April14 nzvn2

APRIL 2014 Vol 201

We are here at Protel Auckland for a demonstration of

Livestream with Mark Hall from Corsair Solutions. I

spoke with Mark after a full-on hour demonstration.

Mark also did the same demonstration at Protel’s

Wellington Office.

Ed: Mark, I have to say that

my brain has been rather taxed

today listening to all this new

technology. This is an area

that I’ve avoided as much as

possible, all this internet stuff,

but well, you’ve got to learn

these things and I must say

I’ve learnt an awful lot today.

Now just give us a very simple

view of the Livestream pro-

ducts. My understanding is

that you’ve got two paths here.

The first one is a single camera

streaming solution so run us

through that first?

Mark: Our single camera

solution would be the

Livestream Broadcast, which is

a complete HD live video

streaming device without the

need for a PC.

Ed: This is just a little red

box, runs on three AA batteries

or an external power and it takes an HDMI feed in?

Mark: That’s right, and it delivers via the Ethernet,

on a WiFi network or USB 3G/4G modem.

Ed: So you’ve got all of those options and that then

streams that output from your camera to where?

Stream-Power at Protel

Ed: So livestream.com is a server that is run by

Livestream so, if you take the free account, all you’re

paying for is your own Telco provider for the data that

you’re uploading to it, then what happens?

Mark: That’s correct … livestream.com is a

website and it has the content delivery network behind

Mark: It streams to www.livestream.com Now

depending on the account you have, even if you have a

free account, you can then share that feed and

someone can watch it on a smart TV, say through a

Roku or their iPad or their Android or their computer.

Mark with the Livestream control system.

Mark: It has full TVR and video on demand

support, so they can easily watch it from the start. You

can also upload a video that you’ve done elsewhere and

anyone can view that stream or video on demand as

needed.

Ed: And in that free version it’s sitting there for 30

days?

Mark: That’s correct – unlimited event pages

(*one event at a time.) Unlimited viewers and storage

( storage of media is only kept for 30 days ) check out

the various plans http://new.livestream.com/plans

Ed: So signing up for a free account provides anyone

with the opportunity to try this, see how it works and

then find out the advantages of the paid upgrades.

Certainly, the advantages from what you showed us

today were considerable – especially the ability to make

it private so that nobody else can see, and also the

ability to put it on your own website?

Mark: Yes, that’s correct. Once it’s out there, you

can stream to wherever; with some of the more

premium accounts, you can lock it down so it’s not

visible on livestream.com; you can embed that in your

website, you can password protect it, you can control

the embedding location, so if someone has it on your

website .com/videos – if they try and share that and

embed that somewhere else, you can control where

that’s played from so no one else can play it back on an

external site. There is a lot of flexibility about that.

Ed: And the video quality is up there – I mean, we’re

talking maximum upload speed of 2.3meg per second?

Mark: So the broadcaster will do up to 2.3meg. It

will do either a constant bitrate uplink or an adapted

bitrate uplink, so we can use anything.

As I demonstrated a short while ago, my mobile phone

is a wireless hotspot, or if we had a very high speed

connection we could have a constant bitrate 2.3meg

720p stream going out which looks very, very good.

Ed: And in all of this, the only cost is actually buying

the little red box?

Mark: That’s right, so it’s quite exciting for us,

because Livestream offer a complete end to end

solution. I suppose the only thing that’s missing is your

internet connectivity.

Someone can buy one of these devices, whether it’s a

church, whether it’s a business, and they can stream.

Apart from the stream that’s going out, which can be

viewed by an unlimited number of viewers at no cost, it

will also store the event for 30 days, so that event can

be playable back for 30 days even on the free account.

Ed: In fact, you don’t actually have to use a camera –

you could stream this out off a timeline with an HDMI

output?

Mark: That’s correct. So there’s also producers

tools which work on platforms like the Mac, you can use

say Face Time and stream to the Livestream platform

P10 Coffee with David.

P15 Fast Delivery on the Web.

P24 What’s new to Hire?

DISPLAY & CLASSIFIED ADVERTBOOKINGS BY WED 30 APRILADVERT COPY BY FRI 2 MAYUP ON THE WEB BY FRI 9 MAY

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

that which hosts the video content and the live stream.

You can actually view that on livestream.com or you

can send that link out and someone could just open up

the email or you can share it via Facebook or Tumblr or

Twitter or even embed it on your own website.

Ed: So you can tell a whole lot of people that this is

coming, here’s the link so that they can be prepared,

for example, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, to go to this

link, log in and they can watch that live stream?

Mark: Yes that’s correct.

With a free account, they need to actually log into it

but, with the basic business accounts, you don’t need a

password.

So you can send that link out and you could have ten

people or 10,000 people viewing that stream and you

get no overages i.e no excess usage charges for the

number of viewers viewing that stream.

Ed: And if they’re half an hour late because the car

broke down?

The red box in front of the camera is yourstreaming device - not large but very powerful.

more on page 6

with Face Time, or you could even use your mobile

phone and have that streaming live into your

Livestream account in addition to the broadcast, so it’s

very, very flexible.

Ed: So this little red box must be very expensive if it

offers all of those things in one?

Mark: No, it’s actually not very expensive. It has

a list price of around about AUS$700 including GST.

Some of the features which make it very appealing – it

has things like you have your three AA batteries,

whereas other systems that are more expensive have

internal batteries that are non-removable, when they go

flat, you know, you’re cactus. So here you can easily

change the battery.

ATEM to get your camera feeds into the Livestream

Studio software, but then you have all this functionality

that’s coming from the Livestream Studio software, so

four simultaneous streams out, Picture in Picture, four

ISO simultaneous records, tallies, all the features that

we have run through would be available to you.

Ed: But rather than you build up your own system,

you’ve gone one step further and built up a nice little

suitcase with a lot of Blackmagic in there, but it’s all

guaranteed to be working together?

Mark: That’s correct. So as you saw, we had the

HD500 being displayed. The HD500 is a truly portable

system. It has an inbuilt screen, it’s got inbuilt stands

and it comes with a carrycase that’s actually flight

friendly, which is quite

unique compared to other

systems around.

It is a complete solution for

the Livestream platform.

You just give it your camera

inputs and you can do four

ISO records as well as four

streams out. Those streams

do not have to go to

Livestream alone. We can

go contribution quality

through say to Jigsee,

YouTube live, we can go to

Akamai, Wowza – and a

variety of different

platforms; we’re not limited

to where we go. We can

also go to a backup

publishing point and even

have backup hardware units

as well.

Ed: And there’s bigger

versions than this, but

certainly this little HD500

shows what’s in there, so as well as having five camera

inputs, you can of course feed in … does it have an

internal storage where you can put some video in for

playback?

Mark: Yes it will store roughly about 20 hours of

1080i at 100meg of storage in there. So apart from

doing those four simultaneous records onto the internal

storage, we can also store onto – go to a USB drive or

an eSATA or a USB3 or a LAN location. We are not

limited exclusively to what’s in here. That’s a very

stable portable system.

Ed: And the system shown here is connected up to a

4K Sharp monitor, so you’ve got a huge desktop that

you can have a whole lot of displays on and do all your

switching and set things up and put in your graphics. It

really is a little television studio isn’t it?

Mark: We have it set up here on a 4K monitor,

and we’ve reversed the screen, so we’ve got the 4K

monitor displaying the main studio screen with your

preview and your programme and all your graphics in

your media. We’re actually using the HD500 as a multi

viewer and we’re showing the streaming status and the

amount of viewers on there and our various camera

feeds. In addition to that, we can run up to four multi

screens out, so they can be different combinations of

programmes and previews and recording with all our

audio levels and our markers, tallies and our names.

Some of the interested who attended the show at Protel in Auckland.

Ed: Was that “cactus”?

Mark: Like “dead in the water” or “dog meat”.

Ed: Ahhh, must be an Australian-ism. Alright, so

that’s the single one, and then, to really blow your

mind, there are studio options?

Mark: Yes well, we have the Studio software that

is available for purchase by itself, that works with

virtually any Blackmagic device, whether it’s a

Blackmagic Intensity or a Thunderbolt or USB3 device

or even an ATEM that enables you really to get the most

out of your Blackmagic devices.

Ed: So you’re talking about a Blackmagic device

inside a PC, a laptop or something like that?

Mark: Yes, but also a USB3 device or a

Thunderbolt. It doesn’t have to be inside a PC, it could

be a portable device that’s attached to your computer.

So this software works with that and uses a Blackmagic

device as an input.

Ed: Okay, so in summary, with something like an

ATEM television studio from Blackmagic and a laptop,

you can load the Livestream software into the laptop

and whatever the Blackmagic device does, you can use

its features to stream out the video onto the Livestream

server?

Mark: That’s correct. So if you took, for example,

say a Livestream, say an ATEM, you would be using the

Now you can get incredible quality uncompressed SDI and HDMI video capture and playback using removable solid state disks! HyperDeck Shuttle is the perfect quality broadcast deck you can hold in your hand. HyperDeck Shuttle lets you bypass camera compression for the highest quality on set recording, and is perfect for digital signage or instant replay and program recording with live production switchers. Video is recorded to QuickTime™ fi les, so you can mount and edit directly from the SSD eliminating time wasting fi le copying!

Absolute Perfect Quality

HyperDeck Shuttle lets you bypass all video camera compression for perfect uncompressed 10-bit SD/HD video. Get deep color dynamic range for color correction and perfectly clean keying. Only

uncompressed gives you a mathematically perfect “clone” recording between capture and playback. Only uncompressed lets you trust your recording and there is absolutely no higher quality possible!

Record and Play Back Anywhere!

HyperDeck Shuttle is machined out of a solid block of aircraft-grade aluminum for incredible strength! Take your HyperDeck Shuttle into the fi eld, on set

and to live events. With an internal battery, just recharge and go! Only HyperDeck Shuttle gives you recording and playback in a compact solution that fi ts in your hand!

Solid State Disk (SSD) Recording

Simply plug in a fast 2.5” solid state disk into HyperDeck Shuttle and start recording! SSD’s are used in desktop and laptop computers so prices are constantly falling while sizes are getting bigger!

Plug the SSD into your computer and the disk will mount right on your computer’s desktop! Files are stored in standard QuickTime™ 10 bit format so you can use the media in Mac™ and Windows™ video software!

Use Cameras, Switchers and Monitors

With SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, HyperDeck Shuttle works with virtually every camera, switcher or monitor! Plug into televisions or video projectors for instant on set preview or

get exciting live action replay with ATEM production switchers. Even use it for digital signage. Just press play twice for loop playback! Imagine using pristine uncompressed recording on your next live event!

Learn more today at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/hyperdeckshuttle

HyperDeck ShuttleAU$435

FREE UPDATE

NOW WITH

Introducing HyperDeck Shuttle, the perfect Introducing HyperDeck Shuttle, the perfect uncompressed SSD recorder for SDI and HDMI

And we also have this connected up to a Sony

Broadcast LMD-A220 monitor with a programme out.

So we can have SDI or HDMI programme out as well.

Ed: And a final word from Ken – Protel, you’re a

reseller of this product and obviously the place to come

to see it. There’s lots of streaming product out there,

how does this fit in the offer Ken?

Ken: Wow this is a fantastic product and it’s not just a

streaming product, it’s actually a television station in a

box and it does a heck of a lot more than I thought it

would do now that I’ve seen the full demonstration,

particularly in the graphics side and the fact that you

can ISO record on some of the boxes.

It‘s going to be great for sports; for a small TV station

setup, it’s amazing.

Some of the customers who came today have specific

requests for live events and it doesn’t solve everything,

but boy does it go a long way.

Ed: But we are looking forward to some upgrades at

NAB I understand?

Ken: Yes, I’m looking forward to those; there is

already a new software upgrade with more features I’ll

be loading shortly.

Ed: And one of the benefits of you being a

representative of this and other product is that people

can come and talk to you and go through their

requirements and see what fits?

Ken: Yes exactly and you can see that, just by being

here, we’ve got multiple Sony and Canon cameras

attached to it, so we can actually offer the whole

package and cater to suit the customer.

Ed: And the really good thing is that you actually

have one here?

Ken: Yes we have an HD500 as a demonstration

product so those interested can take a close look and

see what they think.

Ed: Well that’s the good thing about being here on

the ground isn’t it, people can actually come and see it

Ken?

Ken: Exactly and we can have it up and running

connected to a source and they can have a fiddle with

it.

Ed: There’s nothing like a … no, I’ll stop there.

Anyway for those who want to see the product in the

flesh call Ken at Protel on 09-379-1432 and arrange a

demonstration or ask for New Zealand pricing. NZVN

How many glasses of wine does it take to get a steady selfie?

And Still the TributesFlow ...Hi Grant

Here in sunny MarlboroughI'm a long way from peers orsupport, so the info and up-dates I get from the Vid Newsis invaluable - and has beenfor many years! You deservea case of finest savvy.

Congratulations!

Paul Davidson

*************************

Bytesize Productions

PO Box 38

Renwick 7243

Marlborough NZ

*************************

NZVN ADVERTISING RATESNZ Video News is posted free to New Zealand video production professionals - if youknow someone in the business who would like NZVN too, tell them to write or phone us

Rates from April 2008 NZVN AD RATES: - EXCLUDING GST

Advertisement A6 (must be set portrait) $ 80A5 (must be set landscape) $140 for one $270 for two in the same issueA4 (must be set portrait) $260 for one $250 each for more than one in the same issueSpot colour - a supplement of $120 per A3

Full colour - a supplement of $420 per A3

Classified 40 words pre-paid cash $ 20 ($23 including GST)

Loose Inserts are accepted conditionally

AD COPY REQUIREMENTS: To qualify for listed rates, all copy and artwork must be submitted in photo copy readyform - black on white, as an Adobe PDF file - print optimised. Email to <[email protected]>

AD DEADLINES: SEE FRONT PAGE Pay by cheque or direct credit to ANZ # 010242-0160111-00

Editing Solutions Experts

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

The Hobbit – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 7000 | Apace VSTOR OctopaNatural History NZ – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 5000

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

Authorised Elite Reseller for the complete Avid Video, Interplay & Storage ranges.Official New Zealand Distributor for Avid Media Composer, Avid ISIS 5000 & JMR Storage.

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

www.atomise.co.nz | [email protected] | 04 380 5010

Avid Media Composer 7.0New features include:

• Spend more time on your story, as the software tackles media tasks in the background • Add advanced colour correction tools to MC with the new Symphony option• Accelerate HD delivery from high-res sources (2k and 4k)• Create master-quality archives with JPEG 2000• Avid Open I/O brings support for more I/O hardware • Automatically relink to all AMA QuickTime files• Avid DNx444• Create 5.1 and 7.1 mixes• Access, screen, and edit AVCHD and RED EPIC clips through AMA• Export AMA media• Full native ProRes support on Macs

Avid Media Composer 7.0 from $1,279 + GST*Upgrades available. Academic pricing available for all Avid products!

Contact us for new, low cost bundles of Media Composer, Interplay PAM and ISIS Storage.

*Price subject to change without notice.

Avid ISIS Shared Storage for media professionalsThe Avid ISIS shared storage family is the cornerstone of media collaboration, providing the power, reliability, and storage capacity you need to sustain real-time workflows in the most demanding environments—regardless of workgroup size. Get unrivalled performance and collaboration with ISIS online storage, and extend your capacity further with nearline storage to make the most of your media. And with the new ISIS 5500, you can take media production to a whole new level, with greater performance and scalability than ever before.

From $32,900 + GST* (16TB direct connect ISIS 5500)

I really wanted him to point at the coffeebut he’s wise to me now.

Coffee with DavidLouise, you’ll be pleased to know David Colthorpe is not

dead – in fact, he’s sitting opposite me.

David: I’m not dead, hello Louise, how are you?

And I must say I did appreciate your comments in the

last issue; that was very kind of you. So here I am. Ihaven’t been anywhere, we’ve been working away

doing what we do … I’ve just sort of re-engaged with

Grant and thought it might be time to get back into the

fold. So that’s what I’m about today.

Ed: But you won’t be visiting Louise and delivering

tapes anymore?

David: Sadly I won’t have to take the risk …

Ed: ... of losing your wheels in Mt Wellington?

David: Of losing the tapes. That’s rather unkind …she was rather depreciative before of her socio-

economic area which I think is totally …

Ed: Don’t dig too deep David – I live in the same

suburb.

Anyway, the title for this is not “Tea with Mussolini” but

“Coffee with David” and we’re here talking with David

Colthorpe today as he’s resurfaced on NZ Video News

because we’ve finally convinced him that the companyhe represents in New Zealand should really have a

profile with our readers.

We’ve heard the name Tectyl before David, but we

always thought it was a car underbody protectant. Is

that what you’re selling?

David: (sigh) This is Techtel …

Ed: Oh sort of with a hyphen in it, like K-Tek?

David: No, there’s no hyphen – Techtel. We’ve

been around a while, 26 years actually.

PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

Customer eligibility:

• If you have an existing Adobe CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5 or CS6 licence you can purchaseAdobe Creative Cloud for Teams before 28th February 2014 for $585+GST per licence.

• In addition ff you do this before before 28th February 2014 you will also get your nextyear’s subscription at the same $585+GST price per licence.

This offer is available to Business, Government and Education customers who are upgrading from a CS3 licence or later.

Talk to the experts at DVT to find out how much you can save by upgrading now.

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

www.dvt.co.nzLike DVTNZ to stay up-to-date

with the latest promotions and industry news.

Save 40% onAdobe Creative Cloud for Teams*

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams, one simple membership gives you access to the very latest versions of all the Adobe professional creative desktop applications like Photoshop CC, IllustratorCC, Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC and many more...

Ed: I know there are some very big

products that Techtel represent here in

New Zealand, that are in the major

broadcasters and I suppose the grandest

would be Harmonic?

David: Yes, Harmonic is very

significant in our offering. We have set

up a joint venture with Harmonic Inc. inthe US and represent Harmonic

throughout Australasia.

Ed: What are the sort of products that

make Harmonic so significant in our

industry?

David: I guess the summary for

Harmonic is that they’re an organisation

that creates the new wave of productsthat are delivering “the new services to

the new screens” – that’s the best way I

can describe it. So the streaming

services that you might view on tablets,

your phone, or other devices, and also

the new digital over-the-air services.

TVNZ’s DVB headend is an example of a

Harmonic installation in New Zealand.

Ed: So it’s obviously an area ofgrowth?

David: It’s a huge area of growth.

Everybody is now moving towards, or

investigating their options for, delivering

into that IP space rather than

conventional broadcast delivery.

Ed: So it must be a sign of confidence in Techtel that

Harmonic have taken on this relationship, because

being such a major player in the delivery industry, they

wouldn’t take on a company that wasn’t sound and

going to represent their products well?

David: Certainly, in fact, that underlines a bit of

what Techtel is about inasmuch that we come from an

enterprise IT kind of mindset rather than, perhaps, the

traditional broadcast vendor mindset. That’s obviously

a very good fit to these new types of technologies.

Ed: Okay, so obviously there are some other big

products there, but in the broad realm of the NZ Video

News readership, there are a couple of products that we

talked about that you think that more people might be

interested in?

David: Yes, we represent products from TVLogic,

the video monitor manufacturer, and also yellobrik from

LynxTechnik, which is a German manufacturer of very

good quality glue products, and both these are very

much worth investigating.

Both these manufacturers offer products that are really

good value, very high spec, very good quality with

excellent quality assurance and – important these days

– prompt delivery.

I recently went to Seoul to have a look through the

TVLogic factory and attended some training there and

they’re a most impressive company. A very meticulous,

very credible company indeed; as is LynxTechnik –

they’re a German company and you can just imagine

what their equipment is built like. It really is absolutely

staggeringly high quality …

Ed: Yes, I’ve got a German wife.

David: Well there you go, she’s also built well is

she? Oh, I guess we’ll have to change that.

Ed: No, no, we don’t change anything David.

David: Oh that’s new is it?

Ed: So anyway, we’re going to hear a lot more about

those at NAB, because we’ll be doing stand visits to

TVLogic and LynxTechnik and bringing those to you in

the May and June issues. Now, tell me about

purchasing – you’re obviously here on the ground, you

don’t have a showroom, you don’t keep all theseproducts in your backroom, how are people going to go

about getting their yellobrik’s or their TVLogic monitors?

David: So specifically for LynxTechnik and TVLogic,

we have set up reseller arrangements through the

normal channels in New Zealand; Protel, DVT, AVA, A2Z

and also through the Techtel New Zealand Webshop.

We have a simple but, I think, quite effective Webshop

for online purchases for these types of products. Thepoint to make about using our Webshop is that there

are real humans behind there, so if you do place an

order on the Webshop, which you may find convenient

just from the point of view of using a credit card or just

for speed and ease …

Ed: Or you’re not in Auckland, Wellington or

Christchurch?

David: You may not be handy to a dealer, or

maybe you just prefer to do it that way – you will getan almost immediate contact from a real flesh and

blood person, somebody who you can talk to. Someone

with a phone number and an email address where you

can actually track the progress of your order and take

up any issues you may have. Modern logistics makes

the stock location – be it Sydney, Auckland, or a

manufacturer’s warehouse – almost irrelevant, so order

fulfilment is pretty efficient.

Ed: But there are benefits also of going through thedealer?

David: Of course, it may be part of a larger project

with that dealer; it may be that you have account terms

that you wish to utilise; obviously you have a

relationship which you will value with a dealer too. So

there’s a different model there and one that we fully

support.

Ed: And there shouldn’t be much of a price difference

either way, so it’s really your choice as to the modelthat you want to use in purchasing equipment?

David: It is, it’s really over to the customer’s own

preferences, yes.

Ed: And are you happy being on your own looking

after New Zealand?

David: Well, I’m not really “on my own” as I have

my reseller and support partners here in New Zealand

and there is a big team back in Australia.

What inspires me is that this structure provides

flexibility allowing us to adapt to individual customer’s

requirements.

After all in the end it’s still very much a personal

business, you’re on their premises talking to people,

that’s the way it works isn’t it.

Ed: Oh it’s about relationships David?

David: Hasn’t it always been about relationships?

Of course it has.

Nurture your relationship with David by checking out

Techtel products by visiting your favourite dealer or by

visiting the Techtel Webstore at shop.techtel.co.nz

NZVN

Fast Deliveryon the Web

We are at TVNZ with John

Foggo, Platform and Content

Operations Manager. We

are not in TVNZ’s Hobson

Street HQ but in a

temporary location shared

by curiously competitive

neighbours.

Ed: John, I understand

you look after things digital

at TVNZ?

John: Yes that’s right

– I look after the operations

for Digital Media, which

means content production

and also the platform that

the teams use to produce

that content – mostly

focused around video

content, but a bit of image

and text content as well for publishing to the websites

and the apps.

Ed: You’re not actually sourcing any of this content –

somebody’s providing material such as the daily

programming or special things and then you’re

repurposing it for web release?

John: Exactly. So I look after both the News and

On Demand output for digital media at TVNZ, but 99%

of that content is produced by the broadcast systems

and teams we have here.

This includes everything from the cameramen in the

field for News through to the acquisition of our

entertainment shows from our distribution partners. So

more often than not, what you see on our digital

services is exactly what you’ve seen, or will see, on air

as well.

Ed: Are you doing that delayed TV ONE minus one

hour – is that you?

John: No, actually, that’s organised by the

broadcast operations guys. Anything that you see on

the TV through your Sky box or through Freeview,

that’s all broadcast operations; anything you see from

TVNZ that is on your PC at home or your Apple iPhone

or iPad or your Android device, that comes from my

department.

Ed: Now it would seem mildly suspicious to some

people that, on the outside of the building here, there’s

lots of big Telecom signs and then there’s a little TVNZ

sign. Is there something in that, some rumour that I

could spread?

John: I think that rumour’s already been spread.

No, no big announcements there. For the Aucklanders

who live close by who have been past TVNZ, it’s a very

different looking building now. The satellites are still on

top, but there are very few people left inside. The

entire building is being refurbished. The business areas

for TVNZ, aside from News and broadcast operations,

are now based here in the Telecom tower; they had

some space for us, so we’re here renting for two years.

Ed: Bit of spare money from SKYCITY I presume?

John: I guess that’s no secret. We quite enjoy it

here in the new building for Telecom, but we’re really

looking forward to the new version of TVNZ HQ for sure.

Ed: But you must make sure that those Telecom

people don’t get a look in here because they’re planning

to offer a VOD service too, aren’t they?

John: Yes. There have been a few big

announcements in the market related to On Demand

and the VOD space as we call it – ShowMe TV recently

was announced. But to be honest, we’re really focused

on what we’re doing as the market leader for VOD in

New Zealand.

Ed: Well hopefully it’s improved, because I do

remember, John, that in the early days when TVNZ On

Demand was announced, I went on at home and I just

kept getting this little buffering circle when I was trying

to watch something … and I gave up thinking

“hmmm ... they need to do something.” I presume you

have by now?

John: Yes we have and we would put our hands

up and say that those early days were really hard.

I think we were quite ambitious with what we were

trying to do. I’ve been here for three of those five

years, but inherited some of the issues that were still

around in terms of video playback and buffering.

We knew the user experience wasn’t perfect. I think if

you were in central Auckland with a really great internet

connection, you were pretty good; if you were in the

regions it was really difficult to watch.

Ed: And those on dial up?

John: Those on dial up had no chance to be

honest, and will still struggle a bit often, but we’ve

worked really, really hard on video delivery in

particular.

About 2½ years ago, we changed a couple of really

important pieces of that puzzle, and one was to go with

what’s called an outsourced video partner, an OVP.

This company called Brightcove is based out of Boston

in the US, and also Akamai is our distributor. So

Brightcove is responsible for receiving and transcoding

John with Samsung TV demo unit.

all of our video for web distribution. We send them a

master file that comes out of our broadcast system. We

send it across to the States, they turn out all the

renditions required to help you receive it at home.

Akamai, the guys that actually do that delivery, are a

massive CDN ( Content Distribution Network.)

Ed: So how long does that take?

John: It can vary. Obviously, we have content ofall sorts of length for On Demand – it can be as quick asa 30 second promo, or it can be a 2 hour coverage ofAmerica’s Cup. Most people reading your publicationwill know that that’s the major determining factor inhow long encoding takes. The system we had at TVNZprior to that was very much a series of desktopencoders based inside the building with a lot of humanintervention. So it took far, far longer to do it withoutthe help of Brightcove in the old days. It was also moreprone to error, so not only would you struggle at hometo receive the file because the encoding was not great,but the distribution on one of our local CDNs wasn’t upto scratch either … to be honest, sometimes we wouldget it wrong too, so we would be encoding the wrongfile for the wrong show, just because humans makemistakes.

Ed: So if you go to TVNZ On Demand, are you getting

it from the States, from a server there, or is itsomewhere in the Cloud?

John: The simplest way to say it, is it is in theCloud – it’s distributed across Akamai’s edge serverswithin New Zealand, and they have quite a few of them.

Ed: So it is coming from New Zealand servers?

John: Yes, region by region you’ll have access to

the closest local version of that file, and particularly

after it’s been viewed a number of times, Akamai do

some pretty magical things … a lot of what they do is a

bit of a dark art if I’m honest. But they are able to

distribute your content based on usage patterns as well,

so where content’s being consumed in certain parts of

the world, and then region by region, they can make

sure that there’s content primed and ready to go.

Ed: That’s really the crux of why I’m here. In the

production and postproduction worlds now we’re being

asked more and more to do things for the web and it’s

always been a case of choosing the right codec to

distribute that. I guess you’re in discussions with your

providers to come up with a range of codecs – what are

the sorts of things you look for to provide material

that’s not going to have that little buffering circle when

somebody tries to watch it?

John: Yes, that’s a constantly evolving discussion.

When we started, and when you would have tried to

watch On Demand, we were serving only Flash files. I

guess it was Macromedia Flash and then Adobe Flash

and we quickly knew that Flash wasn’t the format we

were going to continue with necessarily …

Ed: Because a particular “fruit” wouldn’t play it?

John: Exactly. That was probably the big

announcement and obviously that had repercussions for

everyone in the industry. So with Brightcove’s help, we

moved to a range of different codecs. We send them

quite a simple file. As I said earlier, it comes out of our

Broadcast MAM, we run a version of Vizrt’s Ardome

broadcast playout system. My team have access to that

system and, based on the schedule and the available

rights for the content, just pull down files and get those

transcoded out of the broadcast system. The file that

that system creates is just a 720p H264 MP4 file, quite

a common file codec now for transport. That’s the file

that we deliver via a fast delivery service called Aspera

across to the States and that’s where Brightcove’s

encoders do the work.

Ed: So we can do that ourselves … I know with Adobe

Premiere, I have a huge H.264 list including that 720p

capability, so that’s a pretty good standard is it?

John: It is. It’s widely used. Apple pushed it

quite hard for a period there, particularly as an output

for iPhones and iPads. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a

favourite in the broadcast industry itself, because it can

minutes now. So we’re turning a pretty hefty encode

around quite quickly with the help of some internal

systems we’re running, and also Brightcove’s help.

Unfortunately, maybe a year ago, that used to be more

like an hour to two sometimes, just depending on how

busy people were.

Ed: But can’t you do those things progressively – I

know that in some situations when an OB truck is

receiving a transmission, it can actually put that

material on the timeline while the file is still being

delivered, and they can start editing that file as it

grows. Is that what you’re looking at doing for the

future?

John: Yes, I’ve seen some of that stuff displayed

at the likes of NAB and it’s really impressive technology.

I know there are people in Europe using that form of

delivery; “live to VOD” encoding, meaning the user can

actually watch a file as it’s being delivered to them, as

it’s being delivered out of broadcast. That would be our

goal for sure. We want to make sure our news is out as

quickly as possible online and we also want to make our

entertainment shows available fast.

Ed: But they’re not so time dependent surely?

John: They’re not at all. There are some local

productions which can deliver close to the wire because

of the way they’re shot. New Zealand’s Got Talent,

which is really popular for us, is an obvious one where

you’re dealing with a live production which can go

through an edit quite quickly and then be turned around

on the day and delivered to us quite late. But

generally, we’re publishing content up to two weeks out

in advance, so we have quite a nice buffer of let’s say

80-85% of our content is all ready to go at any one

point in time.

Ed: Okay, now in terms of delivering this through

TVNZ On Demand, how many levels of compression do

you offer; is it an automatic pick, your device, when it

logs in, does it pick the right one or do you have to do it

manually? How does that work?

John: It’s a little bit of both. Let me start with

your first question. We have a list of almost 20

versions we create now, “renditions” as we call them,

and they can range all the way from round 180-200

kilobits per second which is a very small file, all the way

up to 1500kbps. That may not sound like a lot to some

of your broadcast readers, but delivering that over New

Zealand’s internet landscape is …

Ed: Well that’s your neighbour’s problem isn’t it really

– I mean, you can blame them, we all do?

John: We think we’ve hit a sweet spot, and it

really does depend on the device you’re using, so for

each – let’s say for your desktop or for your phone or

for your tablet, we have a series of about 6-8 versions.

You start very small and, obviously, the frame size

decreases as the bit rate decreases and it goes all the

way up to 720.

At the moment, we don’t have any plans to go much

higher in terms of quality. We’re looking quite hard at

the big screen experience and the Samsung TV app we

have and the PlayStation 3 app, and are thinking about

that, but we also have to be really aware that our

customers are concerned about their data-caps. We

have a couple of ways of tackling that, and one is to

make sure that our compression is of great quality and

we’re not delivering too many bits over their pipe, but

… I’ll go on record and say it’s not my forte, but I

understand it can be a long encode as well, compared

to others. It does a very good job of retaining quality

for the size of the file, but it is a highly compressed file

as well for the quality you’re getting.

Ed: So if you wanted to go up from there when you’re

doing the encode on your own machine, rather than

make the 720p file, you could do the 1080p?

John: Absolutely and we are actually indiscussions about maybe improving the source file we

deliver to Brightcove. The one thing we have to be

cognisant of as well, is transfer times and speed across

to their transcoders, so that may not matter for content

we have delivered weeks in advance, but it does matter

for things like the 6pm bulletin, which we have to

produce every single night, and that needs to get up

really, really quickly.

Ed: So how quickly does that get out?

John: We’ve made some big strides there. We’re

getting the 6pm bulletin, which is an hour episode

without breaks … we’re getting it up within 30-45

Neighbours for now.

Available from:

Panavision NZ LtdPh: 09 360 8766www.panavision.co.nz

NEW MANFROTTO 500 FLUID VIDEO HEADThe 500 is a lightweight head featuring a wider platform to accommodate both HDSLR and interchangeable lens camcorder, as well as a sliding plate that ensures the appropriate balance even when shooting with very long lenses. The 500, the entry level of the Bridging Technology™ series, ensures smooth shots and fine control of up to 5kg of equipment. Its brand new side lock allows fast, secure and easy camera attachment.Available with flat base (model MVH500AH) or 60mm half-ball (model MVH500A).

The camera attaches quickly and safely into the head from above, thanks to the new side lock system.

External accessories can be supported using the 3/8” Easy Link connector.

Camera movements are professionally smooth with the 500’s real fluid cartridges.

For more information: Lacklands LP I 09 6300753 I [email protected]

Canon Professional Services News

Thought that you should all know that there is aspecial service for Canon camera owners availablelocally. We understand that there are enhancementsto this service in the planning stages and we will letyou know as soon as they are finalised but, for now,here is what Canon have to say on their CPS. Ed

“Canon offers CPS to our Professional Photographiccommunity. By being a member we offer up to 5working days turn around; where this cannot beachieved a loan unit is offered. For us to be able tokeep this level of service we do have criteria in playwhich requires a minimum of two 5D bodies andlenses. At times, turnaround times can be impactedby third party company involvement, such asinsurance companies. To help support those that buylocally, we offer a two year standard local warrantyon selected product including DSLR, Lens, Video andCinema. We always welcome feedback and arealways reviewing our programmes and initiatives tofurther continue to improve and enhance our offeringto both professionals and consumers.”

Madeleine Furley

Public Relations & Communications Consultant

Canon New Zealand Ltd

(09) 926 9352 | 021 448 336 |

28 The Warehouse Way Northcote Auckland |

PO BOX 33 336 Takapuna | www.canon.co.nz

also we’re trying to educate them as well, because in

fact you can consume a lot of video content with the

compression that is out there now, and not use a

helluva lot of your data cap in the process. So we’re

actually in the market running campaigns to educate

people, plus there’s a section on our site where you can

calculate how much you might use should you watch 10

episodes of Shortland Street, and that sort of thing. It’s

surprisingly little to be honest.

Ed: So how does the customer choose the codec that

they’re watching?

John: The codec that is used is actually

determined by the device that they’re looking at … and

one important thing to note, as well as the codec, is we

have to protect our content as well, so we use DRM

( Digital Rights Management ) technology on top of the

codecs as well.

So for our desktop service, we use Adobe Access; for

the handsets, the phones, the tablets we use Google

Widevine, and we’re looking at some other codecs

based on where we might go in the future as well. We

essentially have to say to our distributors, “we are

delivering to this new device and we’re going to use this

file type and this DRM type, is that compliant with your

requirements?” There is a back and forth process with

them to try and decide whether that is, and generally,

especially working with people like Brightcove, we have

our hands on the best DRM available. So the device

itself is the determining factor as to what file you

receive when you watch our pictures.

Ed: Are the codecs all H.264?

John: It’s the base codec that we use with

Brightcove and there will, in the future, be a few

different ones, but generally yes, it is. So we’ll create a

master set of renditions and that will then be used by

the devices.

Ed: Is there any way that you can follow the example

of MotoGP? Since Sky dropped the ball and didn’t buy

the rights to MotoGP, I’ve been watching it online, and

at certain times of the day, when the usage is heavy, I

get the low quality, I get 360p. Then through the

transmission as more becomes available, it increases –

it might be up to 480, and when it’s really clear I’m

getting 720p and it’s lovely. But it’s an automatic

change, depending on what else is being used. Can you

do that too?

John: Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing and it’s

a complex mix of the device you’re using and the

network; so it assesses things like the screen size and

the CPU power of the device but also, like you say, the

network conditions around you as well – and that’s why

we create those eight files per device. So it’s a

combination of all of those factors and the customer is

then served the file that works for that moment in time.

We’re actually a fixed bit rate player on our desktop site

still. If you go to the PC site, you get to choose. You

can choose anywhere from 300 kilobits all the way up to

1500Kbps, and about 50% of our traffic is still through

that site. So we know our users are used to that, we

know that a lot of them will just have it set at the

quality of the setting they want, so we’re not that keen

to change that at the moment, but as we go to new

devices like the iPad, the iPhone and Samsung TV, then

yes, we’ll let Akamai and Brightcove make the decision

as to ( like your MotoGP example ) which file should be

given to you at a certain point of time, to make sure

that you don’t get that spinning wheel, but you get the

best picture available that your TV, or iPad or phone can

handle at that time.

Ed: And this of course works for other streaming

services. We’ve recently been shown, by a number of

vendors, box streaming services, so that our

programmes can go out to niche audiences. I guess

that setting up for receiving those is pretty much the

same as setting up for receiving TVNZ On Demand. So

what are the sorts of things that a user can do to

maximise their viewing experience? One, I guess, is

spending a little bit more on your broadband and going

from ADSL to VDSL, or maybe even fibre, but what else

can they do?

John: Well that’s probably the number one thing

you could do. I personally think ADSL and VDSL are

pretty good for the major regions; it’s certainly not my

area of expertise, but I’m not going to be jumping on

fibre anytime soon – I can’t where I’m living

unfortunately, I’m not on the roll-out map yet …

Ed: Talk to your neighbours.

John: Yes. You know I feel like we need to be

certain we do a fantastic job of making sure we have

the right set of compression and renditions to deliver to

the entire population of New Zealand, not just to the

major centres. So that’s where we put a lot of our

focus – and I get a lot of support from technology here

at TVNZ to test out those lower bit rate ranges to make

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

…

Call in to our Auckland Central Showroom, or phone us and

inquire about discounts on over-stocked and outdated

models.

Kino Flo

Tecpro LED Panels

MSE Grip Equipment

Zylight

Chrosziel

And much much more

The PLS Showroom

… open Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. Bring your camera down to test out lighting options. We have the rental department onsite, and you can find Chris in the office who’s been giving expert advice for 30+ years.

“Watch this space for info on the 2014 Dedolight range”

sure that the picture quality

is acceptable, and some-

times really good.

You know, it’s never going

to be HD when you’re

serving 300, 400 kilobits a

second, but the compression

methods are improving all

the time and it’s amazing

when you compare to what

a Flash file of 300K used to

look like 5-6 years ago

versus now. So obviously

you can pay more for your

broadband, but there are

other factors too – your

device might be a bit old,

the PC you’re watching on

might not actually be able to

cope with it from a CPU

point of view and, as you

pointed out with MotoGP,

there are some periods in

the daytime which are just

really tough. We see a huge

amount of contention from about 7pm all the way to

about 10.30-11 at night, every night and that’s when

everyone’s jumping on TradeMe, trying to get Netflix

down from the States and jumping on our service as

well obviously. So that’s a tough time often to watch

streaming TV over the internet, so if you can avoid

those really heavy times and watch say on Saturday or

Sunday morning, like we’re seeing more people doing,

then you’re probably going to get a better looking

picture over your pipe.

Ed: Or those of us who work from home, we can

watch in the afternoon, while the kids are still at

school?

John: There’s a lot of university students out

there using our services …

Ed: Oh no, there couldn’t be, not for education, no,

no, no. Now you mentioned Netflix … isn’t that a dirty

word around here?

John: Well you know we hold Netflix up as a bit of

a shining example in many ways …

Ed: So you can learn from your competitors?

John: Absolutely, and we’re not naïve, there are

lots of international people out there doing an awesome

job and we aim to be as good as them and we think

we’ve done a pretty good job so far.

Ed: But you couldn’t have the same content as them,

could you?

John: No, and I’m sure this isn’t a surprise,

content is essentially what makes these services.

Ed: Content is actually what makes most things in our

industry John. Some people do forget it, you know they

go for the sparkle, but it’s actually what’s there that’s

most important.

John: Yes, you can have the best built app and an

amazing interface and a great delivery network, but if

your movie catalogue is C List and the shows aren’t

what TVNZ has for example, then you’re going to

struggle, there’s no doubt about that. We, in Digital

Media owe a huge amount of thanks to our friends in

the TV Teams, as we are heavily reliant on what is

essentially a great relationship that they have built up

over time with our distribution partners. We’re really,

really lucky to benefit from the Warners and Disneys

and the ITVs to get such great content. It’s the stuff

that Kiwis love to watch and we’re just giving them

another screen to watch it on.

Ed: So there’s a future – this is going to get biggerand better and we’re going to see perhaps less

broadcast and more internet?

John: It’s an interesting discussion isn’t it,

because the lean back TV experience is a special one

and I don’t think we’re trying to replace that. I myself

do it as well. You know, I kind of look at it in a different

way and think that, as we just said, it’s all content and

TVNZ accepts that there are different ways to deliver it.

So we accept that the broadcast delivery platform isone way of doing it, but then there are loads of other

ways our users or customers want to consume content.

But, at the end of the day, it’s still the same content

we’re putting out. The broadcast business is a massive

business obviously for us – there’s an easy statement to

make! We look across the business in how we acquire

and commission content and the reality is that we want

to provide the choice for people. People love television,and we see IP-delivered content as complimentary to

television. It’s not a competition. At the end of the day

we want people to watch more TVNZ content. We can’t

force the user behaviour; we can help shape it a little

bit, but it will be consumed one way or another, so we

want to lead that and try and make sure we’re giving it

to them in a variety of ways.

Ed: And you’re not buying bandwidth that we used to

use our radio mics on are you?

John: No, there are no dark secrets going on

there.

Ed: It’s the neighbours.

John: It’s the neighbours you refer to!

Ed: We’ll send them a message tied to a dead cat

shall we?

John: There you go – I couldn’t possibly get

involved. NZVN

Some of the TVNZ Platform and Content Operations team - and props.

What’s New

to Hire?We are at NZCameraHire

and Michael Zahn is showing

us some new equipment that

he’s got for hire.

Ed: Michael, you’ve added

some new cameras since we

last spoke and I guess the

top of the fleet must be the

Sony F55?

Michael: It is indeed the

Sony F55 which is quite a

nice little big camera. You

can make it a really big

camera if you put the R5

RAW recorder on the back

and a great zoom lens on

the front.

Ed: And this is a camera

you use yourself?

Michael: I have used it a

couple of times, yes. It’s

still early stages; people are

still getting used to that

camera and its capabilities, but now with quite a few

other people having invested in F5s, production

companies are more aware of the F5 and the F55 being

out there, so it’s being used more in actual productions.

It has kind of replaced the F3 as the camera of choice.

Ed: You obviously had a choice between the F5 and

the F55 – why did you go for the F55?

Michael: The F55 has a slightly better sensor, it uses

a global shutter, so unlike most CMOS cameras there is

no problem with image skew or flash banding. The

other major extra features that the F55 offers is the

ability to record compressed 4K footage internally and it

can shoot at up to 240 frames per second while the F5

only manages 120fps. The F5 can only record HD and

2K internally.

Ed: S-Log?

Michael: I’m not sure if there was such a difference

in S-Log software for the F5 and F55. I think there

must be some strange rumours out there.

Ed: But basically you’re very happy with your choice?

Michael: I’m very happy with the choice of the F55

camera and so are my clients who have hired it. They

are happy with the images that they’re getting out of it,

and so far, so good.

Ed: Are any of them struggling with the cinema look

as opposed to the video look?

Michael: Well some people think that Sony has more

of a video look, but with the latest S-Log3, they actually

quite closely matched it to the ALEXA cinema look.

That I think is what draws people to use the F55 now

and it’s an easy to use, well-built product. So that

definitely helps putting the camera out into the market

and, being lighter than the ALEXA is good, especially if

you’re doing handheld and the Sony quality is also

something to think of.

Ed: Now talking about quality, there’s quite a number

of 4K cameras out there on the market – some very

large ones and some very small ones, even little pocket

Michael with his “pride of the fleet”, a Sony F55 with all the trimmings.

cameras from Blackmagic, but I guess there’s one big

difference that people might overlook in choosing a 4K

camera – what would that be?

Michael: Can you put decent glass on it? Decent

glass, yes, you’ve got to have some good quality glass,

something like the Zeiss Ultra Primes

which I have quite a range of.

At the moment there are 9, there’s a 10th

coming, or the Fujinon Cabrio 19 to

90mm and 85 to 300mm zoom lenses, or

Zeiss High Speeds which I have as well –

so there’s definitely a good selection to

go with the F55 camera.

Ed: And that was it, you made a

decision, to not only get the camera, but

the glass to go with it?

Michael: Well if you’re shooting on a

high quality camera in 4K, you don’t

want to put cheap lenses on it, because

glass is actually your most important

part in capturing the image.

If you have nice clean high quality glass

that has a perfect image throughout the

whole frame, then you do get the perfect

image on your camera as well.

Ed: When you say perfect image

across the whole frame, are you saying

that the focal point is matched to the

surface of the sensor, so you don’t get any blurring at

the edges especially?

Michael: Well some of the cheaper lenses that you

get, they might be sharp in the middle, but then you’re

looking at the outside, on the edges of the frame and

Michael and soundie Peter Kraan on location in Christchurch.

Editing Solutions Experts

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

The Hobbit – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 7000 | Apace VSTOR OctopaNatural History NZ – Avid Media Composer | Avid ISIS 5000

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

Authorised Elite Reseller for the complete Avid Video, Interplay & Storage ranges.Official New Zealand Distributor for Avid Media Composer, Avid ISIS 5000 & JMR Storage.

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

www.atomise.co.nz | [email protected] | 04 380 5010

DNA Evolution 3.5 is a groundbreaking LTO LTFS archive, conform, and MAM workflow solution that helps you to build

a more cost-effective, accessible, searchable, and secure archive. It’s easy to scale and delivers the fastest possible

data movement, search, restore, and access of digital file-based content.

• Avid Media Composer project aware workflows; with or without Avid Interplay.

• Native clip support for over 180 formats, an HTML-5 player for low-resolution previews, timeline notes

• Metadata tagging with global search for quick and accurate data location

• Sharing and collaboration features of advanced MAM solutions

• Web-based approvals workflow

• Unique LTO conform engine to simplify 4K workflows

•Direct access to LTO for transcoding, partial restores, and playout

they’re suddenly all soft and yes, if you have decent

glass like the Ultra Primes or Cabrio then you definitely

get the right image in there.

Ed: Right, so we’ve got the glass sorted, the other

thing I noticed on your website, is that the cameras all

seem to be shoulder mount ones, or little handheld

cameras. You don’t appear to have any SLR style. Is

there a reason for that?

Michael: I do have one DSLR which is the 5D Mark

3, but I only bought it because I actually needed a

camera for my own photo taking. So no, I wasn’t going

to compete with all the other 5Ds that are out there.

My thoughts are that, if you’re shooting video, you

should use a decent video camera rather than a stills

camera that is video capable. So therefore, all the

cameras you see there are actually proper video

cameras and they deliver. You have the choice right

from a top of the line handy-cam style camera like the

Canon XA10 or 25 to the well established work horse

like the EX3 or the new follow up which is the PMW300.

Ed: Oh don’t say that, they’re very robust. I’ve got

one myself.

Michael: Oh they’re very good cameras, but I think

there are a lot of other cameras that deliver higher

image quality. Better they don’t have their own tapes

anymore, so you don’t get dropouts with memory cards,

you just stick them into your computer and you’ve got it

all digitised right away.

Ed: Oh well, you’re entitled to your opinions. Tape

has its place and I’m not going to be dragged into these

sticky things just yet you know. Let’s move on. In

other areas, what else do you spend your money on – is

it just equipment that you want to use yourself and

then, because you’ve got it and you’re not using it all

the time, you offer it for hire, or do you buy gear

specifically for the hire market?

Michael: Well obviously, me being a working DOP,

yes, there’s a lot of equipment that I buy that I

basically use on my shoots and then make available

through NZCameraHire, but there are other times such

as when a customer says we are kind of

needing this and that. Is there any

possibility that you may invest in that?

But in the end, I always seem to be

working with those pieces as well. Like

some of the latest purchases that I made

– Lockits, so if you want to lock down

camera timecodes together, we’ve got

them available; plenty of monitors right

up to 26 inch, because people are always

looking for a great on camera monitor or

a nice big client monitor; auto prompters

are very popular because people can

operate it themselves – I’ve got the

reasonably simple operating software.

There’s a professional version as well,

but I wouldn’t trust that one with anyone

other than with one of my professional

operators.

But for dry hire, I do have a simple

operating version where people can just hire the kit and

set it up themselves. Often people don’t have the $7-

800 that is required to book a system with an operator,

so they just dry hire a small or big auto prompter kit

and do it all themselves.

Ed: In terms of purchasing this equipment ( and I’ve

had many discussions over the years with various

people I’ve interviewed ), you have a choice of buying

locally or buying it from the internet. What’s your take

on this, how do you operate?

Michael: Well cameras I buy from New Zealand

because then I can get them serviced here.

I’ve just added a Canon C300 to my camera stable

because so many people asked for it and I know it will

be looked after locally. If one of my Sony cameras did

break down ( which they don’t actually ), then I can go

to the Sony Service Centre here and have it fixed within

a day or two.

Ed: And also they’ve got loan cameras haven’t they?

Michael: They do have loan cameras and they’re

very helpful in those aspects, so that’s why I really

appreciate the local service. But for a lot of other

things that don’t need servicing, like a shoulder rig or a

This is a great camera for everyday shooting and it can

record in 50Mbps. And then there are the top ends with

Super35 sensor like the FS700, F3 and the F55.

Ed: And I’m very pleased to see you’ve still got some

HDV cameras there – obviously it’s a format that’s not

dead?

Michael: To be honest, I actually got a hire tonight

for the Z-7P but I think the format is definitely on its

way out because I haven’t had many enquiries for the

HDV cameras lately.

Ed: Well I needed one a while back Michael?

Michael: When was that – you didn’t come to me!

Ed: Oh yes I did – but it was nearly three years ago.

I didn’t need your PD150 however.

Michael: Yes, I think that’s also on the way out now.

I had one client who has been recording on the PD150

for the last 15 years, ever since it came out and the last

hire was late last year. We got talking about his hire

and he said he thinks he has to move onto HD now

because everyone else has moved on.

So I think, yes, that camera is definitely one for the

scrapheap.

The experts in 4K workflows


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

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

Sony PMW-F55

Sony PMW-F5

Viewfinde Sony DVF-L350

Viewfinde Sony DVF-L700 LCD Viewfinde

Sony DVF-EL100 0.7” OLED

PL Lens KitSony SCL-PK3

AccessoriesSony SCL-PK6 Lens Set

CINE-ALTA 4K Cameras and accessories


www.dvt.co.nzLike DVTNz to stay up-to-date


* Trial products are subject to the terms and conditions of the license and services agreement that accompanies the software. Autodesk and Smoke are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or a liates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services o erings, and specifications and pricing at anytime without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2012 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.



www.dvt.co.nzLike DVTNZ to stay up-to-date


Autodesk Smoke 2013 is now available from DVT. Visit www.dvt.co.nz/smoke.html for all the details.

April14 nzvn2

Documents

Transcript of April14 nzvn2