BVE 2015: A New Breed Of Broadcasters (Pt 2)

(continued from Pt. 1)

Panasonic (K40) will attract interest with its two high-end production offerings – the VariCam 35, which offers the ability to shoot in 4K, and the VariCam HS that can record in 240 fps in 1080p HD.

Also look for Panasonic's two latest remote cameras – the AW-HE130 and the AW-HE40. The user friendly AW-HE40 has a range of features that make it ideal for the lecture, conference and leisure market. The AW-HE130 (successor to the popular AW-HE120) can be used from lecture broadcasting to reality TV, and documentary production. The PX800 with 3MOS image sensors and said to be the world's lightest 2/3 type camera recorder when launched at IBC will make up the professional exhibit. Panasonic's consumer division will also be attending with the GH4 and the X1000.

Expect PlayBox Technology (F12) to show both its broadcast channel-in-a-box branding and playout product range, the key being full broadcast performance at IT prices. The big attraction will be the
SocialMediaBox, which allows live production presentation staff to incorporate comments from multiple social networking feeds quickly and efficiently into a single ready-for-broadcast stream.

Comments can be selected and moderated from a variety of different social media outlets, integrating sources such as Facebook and Twitter on a single feed for transmission. The custom feed can be output as an RSS feed and used in other systems, or sent to TitleBox for on-air presentation. Direct 'push' control to the TitleBox character generator allows better live interaction.

ARRI has always supported the show with good exhibits, so expect to see the documentary-style AMIRA camera and new features unlocked by its latest software updates, including UHD ProRes recording, support for EF and B4 lens mounts, and remote control via WiFi for both handheld and studio configurations.

ARRI has new wireless technology developments for its electronic control system and new mechanical tools in the pro camera accessories range. The lenses to be seen include the ARRI Ultra Wide Zoom UWZ 9.5-18/T2.9 and the ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic range. On the lighting side, the LED fixture L7-C has been boosted by a brightness increase. The updated light engine – Light Engine 2 – makes it more than 25% brighter. It still consumes only 160 watts.

ARRI has also created a full complement of professional-quality accessories from its PCA range, specifically tailored to Sony's PXW-FS7 camera. These include an adapter plate, lens adapter support, a top plate, and viewfinder bracket.

Vizrt (L06) is certain to major on Viz Opus, its new complete control room solution. This offers broadcasters a quickly deployable, easy to use, fully integrated, compact control room in one system. It only needs camera or external inputs, graphics and video content to be ready to start producing. Also present will be the media asset management system Viz One and Viz Multiplay, a multi-screen studio control system.

The Viz One manages content in a central repository. Users can produce video files for broadcast, mobile, and web in one seamless workflow – with access from PC or Mac desktops. It comes in several pre-configured packages that target specific type of production, and can be bundled for a single system that handles many different productions. Viz Multiplay controls a variable number of screens from a single interface.

Matrox Video (J19) will major on its Monarch HD video streaming and recording appliance, the VS4 Recorder Pro multi camera app, and the Mojito 4K quad 3G-SDI, a 4K monitoring card for use with Adobe Creative Cloud.

The Monarch is an H.264 encoder designed for professional video producers who need to simultaneously stream a live event and record a mastering-quality version for post-event editing. From any HDMI input source such as a camera or switcher, it generates an H.264-encoded stream compliant with RTSP or RTMP protocol. While encoding the video at bit rates suitable for live streaming, it simultaneously records a high-quality MP4 or MOV file to an SD card, a USB drive, or a network-mapped drive. The VS4 is designed for use with Matrox VS4 quad HD capture cards. Each VS4Recorder Pro system frame-accurately captures up to four video and audio inputs to create files for use with popular editing apps from Adobe, Apple and Avid and for archiving. H.264 is provided in either MOV or MP4 wrappers. The Matrox Mojito 4K provides 10-bit H.264 intra-frame rendering and enables real-time monitoring and output of video footage at resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 and at frame rates up to 60 fps (4Kp60). Users can ingest, edit, render and export in full 4K.
 
root6 (J16) will focus on the latest developments for ContentAgent as well as the industry's only DPP AS11 insert edit capability and the best Tachyon FRC implementation. It will also show Avid MAM and its interesting 'Business Process Management' toolset integrated with Avid Interplay PAM and MediaCentral.

Other exhibits will feature Rohde and Schwarz DVS Venice and Spycerbox Cell – a dense and fast SAN (60TB in 1U). root6 also claims to have the world's only fully compliant IMF playback and editing machine in the shape of Rohde and Schwarz DVS Fuz, and worth finding will be Clipster Gen6 which will be able to encode and package J2K 4K and HFR Digital Cinema packages at up to 200 frames a second. Look to for Avid Media Composer 8.3 – 4K editing, and the creation of IMF and DPP file-based deliverables from the 4K UHD mastering process. Late news: root6 will preview "a proper 4K Venice" with support for UHD and Ultra UHD ingest (8K) and playback.

Blackmagic Design triggered a lot of interest with the free release Da Vinci Resolve II Lite, because it looks to be the sort of fully functioning editor that other vendors would charge for. You edit your content and then get a full grading system but it needed developing further.

Stuart Ashton, Blackmagic Design's EMEA region director, explained: "Da Vinci Resolve 11 was a major upgrade, and features over 100 new editing and colour grading features, to give post professionals a flexible and feature rich system.

"As with any upgrade to our products, we focused on giving users as much choice as possible. By including editing functionality into Resolve, it enables projects to be brought simply and easily into the system, and provides an option for additional editing changes to be made within Resolve, rather than having to jump back and forth between programs," he added.

Sony will showcase its range of 4K and HD technologies and workflow solutions, for productions of all budget sizes. Visitors will experience the latest generation of Sony XDCAM products – which will be presented as helping broadcasters and content producers to modernise their workflows and reduce time between acquisition and transmission.

The BVM-X300 4K monitor will make its European debut, as well as the PXW-FS7, PXW-X200 and PXW-Z100.

Belden Brand Grass Valley (P06) has promised to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of broadcast technologies at BVE 2015, including its latest live production and play out solutions. Showcased products will be the popular LDX camera series, the K2 Dyno replay system for play out at any speed, and the monitoring, flexibility and performance of the Kaleido multi-viewer and NVISION router. Product managers will be on-site to discuss the GV STRATUS media workflow application framework, 4K workflows, and Grass Valley's IP strategy.

George's preview is also available to read in BFV online.

(IT/JP)