Broadcast TECH July August 2012

TECHNOLOGY SURVEY PRODUCTION COMPANIES THE AGONY OF CHOICE

The bewildering array of digital cameras on the market, with new models introduced after shorter and shorter timeframes, makes it the technology that most occupies producers’ conversations. Ann-Marie Corvin reports

PRODUCERS’ TOP TECHNOLOGY CONVERSATIONS* SUBJECT

%

Respondents who said they were still waiting to see what happens with 3D

42% Foxes Live: tech -savvy

zoology graduates were hired to log and ingest footage

D

igital cameras have usurped file-based workflow as the dominant technology

topic among producers this year, with 43% of respondents focusing on acquisition- based conversations (2011: 34% of respond- ents) and 32% discussing tapeless workflow. Mark Harrison, controller of production at

BBC North and lead on the pan-broadcaster Digital Production Partnership (DPP), notes the swing back to cameras and away from wider workflow issues. “The DPP sees this time and time again –

talk to anyone in production and all they really care about is what they are going to shoot on. Everything else seems to follow from that,” he says. Harrison adds that while producers are becoming more knowledgeable on workflow issues, the challenge for the DPP is to “help them gain an understanding of some of the processes they need to go through to bring their rushes home”. Perhaps one of the reasons acquisition is such a hot topic is the vast array of cameras

14 | Broadcast TECH | July/August 2012

‘No sooner have you bought one camera than its big brother comes

onto the market’ Mark Bos, Fremantle Media UK

now on the market, with upgrades being intro- duced after shorter and shorter periods. This is reflected in our survey results, with 7% of pro- ducers stating “too much choice” as their single biggest barrier to new tech nology adoption.

Regular upgrades “No sooner have you bought one camera than the big brother to that camera comes onto the market and you’ve only just integrated the other one into your production process,” notes Boundless/Fremantle UK production execu- tive Mark Bos. Consequently, most production companies now only seem to be investing in low-cost

Digital cameras HD File-based workflow

Storage and archiving (pre and post)

Online video Desktop editing General technology workflow

Multiplatform content/social media

Shooting video with digital SLRs

Codecs 4K 43 36 32 32 28 27 25 22 23 16 15 *Respondents were allowed to choose five topics out of a total of 42 options

cameras – with respondents typically spend- ing up to £5,000 (39%) or up to £50,000 (also 39%) this year on new technology. Higher- end models are typically rented out because, as Bos points out, no one seems able to pre- dict the longevity of any given camera format. “We know that if we invested £100,000 in

cameras at the higher end, the moment that cheque has gone through to the vendor, there will be a new, upgraded version of that cam- era shipped over from Japan,” he says. Bos – an early adopter of file-based pro- duction – says his strategy on long-running series has been to select a camera format that works well on a particular show (he uses the PMW500 on Grand Designs) and stick with it. “It helps keep the continuity of the crew if you stick with the same cameras, and it’s hugely important to get the right talent who can shoot confidently,” he says. However, he adds that “one size definitely

doesn’t fit all”, and a new camera that works well on one production may be totally wrong for another.

 www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils

Broadcast TECH

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