Impressive Line-Up For Broadcast Live 07

Apple will be showing the multifunctional, multitalented Final Cut Studio 2 in the UK for the first time. Based around Final Cut Pro 6, which introduces Apple's ProRes 422 format for uncompressed HD quality at SD file sizes not to mention support for mixed video formats and framerates in a single timeline. It also includes: Motion 3; Soundtrack Pro 2; Compressor 3; DVD Studio Pro 4.2 for SD and HD DVD authoring; and introduces Color, a professional colour grading and finishing application. And it does all this for £849, which is competitive to say the least.
Cammotion will demonstrate Vortex, a patent pending design that enables DoPs to film vertical tracking shots from 0 to 30 metres in an extremely small footprint. Capable of operating in harsh conditions and on uneven ground, the system will lift a camera the full distance in 15 seconds. A remote head provides standard pan and tilt features.
There will be lots of new things on display from Eyeheight, including the interesting new enigmaHD data codec. enigmaHD basically allows programme production and machine-control information to be sent through an HD-SDI channel at up to 32 kbit/s on user-selectable lines of the HD signal stream. Things that this helps achieve include forwarding camera dynamics to CGI devices, embedding captions and delivering recorded-media details such as aspect ratio, date, time and clock number.
EVS is showcasing a raft of new kit, including [IP] Director Version 4, its integrated production management software. New functionalities include an intuitive playlist management module, a series of dynamic tools for easier and better control of EVS XT[2] servers, and a brand new user interface.
First time in Europe for JVC Professional's new HD microwave equipped camera system. The ProHD Libre system provides native 50P HD capture, recording and transmission through a compact, on-board camera-back transmitter, developed for JVC by BMS. A fully equipped system, complete with camera, lens, microwave transmitter and receiver can be configured for under ?30k as opposed to the more usual £100k plus.
Leader Electronics is another company with lots on show. CINELITE, for instance, enables people to determine optimal camera exposure settings much more precisely than is possible with a traditional luminance meter. By detecting the actual signal levels captured during pre-shoot line-up rather than just displaying local light intensity, CINELITE allows a camera's full dynamic range to be used.
Marquis Broadcast is launching PostBox. Designed for fast media transfers from Avid Technology editing systems to a range of servers, PostBox hopes to end the frankly laborious task of outputting to tape and re-ingesting media into the playout server. The company is also extending support for its Medway media highway product to XDCAM HD and DVCPro 100.
Over at OmniBus, the company is showing iTX 1.1, its so-called category-defying product that replaces all of the functions of a broadcast master control and playout chain in a single software application. Pharos, meanwhile, is showing the latest generation of its Mediator media asset management platform. This incorporates end-to-end workflow control for any media organisation needing to manage and expand its output more efficiently.
Away from broadcast technology, many facilities are coming up against the wall of having to produce bulk numbers of DVDs and BDs in short order. Primera's new Network Disc Publisher gives everyone in the office the ability to produce their own professional-quality discs sent from an unlimited number of networked users.
The Ramses MSC new digital recording, editing and mixing system came about as a result of a strategic alliance between Merging Technologies, makers of the internationally respected Pyramix digital audio workstation, and Smart AV, the Australian manufacturer of the Smart range of console control surfaces. The alliance is designed to take full advantage of Merging's new 256-channel MassCore console mix engine (also unveiled at NAB) which has been fully integrated with Pyramix into a newly designed range of small, medium and large control surfaces. See them on the Total Audio Solutions stand.
(DS)