A new piece of live television production equipment just arrived at BCIT Broadcast today…
It’s probably the single most popular tool for covering live sporting events, and we will be training our students on it soon…
What could it be…?
By now you’ve probably had a chance to see some of the examples of the iPhone 4’s HD video capabilities. The HD video quality is very impressive (especially under controlled conditions), but what about the audio?
Using the built-in microphone isn’t an option for high-quality sound capture.
Did you know that you can use an inexpensive adaptor to feed microphone audio directly into the phone via the headphone jack?
Jeff Geerling has a great article up on his website that details exactly how to go about making everything work by creating a portable kit that can be used for capturing high-quality video with decent sound.
There’s another excellent on his site that focuses specifically on audio recording.
Having shot a number of videos on the iPhone 4 during my recent trip to Shanghai, the other major factor is that you will require a tripod or stabilizer. The phone itself is just too small to hold perfectly steady when you’re trying to shoot something.
Many people are probably familiar with open-source software, but when was the first time you’ve seen an open-source HD Cinema camera?
The “Apertus” is being developed by a team of international enthusiasts to give total control over inexpensive HD imaging hardware, allowing filmmakers to potentially develop their own alternatives to commercial offerings from Sony, Panasonic, Red, etc.
While it’s definitely still a work-in-progress, this sort of project would’ve been cost-prohibitive a few years ago. Now, the cost of the camera hardware (minus lens and audio) is only around $3,000 – and the software is free!
While it might not be as user-friendly or have a workflow as efficient as a camera from one of the major manufacturers, it does prove how quickly technology is changing, and how quickly people are exploring new options as they become available.
Check out a sample movie (click through to Vimeo for the HD version)
Discovery HD Canada (now Discovery World HD) is sponsoring an environmental short film competition.
From the press release:
Feel there’s an environmental story yet to be told? This is your chance to tell it!
The Film Snacks Competition is a platform for the best of tomorrow’s film-making talent, featuring compelling short-films that build on environmental themes. You could have your film screened on the BIG screen, TV, and online!
To enter, you must simply upload your short film (2 minutes or less) to the designated page. Your submission must be based on an environmental theme.
Judges will be basing their decision on production quality (video and audio), creativity and entertainment value and choice of topic. The contest opens August 18, 2010, 12:01 a.m. ET and runs through to September 17, 2010, 4 p.m. ET.
The grand prize includes $2,000 cash, a trip for two to Toronto, two tickets to the Planet in Focus Gala Event in Toronto on October 15, 2010, and the rare opportunity to showcase YOUR winning film at the Event.
The winning film will also air on Discovery World HD, and will be featured on DiscoveryWorldHD.ca.
Check out the webpage for full details!
The Max Headroom TV series premiered back in 1987 and was one of the first “Cyberpunk” television shows. The story lines having to do with huge international television / broadcast networks controlling culture and politics were at least 10 or 15 years ahead of their time.
Nobody would argue that mainstream media has a vast influence on these things today!
One of the fascinating things about the fictional “Network 23”, was the idea that all of the camera operators would have continual real time feeds from their portable cameras back to the network. Directors could see the output of any camera at any time, and see their exact location on a map – all in real time.
This type of portable technology was unheard of back in the late 80s, when large satellite uplinks and microwave vans were required to get video back to the station from remote locations.
Fast-forward to 2010, and an update to Sony’s “Location Porter” system looks to be enabling exactly that kind of connectivity, now on a large-scale basis.
Broadcasters have had the capability to use small mobile transmitters and VOIP systems to deliver video for a few years now, but this system takes it up a notch with a turnkey system that enables real time video/audio streaming for up to 12 sources (cameras, remotes, etc) at the same time at the push of a button.
Because it uses high-speed mobile data networks for connectivity, it’s relatively cheap compared with conventional systems. It’s no longer a matter of shooting a story and delivering media back at a later time, but realtime capture right onto a live show, or into an editorial system.
Maybe the future of broadcast news isn’t getting a single camera to an event and trying to cover everything at one, but to get a “swarm” of networked realtime cameras that feed everything and anything back simultaneously.
