OCTOBER 2018
Vol 251
Email: finnzed@xtra.co.nz
IBC2018 – by remote control. I didn’t actually go to IBC this year, but some of our wonderful advertisers did, and I’m talking to them in this issue – the first one being David Barnard from Gencom. Ed: David, I understand there were lots of your New Zealand customers there? David: Yes, we had a really good turnout. I think there was probably somebody representing just about every one of our major customers in Dave Herridge from MediaKind and David Barnard. the broadcasting space, and I saw a couple of old faces that I hadn’t seen in a while as well. Ed: Were they there looking at broadcast product or some of the emerging technology that perhaps they should be looking at? David: Well it was a combination. I think that there is an understanding that, while traditional broadcasting hasn’t died as quickly as some initially said it might, it is certainly a changing business. The traditional broadcast technology will eventually give way to internet based delivery, particularly for certain types of content like drama and news; but live sports is still very much the driver of
linear viewing and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. While certainly there have been some changes in the market and some new entrants looking to deliver online, traditional broadcast – linear broadcast – is still very much a part of the mix. So I think our customers are looking at refreshing their existing technologies but with an eye toward new capabilities that will enable them to create and deliver better quality television on any platform, whether live or on demand. Ed: So this is really the broadcasters looking to augment their broadcast offer with other offers that get more of the younger generation? David: That’s right but it’s not just the younger generation. I probably shouldn’t say this but, in my house, we tend to watch most of our content online these days just because we can do it on our schedule. I guess there are 2 things that I see – one is that, as broadcasters are looking at upgrading existing infrastructure, one question everybody’s asking is “how does this enable me to leverage these resources to do both the traditional broadcasting as well as this newer stuff; how can I combine resources to deliver both and do it in the most efficient way possible?” And they’re starting to really treat their online channels as certainly on a par with their more traditional linear services. Ed: Whereas before, they were really in a back room somewhere and you gave the geek a job and he was to stream bits and pieces, but now they’re taking it a lot more seriously? David: Some of your readers might take exception to the way that’s described, but generally speaking yes. When we first started selling a lot of the “OTT” streaming infrastructure – gosh I guess it was 5 years ago now, they were kind of backroom projects. Broadcasters weren’t really certain where it was going to go and so they made some limited investments and started seeing what we can do with this stuff; and they found that it’s actually been really successful and that the demand for it is growing, so they’re starting to look more seriously at reliability, at redundancy, at user experience. All of these things become more important as it becomes a bigger part of their mix. The other side of what we’re seeing are investments in production – the changes in how content is delivered don’t bear on the quality of content being created, but the increased number of options available to consumers means that they need to focus on their production quality. With a much wider range of content coming in from overseas, in order to stand out and really compete locally, you need to make sure that you’ve got comparable production values to what shows from overseas are getting. We’ve certainly got the talent to do that, but in many cases, it’s a matter of finding the investments for new technologies … things like robotics, automated production control, and so we’ve also got customers looking at that type of capability. Ed: Okay, run through some of the key product areas that you looked at when you were at the show starting with the restructuring of Ericsson? P14 Sound Techniques at IBC P18 A Reader’s Quiz P19 Netflix - what is 4K? P21 Panavision at IBC P22 Atomise at IBC P27 PLS at IBC Page 2
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David: Yes, Ericsson has spun off their broadcast business. What we used to know as Tandberg is now an independent company again, called MediaKind and they’ve been making sure their product lines are relevant to the specific vertical markets that they’re targeting, and focusing on making sure that they’re getting enough attention in terms of account management and service to the market. To make sure that that does happen in New Zealand they’ve got a new guy on board in Australia, covering Australia and New Zealand, called Dave Herridge. Ed: And this is really to get away from those old names which have associations with mobile phones and other areas that perhaps weren’t quite so successful. Now this is really focused on the broadcast and that, I guess, online experience? David: That’s exactly right. It’s sort of getting the Tandberg band back together as it were. It’s giving the traditional Tandberg company that everybody knew in the broadcast industry, that same focus that they used to have. I think they were getting lost under all the mobile phones and all the telco infrastructure. Anyway, I actually interviewed Dave at IBC and this is what he said, starting with him telling us a bit about himself and what he’s doing in ANZ. Dave: Yes absolutely. I joined this company back in ’99, when we were NDS based in the UK. Tandberg acquired NDS in 2004, and then ultimately Tandberg was bought out by Ericsson. I actually started working internally in our IT department and then I moved into a systems engineering role in 2004. Then I moved into Technical presales starting in 2010. Last year I moved into the ANZ region, to take up the technical sales support role, supporting the sales team there. So that’s where we are currently … we’re supporting the Australia and New Zealand regions specifically on all things technical, all things sales, all part of the MediaKind portfolio, from contribution all the way through to direct to consumer applications, and advertising – basically from glass to glass. So where the event gets captured to where it’s consumed. MediaKind, as you know, has a solution for all of those parts of the jigsaw; the encoding and compression performance is pretty renowned. It’s stable and it’s been like that for many years, so nothing’s changed there. MediaKind as you know is an evolution of various companies that Ericsson has procured along the way, Tandberg being one of them that we discussed a little earlier. David: I was going to ask you about that, because it seems like you’re sort of getting the band back together with Tandberg. So Tandberg was absorbed by Ericsson and a number of other companies were purchased along the way and became part of that, but now you guys are splitting off again. Tell us a little bit about what that means, what the driver for it is and what that’s going to mean for customers? Dave: The focus for Ericsson has shifted and it’s clear that, for the Media business to be successful, it needed a new direction, a new purpose. Ericsson did not see it as their core business, so after a reevaluation of the strategy of where the company needed Page 4
to go, and a change of CEO, the decision was made that the media part of Ericsson needed more focus, a new branding, a new company name, a new sense of purpose. So this is where MediaKind has evolved. A company called One Equity Partners has acquired a 51% stake in this company which has been branded MediaKind. They’re running the show, a great company, very focused, mediacentric. They also own some other core companies in the data world, so this isn’t their first technology company acquisition. So we fit in quite well with the rest of their portfolio – as I said, a very focused team, really good guys, and basically we’re now part of One Equity Partners. Ericsson still has a 49% stake in the company, they still have an interest but the whole point is a new mission, a new focus is required for media. David: So is it fair to say that with this arrangement you’ve got the scale and the resource of Ericsson in terms of making sure that the company has the support it needs and the financial support, which is much better than starting out as a start-up but, at the same time, now as you’re a smaller independent company, you’ve got the ability to behave more like a start-up; you’re focused on your one vertical that is your bread and butter? Dave: You’re absolutely right David, yes, and that was the whole point of the refocus. As you know Ericsson is a 90,000 plus employee company; we’re now 2,200 people in MediaKind – very focused, dedicated to media. Like you say, we still have the leverage of being part of the Ericsson overall structure, but we’re definitely a lot smaller, a lot more focused, quicker to react. We don’t have the Ericsson processes that have kind of held us up and maybe in the past slowed us down; in this industry you need to be pretty quick to react. Now we can be a bit more proactive and less reactive, so we’re looking forward to that and we’re very excited about the future of MediaKind and what that brings to the business. David: I know that all of our customers in New Zealand will be very keen to hear that and looking forward to what the future holds. With the rebranding it looks like you’ve also got some new product lines, or at least new names for product lines – tell us a little bit about what those major areas are and how they relate to what we would know from Ericsson previously? Dave: Some of the product lines we have have been around for a while. Certainly the hardware compression parts, the guys in New Zealand and our part of the world will know fairly well. That part of our portfolio is not insignificant by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not the only part of the portfolio. MediaKind is an evolution of multiple purchases or acquisition of other companies, Envivio being one of those, so obviously now we have the software compression business to complement the hardware compression business. All of the research and development is now entwined with ex-Tandberg employees and ex-Envivio employees. So we have the best of breed in both hardware and software compression going forward. We’re talking about 4K ingest, SDI over IP, all these new applications that are now coming to the fore, that certainly green field sites without a lot of legacy infrastructure can take advantage of. And Envivio also gives us software-based compression for direct to consumer applications. Going on from that, we also purchased a company called Fabrix, an Israeli company that has a very mediacentric VOD and storage Cloud DVR solution. It’s a platform rather than a product, so there are portions of the platform that can Page 5
be taken out and not used, and maybe it’s kind of a “pay as you grow” sort of model. It’s very exciting, and with that we have the ex-Mediaroom portion, which is actually the user experience, the back end, the billing, the customer management database – all this sort of thing complements the SPP which is the ex-Fabrix business. I think the Fabrix business had around 15 customers when Ericsson bought them and now that’s doubled in 2 years. So now we have 30 odd customers. David: Right, so I guess the only other thing to ask about is with the split from Ericsson, with you coming on board and looking after the ANZ business, what’s the setup that you have in Sydney, what’s the support there. Obviously Gencom are the “go to” guys for New Zealand in the first instance, but it’s good to know that we’re backed up by the product experts just across the ditch in Sydney. So who do you have over there? Dave: The team is still 9 people based in Sydney. And the service delivery manager is still Adrian Charlton, whom I think you know well … David: Yes we know Adrian quite well and we’re glad he’s still around. Dave: Yes, he’s still there and also R.J, the integration engineer who has been in the region for about 15 years and is well-known as well to the broadcasters. We have 3 other support staff based in Sydney, and there’s obviously myself, and Julien Pinchon still looking after projects and services. That’s about the team. David: Fantastic – it sounds like you guys are headed in a great new direction and we’re really excited to work with you in New Zealand and hopefully some of our customers will be excited to hear about the new offerings as well, so that’s good. David also visited the Ross stand and spoke with Nestor Anaya who many of our readers will know from Media-Tech where he gave a great talk about the challenges of moving to IP and these guys have some new things to tell us about for the show. Nestor: At IBC this year we have some exciting new product introductions. Let’s start with our control system, DashBoard … one of the most exciting new products to be introduced is UltriTouch, a 2RU smart touch panel. What makes this panel really special is that it also offers monitoring, not just control. So it’s completely adaptable to the end user’s workflow because it does run DashBoard. It features a built-in audio speaker, dual redundant Ethernet ports and also features a USB connector for peripheral extensions. So besides UltriTouch, we are also featuring our higher density new 12gig SDI processing platform card, we call it the SlimGator; so now we have FatGators and SlimGator. SlimGator is a card that can now run in the latest generation Page 6
OpenGear frame. You can put FatGators in the old frame, but SlimGators need the new frame. That enables up to 120 – so 10x12 – 120, 12gig HD BNCs in 2RUs. It’s incredibly dense. The applications that are now running on Gator are quad 12gig frame sync and now also a quad keyer with logo store for branding. In our “point of use” product line, we also have a new audio conversion product. These throwdown boxes are designed for point of use inside of a studio because they’re silent, underneath a desk – there’s lots of flexible mounting options. Our newest member is called Iggy … David: Right, because we had Newt at NAB? Nestor: That’s right. Iggy, as in iguana or Iggy Pop is an audio only version of Newt – and our first product in that family is IGGY-MADI, a MADI to AES67 converter or AES67 to MADI. So it’s an AES67 and SMPTE 2110 audio converter to MADI. That product line will include other interfaces – not just MADI – but we started with MADI because it plugs in really well to Ultrix. So now this gives you a way to connect Ultrix very cost-effectively to an audio over IP production environment. There are other AES67 to MADI converters on the market, but what really sets this guy apart is it’s really broadly interoperable. Different vendors implement different options with AES67 and SMPTE2110 and what that means is maybe one vendor implements stereo channels on an AES67 stream and another one only supports 16 channels per AES67. Now they’re both respecting the standard, but they can’t talk to each other. So it’s not enough to conform to the AES67 standard to guarantee interoperability, and what we’ve done in Iggy is we’ve implemented all of the options. From one to 80 channels per stream, all of the different packet types. SMPTE 2110 has what are called “conformance profiles”, these are different options and they go A, AX, B, BX, C, CX. And we implement all 6. In that respect, integrators have confidence that Iggy will work with just about any AES67 device on the market, including Yamaha mixers running Dante in AES67 mode. David: Now that’s something interesting, because I’ve been hearing some complaints that a lot of Dante gear requires Precision Time Protocol version 1, and AES67 requires PTP version 2, and you can’t have both on the same network. So is that an issue that you’ve run across when dealing with Dante, and how do you get around it? Nestor: What we’ve done is we’ve worked with Yamaha directly to work through some of the clocking issues and if you Google “Bach” and “Yamaha AES67”, you’ll get videos where we’ve done joint press releases demonstrating that interoperability. I won’t go into the details in this interview, but we have a lot of flexible clocking options to enable that connection to work. So you can think of this as a way to bridge a Dante network in AES67 mode – I always have to Page 8
stress that, because we can’t support the legacy Dante transport, it has to be Dante running in AES67 mode – but now that “island” if you will, can bridge into a broadcast production environment through Iggy into Ultrix. David: Right, got it. That’s a lot of technical detail, and of course if anyone wants more information, they can come to us at Gencom and then we can get hold of you and the guys at Ross Australia … Nestor: And it is all on our website as well. It’s easy to get to – www.rossvideo.com/iggy And similarly they can get an overview of our OEM technology, so the audio networking chip sets that are inside of Iggy we also sell to manufacturers, including our competitors. So we’ve talked about the new products, new product launches, now let’s briefly touch on the new software releases for existing products. Starting with Ultrix, the latest version of Ultrix has an awesome feature, especially for the FR5, which is a third PIP size. We call it a “layout PIP” … what’s really different about this particular PIP is you have a limit of 2 PIP sizes globally defined for the frame, but then in addition to that, optionally, you can add a third custom PIP size to a specific layout attached to a specific multiviewer output. So every single multiviewer output can have a different size PIP including a full screen PIP. That is a feature that we’ve been asked for especially with the FR5, because we can do 24 multiviewer and 144 squares. So when you have that many inputs, users really want the flexibility of different layouts. I won’t go through all the details, but that’s probably the most exciting line. On Newt our dropdown IP converter – what’s really exciting is we’ve announced support for UHD single stream over IP. We can do full redundant single streams in 2160p/50 on our 10 gig ports. Now this isn’t a product launch, but we have now announced the availability of Ultrix IP. The IP Blade was announced at NAB and we’ve now provided pricing and availability. We will be taking orders as of January of next year, U.S $16,000 per Blade list price; and shipping delivery around the NAB timeframe. David: That’s fantastic to know – we’ve had a lot of interest in that one. Meanwhile, back at the home ranch. Ed: David, would you have thought this from Ross 10 years ago? From what I remember, Kieran and Amanda from Ross and Mike from Mediaworks. Page 9
their product line was pretty minimal and pretty industrial and I thought really where’s this going? But nowadays, wow. David: Yes, my first experience with Ross was about 7 years ago when I came onboard at Gencom and I wasn’t really familiar with them before that. They had a few small little routers and they had some kind of midrange switchers and they had a good following, but they were considered sort of a lower end product and they couldn’t compete with the big boys like Sony and Grass Valley. But the progress that they’ve made in the 7 years since I’ve been here has been just amazing, and they continue to have success after success. They’ve grown with their Carbonite series and their Acuity series and now they’re playing with the big boys in terms of their switchers and they’re taking a lot of market share internationally and here in New Zealand. Their routing infrastructure, their Ultrix routers are fantastic and provide a lot of flexibility. They make a very clear bridge to IP and they’re doing a lot of innovative things in the control automation studio production space, their robotics are among the best in the world, so we’re really pleased to have them as a partner and we’ve been making really good inroads in the market with them over the last few years. Ed: Excellent. Who else did you talk to? David: Obviously, HDR and UHD is becoming a bigger thing and we’ve had recent success here with EIZO, a reasonably new partner for us. We’ve got their new HDR reference monitor in the market which is a very high end, pricey model, but everybody who’s looked at it has been raving about it and saying they would prefer it over monitors that are even more expensive, from the likes of Sony and the other big guys. Of course they also have a full range of more affordable monitors that are HDR-compatible, they just aren’t able to display the full 1000 nits brightness that you need for critical HDR reference. Ed: Is this a battle where people have to make a decision which way they go – it’s like VHS and Betamax – it is Ultra HD or is it HDR, or should they go both ways? David: Well Ultra HD incorporates HDR. There’s 4K, there’s HDR which is an improved dynamic range … Ed: Would you like to define 4K for us at this point David … though I don’t know if I’ve got enough tape! David: Well 4K only refers to the image resolution – 4000 vertical lines more or less. For TV it’s actually 3,840 whereas cinema is 4,096, but that’s another story. UHD combines that resolution with an expanded dynamic range from brightest to darkest, expanded colour gamut able to show more colours, and other metadata that enables you to get a superior viewing experience. Ed: So the question is do you need a Rolls Royce, or is a Bentley good enough? David: Well if you’re creating content then you want to get the best possible image that your budget will allow, and there’s different options out there that will allow you to get the best quality reference image depending on your budget and your requirements. Not everybody needs a high end broadcast monitor. EIZO is effectively a computer monitor; it’s HDMI and DisplayPort only, there’s no SDI or built-in waveform monitoring; but the image quality is on a par with broadcast monitors like those from Sony or Ikegami, at a lower price. So it really depends on your needs; you asked earlier whether it is a question of VHS Page 10
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versus Betamax. With HDR that remains to be seen because there are different competing standards out in the market and they’re not compatible with each other. That is a whole discussion in itself, but regardless of that, the technology that we’re using to create this content pretty much supports it all. So whether you’re delivering in HDR10 for Netflix or Hybrid Log Gamma for broadcast, or one of these other formats – Samsung’s now got their own format, there’s a couple of things out there – the tools enable you to do that. And then it’s how you want to deliver it to your viewers when those kinds of questions come in. I know better than to choose sides, so we’ll see how that plays out in the industry. Ed: You mentioned Netflix and I know in the past it’s been a case of some big player makes a decision and everyone else thinks “why bother fighting it, let’s just go with it”. Do you see that happening with the Netflix standard? David: It’s a bit different today because how you produce the content is very different from how it gets delivered. You can create a production pipeline that will work regardless of how it’s delivered; how you finish the content is very important, it becomes the colourist’s job to create all the different versions that are going to have to go out for broadcast and for Netflix and whatever else you want. I think it’s a bit different than it was in the old days where all our TV sets had to accommodate the standards that we were going to use. So the US went with NTSC which we always affectionately referred to as “Never Twice the Same Colour” and in the PAL countries they had the benefit of watching the US’s mistakes and creating a better system. But you bought a PAL TV and you weren’t going to be able to watch NTSC content; you bought a Betamax player and you weren’t going to be able to watch a VHS … Ed: And those of you who come from that era will know that the French of course had their own system entirely? David: Yes, SECAM which was another fun one. Today, as we’re delivering online, a lot of those problems go away, because the set top box can actually report back to the server and say “hey, this is what I’m capable of, please give me this UHD content, or please give me this mobile formatted content.” There’s a whole range of new options and Netflix has one standard and that’s all fine and good, but whether it’s on your computer or a properly configured set top box, you can still watch content from Netflix or Lightbox or Neon – even though they use different formats, it’s all done in software. So the concerns and the decision over a hardware investment is less of a big deal. Now the HDR thing and how TVs display HDR, that is one that we’re still watching very closely because that’s where the hardware does become an issue. If Samsung only supports their format, and somebody else is only going to go for Hybrid Log Gamma, that’s going to create problems. Page 12
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Ed: Anymore to add? David: Now talking further about Broadcast monitors, I did see that Ikegami were tout-ing an HDR 1000 nit broadcast reference monitor at IBC last year, and then it disappeared at NAB – it is back and I’m told it will be shipping before NAB in April. Pricing is yet to be set, but it looks like a very impressive monitor so we now have a good range of options for HDR monitoring and other HDR tools as well for content creation and QC. Ed: Any other providers, technology areas? David: We have now started working with Egripment which is based in Amsterdam. They make high end cranes and dollies, some robotics, and some manual cranes that have a digital encoder so you can use them for augmented reality and virtual set applications. Obviously we have good relationships with Cartoni, with Ross, and they Rick Velthof from Egripment. have much broader ranges of products for some of those areas, but there are some things that they don’t do, like the cranes, that Egripment does. I met with Rick Velthof whom I’d communicated over email but hadn’t met yet, a very sharp guy and he gave me a little bit of a product overview, so there’s some good additions that fit nicely into our range. So if anybody’s got some crane, boom, jib arm applications, they can come talk to us about that. NZVN Page 13
Audio Products from IBC2018 We have Stephen Buckland from Sound Techniques to talk about IBC releases for Lectrosonics and Sound Devices. Ed: Starting with Lectrosonics, this is something for the real audio person, correct Stephen? Stephen: It is. Lectrosonics released the SPDR Stereo Personal Digital Recorder aka “Spider” and this is a two channel stereo recorder modelled on the same lines as their mono original PDR. It’s designed to be used in a variety of situations, it’s built to the usual Lectrosonics standard of construction, it can be used as an adjunct to a mixer, as a backup recorder; it can be used in situations where you don’t want to risk your good gear, such as if someone’s paragliding or I read the other day about someone asking how to record a parachute jump. A bright spark suggested they could boom operate it on another parachute … yes! So those sorts of situations, or you can plug a standard Lectrosonics lav mic into it and use it as a personal recorder. The other thing about it is, if you’re dealing with a radio mic situation and the transmitter’s going to go out of range of the receiver, you can use this as a backup, because it’s got timecode, so you get a copy which can be sunk up later. Ed: So this is not an on camera recorder? Stephen: It could be used on camera, but that isn’t what it’s been designed for, but you know how people often find a new use for something if it’s made to a decent standard. Ed: So is this Lectrosonics sort of going into a different area of the market? Stephen: Ummm … I think they’re just expanding on manufacturing that they already can do. Both the PDR and the Spider use the same machining for the cases as their transmitters and they realise that transmitters have a limited range, even their high powered ones, and this is a way of supporting that sort of situation. Ed: Okay, so let’s have a look at what Lectrosonics says about the Spider. Lectrosonics introduces the new stereo version of its acclaimed PDR micro digital recorder, the SPDR (Stereo Portable Digital Recorder). The SPDR is a professional quality, dualchannel unit designed for use in ENG (Electronic News Gathering), in film and video production, as a backup recorder, or for personal use. The SPDR records to a microSDHC memory card in Broadcast Wave Format (.WAV with iXML metadata) and 24 bit depth, in sample rates of either 48 kHz or 96 kHz. The unit can accept inputs from analogue line level and AES digital sources, or from lav microphones wired for standard Lectrosonics 5-pin “servo bias” inputs. The SPDR can be jammed with timecode via an industry-standard 5-pin Page 14
Lemo connector, and features a highly accurate, temperature compensated (TCXO) time base crystal. The SPDR is designed for use on virtual reality sound captures or as a backup recorder for bag systems in the field. The micro recorder allows capture of the full stereo audio of an extreme sport participant, in-car scenes or in situations where a wireless system isn’t practical. When used in conjunction with a small mixer and the SRC receiver, the SPDR makes for a lightweight interview setup that provides full redundancy – all fitting into a small fanny pack. For compatibility with a wider range of memory cards while retaining high reliability, the SPDR features a deep write buffer. Ed: Stephen, what applications do you see here or would you like people to come and talk to you about how they might use it? Stephen: Well first of all, one of the recent comments is it actually brings life to older gear like the Sound Devices 302 mixer or other mixers; it gives you a stereo recorder that’s relatively lightweight and bulletproof to attach on the output of that. Yes, uses in dangerous activities like rock climbing or paragliding or parachuting as I’ve said. It would be useful there, but also in situations where you haven’t got radio mic range or someone’s climbing up a mountain and you want to make sure that you keep them covered, and so you’ve got a backup. Ed: And you’ll have these in stock tomorrow? Stephen: We’ll have them in stock shortly, yes. Ed: What about the product from Sound Devices? Stephen: Also launched at IBC was the Sound Devices combination Audio Ltd A10 rack unit. Now you may or you may not know that Sound Devices bought Audio Ltd, that well-established English radio microphone brand, earlier this year
SPiDeR Stereo Portable Digital Recorder
A small, lightweight dual channel recorder for use on virtual reality sound captures or as a backup recorder for bag systems in the field. The SPDR will let you capture the full stereo audio of an extreme sport participant, in-car scenes or in situations where a wireless system cannot be used.
To order, or for more information... Call: 09 366 1750; E: info@soundtq.co.nz FB: @soundtechniques; www.soundtq.co.nz www.lectrosonics.com/US/SPDR-Stereo-Personal-DigitalRecorder/product.html
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Professional quality low noise digital audio recordings in Broadcast Wave Format (iXML metadata) with high dynamic range Compact size for easy bag, plant mic and personal use Records to a microSDHC memory card Wide range input gain adjustment for mic to line level signals AES input for digital signal chains Time code jam/sync from external source Two standard Lectrosonics TA5M input jacks Lectrosonics “servo bias” input preamp Solid machined aluminum construction Over 20 hours of operation on dual AA lithium batteries Timecode with temperature compensating clock accurate to less than 1ppm at all temperatures
and obviously although Audio Ltd seems to be continuing running its own business, A10 rack from the front. there are efforts between the two companies to integrate their gear. Now some time ago Sound Devices brought out the 688 mixer and then the SL-6 slot receiver, and the SL-6 slot receiver holds 3 dual channel receivers from a variety of manufacturers such as Lectrosonics, Audio Ltd, Sennheiser and it seems what they’ve done with this new rack system is take what Sound Devices learnt from that, incorporating what Audio Ltd was already doing for its own new digital receivers, to bring out a standalone rack unit that will hold four 2-channel receivers. Again the range of receivers that it will hold doesn’t seem to include Sennheiser, but does include Lectrosonics and Audio Ltd. It’s got built-in power distribution and antenna distribution, so with one pair of antenna all the receivers are fed. Also it integrates a Dante output, so therefore it can be used in any sort of Dante setup which seems to be the most prevalent way of transferring audio over a network system. Ed: And now we’ll hear from Sound Devices as to what they say about it. The A10-RACK is a 1-RU enclosure which accepts slot-in wireless receivers such as the Audio Limited A10-RX or other brand receivers. The A10-RACK features built-in power and antenna distribution plus Dante for up to 4 two-channel slot-in receivers. That is a total of eight channels of Dante, plus AES digital outputs, or analogue outputs – all in a single, sleek, 1-RU chassis. The A10-RACK accommodates single-channel Unislot receivers and most two-channel Superslot-compatible receivers, such as Audio Limited’s A10-RX or other models from Lectrosonics and Wisycom utilizing the D-sub 25 pin interface.
4-slot wireless receiver rack system (receivers sold separately) 8-ch Dante / AES / analogue outs Receiver diversity (Unislot / SuperSlot™) Built-in power and antenna distribution Antenna loop-thru for 16-channel setups 4-pin DC XLR input USB serial port for firmware updates Frequency range 470-694MHz
Dante The Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet protocol, better known as Dante™, allows for true networking where signal can be sent to many destinations without degradation or extra hardware. Connect the A10-RACK to a Dante network, and all eight channels of high-quality audio from the wireless receivers can be transported over a single Cat5 network cable. Page 16
Monitoring and routing of signals from transmitters to receivers is simplified with the Dante Controller, a free software application from Audinate.
Compatible Wireless Receivers
Manufacturer
Model
Audio Ltd
A10-RX
Audio Ltd
En2 CX2-P
Lectrosonics
SRa
Lectrosonics
SRb
Lectrosonics
SRc
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Ed: In stock soon? Stephen: Well in stock as required really. Ed: It’s the sort of product that you can see the specs, you know the company and you order it as you need one, but it’s the sort of thing that you can’t keep half a dozen of? Stephen: Yes. The reintroduction of Audio Ltd equipment into New Zealand is relatively recent. It’s been a preferred brand by a small bunch of people for as long as Sound Techniques has been in business and beyond, so really this depends on the take up. It is at the top end of portable wireless so it may take a while to gather some momentum. NZVN
Win BIG Prizes in this Month’s NZVN Quiz
If anyone can correctly guess what this is, or they have a suggestion as to what it might be used for that’s printable, send it into Stephen at stephenb@soundtq.co.nz and you get a pair of high quality earplugs while stocks last. Stephen: Actually even better Grant, have a look at our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/soundtechniques and people can comment on it there and the best entries, or the entries that are regarded as printable, we will give out a pair of earplugs. Ed: The picture in NZVN is just a small part of this image. To get to the full image and be in with a chance to win big with Stephen, you’ve got to click on this to go to Stephen’s Facebook page. NZVN Page 18
Just in case you were thinking of buying a camera that you might want to make something that could go on Netflix, here are the current specs you need to know taken from the Netflix website ( link below ).
WARNING: calling something 4K alone does not mean they accept its footage. ED.
Cameras and Image Capture – Camera Requirements 4K UHD Resolution: Camera must have a true 4K UHD sensor (equal to or greater than 3840 photosites wide). Recording Format: Minimum of 16-bit Linear or 10-bit Log processing Bitrate of at least 240 Mbps (at 23.98/24 fps) recording Recording format must be set to either: RAW (uncompressed or lightly compressed sensor data) COMPRESSED ( Log Gamma – i.e. S-Log3, V-Log, CanonLog3, REDLogFilm, BMDLog, LogC, etc.) No looks or colour corrections should be baked into the original camera files. Files must maintain all metadata (i.e. Tape Name, Timecode, Frame Rate, ISO, WB, etc.) Black Balancing: If applicable, black balancing of camera sensors should be done daily, when the camera is at normal operating temperature. See specific black balancing instructions in the camera operating manual. Aspect Ratio / Framing: Aspect ratios greater than 2.00:1 must be evaluated and discussed with Netflix for approval. Framing chart must be shot before principal photography begins, and processed through the dailies pipeline which will be shared with editorial, post-production, and VFX. Secondary Cameras: Any cameras other than the primary camera (crash, POV, drone, underwater, etc.) must be approved by Netflix. Test footage should be shot and provided to dailies and post-production to ensure compatibility with primary camera. Full details including approved camera list: https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000579527-Cameras-and-Image-Capture
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Panavision at IBC The latest collaboration from trusted brands Sachtler ® and Vinten®, flowtech100 is compatible with all major 100mm fluid heads and supports a payload of up to 30 kilograms ( 66 pounds ), making it ideal for a wide range of wildlife, commercial, and documentary projects as well as heavy-duty electronic newsgathering and electronic field production. Like flowtech75 — the first tripod in the flowtech series — the new flowtech100 is built with an exclusive carbon-fibre technology featuring the world’s fastestdeploying tripod legs. Unique, quick-release brakes conveniently located at the top of the tripod mean the legs can also be deployed simultaneously and adjust automatically to the ground’s surface — saving operators from having to bend over and manually adjust multiple brakes on each leg. In one example, the Chasing Trail crew needed to get a level shot while standing on the side of a steep mountain face, requiring the legs of the tripod adjacent to the mountain to be retracted and angled almost horizontally, while the downhill leg was fully extended. The crew was able to achieve the configuration by removing the midlevel spreader, which also allows the tripod to go The Tillmann brothers hard at work capturing as low as 26cm for groundscenes for a recent Scott Sports promo campaign. level shots. More information on flowtech100 is available at www.flowtech-tripod.com Another tripod line available from Panavision is OConnor who just released the 2560 Fluid Head. The 2560 is the latest addition to the OConnor fluid head family, offering versatility for both lightweight and heavy rig setups and enabling cinematographers to move more quickly and efficiently while still maintaining control and stability. The continuously adjustable 2560 offers sinusoidal counterbalance and fluid drag that together provide the ultra-smooth OConnor feel over the largest payload range. The 2560 offers cine-standard position of controls ( including brakes ) and a front-handle mount for intuitive, controlled positioning of the camera, as well as a lightweight magnesium housing and carbon-fibre cover for best-in-class performance, power-to-weight ratio, and reliNZVN ability. Page 21
Avid at IBC for Atomise There were some interesting announcements from a number of areas within Avid at IBC. Avid Achieves Over One Million User Downloads of Its First Family of Creative Tools At IBC, Avid announced that over one million aspiring creative people in nearly every country have downloaded Avid First creative tools for free to develop their craft and accomplish their best possible work in music and video. With Pro Tools® | First, Media Composer® | First and Sibelius® | First, this new generation of users can create amazing content, collaborate with Avid’s dynamic global community of aspiring and professional users, and get on the path toward a successful career in media and entertainment. Avid’s family of First tools includes product features and capabilities available in the iconic professional-grade Avid offerings that creative professionals use to achieve award-winning results. With Avid ‘s First tools, aspiring creatives also gain access to the world of Avid’s online Artist Community, which connects content creators at all stages of their careers to interact with each another, cultivat es new coll aborati ve opportunities, and gives them a platform to share their work. Pro Tools | First allows music creatives who are just beginning their jo ur ney in recordi ng, engineering and production to record, mix and collaborate using the industry-standard toolset. With Media Composer | First, beginner video editors get all the features and functionality they need to tell great stories, while learning the industry's leading professional non-linear editing tool. For music composers, Sibelius | First provides a powerful notation toolset including music composition transcription and editing. All three of these Avid creative tools for aspiring creatives can be downloaded immediately for free at www.avid.com/million Next Generation Maestro | Engine Real-time Graphics and Video Hardware Rendering Platform Maestro | Engine scales from HD and 1080P to UHD supporting both SDI and Video Over IP interfaces. With Maestro | Engine, broadcasters can produce graphics, virtual studios, augmented reality and video wall content in the industry’s highest achievable quality. As the successor to Avid HDVG, Maestro | Engine enables broadcasters to introduce new production capabilities – including 3G, UHD, HDR, and IP workflows – alongside their current HD/SD SDI workflows, with minimal disruption. Available in two configurations – Maestro | Engine and Maestro | Page 22
Wellington - Head Office Level 3, 127 Park Road Miramar Ph 04 380 5010
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The experts providing end–to–end editorial solutions to New Zealand’s film & television industry
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Cut above the rest. Meet the new Media Composer family Now everyone has access to the best editing tools. Whether you’re just starting out, or editing to a tight budget, or part of a team building the next Hollywood blockbuster, the Media Composer® product family has a solution to fit your needs. Get started with Media Composer | First and use the tools the pros use for FREE. Or step up to Media Composer for just $289.00 + GST per year* for more power and versatility. For real-time collaboration choose and gamechanging features likeSymphony, Newscutter, ScriptSync® and PhraseFind™, advance to Media Composer | Ultimate or Media Composer | Permanent. * price is correct at time of printing and is subject to change
Avid NEXIS Pro With MediaCentral | Editorial Management No need to ditch your favorite editing and asset management tools to accelerate your workflow. Avid NEXIS | PRO enables real-time editorial collaboration using what you have, whether you edit in Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Apple Final Cut Pro X, Grass Valley EDIUS, or Media Composer. And it’s easy to integrate with thirdparty asset management systems too. Add powerful, simple-to-deploy asset management and web based reviewcapabilities to your file-based editing workflow. MediaCentral | Editorial Management is designed specifically for the needs of smaller post-production and broadcast teams working with Avid NEXIS. ediaCentral | Editorial Management adds a new layer of access to Media Composer and Avid NEXIS, making shared projects, bins, and media accessible to others beyond editors—without requiring Media Composer. Assistants, loggers, and other non-editors can perform media management tasks, greatly accelerating the ingest process, and search for and add media to projects—ready for the editor—using just a web browser. This also makes it easy for producers and directors to see what footage they have. To see NEXIS and Editoral Management in action please contact us to arrange a demo.
www.atomise.co.nz | atomise@atomise.co.nz
Engine 4K – the platform works with all Maestro graphics suite solutions, providing performance, scalability, and format support to surpass customers’ current and future broadcast requirements. Maestro | Engine and Maestro | Engine 4K will ship in the fourth quarter of 2018. For more information, visit https://www.avid.com/maestro-graphics The Avid Link Beta is now available!
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Avid Link is a free new app for everyone who wants to expand their creative possibilities by connecting with other artists, producers, mixers, composers, editors, videographers, moviemakers, and graphic designers. Available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, Avid Link makes it easy to find, message, and collaborate with other creators, promote your work and skills, manage your Avid account, and purchase software, hardware, plug-ins, and other tools to advance your creative capabilities. Join the community and sign up to download the FREE Avid Link public beta! Also for Atomise at IBC, MOG had a couple of announcements.
MOG : BrightVR 360 4K camera is now available for Pre-Order MOG Technologies, the worldwide provider of end-to-end solutions for professional media, today announced the launch of a pre-sales period for the acquisition of BrightVR 360 4K camera. The pre-sales period features a limited time offer with access to Vizzi live streaming platform; including 100GB storage and 10TB traffic, for creators immediately deliver the 360 master-pieces to its audience. Finding the perfect professional 360 camera is a difficult quest for most 360-production and advertising com-panies. MOG has developed a unique, plug-and-play, 360 camera that minimises the hassles of 360 capture and stitching. The new BrightVR camera captures up to 4K 360 videos with H264 (from 5 to 25Mbps) video compression. It features four high definition Sony Sensors, wide-angle lenses and realtime stitching to ensure an accurate and crisp image. The built-in FPGAbased real-time auto stitching ensures that the creator does not have to acquire any other equipment or use any other external accessories to do the stitch. The BrightVR body is exceptionally compact and built with anodised aluminum to adapt both to the interior and exterior environments. The camera includes two High Dynamic Range microphones and an SD Card slot to record the stitched feed. It can be connected by Ethernet or Wi-Fi and powered by an external power adapter or using a battery module with capability up to 2 hours. BrightVR also features auto exposure and white balance. Page 24
The pre-order campaign includes the free access to Vizzi 360 live streaming platform to give creators the chance to deliver immersive content directly to its audience. The package comprises 100GB Storage, 10TB Traffic and a publishing point to manage the contents distribution. Users can easily plug-and-play the 360 camera, capture the contents connecting to iOS and Android App and connect via Wi-Fi or Ethernet ready to live stream any event to the online video platform or share instantly on Facebook and YouTube. The pre-sales period is now open, and the camera is expected to be shipping at the end of October. All the information is available here: https://www.mog-technologies.com/brightvr-360-4k-camera/
MOG presents new mxfSPEEDRAIL models. mxfSPEEDRAIL is a high quality central ingest system that reduces video ingest time and saves on operational costs. With more than 2500 installations and deployed in more than 200 worldwide customers, the system has been evolving and adapting to technology demands. It completely optimises media workflows by delivering practical and simple tools to capture, transcode, schedule and prioritise all ingest tasks. The mxfSPEEDRAIL has been part of the migration to tapeless workflows and always ensured seamless integration with broadcast multiple formats, codecs, wrappers, third-party editors, servers and MAM’s. The new models are now reflecting the market evolution by adapting to new media channels workflows, ensuring the high-quality stream ( 4K and 8K ) into social networks, and the support of IP protocols. With a strong bet in rebranding and optimisation of all the models’ flexibility, MOG is now introducing the following models: Page 25
mediaREC: the award-winning multiformat SDI recording system for professsional environments, now features full support of VideoOver-IP standards ( ST2110 and ST2022-6 ). The system encodes and decodes SDI to MPEG-TS and viceversa for contribution and encodes up to 16 SDI channels to RTMP, HLS, and MPEG-DASH for distribution; mediaCARD: a simplified solution for users who just want to stitch all camera shots with unattended batch ingest. The system can include an embedded card reader in a 2RU server to simplify video ingest tasks; mediaMOVE: the ultimate ingest gateway for broadcast environments, new media and social media streaming, supports all input devices, file wrappers, video and audio codecs to any output wrapper, proxy, web format, storage server or asset management. The system enables frame rate conversion and transcodes into any major broadcast format, including DNxHR ( all resolutions ). It is ideal for AVID sequences and clips export and fully interoperable with AVID Interplay, Nexis and others; mediaPLAY: for preview, playback or playout. Available with the option of 8TB cache in the same 2U rack unit; mediaLIVE: a fully configurable system that encodes, decodes and converts live content on-the-fly. StorEDIT: a shared storage option that provides the needed versatility and high capacity storage, ranging from 16 TB HDD to 60 TB SSD, with the option for removable disks. “The mxfSPEEDRAIL central ingest system is designed, since its beginning, with economy and reliability in mind,” says Luís Miguel Sampaio, CEO from MOG. “The system now features more flexibility since it is built with HTML5 technology which breaks any physical boundary, and it is also wrapped in multiple packages to fit the customer needs better. With a single licence, the user can now unlock all proxies and codecs.” The new mxfSPEEDRAIL central ingest system manages file or live video streams in a seamlessly integrated media production ecosystem responding to the immediacy of capture and viewers’ engagement, filling every gap throughout the workflow. Find out more information from Atomise www.atomise.co.nz or go to NZVN https://www.mog-technologies.com/mxfspeedrail-central-ingest/ Page 26
ARRI Stellar Lighting Control We’re at PLS regarding ARRI’s release of Stellar, the new intelligent app for professional lighting control. This is something that, as soon as I saw it, I thought “wow, that’s actually a very clever and potentially useful product”. To find out who could actually use it – when, why and how – we’re here with Chris McKenzie. Ed: Chris, what is Stellar? Chris: It’s an application that you can use to talk to all of your ARRI DMX lighting devices on set. It leverages the Ethernet capability of the SkyPanel which means that when you talk to a SkyPanel over Ethernet it becomes a network hub; and your first SkyPanel can then become the source of DMX for all the rest of your fixtures. Ed: So you only need one SkyPanel, the rest can be other ARRI fixtures? Chris: Yeah, all the L series – L5’s, L7’s, L10’s and obviously the SkyPanel family. Ed: But you have to have at least one SkyPanel otherwise it’s not going to work? Chris: No, but that’s the simplest way. There are 3 ways of manipulating it, starting off with the application on a smartphone or on a tablet. You then output the information wirelessly, so you can, with a wireless access point, use that to cable into a SkyPanel or the ARRI SkyLink which is essentially their wireless receiver, which then takes the wireless Ethernet signal that comes from your tablet and turns it into an Ethernet signal for the rest of the network. You can then feed that Ethernet signal out as DMX or as Ethernet. One of the beauties of the new versions of the SkyPanels, or their updated software, is that they can become that network hub. So you feed your Ethernet into your first SkyPanel and then you can either punch it out via cable or via wireless DMX, differentiating between standard WiFi internet connection and wireless DMX which are different devices and different transmission abilities. Very simply you just have, as I said, a wireless access point, cable into your first SkyPanel then a cable between the SkyPanel and all your other ARRI colour fixtures – either L series or SkyPanels – and then controller. And then it’s a very simple drag and drop interface because it uses RDM which is a DMX protocol remote device management. Simplistically if you think of it like when you plug a new printer into your computer, the computer goes away, discovers it, finds the drivers, connects it and says “hello, I’ve got a new printer, what do you want to call it?” So on a large scale lighting system you can do exactly the same thing with RDM. It’s a bi-directional communication, you plug your lights into your controller and Page 27
they all go “hello, here I am, what do you want to call me?” Stellar is leveraging that power to plug up your rig, go discover, hello here is your whole rig, okay what do you want to call this, is it a keylight is it whatever, you can go in and name it and then it’s a simple graphic interface which we all love to use these days, where you can drag and drop fixtures around a layout of your set. If you’ve got a drawing of your set, you can import that into your device, drop your fixtures on top of that – so if you’ve got a rough layout of what you’ve done, you drop your fixtures on top of it, call them what you want to call them and then you’ve got them. I like their video because it’s quite funny. There’s one shot of the guy obviously standing at the craft services table with his tablet going “oh yeah, I’ll change the lights here” and you think well yeah, most gaffers look forward to that, to not have to leave the craft services table to do anything, so I could certainly see applications for that. <http://www.arri.com/corporate/press/english/english_single/arri-introducesstellar-the-new-intelligent-app-for-professional-lighting-control/7581/> Ed: So is this a major cost saving – it means that you don’t have to buy all sorts of DMX controlling gear or does it just make it easy access? Chris: I think it makes it easy access and I think ARRI are very conscious of not wanting to knock the guys out who have invested in $60,000 lighting consoles to drive their rigs. Ed: Because it’s never going to do the same … again, taking the computer industry example with something like Pro Tools where you can have a software version and you can control your audio levels on that, but the professional has a hardware version? Chris: Yes, that’s dead right and with a big console you get lots of bells and whistles and with a very good programmer you can save a lot of time. Someone who’s pretty slick on this system could save time too and I think what we’re finding is a lot of the kids who are coming out of high schools now are all drag and drop – you know they squeeze, drag, and push around objects on a screen. They’re very familiar and very comfortable, whereas the old timers still like a bunch of handles under their hands. So it’s horses for courses but I can certainly see an application in small and medium size TV studios, quick lighting setups, commercial lighting setups, small dramas – those sorts of things, where all the fittings are becoming more connected, and you know it’s … what is it … Page 28
the internet of things. We’re doing it with lighting, we’re doing it with audio, so it’s quite a useful device. Ed: So where does your position in PLS come into this equation Chris, because this is actually a download and a pay per month application? Chris: Yes that’s true, it is a monthly or annual fee and I haven’t actually looked hard at how that works, whether you can come in and out of that and buy it on a short-term basis if you’ve got a project, and then drop off it again. I guess if you pay a monthly fee then you probably could do it that way, but for us it’s a really encouraging use of the equipment and expanding the use of the equipment, so I see it as a selling point. Someone wants a SkyPanel and then I’m thinking of one sale I’ve got in the row at the moment. I’ll show it to this guy and say well have a think about this, because as you’re expanding this may well work for you. And the peripheral devices, the wireless add-ons, the SkyLink systems and those other devices that allow you to wirelessly talk to the fixtures, so that’s where I can see the value of it. It’s an interesting thing, it’s NZVN very early days, so we’ll see how it goes and report back.
BB&S Lighting IBC2018 Another IBC release is a new product from BB&S soon available at PLS. Chris: Yes, the brothers have come out with a couple of new products. One is the Area 48 which we know and love as a remote phosphor softlight; they have come out with an RGB+W version, so colour changing. So they’re responding to the industry to go colour changing. Ed: How can you do that – I don’t understand because the whole purpose was that you stuck the colour that you wanted as an add-on panel in the front of your Area 48? Chris: It’s a reimagining of the fitting; it’s in an Area 48 form factor but it is actually coloured LEDs, so it’s going away from the remote phosphor idea to the ability to colour tune, because everybody wants colour. Ed: But I thought the whole purpose of the Area 48, by having that phosphor at the front, meant that you had not only this infinite variability, but also you got a much better light output because your phosphor was remote and also it was a lot cleaner? Chris: Absolutely, yes. The Area 48 came out in the sort of “Gen-1” days of LEDs where people were scrambling to get high colour rendering and the reality was that the Area 48, with remote phosphor, gave you that high colour renderPage 30
ing which couldn’t be achieved by RGB or conventional warm white, and cool white LEDs. Now we’re probably up to “Gen-3” LEDs where your colour rendering natively on board the LED is good and so they’ve bitten the bullet with this development. You can still buy the remote phosphor and it is still a good fixture and it is still brighter, but they bit the bullet because people are saying “we want colour; we want colour.” So they’ve gone down that track, I wait to see how much interest there’s going to be when they do a bit of Photometrics on it. I think it will still be very powerful, very bright. The other new product is a revision of the pipeline fixture where they’ve built it into a reflector system. We’ve used pipeline here on a couple of jobs where we’ve actually just used the pipeline RAW and used the output that comes out in about 120 degree beam angle. What BB&S have done is built it into a reflector system where they collect that 120 degrees and condense it down to about 80odd degrees. So you’re getting probably 50% more light out of the same pipeline fitting and it’s still something that’s only 35mm across, so in terms of a very compact, very tight light source – and I saw some of the applications they’d done with it when I was in Copenhagen and there are some very nice low profile lighting jobs in Newsrooms and those sorts of areas, so that’s quite an interesting source for some of the projects that are floating round. You know, we’re seeing more and more cross media jobs where you’re building a radio studio but you’re going to put a remote video camera in it and we’re going to have to look at ugly mugs of people with faces who are suited to the radio, on tele or on the web. Ed: And are these retrofittable? Chris: I think so, yes. I haven’t absolutely established that, I think they probably are. Ed: So you should be able to buy the reflectors for your current pipeline? Chris: Well they have had a reflector system, but I think this is an upgrade and a better system. So yes, probably. Ed: If not, Chris will make them himself for you! Chris:
Yeah that’s an absolute positive “maybe” on that.
http://brothers-sons.dk/video-interview-toby-sali-introduces-area-48-colorpipeline-reflect-system-cbl-1/
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NZVN
ALEXA LF lands LARGE in NZ
THE NEW LARGE-FORMAT CAMERA SYSTEM
ALEXA LF has landed Large Format in New Zealand with commercials and an upcoming major film already relying on the latest ALEXA-based cinema camera. Workflow and control are what you already know while the incomparable LF images will blow you away. Based on a larger 4K version of the ALEXA sensor, the LF series comprises the ALEXA LF camera with complete wireless control and wireless video transmission, ARRI Signature Prime lenses, LPL lens mount and PL-to-LPL adapter offering full compatibility with existing lenses, accessories and workflows.
find out more at www.arri.com/largeformat For a demo, a chat or info on where to find ALEXA LF or Signature Prime lens owners in New Zealand and Australia please contact Sean or Brett at ARRI Australia on:
Tel. +612 9855 4300 e: sdooley@arri.com.au e: bsmith@arri.com.au
t: +61 415 048 521 t: +61 417 663 803