September 2012 www.tvbeurope.com


“Plastic casings don’t survive very well in a news environment”


TVBEurope 33 The Workflow


Wireless audio helps news on the move


Sky News’ Head of Cameras talks about wireless audio, 3G dongles, satellite links, solid-state workflow and next-generation cameras. David Fox reports


IN THE UK, the changeover of radio frequency spectrum for wireless audio, prompted by the digital switchover, is due to be completed at the end of 2012 (earlier depending on location), which means that all broadcast users have had to re-equip this year. When Sky News went shopping, it had been very happy with its existing systems, but was hoping for something that offered an improvement in all areas. Its Sennheiser kits “had been very reliable and very robust,” says its Head of Cameras, George Davies. The new system needed to


have dual channel receivers, better range, and improved audio quality. As Sennheiser didn’t do dual channel models, Sky had to look elsewhere. Other considerations were


how rugged the systems were. “Plastic casings don’t survive very well in a news environment.” It also had to fit into the existing camera


equipment, so form factor was important. All of its ENG camera fleet are Panasonic P2 camcorders, which it bought about five years ago — one of the first news organisations anywhere to move completely to solid state and HD. “We wanted as wide a range


of frequencies, both in reception and transmission, as possible, to allow more international support with less equipment,” he explains. Its final choice was to equip


all of its ENG cameras with Wisycom radio microphone systems supplied by Raycom, with almost 100 of the dual channel MCR42 slot-in receivers with a 240MHz tuning range and a selection of matching handheld, belt pack and plug-on transmitters. Raycom also supplied DPA microphones for some of the systems. “The receivers are truly global, and will cover all frequencies, worldwide. The


George Davies: “Our priorities will be: faster, lighter, reduced power consumption, and more connectivity”


transmitter requires only two bands to cover all countries — it’s hard to get a transmitter to work efficiently for the full range,” although he has heard that Raycom hopes to have a full-range transmitter working in its next-generation systems.


P2 Workflow at Sky By David Fox


WHEN SKY NEWS originally moved to P2, it was “very conscious that the workflow had to help, not hinder. We looked at other nonlinear workflows that involved checking of card locations, barcodes and people signing for expensive cards, and all that struck us as a hindrance.” Its system involves nobody


having to sign for anything, the card ending up somewhere to get the video off it, and being recycled. “To the cameraman it is the same as tape workflow as far as handling the card on the road. He hands it off to the journalist and waves it goodbye.” In London it will be ingested at Sky’s Millbank studio in Westminster or at its


HQ in Osterley, west London. Elsewhere in the UK and at its foreign bureaux, it uses cameraman/editors, so the cards don’t leave the cameramen. Once the rushes are ingested, they are handled and archived by Sky’s EVS and Ardome systems.


“which is phenomenally good.” It means the cost benefit of


cards versus tape is considerable. The cards have typically done 500 to 1,000 cycles each, which means they have cost no more than £1 per use, compared to a ten-use tape, which would cost about £2.50 per use. That is


to Iraq or Afghanistan can fit in a backpack.” There has also been an


improvement in camera reliability, with no tape mechanism to go wrong. “There have been breakdowns, but fewer than there would have been with tape.”


We looked at other nonlinear workflows that involved checking of card locations, barcodes and people signing for expensive cards, and all that struck us as a hindrance”


There have been very few


card failures, and it has lost less than 1% of its card stock of some 650 cards in five years via this workflow (not counting carjackings or war zones),


before you factor in reliability, ingest speed, and the fact that users can ingest into a laptop on location using just a relatively inexpensive card reader, “so the equipment you need to carry


When Sky News bought the


cameras, it was a pioneer in moving all acquisition to HD, but Davies says that even then the cost differential between SD and HD wasn’t much, and “it enabled us to


George Davies


start building an HD archive,” more than two years before it started transmitting in HD. Sky is renowned for thinking ahead, so Davies is already looking at how it should replace the P2 cameras in a couple of years or so. “Our priorities will be: faster, lighter, reduced power consumption, and more connectivity. Everything’s going H.264 and IP, so the next generation cameras need IP encoders built in […] We spend our lives bolting IP encoders onto the backs of cameras.” They will also want to move


beyond HD-SDI at 1.5Gbps, as moving to 1080p will require 3Gbps. Of course, by then Sky’s long term requirements will probably have moved on, so 3D and/or 4k (or even 8k) could be on the horizon — even for news.


Although it meets all of Sky’s


requirements for frequency spectrum, robustness and sound quality, there were a few operational features that weren’t perfect— and Sky wanted a few modifications to simplify menu choices, for example, which will be in the next software version.


“Most of the people that have been using them have been very pleased with them. They think they have improved range, and find the receivers reasonably simple to navigate,” says Davies. The modifications Sky wants will “improve the usability of the device for news crews, who


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