Shotoku Broadcast Robotic Camera Systems

Shotoku Broadcast Systems is an international leader in the manufacture and marketing of a full range of camera support products. Their products include manual and robotic pedestals, pan/tilt heads for the television broadcast industry, and fully tracked pedestals, jibs, cranes and pan/tilt heads for Virtual Studio applications.

Two recent additions to the product ranges include the lightweight Studio/OB pedestal, TP500 and Free-d², a development of Free-d, an absolute camera tracking system for VR/AR studio applications, built on BBC R&D developed algorithms.

The company’s Broadcast portfolio caters for everything from portable ENG supports, to system payloads of 90kg for both studio and OB. Shotoku’s SX300 EFP head, one of the manual products produced in the company’s Japanese factories has proven to be a popular choice for broadcasters. Available in M70, 150mm bowl or 4 bolt flat mounts it is often paired with the TDC150, a strong and robust Carbon fibre tripod system although it is equally at home on the company’s TP-200 studio pedestal. This class-leading product offers heavyweight payload support in lightweight, traditional design.

Shotoku’s world renowned tracking systems are used to provide data for full Virtual Studios and Augmented Reality enriched broadcasts by major broadcasters internationally. Utilising high precision encoders to monitor all moving axes, Shotoku’s tracking system output a single real time, frame synched data stream in industry standard protocols, accepted by all the leading graphics providers. Shotoku`s latest addition to their line of tracking systems, the Graphica Series, is a line of dedicated AR/VR cranes ranging from 2.5m to 12m and combines Shotoku tracking technology with the prestigious crane manufacturer CamMate and makes augmented reality enriched broadcasts more affordable than ever before.

The Company also provides robotic camera support and control systems capable of interfacing with third-party equipment including SmartPed, Shotoku`s fully-robotic camera pedestal. Established as an engineering design firm specializing in advanced mechanics and electronic control systems, Shotoku maintains headquarters in Japan with offices in the United Kingdom and full-time robotics support engineers in the United States. The Company's robotic camera systems are designed, developed and manufactured in the United Kingdom. For a full range of products and to see what Shotoku Broadcast Systems can offer you, visit our website or email [email protected].