noggin's posts, page 207

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NG
noggin Founding member

Winter Olympics 2018

commseng posted:
globaltraffic24 posted:
SVT must have incredibly easy going engineers. The tech teams I've worked with in the past would go mental about exposed laptops plugged in to live power outlets, sitting on an inch of snow! #typicallybritish

There are all sorts of risks that you wouldn't expect.
An iPhone charging in a wet area for example.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418


To be fair - it wasn't the iPhone charging, it was the iPhone charger... Tragic - but you do wonder about some people. There is a reason we don't have 13A sockets in most bathrooms in the UK...
Brekkie, UKnews and bilky asko gave kudos
NG
noggin Founding member

Winter Olympics 2018

globaltraffic24 posted:

SVT must have incredibly easy going engineers. The tech teams I've worked with in the past would go mental about exposed laptops plugged in to live power outlets, sitting on an inch of snow! #typicallybritish


We can't see the whole install - but yes...
NG
noggin Founding member

BBC Weather changes preview

Markymark posted:
DVB Cornwall posted:
Markymark posted:
Well, my iphone 6s prompted me to update last night, utterly ridiculous the hour by hour 'granularity' for the weather more than three days ahead. Complete lack of common sense being applied


It's the way Meteogroup has always worked..................,


I see. Well, that says all I need to know about them then.


I'm not sure it does. I'd give them a chance.

Personally I gave up on the Met Office for forecasting - both on BBC outlets and their own websites - in favour of the Norwegian Met office/NRK operation YR.no as it gave better forecasts for my area in the UK than the Met Office, and a more detailed hour-by-hour precipitation and cloud cover forecast over the short term. That - coupled with Dark Sky on my iPhone - works far better IME.
Inspector Sands, Joe and BBI45 gave kudos
NG
noggin Founding member

Anglia/East of England News Discussion

Markymark posted:
noggin posted:


Yep - the bandwidth is significant, but is not now a barrier. The entire BBC internal video, audio and broadcast data network connectivity between regional/national/network centres is all IP now (provided by BT), as is ITV's. Getting 40Gb/s or 100Gb/s circuits is now relatively straightforward, so it is looking feasible. Remote production is a very real part of life in some countries. (BT can provide 20 HD-SDI uncompressed circuits from a Premiere League ground should you want that)

(Sweden is now doing big multi camera music and sport shows with the cameras and (and in some cases the Vision mixer control panel, director, VM and PA) on-site, but using the EVS, Graphics, Vision Mixer crate, sound desk etc. back at their main Television Centre. I think they use a pair of 20Gb/s fibre connections for this)
.


http://www.mediaandbroadcast.bt.com/wp-content/uploads/PLP-Broadcast-Tech-article_Feb17.pdf


Yep - bandwidth and connectivity have ceased to be the barriers they were until pretty recently. Lots of different remote production options are now feasible. (The SVT set-up in Sweden can have the director and vision mixer on-site, with the mixer top remotely networked back to the centralised crate, and multviewer, PGM and PST feeds sent back to the OB site.)
NG
noggin Founding member

The X Factor and Strictly

Johnr posted:
Crikey, two people with a bit too much time on their hands!

I remember those references, there was a 3 logo stuck on the back of the phone which you saw for maybe a few seconds, big deal?

They might have a heart attack if Coca Cola branded bottles appear on the judges desk next series like in American Idol!


I think the most objectionable bit was the
“Right girls, so now you know you are going to San Francisco, here’s a phone from Three to call Sharon when you arrive”

The inclusion of the verbal 'Three' reference was heavy-handed, stuck out like a sore thumb, and was commercially not editorially driven... It's clear that the current Ofcom adjudicators seem to accept a degree of commercial compromise...

The logos were less of an issue to me - though still stuck out.

However they did the Three brand more harm to me as a consumer than The X factor brand, as that has already effectively sunk so low...
Last edited by noggin on 6 February 2018 10:33pm - 3 times in total
NG
noggin Founding member

Winter Olympics 2018

Rkolsen posted:
I’m confused.

Someone mentioned RF cameras and I interpretted them as being the typical Sony PXW / Panasonic Type as they are commonly used here. Then you mentioned the HDC and the LDX series which although are used outside are typically teathered to the camera chain (in the US).


You can use HDCs with a number of third-party RF links - that's not that unusual, and often preferred to using a camcorder + RF back as the result is a bit smaller.

I've seen 8 or 9 x HDC 1500s (possibly 2500s - can't remember) all running with RF backs deployed on one show here. Sure - you see PMW350s and 500s (and PDW-800s for that matter) with RF links too - and that's a good fit if you are working both RF and PSC, or are doing single-camera RF without a full vision set-up in a truck supporting you. And if you are using an RF Steadicam then a P1 is a good choice.

Quote:

I assumed when you meant outside they’d be near heated areas such as where a set would be and protected a bit more from the elements.


The exterior sets I've seen for winter sports in Scandinavia haven't had obvious heating, and the hosts have been dressed warmly.

http://skidzonen.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BB161126CS140-696x464.jpg
*

The snow on their hats and desk isn't melting. I wish I could find the best picture of Vinterstudion I saw a while back - they had at least an inch of snow on their desk!
UKnews and sbahnhof 7 gave kudos
NG
noggin Founding member

Anglia/East of England News Discussion

m_in_m posted:

Does this mean that it looks like the project could make commercial sense or is this part of the process in making that decision? The bandwidth required to achieve this is going to be considerable. Feeding cameras back to the datacenters and then also feeding video back to in studio displays.


It means they are considering a tender. An RFI is a Request for Information, which is the first stage of a procurement. It's a way of asking potential solution providers to provide information that then lets you better formulate an RFQ - Request for Quotation, where you ask people to quote in a more specific way.

Yep - the bandwidth is significant, but is not now a barrier. The entire BBC internal video, audio and broadcast data network connectivity between regional/national/network centres is all IP now (provided by BT), as is ITV's. Getting 40Gb/s or 100Gb/s circuits is now relatively straightforward, so it is looking feasible. Remote production is a very real part of life in some countries. (BT can provide 20 HD-SDI uncompressed circuits from a Premiere League ground should you want that)

(Sweden is now doing big multi camera music and sport shows with the cameras and (and in some cases the Vision mixer control panel, director, VM and PA) on-site, but using the EVS, Graphics, Vision Mixer crate, sound desk etc. back at their main Television Centre. I think they use a pair of 20Gb/s fibre connections for this)

However I'm not sure whether we'll see any movement on this before the BBC Wales HQ move - which is a very big, all-IP (nearly all...) project...
NG
noggin Founding member

Winter Olympics 2018

Rkolsen posted:
dosxuk posted:
Both the recent Sony HDC's and GVG LDX's are specced to operate between -20°C and +45°C. As suggested, the actual temperature is far less of an issue than temperature gradients (especially in humid countries) where condensation forming can cause serious problems.


Right but those would normally be in a studio or near a heater if outside. What about a typical run and gun type setup?


Not sure of your point - HDCs and LDXs shooting external events won't be near heaters will they? Neither will they be if they are doing RF camera exterior presentation. Lots of presentation in Scandinavia is exterior-based. They do 3 camera desk chat in the open-air, often with inches of snow on their desk!

Historically you keep outside cameras as cool as possible and avoid bringing them in to warm spaces when off-air. If you are shooting predominantly inside you keep your camera nice and warm in as well insulated a bag as you can when moving around outside between inside shoots. What you want to avoid is quickly taking a camera from a -20C exterior shoot to an interior 20C shoot and vice versa...

Hand warmers can be useful to help PSC camera batteries last a bit longer (tape one to the battery to avoid its capacity dropping in the cold). A hand warmer can also help with fogged up lens elements if you do get caught. (Also keep your phone in an inside pocket next to your body and use a cabled earpiece and mic - like everyone in Scandinavia does...)
NG
noggin Founding member

Anglia/East of England News Discussion

Mike W posted:
Worzel posted:
Just revisiting this topic. Does anyone know if any changes are afoot for the Look East Norwich studio/ gallery this year? The set looks a complete mess, the rear projection screens are completely washed out/dirty making the weather look awful, the lighting is atrocious and the picture quality in recent months has become terribly distorted (bit like watching an old analogue TV channel that isn't tuned in properly). Kit's clearly failing and must be on its last legs.

This year, AFAIK - no. None of the existing English Regions galleries will have their apps updated, they might see monitor stacks replaced but nothing as far as cameras, VMs, sound desks, graphics are going to be updated.
There is (and has been for some time) a similar project to ViLoR being built by English Regions technology that will look to have a similar opt system to ITV and remote apparatus (not everything mind) to reduce overheads across the UK but that's not planned for the next few years. It's also one way they are looking to get the regions onto BBC One HD.


Presumably cameras could be changed (as some have already) in advance of any new infrastructure - as even if they go for an IP VilorTV approach They will be able to integrate Sony or GVG CCUs into this.

(Interesting to see the new Black Magic Ursa Mini studio camera with SMPTE cable adaptors uses 10Gigabit Ethernet over SMPTE by the look of it - and has a currently disabled 10GbE socket on the back of the CCU. A camera system like that could be a very neat approach for IP implementation (and at around US$10k per camera channel it's pretty cheap...). Not saying the BBC will do that - but whatever they do needs to be cost effective...
NG
noggin Founding member

Winter Olympics 2018

Hatton Cross posted:

I was hoping that BT might come to the rescue and put the extra channels it's got via BTTV onto the Sky platform for all existing BT Sport subscribers - but that may be a very forlorn hope.


I doubt BT have the rights to be able to do that.
NG
noggin Founding member

Classic ITN presentation Take 3

noggin posted:
bluecortina posted:

I sort of presumed they were being shot on PetoScott cameras which again I also sort of presumed fed into the Philips range of cameras - any thoughts?


Ha ha! In reality the Peto Scott cameras didn't really exist. It was a badge engineering job really.

The Peto Scott cameras were effectively Phiips LDK3s, but because they were bought from Peto Scott they were 'British'... I'm sure there were BBC modifications and there were both PC60 and PC80 models - but AIUI they were effectively LDK3s. SVT in Sweden used their LDK3s well into the 80s...

They generated nice pictures - but had hefty (dual in some cases?) multicore cables.

Have a feeling the first colour handhelds the BBC had - the Philips Minicam (developed by Philips Norelco in the US ISTR) - were re-badged as Pye for the same reason.


I should probably re-phrase this a bit. Philips Plumbicon cameras were effectively a response that Philips Norelco in the US took to the US dominance of RCA in the camera marketplace. As RCA and NBC were commercially linked, CBS in particular wanted a decent camera from someone other than RCA (as they didn't want to give money to their rivals...)

CBS therefore worked with Philips Norelco (i.e. North American Philips) to develop the PC-60 camera.

In the UK the Philips Norelco PC-60 was re-badged as a Peto Scott PC-60 (as the BBC always wanted to 'Buy British' at that time, in Europe I think it was re-badged as the LDK-1... There was also a PC-70 and a PC-80. One of these became the LDK-3.

Good article in Dutch here : https://www.omroepmuseum.be/index.php/geschiedenis-radio-tv/televisie/24-toestellen/televisie/studiocamera-s/36-de-camera-die-een-revolutie-veroorzaakte

They mention that the input from the BBC and CBS helped the cameras properly evolve.

(From memory the LDK-1/PC-60 needed two multicores, the LDK-3/PC-70 and PC-80 only needed one?)
NG
noggin Founding member

Classic ITN presentation Take 3

Markymark posted:
bluecortina posted:

I don't know the lineage of the LDK5, I recall seeing not that long ago an edition of the Nana Mouskouri Show which I think was dated 1967 on BBC2. Putting aside the fact the pictures were obviously sourced in 625 they were absolutely tip top, stonkingly good! Unbelievable!
?


First ever time I saw colour TV was 67 ish, and it was Nana Mouskouri on BBC 2 on a telly in a shop window
in the middle of Basingstoke. We were in the car, and stopped at the traffic lights. We were so transfixed by
it, my father failed to notice the lights change green, and a policeman tapped on the window !

Synchronisers:-
What were the Beeb using in Net 2 in 1985 ? (Ironic lyric being sung as the feed failed !)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VslJEUpSnXk


Not sure. I know Marconi synchronisers were in use in some areas of the BBC at one point. Quantel and Questech models were normal in OB trucks.

Also not sure if Network had their own synchronisers or if OBs were synchronised up-stream, so they arrived to Pres synchronous, like studios?