In Broadcast - July 2015 - 74

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 7 | July 2015

InTech

AJA CION Takes 4K Spotlight
At Pacific Producers Group
Pacific Producers Group (PPG) embraces 4K output
with support from AJA's CION camera...

n appreciation for filmmaking
quickly turned into a full-time
gig for Shawn Serdar. Channelling
a passion for the craft, he took over
the reins at Pacific Producers Group
(PPG) in 2007, and the Vancouverbased production company has been
thriving ever since. Operating out of
Gak Studio, a video and photography
studio where Serdar is Partner, PPG
provides multimedia services to

industrial, government, legal and
commercial clients. Favouring 4K
capture for greater creative flexibility,
Serdar and the Gak partners keep the
studio stocked with an arsenal of 4K
gear, including a new AJA CION camera.
Before using the camera in-studio,
Serdar took it out for a test-run to
see if he could film as a one-man
band. To his surprise, it was easier
than anticipated. "I was shocked by
how simple CION was to set
up and operate; I could put
it on a tripod with an ENG
plate, release the lever and
be shooting 4K ProRes 444 or
ProRes 422 HQ on my shoulder
in seconds. It's a really practical
and versatile camera," he said.
"CION also has built-in audio
inputs, so you don't need a
separate audio recorder, and
Behind-the-scenes at the Natural Factors shoot
the ergonomics make it easy to

Kyrion Delivers Quality
To SE Asian Games
A

TEME has announced that CAT has
deployed Kyrion encoders and
decoders to stream the 2015 Southeast
Asian Games over IP.
During the 28th Southeast Asian
Games, hosted by Singapore, 7000
athletes from 11 nations will compete
in over 400 events. CAT will stream the
majority of events to Thailand using
ATEME Kyrion encoders and decoders.
The Kyrion is a future-proof solution,
with a HEVC software upgrade option
and pay as you grow support: SD to HD
to UHD, and MPEG2 to H.264 to HEVC.
All advanced features are included,
as well as added value features such
as ultra-fast boot and integrated
Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ).
The Kyrion is based on the ATEME
fifth Generation STREAM compression
engine, and delivers the highest video
quality at minimum bitrates with ultralow latency.

"The Kyrion solution provides
us premium video quality at a low
bitrate, making IP contribution a viable
option," said Apisit Srikeawbawon,
Section Manager Satellite and Data at
CAT.
"With the Kyrion H.264 15Mbps
quality, we are able to provide an
exceptional viewing experience while
reducing our link OPEX."
"The Kyrion encoders and decoders
have been designed for contribution
over any network, both IP and satellite,
while still supporting all current and
future CODECs," said Emmanuel
Boureau, Vice President of Sales at
ATEME.
"We are excited to support the
games this year, and look forward to
next years' games, where we'll provide
CAT with the HEVC software upgrade,
to further reduce the link OPEX."
ATEME's Kyrion DR5000

handle. The camera worked
perfectly in a variety of
environments, indoor and
outdoor, giving me ready-toedit footage right out of the
camera."
CION made its first
PPG project debut when
vitamin
manufacturer
Natural Factors enlisted
the production company
to shoot a series of
promotional videos earlier
Camera Operator Gabriel Medina uses
this year. The project called for a
the AJA CION on location at a factory
green screen live-action shoot, with
motion graphics to be added in post. event footage and cut it into a five
Opting to use CION for its in-camera minute video montage on-site, in
ProRes 444 recording capabilities, under an hour using a laptop.
Serdar explained: "With green screen
"I couldn't believe how quickly
production, you want to record in the we could do it, and how little colour
codec that gives you the most colour grading it involved. We've worked
information. By recording ProRes 444 with other cameras, but often find
with CION, I knew we'd be able to get that they're bulky, the menus are
the highest quality colour information labyrinthine and they require a ton of
and bit depth in-camera; it was an transcoding," Serdar said.
ideal setup."
"With CION, we're saving about 40PPG, in collaboration with Oregon- 50% time on projects, because the
based boutique creative agency ergonomics are great, the menu is
Mountain Hut Media, set up shop straightforward and we can shoot and
at Gak to deliver a 20-minute video edit in ProRes without any transcoding.
for Natural Factors retailers; a two It's a smart and efficient camera that
minute promo for its consumers; and delivers outstanding quality at a great
a handful of audio takes for radio price point."
promos. They pre-rigged and pre-lit
With Serdar recognising AJA's
the set; equipped the CION with an commitment to bring CION users
EVF and ENG Plate, Zeiss CP 2 Prime new features and improvements
Lens and a matte box; stationed a on a regular basis, he concluded: "I
teleprompter in front of it; began also love to see AJA delivering on its
filming; and wrapped production promise. Prior to NAB I'd made a few
within four hours.
suggestions for CION improvements
"I was blown away by how great CION and was pleased to see some of those
worked and how it sped things along; suggestions implemented in the
the quality of the footage also looked firmware announced at the show. It's
amazing in-camera," Serdar said.
that kind of responsiveness that makes
"We had an on-set editor who was customers feel valued and keeps them
going to be our DI tech, but he didn't coming back for more."
need to, because we were able
to transfer the footage from
CION quickly with Thunderbolt
2, and use the ProRes files
immediately in After Effects."
Since adopting CION into
PPG's workflow, Serdar has seen
a significant drop in the time
required between production
and delivery. The improvement
was most apparent while
working on a shoot for another
Gak Studio Co-owner Calvin Paulger volunteers
as a test subject for a a pre-lighting session
client, for which PPG captured

http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4c8MlUBvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4c8MlUBvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4c8MlUBvE http://ateme.com/en/products/Integrated-Receiver-Decoders/dr5000

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