This article is a basic primer with excerpts taken from the larger comprehensive document written by this article’s author for iZotope, Inc. The complete eBook and PDF is available for free at: https://www.izotope.com/en/support/support-resources/guides/
While cloud computing isn’t new, only recently has it begun to play a critical role in the video workflow process as broadcasters seek new ways to reduce the costs of their video processing and quality control (QC) needs. The immediately available processing infrastructure of the cloud is naturally appealing to broadcasters as it eliminates the need to actually purchase and deploy costly equipment, which reduces their capital costs.
By some estimates Kodak has produced some 3 trillion feet of film since the company’s inception in 1889, much of which remains undigitised in archives around the world. Its output is shrinking rapidly from 12.4 billion linear feet to 449 million this year, according to the Wall Street Journal, as demand for motion picture film stock plummets. However, a number of movies are still shot on film, high profile ones too, including Star Wars Episode VII which director JJ Abrams has chosen to shoot entirely on 35 mm. Interstellar the new science fiction movie from Christopher Nolan is a 35mm anamorphic film and 65mm IMAX print and Quentin Tarentino’s latest western The Hateful Eight is shot on 70mm CinemaScope.
The capture of depth information in scenes is an increasingly rich field of development but it has so far remained on the fringes of TV production because of the need to either use physical markers on objects or to render the output in post. Start-up company Zinemath aims to change that with a technology called zLense it claims to be the first real-time 3D depth mapping tool for broadcast.
As broadcasters moved from analog to digital, new doors opened to automating processes—and important to the front office—the possibility of lowering staff costs. Above, Ross Overdrive can enable live production and playout to be managed with a minimal staff.
When most people think of broadcast video monitors, they think of a very expensive, precision television display used to view and judge the quality of broadcast images. Engineers — often nicknamed “Golden Eyes” — assess the TV signal based on years of skill, knowledge and human intuition.
Such video monitors still exist, especially in the network and cinema production environment. However, in a world with an exploding number of broadcast channels, single monitors are no longer adequate in many control rooms to check the quality of broadcast signals.
You are sitting there quietly watching your favorite show on TV when all of a sudden the commercial comes on – BAM, WAM, BUY, BUY… screams at you. The purpose of the commercial is to grab your attention in the few seconds of the spot. The recording engineers in the commercials production agency will turn up the sound levels into the red for maximum impact and effect to shake you out of your slumbers. However the effect can be to intensely annoy the viewer who reaches for the channel change, or worse calls the TV company to complain.
In many cities, radio stations have become the new TV stations. Radio stations gain visibility (literally), the station talent gains additional exposure and radio becomes more of a two-way experience for listeners/viewers. In addition, co-owned TV stations often do break-in interview segments with their partner radio stations as a form of cross promotion. The news casters and DJs banter for a couple of minutes resulting in good publicity for both stations.
