TECHNOLOGY SURVEY OVERALL RESULTS
agenda, with 34% marking it out as key, the focus is starting to shift away from pro- duction capture and post workfl ow towards storage and archiving. A quarter of all respondents say that their main technology conversation this year is centred on how best to store their content for work in progress (WIP), nearline and archive purposes. Tyrell UK sales director Mark Lynn observes that for nearline and WIP, storage area networks such as the Avid Unity Isis are “selling by the thousands”. He adds that EditShare’s shared storage solutions are also a popular option. Other temporary storage solutions favoured by producers looking for a quick back-up include G-Tech’s competitively priced network-attached storage systems. Despite the drive for an end-to-end tapeless
THE DIGITAL JOURNEY W
hile fi le-based workfl ow still features highly on the industry’s technology
The focus of the industry is beginning to shift from embracing fi le-based workfl ows to harnessing technological advances to make effi ciencies in storage and archiving. Ann-Marie Corvin reports
BBC Post Production and Studios resource
manager Julie Sangan says: “It feels at the moment that LTO is the archive method of choice – if only because there are not many viable alternatives on the market.” However, all this may change in the next year or two, according to Robin Howell, managing director of systems integrator Wire Broadcast, who notes: “There’s lots of develop- ment going on around alternatives to LTO.” Sony is practically
workfl ow, with tapeless delivery around the corner, the preferred long-term storage solu- tion is still the iron mountain of magnetic tape that is LTO storage. With LTO 6 due for release later this year, and further generations planned for 2015 and 2017, it looks like the format will be here for a while longer.
PATENT POTENTIAL
Only 42% of all respondents thought it impor- tant that their companies patent the technol- ogy they develop, although the other 58% could be missing a trick. From April 2013, any profi ts from inventions that are protected by a UK patent will be taxa- ble at a signifi cantly lower rate of corporation tax. From the next tax year, qualifying compa- nies will only have to pay 15% corporation tax, while a rate of 10% should apply by 2017. The measures have been designed to encourage businesses to invest more in UK research and development – an area that 45% of our respondents claim is “a major consideration” to their business.
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
there already with its new, mass storage Optical Disc Archive System – set to hit the market in time for IBC in September. According to Sony Professional Europe gen-
40%
40 or less 51-55
41-45 56-60
Respondents who said budget was biggest barrier to tech adoption
46-50 60+
eral manager for content creation Olivier Bovis, the system is designed to store high volumes of data for long-to-medium storage purposes, and comes with more than 50 years of shelf-life. “It will work well alongside LTO but will be much more fl exible in operation,” he says.
Rental surge With so many acquisition formats on the market, it’s little wonder that interest in dig- ital cameras has risen from 20% last year to 27% this year. Duncan Martin, managing director of broadcast equipment hire fi rm Promotion, says production execs have embraced large sensor cameras, with the Arri Alexa still popular and Canon’s C300 now a fi rmly established method of acquisition. Unveiled just over six months ago, the C300 has been a “phenomenal success”, he says. “It’s pretty well known now and it’s cer- tainly the camera of choice for our customers because it can be dressed up or down depending on the budget and medium it is being used for. Quite simply, it just delivers and ticks all the boxes. The Alexa continues to dominate for high-end drama, commer- cials and documentaries. There are quite a few rental cameras and a fair amount of
10 | Broadcast TECH | July/August 2012
■ TV ■ Internet/mobile/connected devices ■ Cinema ■ Blu-ray/DVD ■ VoD ■ Radio
HOW WILL YOUR 2012 TECHNOLOGY SPEND COMPARE WITH 2011?
Overall Production Post Broadcasters
INCREASE % DECREASE % SAME % 45
14 50 38 50 17 20 8 41 33 42 42
Q ROUGHLY SPEAKING, HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU EXPECT YOUR COMPANY TO SPEND ON NEW TECHNOLOGY AND UPGRADES BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 2012 AND SEPTEMBER 2013?
19% 1%
3% 4%
6% 8% 29%
■ Up to £5k ■ Up to £50k ■ Up to £100k ■ Up to £500k ■ Up to £1m ■ Up to £5m ■ More than £10m ■ Don’t know/not sure
30%
Q OVER WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PLATFORMS DO YOU AND/OR YOUR COMPANY DO MOST OF YOUR WORK?
3% 2% 6%
7% 23% 59%
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
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