Applications in the form of CV and cover letter to Linda Green, Head of Executive at EP Australia LPG@epaustralia.com.au or email to obtain a full position overview.

• Experience in managing and marketing complex capital goods in the Asia Pacific region with specific experience in companies operating in the studio and/or broadcast industry • Solid technical knowledge in the areas of TV

TO APPLY

(EP Australia is the leading specialist Recruitment & Executive Search Company for the broadcast, media & Entertainment industry in Australia.)

BroadcastAsia2017……………IBC

Lacie……………………………………….35

Ooyala…………………………………….57

Rohde & Schwarz…………………57

ABU-DBS…………………………………23

Digistor……………………………………41

Lumina Broadcast Systems…25

Pacific Live Media……………33, 53

Ross Video………………………………..39

AJA…………………………………………..3

Fujinon Fijifilm……60, 61, 62, 63 IHSE GmbH Asia Pacific……………8

Professional Audio &Television……………Cover, 27, 29

SMPTE17…………………………………..19

Amber Technology………………….37

Magna Systems & Engineering………………………IFC

ARRI……………………………………....17

IRT Communications……………..12

MediaProxy…………………………….43

Quantum…………………………………OFC

Sony Australia……………………………21

Blackmagic Design…………………..5

Jands………………………………………..49

On Air Solutions………11, 31, 55

Quinto

Techtel……………………………….….7

Communciations………9

Snell Advanced Media..…………..13

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