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CAMERAS & BASIC ENGINEERING FOR BROADCAST & LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION BY TRE JAMES CEO & Founder Production Rockstars + The Production Rockstar Academy
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A Message from our Executive Director
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About this Course
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PRODUCTION ROCKSTARS
TRE JAMES
I don’t do much video engineering anymore, but are you looking for a qualified Multicam Director, Executive Producer, or Production Exec for your next project? TREJAMES.COM
Perhaps you’d like a consultant to visit your church, studio or stadium to lead a course or workshop. TREJAMES.COM
I’d love to work with you or just hang out and share my knowledge. TREJAMES.COM
Table of Contents ■ A Message from our Executive Director ■ About this Course CHAPTER I —---------------------------------------- p. 10
Professional Standards
■ Best or Nothing Practices & Principles CHAPTER II —---------------------------------------- p. 15
Defining Video Engineering
■ What is Video Engineering?
CHAPTER III —--------------------------------------- p. 18
Production Facilities & Roles ■ ■ ■ ■
Components of a Broadcast Production Facility Studio & Master Control Rooms Mobile TV Trucks Setting up the Flypack
CHAPTER V —--------------------------------------- p. 50
Camera Support Systems
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Parts, Pieces, & Terminology Camera Body & Lenses Viewfinders Tripods Camera Builds Zoom / Focus Controls Camera Fiber Converter Studio Fiber Converter Remote Control Panel Camera Chain | Fiber, CCU, RCP EIC Vs. Video Engineering Vs. Shading Different Camera Chain Setups Broadcast Cameras Examples
CHAPTER VI —-------------------------------------- p. 91
CHAPTER IV —---------------------------------------- p. 46
Camera & CCU Operations
Cable Management
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ Over & Under 101 ■ Label le’ Cable
CHAPTER VII —------------------------------------- p. 109
Broadcast Cameras
Camera Lenses Swapping Out Backmounts Balancing the Camera & Back Focus Connecting Fiber to Camera & CCU Properly Packing & Inspecting Gear
Support Systems & Positions How Does the Skycam Work? 2-Point/Point to Point Cable Cam Dollies Pedestals Camera Cranes Steadicam Drones PTZ Camera Multidyne
CHAPTER VIII —------------------------------------ p. 139
Teleprompters
■ Teleprompters & LCD Displays ■ Troubleshooting CHAPTER IX —-------------------------------------- p. 146
Wireless Video
■ Wireless Camera Systems ■ Long Range Professional Wireless (RF) ■ Dual Receiver RF 7
Table of Contents CHAPTER X —--------------------------------------- p. 152
CHAPTER XIV —------------------------------------ p. 215
CHAPTER XVIII —---------------------------------- p. 278
Broadcast Production Switchers
Record Decks
Multiviewers
■ Overview ■ Production Switchers Examples ■ Stream Deck
■ Overview ■ Records Decks Examples ■ Timecode
CHAPTER XI —-------------------------------------- p. 170
CHAPTER XV —------------------------------------- p. 227
Broadcast Audio Consoles
■ Audio Consoles Examples ■ Multitrack Recording Integration CHAPTER XII —------------------------------------- p. 184
Replay Systems
■ Replay Servers Examples CHAPTER XIII —------------------------------------ p. 191
Graphics & Video Playback Systems ■ ■ ■ ■
Character Generators Video Clip Playback Servers Playback vMix
Comms
■ Hollyland Solidcom ■ Common Comms Systems CHAPTER XVI —------------------------------------ p. 236
Cables & Converters ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Common Types of Cables Ethernet Fiber Connection Types Cable Looms & Mults Tactical Fiber Common Video Converters
CHAPTER XVII —----------------------------------- p. 261
Monitors & Feeds
CHAPTER XIX —------------------------------------ p. 285
REMI Production CHAPTER XX —------------------------------------- p. 293
Video Engineering ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Fundamentals NTSC v. PAL v. ATSC SD & HD Digital Video Color Sampling & Chroma Sampling Frame Rates Progressive v. Interlaced Sync/Genlock/Reference Timecode Color Correction Conversions Frame Sync(hronization)
CHAPTER XXI —------------------------------------ p. 327
vMix | A Deeper Dive
■ Overview ■ Single & Multi Operator Show 8
Table of Contents CHAPTER XXII —----------------------------------- p. 335
CHAPTER XXV —----------------------------------- p. 363
Audio Networking Technology
■ DANTE ■ MADI ■ AES / EBU
The Art & Science of Video Shading
■ About Video Shading ■ Waveform Monitors & Vectorscopes ■ Camera Color Calibration
Production Planning
CHAPTER XXIII —---------------------------------- p. 344
CHAPTER XXVI —---------------------------------- p. 371
Optical Fiber
Encoding & Transmissions
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Fiber Connectivity How to Clean Fiber 3G, 6G, 12G HEVC (H.264) vs. AVC (H.265) HDR v SDR
CHAPTER XXIV —---------------------------------- p. 352
Routing + Signal Flow
■ Routing ■ Router Control Heads ■ Router Examples
■ High Level Overview ■ Encoder & Decoder Examples ■ Camera Color Calibration
CHAPTER XXVII —--------------------------------- p. 381
Media & Media Management
■ Camera Media & SSD Media ■ Cloud Storage
CHAPTER XXVIII —-------------------------------- p. 387
CHAPTER XXIX —---------------------------------- p. 394
Planning for Excellence Site Surveys / Scouts Cable Ramps Tech Fax The Art of the Pivot
CHAPTER XXX —----------------------------------- p. 405
Tech Books & Camera Plots
■ Tech Books ■ Camera Plots
Setting the Standard —---------------- p. 424 One Final Closing Statement —--- p. 425 Glossary —------------------------------------- p. 427
Production Power ■ ■ ■ ■
Overview Plug Types & Phase Tails Primary Types of Power Used Conversions
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BACK TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRODUCTIONROCKSTARACADEMY.COM
CHAPTER I
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
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CHAPTER I · PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Best Or Nothing Best Practices & Principles Well for starters, letʼs talk about where that slogan is derived from. Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz, whose slogan is “The best or nothing.” When you think of Mercedes-Benz, what words come to mind? I think of: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Luxury Elegance Premium Well-crafted Beautifully crafted Expensive Rides nice & smooth Somewhat exclusive to the average car buyer “When I make it, I want THAT!”
Those same adjectives and phrases are what you want people to think of, metaphorically, when they think of your work output. That you are the best. You left nothing on the table. Whatever stakeholders you are responsible for serving, they they are best served by having you on the crew.
Now, when you think about bringing your best or nothing, what are some words that come to mind? For me, itʼs: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Prompt Prepared Well-dressed Early Well- Groomed Listens Safe Kind Knowledgeable Inquisitive Focused Attentive Patient
Imagine an engineer who shows up to work exhibiting most if not all of these qualities? What a blessing that would be! Well, it can be you. Most of these should come naturally, but if not, with practice and experience, they will all come. But letʼs dive a little deeper into what these words mean.
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What exactly do I mean by BRING YOUR BEST OR NOTHING?
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CHAPTER I · PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Best Or Nothing Best Practices & Principles
Prepared ● Read the paperwork provided to you prior to the production thoroughly. ● Connect with the Tech or Project Manager ahead of time and get as many details about the job, the equipment that you will be using (pull sheet), etc before coming on site. Well-Dressed ● Show up in proper show blacks (usually doesnʼt apply to sports). ● Have on a belt, no one wants to see your bottom. ● Donʼt wear white shoes with show blacks. ● Just a personal pet peeve of mine, but an iron is always your friend, never the enemy. ● When you look good, you feel good, so you perform better.
Groomed ● Regular bathing is essential to maintain a clean and professional appearance. ● Use deodorant to prevent body odor, especially during long and physically demanding days outdoors. Listens ● You donʼt know it all, you never will. And even when you do, itʼs still totally ok to be a person who listens more than they speak. ● The kids, the youth, the younger folks- have valuable input, if youʼre senior, listen to them. ● Pay attention, listen out for safety alerts, and just generally keep your ears open an be aware. No headphones in your ears while working. ● Be open and receptive to constructive criticism and feedback. Safe ● Video Engineering isnʼt exactly an unsafe sport, but there is room for unsafe things to happen. Always be thinking about your safety and the safety of others. ● If you see something unsafe, say something. ● Take it upon yourself to get OSHA safety certified, you may get hired for a job in which youʼll need it.
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Promptness ● Being early for your call time. If youʼre early, youʼre on time. If youʼre on time, youʼre late. ● Ensuring that you get back from lunch on time. ● Leave out early enough to beat any traffic, get breakfast, enjoy a smoke or whatever gets your day started. But be early, cool? Cool.
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CHAPTER I · PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Best Or Nothing Best Practices & Principles Kind ● It cost you zero dollars to be kind. It cost even less to be quiet if you canʼt be kind. ● People have not-so-great days and yeah, thatʼs not exactly your problem, but perhaps we can try not to make it worse. ● Do something nice just because. ● You also never know who you are talking to- so speaking kindly and positively of people and companies should always be top of mind. And every negative experience does not have to be shared with every crew member.
Focused ● Be focused on the task at hand. Try not to spend your time worrying about non-work related things. Youʼre there to work.
Knowledgeable ● Learn your job inside and out. Study, read articles, stay up to date on trends. By just listening, itʼs so easy to tell who knows their stuff and who doesnʼt. ● If you are a video engineer, remain up-to-date on the tools, techniques, and best practices that allow you to do your job. ● Always be a student and never stop learning. ● Attend conferences, industry events, and mixers.
Patience ● Sometimes we live in a world of “sit around and wait”. It could be the key holder arriving at a venue late, generator not showing up on time, or other inconveniences that slows down work. Exercise patience in those moments. ● You may also be working with crew members who have significantly less experience than you. Or you may be the rookie. Whichever the situation is, when dealing with colleagues, exercise patience and grace.
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Attentive ● Focus in on the details. ● Pay attention to whatʼs going on around you and with the systems. Be proactive - address things that have a potential to be an issue later on, right way.
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BACK TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRODUCTIONROCKSTARACADEMY.COM
CHAPTER II
DEFINING VIDEO ENGINEERING
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CHAPTER II · DEFINING VIDEO ENGINEERING
What is VIDEO ENGINEERING
The other key component to engineering is troubleshooting. While often times, especially with more basic systems, getting them up and running is the easy part. However, when something does not connect, disconnects, breaks down or requires maintenance - it is the job of the video or systems engineer to troubleshoot and rectify the problems. Some shoots, which are not live, may offer ample time to fix and others which are live (and especially those with limited setup times) can have increased pressure to get it done and fix the issue. Troubleshooting requires you to think through possible issues and solutions both big and small and sus out what is causing the issue(s). It could be as simple as an air gap (something not being plugged in) or something more complex like pieces of equipment that may not work together at all requiring replacements or intermediary devices to solve the issue.
With each show or project that you do and every issue you encounter, you will become a better engineer. And even the most experienced engineers will encounter and have to solve for new problems and that is the only way that you become better, especially when you regularly work with different companies and their equipment. Only time and tribulations on set will make you a better and more experienced engineer. But reading, learning and networking about the newest systems, technologies, methods and best practices will make you a standout engineer that Clients want to work with. As you will learn throughout this course, these systems can come in a number of different forms to include flypacks, cases, mobile units, and integrated/permanently installed systems. These systems can be both small, mid-sized or large. From very basic to massively complex. There are levels to video engineering and it is important not to oversell yourself or your skills because the show is counting on you to be knowledgeable enough to make all the equipment provided work together and solve the technical problems that arise for all the crew.
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Video engineering is the art and science of merging multiple types of video, audio, data, and network systems together into a functioning system that allows for a production to take place. Whether working on a baseband, IP, or software based systemit all requires some level of video engineering. Depending on the system, setup and location - some audio engineering (not mixing) may be required.
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CHAPTER II · DEFINING VIDEO ENGINEERING
What is Video Engineering?
In summary, being a video engineer is hard work. The role requires lots of technical aptitude, critical problem solving, and people skills. The people skills are very important because you can find yourself being called in multiple directions by multiple at the same time. However, the better you understand your setup, equipment and the needs of the show on the front end the easier performing your job will be. And once your systems is up and running the day can be a breeze. Sometimes it all depends on you and sometimes that will completely out of your control. Systems fail, people press the wrong things, the insides of equipment come a loose on the road, or the gear might have simply woken up on the wrong side of the bed.
The myriad of things and reasons why something goes wrong are endless. But you are the firefighter. Your knowledge and resources are tools. And the more you know, the more you can help. The better skilled you are, and the more time you or the shop has to check and prep the gear, the easier your day will be. When you find yourself frustrated never be afraid to use the resources at your disposal. Phone a friend. Hop on YouTube. Leverage Reddit. Read white papers while bored on the plane. Attend NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) and connect with manufacturer reps. The more tools and pieces at your disposal on your tool belt, the more equipped you will be for whatever the day will throw at you. And you best believe, rotten tomatoes will be thrown. How you manage them and the speed and efficient in which you can manage them will be how you are judged. So letʼs dive in and start turning you into a engineer, technician or operator or get the ball rolling on making you an even better one.
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While it is not your job or responsibility to know how to operate the equipment per se but rather how to make them all integrate together and keep them running (which might be as simple as a software update - the more you know the better and more in demand you will be.
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