In Broadcast - December 2014 - 66

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 38 - DECEMBER 2014

N E W S

InFORM

Creating Powerful Images with Anton/Bauer
W

hether it is ﬁlm or fashion,
corporate or commercial,
experienced Director of
Photography Jack Shelbourn has
an impressive show reel spanning
a multitude of genres.
Shelbourn's portfolio of kit
includes a range of essential
camera support equipment such
as Anton/Bauer batteries. The ﬁrst
opportunity for Shelbourn to use the
batteries was when he acquired his
Sony FS700 and needed to power
a wireless monitor. When ordering
the monitor, Shelbourn selected
the batteries to go with it and was
impressed by both their longevity
and how fast they charged.
Shelbourn explained: "I have
been using Anton/Bauer batteries
for more than two years now, having
read about the use of them on Shane
Hurlbut ASC's blog. Shane is a DOP
I really admire and I used to look at
his blog a lot when I ﬁrst started out
in the ﬁlm industry. I mainly use the
Anton/Bauer DIONIC HC batteries,
the ﬁve battery and charger kit, as
I can always maximise power by
having four charging and one on
the camera. It's a great kit.
"I have worked with them on a
multitude of commercial shoots,

or when shooting in a
studio environment. They
are ideally suited to those
projects where I have
multiple monitors on set
for clients and I also use
them when powering
larger cameras, such as
the ARRI Alexa. I tend to
use Anton/Bauer's Hot
Swap mount so I can
mount two fully charged
batteries simultaneously
and then 'hot swap' them
for perpetual power."
Another recent project
involved a TV commercial
filmed in The Monkey
Shop store. The Anton/
Bauer batteries were used
to power a whole host
of equipment, including Anton Bauer batteries are a key part of Shelbourn's camera support equipment
three monitors for on
camera, the director and the clients,
had one fail and they are extremely
them as well."
as well as an external recorder
long lasting. I use them to power
The DOPs forthcoming projects
on the camera.
monitors, lights and camera systems.
in the pipeline include everything
The director on the shoot, Gabriel
They can deal with all of these and
from music videos, to corporate
and commercial advertisements.
Henrique Gonzalez, had recently
last for hours. The batteries have
broken his leg, which brought a
become a key part of my camera
Whatever the project, Shelbourn's
further challenge in terms of space
support equipment - I can relax,
talent, experience and equipment
and the requirement to power an
I never worry about power when
will help him to capture those
additional monitor.
I have Anton/Bauer's on set, and
vital shots and bring his clients'
Shelbourn says: "I have never
my camera assistants enjoy using
vision to life.

IP Contribution Is The Winner In Sports Coverage
By Simen K. Frostad
Chairman, Bridge Technologies

ports production has a special
place in the programme mix for
any broadcaster.
Sports events are among the most
compelling for large sections of the
audience, and they are accompanied
by a high peak of expectation and
excitement. A sports event occurs
at a deﬁned time, and the outcome
is uncertain, so topicality is a key
component of the value proposition
for broadcasters.
Keen sports followers choose
to watch the event live whenever
possible, rather than see the
highlights later when the result is
already known.
All this means that broadcasters
and rights holders understand the
'premium' nature of most sports
coverage, and do everything they
can to maximise its perceived value
to the audience. Sports coverage is
a rich ﬁeld for the latest innovations
in graphics, virtual visuals, camera
technology, and presentation styles.
Sports events are usually the ﬁrst

type of programming broadcasters
choose when introducing new
formats such as 3D or 4K.
There are also unique demands
on the broadcaster or production
company. Sports events don't take
place in the studio, close to all the
production facilities and supporting
infrastructure. The pictures have
to be transported direct from the
venue, and this adds another layer
of complication to the operation.
Sports production now makes
widespread use of IP-based
contribution links, and while the
cost advantages of this method
are obvious, IP links require close
monitoring to ensure that signal
quality is maintained.
Monitoring typically takes place at
all the handover points so that the
integrity of the signal can be veriﬁed
and documented as it passes
through each stage of the chain. One
of the largest sports contribution
operations in Scandinavia, uses IP
contribution links for horse-racing,

football, ice hockey and many
other sports, and to maintain the
required quality standards the
infrastructure incorporates a huge
deployment of Bridge Technologies
monitoring probes.
But the advantages of IP
contribution are not just limited
to cost beneﬁts: highly redundant
IP links can guarantee that the
broadcaster can provide a very
high SLA and better redundancy
than can be obtained with traditional
ATM links or even a satellite uplink.
Sports also have the need for
ultra-low latency and glitch-free
pictures, so it's vital to maintain

the highest image quality through
the contribution links.
It's easy to see why if you take the
example of a sport like ice hockey:
the puck is extremely fast-moving,
very small, and not brightly coloured.
It's very difﬁcult to see especially
with very high bandwidths and low
compression rates, where it can be
lost into the background.
To cater for that kind of fastaction sport you require higher
bandwidth, and higher bandwidth
demands even better links, and
quality can only be guaranteed with
very comprehensive and watchful
monitoring.

Action sports require high bandwidth, low-latency and careful monitoring

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In Broadcast - December 2014

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