Live TV is a like a magic act. It works best when the audience can’t see what’s really happening.
Few devices in professional audio evoke as much emotional attachment as microphones. Many of us grow up (and older) with favorite mics and refuse to give them up — even after they are past their useful lives. So the question is often asked, can a microphone’s magic be revived with a modern clone of the original?
With each new technology transition—from SD to HD to 4K— remote production truck companies in the U.S. have been at the forefront, providing clients with the latest production tools to expand their production capabilities and make live sports and entertainment telecasts the best they can be.
Since the earliest days of television, sound has played second fiddle to video. Only at the highest level of television production has audio been treated with great care. With local production, viewers are still lucky to get basic stereo audio.
Proximity effect is an acoustic phenomenon that allows recordists to get an increase in low-frequency response by moving the sound closer to a microphone. It can be a powerful creative tool for naturally enhancing bass when used properly, and a negative when used the wrong way.
For the remote powering of cameras, lights and other production peripherals the key challenge has always been the need for ever-faster battery charging times.
The waitress in the New York City coffee shop placed her brand new $6,000-plus camcorder on the table where I had been expecting my breakfast.
Spinning disk (HDD) and flash storage (SSD) drives are nearly the same cost these days, so it’s no surprise that broadcasters are turning increasingly to SSDs for long-term storage of our most critical media files. But did you know that SSDs and camera memory cards should be powered up from time to time, to maintain a high writing speed and reliable data storage?
