42 TVBEurope The Workflow


four) specifically to cater for BBC work. “We took a strategic view and concluded that we have a substantial fleet of trucks and that flypacks will give us greater flexibility,” says Clark. Its Wimbledon 2013 support for ESPN and the BBC, for example, was a mix of flypack and truck, although it is driving and ferrying trucks to aid NBC’s Sochi coverage this Winter. The difference between truck


SIS LIVE’s fleet of 14 HD OB trucks will be put up for sale


and flypack, according to Clark? “Wheels,” he says. “You can outfit a flypack for 35 cameras for events requiring three to four cameras. That takes longer to build than a truck [on site] and you need a physical location to put a pack into, but there are occasions where you can’t park a truck and of course you can’t put one on a plane.” Yeowart reveals Arena is planning “an unprecedented growth” of four OB trucks in the next 12-18 months to meet demand which will see it send facilities to the Commonwealth Games, Brazil 2014 and the Rugby World Cup. Since OB11 entered service in December 2012 the company has focussed on investments in Sony cameras, Canon lenses, bespoke radio cameras and EVS XT[3]s. Telegenic, which landed BT Sport’s Aviva Premiership Rugby matchday coverage and continues to produce Sky Premiership soccer in 3D,


That bonanza is being meted out to NEP Visions which takes on athletics, tennis and Wimbledon coverage; CTV, which will support the Boat Race, football and the London Marathon; Presteigne Charter which will work on the broadcaster’s Formula 1 output and Telegenic, which will supply the BBC’s rugby league and rugby union coverage. The tenders for The Open


Golf Championship, the FA Cup, BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the BBC’s Winter


Olympics presentation have yet to be awarded. BT Sport’s dramatic late scoop


of Champions League soccer from ITV and Sky from 2015 will see new OB supply bids courted in the new year, with existing Champions League soccer suppliers Visions and Arena seemingly in pole position.


Trucks for sale SIS LIVE’s fleet of 14 HD OB trucks will be put up for sale. Yeowart says Arena’s preference


www.tvbeurope.com December2013


The closing of SIS LIVE’s OB division will cost 240 jobs


CTV, part of the giant


Euromedia group, has also pledged to launch a 4K-ready vehicle timed for around May after discussions with BSkyB about its roadmap for Ultra-HD which would seem to be a question of when not whether.


4K decisions All OB suppliers are testing 4K signals and circuits, with most trucks requiring relatively minimal investment in routing and switchers to be labelled 4K-ready. The camera channels though are arguably the biggest missing piece “The issue we are considering


carefully is what camera technology will future proof all of our content,” says Clark. “If we take the plunge on one type of camera, will it suffice for 1080p 60p as well as Ultra HD? I know other companies have got 4K trucks, but where I struggle is having an integrated 4K system in which you can be confident of the future.”


At heart is nailing the frame


rate, which by most accounts would require at least 120fps for 4K sports acquisition to be viable. What is divisible by 50 and 60? poses Clark. “You get to 300, While I don’t think that is achievable, a sensible decision has to be made as to what the frame rate is going to be in the camera that works for HD today


“More and more, it has become a commodity marketplace, driven by ‘spot’ contracts, where price is the dominant factor” Phil Aspden, SIS LIVE


is to build trucks “that meet our methodology rather than try and adapt another solution to our needs”, while Visions has earmarked a multi-million pound investment in six flypacks (added to its existing


already has a 4K-ready truck outfitted with Sony F55 cameras which will be one of, perhaps the only, truck recording 4K for FIFA at the World Cup come June.


and higher resolutions. We expect to be involved in multiple 4K test events next year and, just as we developed HD, I’m sure people will come up with standards around 4K.”


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