NZ Video News March 2012

P15 PIX Recorder show

P19 What would you like?

P22 Optical Media Longevity

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We are at Fishy Business Limited with AdamClancey because Adam came to myattention when I was in Next Technologywith Olivier. Adam turned up with a discdrive for Olivier to do something with. We’llget to that later, but for now ...

Ed: Adam, I was very intrigued by one ofyour shows I saw on Prime the other night,Fishing New Zealand. I’m interestedbecause there are lots of shows out there,but you’re obviously making money out ofthis; you’re obviously enjoying what you doand it’s a great show. How do you do it?

Adam: Well, making money andenjoyment ... hmmm … let’s say we eke outa living from making a few different shows.Enjoyment definitely, when you get outfishing it’s fantastic. You know, people liveto fish in New Zealand; it’s one of thethings that they do. I’m probably in aunique position because I understandfishing, I understand a lot of the areaswhere I work and I’m in a position to turn that into atelevision show and give it back to the people tohopefully enjoy and share some of my experiences.

Ed: I can see that and I can see that you know how tofish. You also know how to present to camera; you’retelling people what’s going on, “live” on the boat. I seewith all the long shots that it’s a quick turnaroundproduction. You’ve got the business in mind, you’regetting sponsors on board, you’re writing your ownscripts, you’re putting the whole thing together … soyou’re doing a lot of things, you’re showing a lot ofdifferent skills all in one package. Is that what makes itsuccessful and that you can earn money out of it?

Adam: Well the money side of it comes with time;you’ve got to work hard and I’ve been grinding away foryears. There’s a saying that it takes 10 years to becomean overnight sensation, and I always adopt that. Ialways work hard for everybody who is involved with me,whether they’re a sponsor, or just people who arehelping out or whatever. But the philosophy of the showis to make it as natural as possible. So although it’s shotrelatively quickly, because you can’t tell the fish when to

bite, you’ve got to be there and get the action; and that’swhat we’re trying to do, to make it as natural as possible,so people actually feel like they’re out fishing with us,rather than staging it and lots of whoops and hollers andacting for the camera. What I’m doing is trying to presentit, let people know what’s going on, tell them why I’mdoing things and also see the enjoyment that I and myfellow anglers get when something goes right or goeswrong. You know, the drama that happens.

Ed: But if you had some specialist person, some knownentity as a presenter; if you had contract cameramen, youhad a sound recordist, you had lighting people, you’dnever make a buck?

Adam: Well no, not unless it got picked up,syndicated internationally … there are shows where that’shappened, but they lose their feel. You see some reallygood shows produced on Nat Geo and Discovery andchannels like that, about the subjects that I handle, aboutfishing and adventure, but I can tell you the script for itbefore it even starts. They’re all staged and they make alot of continuity errors and it doesn’t have that real feel,because you know what the presenter is going to say;

It’s a Fishy Business

MARCH 2012 Vol 178

Adam’s never far from a fish.

Ed: So you’d make the most of those specialopportunities?

Adam: Definitely. You know, I was in Fiordlanddoing a shot and there was a South Island Robinrunning around down there and I spent about threehours in this little hide that I made, attracting thisSouth Island Robin, I’d actually setup a bait station forit to fly to and I’d pre-focused the camera, setup thelighting, so that when this bird came down I got 30seconds of magic.

Ed: That’s dedication. Now that leads me onto theworkflow, so you’ve got the idea for your stories, you’vegot the script and you need to put this into action, soyou’ve got to have the workflow right, otherwise 1)you’re not going to get the pictures, the sound, thestory that you want; and 2) you’re not going to go tobudget. Obviously, you needed a suitable camera –what did you choose and why?

Adam: When I set up to become a director,producer and editor, my whole workflow was theconsideration. This was at the time when the P2technology was coming out from Panasonic. I looked atit and, understanding the digital process, I thought thatthat could really work for me, because I didn’t want anytape-based format, because that would involve buyingdecks – and decks at that stage were very expensive.Also, it was at the time when HD was just coming onand I wanted to produce HD, I wanted to be future-proofed and that’s how I set up. I ended up going withthe Panasonic cameras to start with and they’ve servedme really well – they’ve proved to be bulletproof, butalso the workflow is quite simple, because you caningest directly off your camera using FireWire andyou’re not wearing anything out like you were with atape-based workflow with the digital MiniDV cams. Isaw that, instantly, I could cut out a step in theprocess, because I could go straight from the camerainto my computer for editing and it was a pretty quickprocess. So I understood that; and also it madehandling the files so much easier and the non-destructive editing systems that we’re using, you can’tmake mistakes because you can go back and do itagain. That was a gimme for me. Because this was allnew technology, some of it was new to the guys who

“this fish could be a man-eater” … and some of the guyswho really know fishing, know that these fish aren’tman-eaters and the guy’s being a bit of a wally.

Ed: Apart from fishing, you also do a cookingprogramme?

Adam: Yes, I produce and direct a cooking showcalled New Zealand Food Culture with Pio Terei as themain host. That’s another take on a subject that I lovewhich is food and cooking. I tend to work in the NewZealand environment predominantly, so what we’redoing is a snapshot of what New Zealanders or Kiwisare eating, how they’re cooking it, where they’re gettingit from. It interests me and subsequently I think itinterests other people, which has proved to be the casebecause of the response we’ve had to the show. Primehave secured another season off me, so they think it’sworthwhile and I’ve had emails and the feedback thatI’ve had from the viewers has been really, really good.

Ed: I guess by now that the people out there readingthis are thinking “oh, we could do this too” – but it’s notsomething, as you say, that’s happened overnight.You’ve worked hard at this, and I guess yourbackground with book writing and in the publishingbusiness, was one of the first steps in that?

Adam: I’ve got a very distinct skillset. Iunderstand the subject areas that I’m working in; Iunderstand the production procedures; I alsounderstand business, because I’ve got a businessbackground as well. So when I really embarked ondoing this, we wrote a 5 year and a 10 year businessplan. I was looking ahead when we started thisbusiness, where we wanted to go, so that I wasn’tstruggling after two years for new ideas, for new profitstreams. Part of my marketing is to keep the businesssmall. I could have grown it into a much biggerbusiness – there’s lots of opportunities there – but I’vestuck to my business plan, which is to run a smallbusiness from home that makes a few dollars. We’renot getting rich, but we’re paying our bills, which iswhat everyone wants to do these days, and we’rehaving fun doing it. And it involves my family, sothere’s a lot of pluses. I also enjoy the whole processof taking it from concept to conclusion and I do thatwith everything. Concept to conclusionis where it’s at. So if I make a mistake,it’s my mistake for me to fix. Some ofthe challenges that you have whenyou’re doing shows which are “run andgun” shows … you’ve got to film them,there’s no second takes, you can’t tell afish to jump on the line a second time.Cooking a recipe a second time, if you’reon a big budget production you can dothat, or you’ve got another camera take;you get a bang on the mic, you’ve got todeal with that bang on the mic; you’vegot someone saying something silly inthe background, you’ve got to deal withthat yourself. You learn tricks and youlearn from people who help you in thebusiness and in the industry to deal withthose situations. When you get theopportunity to do a nice staged setupshoot, you do it and you get impeccableresults, because you’re used to workingfast and hard, but also looking forquality every time you can. Boat, check. Camera, check. Now find fish.

more on page 6

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Ed: You’re not tempted to go for a large sensorformat of any sort are you?

Adam: Yes – there’s all sorts of things going on,but like I say, I’d rather have a small sensor that does alarge data rate, because you’re capturing moreinformation and that translates to a cleaner picture onTV. There’s some big cameras that are running bigchips, but the data rate isn’t as good as some of thesmaller ones.

Ed: What I was getting at was the current fashion forthe “out of focus” look in the background.

Adam: You can do that with these camerasanyway if you set them up properly. I do shallow depthof field work all the time and there’s ways to do that. Ifyou set your camera up properly and you’ve got therange to do it for your shot, you know, adjustable focusis an easy thing. But I’d rather have crisp, clean, sharpimages. Soft out of focus backgrounds are good whenyou’re trying to do stylised work, but when you’re doingreality most of the time, you’re shooting zoomed backin because you want to have everything in focus.

Ed: Okay, so you’re going straight off your P2 cardinto your computer and it’s a Mac. What timeline doyou use – what’s your resolution on your timeline?

Adam: I’m using ProRes HQ currently, because it’sa good editing codec. It’s very stable, it keeps the filesize fairly small; you can import variable formats –

were selling it too, so they had to work out a fewthings. Some of the things I’ve worked out, and theydiscovered that my workflow is very good and it’s sosimple. So if I want I can edit in the field with a laptop,I can easily store stuff on a hard drive, I can makearchives, nothing is hard. A big plus with the camerasis that you can prerecord on them so that when you’rewaiting for a fish to bite you only have to push “play”after it bites. That was a big plus for me, because Icould stand there for hours waiting for a bite and Iwasn’t running tape.

Ed: You obviously haven’t got the same camerarunning P2 now as when you started. What’s been yourprogression?

Adam: Well I have and I bought another oneexactly the same, so I’ve had three Panasonic cameras.The first HVX200 I had is actually still fully operational.It’s definitely done some work; it’s done a lot of hoursand it’s showing some signs of wear due to thesaltwater environment and the conditions that I work in,but it’s still shooting crisp, clean pictures andfunctioning properly. I also bought an HPX300 which isa shoulder mount version of the P2. I used that for awhile, but I found it was actually a bit big for runninground in boats and that. I’ll probably go to anothercamera shortly, but it will be a digital, probablyhandheld style camera with decent lenses. Good glassis important to me too, because I understand stillphotography – good glass, good sensors and the datacapture rate’s very important. A lot of people see theseHD cameras that are capturing at a slow data rate you

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PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

quality control measure too, because he looks at

everything, he quality controls it before it goes to

broadcast, so I know that when the broadcaster gets it,

they’re getting a quality product.

Ed: Right, so you’re running Final Cut – this is now

history. What are you going to do from now on?

Adam: I’m about to embark on a new system,

since my current system ( which was future-proof whenI bought it ) is becoming outdated because we’ve got

improved processes, we’ve got machines which will

operate and render faster, which is a biggie for me. So

what I’m going to do, is I’m probably going to go over

to an i7 iMac. I’ll get the biggest most powerful one I

can afford, and future-proof that; and I’ll also go to the

new Thunderbolt storage system, because I can work

directly off of that, which eliminates another processbecause the speed of the Thunderbolt is

superb. So I’ll probably get the biggest

Pegasus bay that you can get, and

connect that to my i7 and then I’ll run

Final Cut 7 which I’ve managed to secure

a copy of and I also have a full Premiere

Pro 5.5 suite as well. So I’ll put those in

as well as probably Pro Tools and a

whole bunch of plugins, because I’m notdoing a lot of effects work, but I do

polish things quite a bit, colour grading,

just sweetening them up to put out the

nicest possible picture.

Ed: You were saying to me earlier

about the underwater footage – that

some of it you shoot and some of it you

have somebody shoot for you, for your

programme … that as you change thedepth, the colour changes. Just tell us a

bit more about that?

Adam: Well Darren Shields is themain underwater videographer for the

show and Darren is a free diver. So everything we’redoing is done on a breath-hold, we’re not using tanks.As you go down through the atmospheres ( which isevery six feet or so ) colour disappears from your video.As I say, that’s how it works in light. So red is the firstto go. Now you can get filters to put on underwatercameras to compensate for that, but that’s only good ifyou’re sitting at a fixed depth. But when you’re goingfrom the top to the bottom and maybe 20-30 feetdepth, you’re losing different colours. So I have tobalance the colours through the depth and I do that in

occasionally we have some HDV footage or even DVfootage, you can just bring that in and it converts it, soyou’re working everything all on the same timeline.When you output it, you output it as a ProRes file. Itake that, a digital file, to Next Technology who thentranslate it from an HD ( because I work HD all the waythrough ) and then it just goes SD onto the tape, whichis converted mechanically rather than me trying toconvert it using a digital system. So a mechanicalconverter is better and that’s the sort of stuff that NextTechnology … you know he’s a godsend for me, becausehe’s so good at working with files. He also gives megood feedback on shows as far as quality, pictures,colour grading – all that sort of stuff, so I use him as asounding board as well. I go in to see Olivier prettyregularly, I drop him in a bit of fish and he definitelylooks after me.

Ed: So that’s it – you could have done that yourself

here, but you decided that’s part of the workflow, that

somebody with more talent and better gear actually

adds value to what you do?

Adam: Oh definitely. I didn’t want to buy a deck,

because to buy a deck to put a DigiBeta tape out is $40

-50,000. I could buy 2 or 3 cameras for that, or other

technology that will actually bring me an income.

Putting something onto a tape is just a time usage

thing, whereas Olivier specialises in that work. It’s a

A glacier is not where you find fish Adam.

everything, as a whole kit, goes together well, so youcan’t isolate one thing. But probably the thing I use themost filming outdoors and what everyone should usewith their camera equipment is decent bloody protectivegear. So I’ve got Pelican cases coming out the yazoo.

Simply put, I’ve never regretted buying the best and I’llsave up until I’ve got enough to purchase what Iconsider to be the best item of equipment, rather thanchoose something because it’s cheap.

Ed: One more – almost forgot – archiving. You’reshooting on solid state, once you load that into yourcomputer I guess you cleanout the P2 cards ready forthe next job. What’s your archiving regime?

Adam: Obviously, space is at a premium, butspace has got a lot cheaper now too. As soon as Iingest something, I make a copy of it, so I’ve got twocopies of everything and eventually I have 3 or 4 copiesof everything. I’ll have one final tape which is theoutput; I’ll have the raw footage as QuickTime files andI’ll have a finished movie as a QuickTime file as well;and I’ll have the raw footage which I store. Once I’vedone what I need to do with it, I put it on a Blu-raydisc, so I can just recall that at any time, but I alsocarry a copy on a hard drive as well. So I have a copyon hard drive, copy on a Blu-ray disc and two copies onmy computer.

Ed: That’s a lot of copies?

Adam: Well you just don’t want to lose things.You know, I’ve gone back to things and thought “ooooh,I’m glad I’ve got a copy of that” because I can go and

colour grading, adding red and reducing red as it comescloser to the surface. It is a bit of work and sometimesyou get a little bit of grain in your shots too, becauseyou’re losing light as well, but it’s a matter of grading.But if you’ve got the interesting shots and again, withany colour grading, the grass is green, the sky is blue,skin’s skin coloured, if you can stick to those principles… so I know what a fish colour looks like; I know whatwater looks like; I know what seaweed looks like. If Iget those pretty much right, then I get that balanceright.

Ed: Finally, what’s your favourite piece of kit? If youlooked at something that you’ve bought that you thinkthis is such an essential part of my workflow in terms of“bangs for bucks” it’s paid for itself 10 times over, whatwould that be?

Adam: That’s an interesting one, because I’mpretty happy with all my kit. I will always carry a tripodwhether I use it or not. I’ve got a Miller D10 – A2Zsupplied me with that; it’s got carbon fibre legs whichsuits me because it’s lightweight, but also I canmanipulate it because the legs can be bent in variousangles, so you can mount it in uneven terrain shall wesay. So a really good tripod at times is essential, butmy whole system, my whole kit, I build it depending onwhat I’m doing on that day. I have really good soundgear – all Sennheiser sound gear, but I’ll make adecision as to radio mics or shotguns or boomsdepending on the conditions I’m filming in. SometimesI’ll try and catch a buzz, so I’ll catch as many versionsof sound as I can. The cameras work really well …

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top of Franz Josef glacier, filming out of helicopters,filming whales with babies. Those shots don’t comealong every day.

To see Adam’s work, go to Prime for “Fishing NewZealand” or “New Zealand Food Culture”.

You can also email Adam at [email protected]

do something else with it.Once you’ve shot some-thing, content is king thesedays and if you’ve got agood shot, you never knowwhen you’re going to want itagain. If it’s shot in HD, it’sgood for something … ifyou’ve got mint shots you’vegot to look after them.Don’t keep rubbish, butkeep anything that you thinkmight be valuable. It’ssaved my bacon a few timesbecause I think “okay, Ineed a shot – oh, I can goand get that shot,” and itdoesn’t take me long to callit up.

Ed: Put the South IslandRobin in there?

Adam: Put the SouthIsland Robin in there; I’vegot sharks swimming under-water; I shot a music videoand I was up on Franz Josefglacier and I got a big icefall and I actually filmed theicefall, which was more valuable than the music video!

Ed: You’ve got to take the chance when you get it.

Adam: If you’re on location – I go to places wherepeople might not take a camera for another 10 yearsyou know. Like I say, I’ve been filming in -7°C at the

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high quality location audio mixers and recorders but

now they’ve branched out into making a video recorder

– partly because it employs a lot of the audio

processing that they’re already respected for and, I

think secondly, because they realised it was an area

PIX RecorderShow

We are here at SoundTechniques with StephenBuckland and Stephen’slooking a little bit furrytoday.

Ed: Is this a New Year’sResolution Stephen?

Stephen: Yes, I thoughtI’d go for a change of imageGrant. You know, I think allyour readers are probablysick of seeing the same oldme, so here’s the summer2012 version.

Ed: We’ll have to changeall the posters now?

Stephen: That’s right, allthe advertising, everything,yes the marketing’s all goneto custard.

Ed: Enough cheek, we’rereally here to get peopleenthused about a littleSound Devices product, thePIX 220 or PIX 240 off board recorder for video. We’vementioned this before, but this is a big departure forSound Techniques – this is “video”?

Stephen: Yes, it was a big departure for Sound

Devices too. They’ve always been known as makers of

The new improved Stephen Buckland — with PIX recorder.

no problem with people ( within reason ) borrowingthem for a session – again, because it helps us learnabout how the thing works. Of the people that havedone that so far, there’s a pretty good rate of them notreturning them at all and buying their own.

Ed: That’s what you want isn’t it – sales?

Stephen: Sales obviously keep the business going,but also, what we want to know is that it works and it’sas good or better than whatever else is on offer. Weare learning a lot about video too.

which perhaps wasn’t being serviced well by existing

players. They also have a lot of in house expertise

which they wanted to make best use of.

Ed: And of course it’s got XLR audio connectors in

there, so along with the picture, you’re getting first-rate

audio?

Stephen: Exactly, it’s got similar mic preamps and

recording setup as you’d find in one of their mixers or

their recorders. However it can’t be used as a stand-

alone audio recorder as the audio is embedded in the

picture information.

Ed: Now when you want to have a look at this, of

course you can come in and see it at Sound Techniques

here in Auckland’s Eden Terrace but, coming up very

soon, there is going to be shows in Wellington and

Auckland?

Stephen: Yes, we’re way overdue for doing this. I

am taking both the PIX 220 and 240 down to Wellington

and, depending on the interest in Wellington, I’ll either

go and visit people by appointment or have a group

showing. I’m in Wellington on the 13th of March. On

the 15th of March, Darryl Spooner is kindly loaning us

Spoon Studios for a session there in the evening.

Ed: That’s in Pollen Street, first on the right off the

start of Gt North Road?

Stephen: That’s right. Anyone who has been to the

NZCREWS Boot Sale would know it very well. We’ll

have it configured slightly differently for this evening.

19 Pollen St, 7:00 pm, March 15th

Ed: What are they going to see there that they won’t

see if they come into Sound Techniques?

Stephen: We’re going to get some pre-recorded

footage, so they will be able to see that off a camera or

on a monitor and then we’re going to have the same

stuff dubbed or played back from the PIX, and people

will be able to judge for themselves whether there’s any

loss of quality. Also we hope to have access to the

editing facilities upstairs so we can show how simple it

is to drop the resulting files into the timeline of your

editor and show that actually it is a timesaver, because

it’s going to save them transcoding from whatever the

camera format is, into the Avid or Adobe editing

system. You’ll get to have a beer with your peers too.

Ed: That is really important – that people have a

chance to “suck it and see” because I know from my

experience I’ve tried off board recorders and decided

that the workflow involved was really just a little bit too

much, and I’ve stuck with tape?

Stephen: What can I say Grant? Well workflow isimportant and is constantly being reviewed. It is alearning experience for us and we want to learn fromthose who have the “hands on” experience.

We know in our industry that things will work perfectlyon a bench, but when they go out in the field, theymight not perform as well. There might be featuresthat can be improved. We know it’s not the onlyrecorder available, so we’d be interested to hear how itcompares with the others and just generally make it abit more available for people to see.

Ed: And people could even bring in their own cameraand try it?

Stephen: Well you could bring in your own camera,but it’s probably better if you’re going to do that tocontact us directly. We’ve got demo units and we have

Wireless Users Group ( WUNZ )Update by Stephen Buckland.

Ed: Stephen – any light at the end of the tunnel?Is it good news or is it bad news?

Stephen: No, there’s no light yet at the end ofthe tunnel. Digital switchover starts in the nextmonth or two beginning in Hawkes Bay I believe,and slowly making its way through the country untilDecember 2013, when New Zealand will have afully digital television service. That was … well notfine, but we’d readjusted our mindset as to whatspectrum would be available and then Skyannounced its intentions to set up its “Igloo” serviceon some of its allocation of digital TV. Now theywere on a “use it or lose it” scenario and sincethey’ve decided to use it, this will further limit thespectrum available, particularly in Auckland. Also, Ihave heard unofficially, that they had sometechnical issues, so they also will be borrowingsome spectrum from elsewhere in the short term –some of the spectrum that’s supposed to have beencleared, so they can get their Igloo service up andrunning. The spectrum they’re going to use hasbeen gazetted, but the temporary blocks have not.Expect a rough ride wireless users until the dustsettles and don’t expect there to be much availableUHF spectrum left in Auckland.

This week I’ve had several people contacting meabout issues that they’re having and really the onlyway to find out what spectrum is available in anylocation is to delve into the information presentedby Radio Spectrum Management. I will have tocaution everybody it’s not delivered in a user-friendly form. You start here http://www.rsm.govt.nz/smart-web/smart/page/-smart/domain/licence/SelectLicencePage.wdk We spendpart of each week trying to digest it into sort ofcustomer-friendly pieces.

Ed: So they’re still making up their mind?

Stephen: Well they’ve made up their minds,except about the Sky Igloo service temporarylicences. What happens is that the Ministrypublishes a database every Monday of all thelicences and so on Monday you look up thedatabase to find out what the latest things that arehappening might be.

Ed: So theoretically they could sell licences to allthe spectrum?

Stephen: In theory they could, but I don’t thinkthey’ve got enough clients. I think there is a limit,because remember their goal is to clear up the700MHz block which in itself reduces the amount ofspectrum available, so they can sell that off to theTelco companies; I don’t think, at this stage, thereare enough users to fill up the bit below that, butit’s getting pretty meagre, particularly in Auckland.

Ed: Have you had any pointers from the manufacturersas to what sets this apart from anybody else’s recorder?

Stephen: I think the fact that it’s got a decent 5”800x400 LED screen on it. Obviously it can record audioand also it’s not a touch screen device – you don’t end upwith people’s greasy fingers all over it after lunch. Itrecords production friendly Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHDfiles from any high-definition HDMI or HD-SDI ( 240 only )video camera with almost 3 hours on 256 Gb SSD drive at10 bit resolution and you can drag the files direct to editortimeline with no transcoding.

Ed: Yes, it’s got nice big buttons on it – easy to see andyou could even work them with a glove?

Stephen: Yes you could. I think Sound Devices thoughtabout ergonomics and they learnt from their audiorecorders what works there.

Ed: And it’s a very nice screen. I imagine you’d still, insome situations, want a critical monitor, but for mostsituations this is a very good LCD screen?

Stephen: Yes, a very good screen; in fact, one of thelocal video assist companies, Digital Video Assist, hasactually made a bracket, which means that you can hold itin two hands, or rest it on a table, so that a director canuse it as their monitor, because otherwise they’re all stillusing clamshells which seems positively archaic to me.

Ed: Good … so here’s your chance. Come along andhave a look, have a touch and talk to some people whocan tell you all about the Sound Devices PIX 220, PIX 240.If you’re in Wellington contact Sound [email protected] and make an appointment for TuesdayMarch 13th. If in Auckland, please come along to SpoonStudios, 19 Pollen St, Grey Lynn Thursday March 15th at7:00 pm. NZVN

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cloud storage is an even more uncertain path. Whilethis is a powerful advantage for optical data storage,there are other important aspects to consider.

Data stored on CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs is encodedin digital form. The data must be read by a readingdevice and converted into music, text, images, and soon by software applications. Because the real goal isaccess to the discs’ contents, the survival of playbackhardware devices and software formats is key.Migration of digital data from one storage medium orsoftware standard to current standards is essential.

Because migrating data requires effort and expense,there is a risk that it will be neglected. History teachesthat many things are preserved only by accident,merely because they were tough enough to endure untilthey could be valued once more by new owners. Opticalmedia will physically survive long enough to berediscovered by new generations, but the readingdevices will have long gone. Therefore, it is prudent tocreate redundant copies of stored digital data. If imagesor data, for example, are recorded on film as input oroutput from digitization, the film serves as a collectionback-up. Having two copies in different forms and indifferent physical locations increases the chances thatthe information will survive. ( E.V. )

Longevity of DVD Discs vs Blu-ray Discs

April 2011 by Trevor Freeman

1) Scientific Testing

How can media manufacturers possibly know that theirdiscs will last as long as they claim? The answer is: theydon’t.

What media manufacturers do is test their discs using aprocess known as Accelerated Life Testing, or ALT. Thisprocess exposes the disc to extreme levels of heat andhumidity that simulates years of storage. By testingdiscs for extended periods of 9 months or longer,engineers can mathematically calculate the failure ratebased on their results.

Claims of disc lifespans are not an absolute guaranteeof how long a disc will last. Rather, they are anindication of how well the discs performed in laboratorytesting. A disc with a claimed lifespan of 25 years didbetter in testing ( fewer failures ) than a disc with a 5year lifespan.

According to an article about optical discs onMonstersandCritics.com, Blu-ray discs have shown tolast a minimum of 15 years in testing, with dataretention of up to 30 years.

A Discussion around theLongevity of Optical Media

( extracted from the internet )Ed: I’ve had this info checked and it appears kosherbut feel free to send me corrections if you think thereare errors. I thought it important that we all know thissort of thing.

DVD – According to the Optical Storage TechnologyAssociation (OSTA), "manufacturers claim life spansranging from 30 to 100 years for DVD, DVD-R andDVD+R discs and up to 30 years for DVD-RW, DVD+RWand DVD-RAM". The recordable media used in red laserdisc technology ( like DVD's and CD's ) is an organicdye that is very sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light, sodon’t leave them in direct sunlight.

Blu-ray – Blu-ray discs, however, use a combination ofsilicon and copper which is bonded during the burningprocess, this alloy is much more resilient than theorganic dye. Manufacturers claim a life span from 100up to 150 years for Blu-ray discs. With dual-layer discsnow available, it is possible to store 50 Gig of data onone disc for less than $10.

Both – However, none of these media have existedlong enough yet to confirm or reject those claims. So atthe moment, it's "about as long as the oldest workingDVD/BD is still working". These claims are madeassuming the discs are stored properly. (cool, dark, dryair. ) Furthermore, these life spans will be averages.

Permanence and Handling of optical archive media

May 2011 by Erik Vlietinck

Optical media such as writable CDs, DVDs and Blu-Raydiscs, are invaluable for archiving multimedia contentand administrative data. Cloud storage is fine, but thereare problems with ownership, copyright, and for howlong the data remains stored. These issues areirrelevant to users of optical media. They worry moreabout longevity.

Compared with other digital storage media (e.g.magnetic tape or hard discs), optical media have muchlonger life expectancies. Accelerated-aging tests, whichspeed up the reactions of decay, can determine the rateat which slow chemical changes can make discsunreadable. When tested this way, Kodak’s writablemedia stored under archival conditions showed a lifeexpectancy of around 200 years. By contrast, magnetictape storage media will only last a few decades, and

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Leonard: As you know XDCAM is a very robust andproven production format, but it also lends itself tobeing an excellent archival format. Some of the reasonsare:

It allows random access which saves a lot of timesearching for the video files.

The XDCAM allows users to enjoy faster than real timedubbing and back up.

It enables XDCAM users to use a single media typeacross every stage of their workflow.

It has a 50 years archival life if stored properly.

The XDCAM™ system also records proxy data ( lowresolution video data ), for easy tracking andcataloguing to the archive system.

The XDCAM Disc is designed to store in a wide range oftemperatures (-10°c to 55°c ) and humidity conditions( 5% to 90%RH.)

Ed: Any future plans for XDCAM that you can let us inon?”

Leonard: As far as the media side of things goes, wehave launched the 128GB quad layer XDCAM disc( PFD128QLW ) which is an excellent archival medium.

It is a write once media and currently it can be used inthe XDCAM Station ( XDS-PD1000, XDS-PD2000 ) andthe PDW-U2. A single 128GB disc can hold up to 600mins of video content for archiving ( depending oncodec.) The XDCAM Station is ideal for doing back up ofthe SxS memory card content onto the XDCAM Disc,making the work flow between the SxS and XDCAMseamless. Coming in the 2nd half of our fiscal year 2012,Sony will be launching a triple layer 100GB XDCAMDisc. The 100GB XDCAM disc will be a rewritable media.Users will be able to use the larger capacity disc formultiple recording times. Apart from this, there isnothing I can let you in on, except to say that Sony iscontinuously looking for solutions and new ways toimprove user work flow. So watch this space.

In a separate study conducted by TUV Rheinland,recordable BD-R discs were calculated to last up to 50years – an extrapolated calculation based on beingstored at 80 degrees C and 80% relative humidity for750 hours.

The hard coating found on blank Blu-ray discs offerssuperior protection against the elements whencompared to DVD-R discs, which do not have thecoating. In scientific tests, it appears that Blu-ray discsare the better format for longevity.

2) Environmental Conditions

Of course, scientific testing can only estimate thelifespan of a disc under specific conditions. For mosthome and business users, the way the discs arehandled and stored will greatly affect how long they willlast. Proper care and handling of CD/DVD discs includesstoring them safely in cases and making sure they arekept in a temperature-controlled environment awayfrom direct sunlight.

The conditions under which discs are stored vary fromone user to another. The best quality disc will fail underextreme conditions, but a poor-quality disc might stillbe readable if stored properly. In terms of environment,neither disc format has a clear advantage.

With that, it is my opinion that recordable Blu-ray discsare a better choice for archiving important projects thanDVD discs. ( T.F. )

I followed up this web gathered material with a call toLeonard Gildenhuys, Sony New Zealand’s media person,to ask if Sony had anything to add to the mix.

Ed: Leonard, before we talk about optical media,what’s the latest on Sony’s video tape supplies out ofJapan post tsunami?

Leonard: Well Grant, I am glad you asked. Firstly Iwould like to thank all our customers for their supportand understanding throughout this trying time. It hasbeen tough to say the least, but we are glad to haverecovered stronger than before. It is almost a year onfrom the disaster and I am happy to say that supply isnow basically back to normal. I would like to specificallymention SR tape if I may, as it is our top quality HDtape format. The Japan disaster and the subsequentshortage of SR tape stock inconvenienced many of ourcustomers. We thank them for their ongoing support.We now have “end to end” production of all professionalmedia formats and are able to fulfil most of ourcustomer’s stock requirements.

Ed: Sony have made a big commitment to XDCAM asa production format – what value does it have as anarchival format? NZVN

Ed: Since you’ve done this quite a few times for thelikes of the NZSO – you know by now the rough positionwhere it should be – based on where the orchestra issitting and that’s where the bassoon is etc, they don’tmove the instrument locations around on you; I guessthere’s a particular pattern that an orchestra normallysits in?

Paul: Yes – there’s a fairly standard pattern –although this changes sometimes depending on therepertoire and the forces required. In terms of micstand placement, we use the Manfrotto stands mostlyfor the microphones at the front of the orchestra. Theyare the ones that are picking up the overall sound; andthen we also use Manfrotto stands for some of the spotmics that we would put inside the orchestra, particularlyover the wind section and the timpani – and then I usemy other smaller K&M stands for spot mics within therest of the orchestra, you know the various stringsections, percussion, piano etc.

Ed: So you can then do a post mix?

Paul: Yes, absolutely. We do a monitor mix inreal time for the producer to listen to so that he gets arealistic impression of what the orchestra is soundinglike, and we multi-track everything so that it can thenbe taken away later and mixed properly in a studioenvironment. The booths that you sit in in thesevenues are very small and aren’t typically well treatedacoustically and what you hear is not necessarily whatyou should be hearing.

Ed: I also notice you’ve got lots of little clamps andthey’re quite unusual looking clamps? Also Manfrotto?

Supporting Classical SoundsThis is a story that follows on from one we did withPanavision in March 2011 with James and Dan whowere rigging up a Toyota Land Cruiser for Mark Ellis tohoon around New Zealand in. They were hangingcameras off it with lots of clever Manfrotto equipmentand were very happy that nothing dropped off. Thistime, we are with Paul McGlashan from Classic Soundwho has different needs.

Ed: Paul, you’re doing something a lot more sedatewith your Manfrotto gear?

Paul: Yes, that’s right. I’m a classical recordingengineer, so I record choirs and orchestras – inparticular orchestras like the NZSO, APO etc. We travelaround the countryside a lot with our recordingequipment. Stands are the bane of our lives becausethey’re traditionally so heavy. The good thing about theManfrotto stands is they’re light and they’re tall.

Ed: And solid?

Paul: Of course … and solid. Some of themicrophone arrays that we have are quite heavy, sothey need to be well supported and we’ve found thatthe range of Manfrotto stands gives us the flexibilitythat we need for the different arrays we use forrecording.

Before I sort of “DIY’d” my mic setups using lightingstands that you could pick up from a surplus store, butbeing made of steel, they were very heavy. I also usedthe K&M stands which are well known within theindustry but again, very, very heavy stands – especiallytheir bigger stands which we need when we have to getup really tall, 4, 5, 6, 7 metres. The big K&M stand islike a military weapon, it’s so difficult to manoeuvre.But the Manfrotto stand that we’ve got here, this tallone, the 269HDBU, is fantastic because it is quite lightand goes up to 7 metres, which is great for recordingorgans. With organs, you need to get right up there inthe space where the pipes are; but also, when I’mdoing orchestral recording, I need stands that go upabout 4 or 5 metres, something to go on the ground,beneath the stage where the orchestra is and get up agood 3 metres above the stage level so that my DeccaTree Rig here for example, can be positioned behind theconductor.

Ed: Okay. I need to ask the question, why do youneed to be so high? I mean, it’s not something thatmost of us who are using camera mics and radio micsknow anything about?

Paul: Well the sound you want to get from anorchestra is a blended sound and the only way you canget a blended sound is to get slightly away from thedirect sound that the instruments make. You have toallow the sound to develop in the room. So you can getthe distance you need either by having the mics back inthe room, or having them closer to the orchestra butmuch higher.

Ed: I assume you’re doing this when there’s not anaudience there, so you can move around and positionyour stands where you find it most appropriate?

Paul: That’s right, yes. You don’t get much timeto do that movement with an orchestral session. Imean, you’ve got to get it right pretty much.

Ed: They get annoyed with you bumping theirtrumpets do they?

Paul: That’s right, so there’s really only a fewminutes that you can spend setting up, time is moneyespecially with professional groups like the NZSO.

This Manfrotto stand goes all the way up.

more on page 30

orchestras with a Decca Tree as a main orchestral arrayflanked with a couple of outrigger microphones like this.Today of course, there are many variations on thistheme – and I sometimes use a smaller Decca Tree forchamber sized groups using smaller bars and the sameManfrotto holders. For the outriggers, we’ve gotanother Manfrotto stand here with an outriggermicrophone which would go roughly two-thirds of theway along the front of the orchestra flanking the tree.Typically, the tree and outrigger mics would be 3 or 4metres above the stage floor and the five mics togetheron those three stands would give you your orchestralsound. You didn’t really need anything else … yes, youmight throw in the odd spot mic for solos and for

supporting a weak section –that sort of thing, buttypically that was all Deccawould use to get theirsound. And it’s still usedtoday, this Decca Treearray, in particular, filmsound tracks typically usethis type of setup. But tobuy a properly manufac-tured Decca Tree holder …

Ed: The official one withthe “Decca” stamp on it?

Paul: Well yes, Deccadon’t sell one, but com-panies like AEA and Gracedo, and they’re hundredsand hundreds of dollars.They’re beautiful precisionmade holders but you can

get the same effect with a bit of clever thinking andusing Manfrotto parts.

Ed: And the boom is also a Manfrotto boom?

Paul: Yes, this is a Manfrotto boom. This onetypically goes out over the timpani in the orchestra, soyou need something that can go quite high and extendover the timpanist without getting in his way. So ittends to go up about 3 metres and we extend the boomright over, because of course the timpani’s got quite a

wide footprint with 5 …

Ed: That’s drums and cymbals?

Paul: No, no – only drums, nocymbals – the timpani has up to 5 bigkettle drums and is the mainstay of theorchestral drum sound.

Ed: And you weren’t tempted, sinceyou brought so much Manfrotto gear, tobring it in yourself from overseas?

Paul: No, not really. I certainlyhave looked at pricing, but I’d boughtsome stuff from Panavision before, somePelican cases and that sort of thing andhad a good experience so when I wentback there to talk stands, I got intotalking with Tim Timlin and he wasextremely helpful in assisting me tochoose the appropriate bits and pieces.He’s been very helpful and has gone outof his way to bring in stuff that hasn’tbeen in stock, from Australia or fromwherever, and he got it in, in time forme, for our last NZSO session, whichwas really appreciated.

Ed: Because it does look very pro-fessional?

Paul: Yes, all Manfrotto. The Decca Tree micarray that I’ve used here is using the clamps andhangers that come off the 154B triple mic holder andyou can see that here. It comes with these grey slidingmic attachments, and I’ve cannibalised this ( 154B ) …audible gasp from Ed … to build my own Decca Treetype arrangement, using the fittings from that triple micholder. I also use the Manfrotto Super Clamps foradditional flexibility.

Ed: Worth a patent do you reckon?

Paul: Probably not – there are many ways tobuild a Decca Tree rig …

Ed: We’ll take a photo of it anyway.

Paul: It’s a bit “DIY” but it works really well. TheDecca Tree is made up of two bars and supports threemics. Traditionally the horizontal bar has to be 2metres across exactly and the perpendicular bar in themiddle has to be 1 metre across exactly.

Ed: Again, why?

Paul: Well that was the formula that Decca cameup with in the ‘50s – that was really the golden age ofrecording and they perfected this way of recording

Just count the clamps.

The Decca Tree arrangement.

Paul: Exactly, yes.

Ed: But Paul, the business that you’re in, recordingclassical music, what’s the end product of this?

Paul: The end product … well typically it’s CDs orDVDs or, in the case of the Rugby World Cup, it wasaudio for live to air for the stadium and for Sky andTVNZ for the opening ceremony music, so differentdeliveries. But typically what I do is destined for CD.

I’m a recording engineer, I work with aproducer – typically it’s Wayne Lairdfrom Atoll. Atoll is a New Zealand recordcompany specialising in New Zealandmusic, New Zealand composers, andWayne and I have worked together onand off for the last 10 years and done alot of NZSO recordings in that time. Myrole in the process is to get the bestsound and to make sure that therecording session doesn’t have anytechnical issues and that Wayne ends upwith a product that he can then take forpostproduction and turn into a final CD.

Ed: Do you do any postproductionhere yourself?

Paul: Yes I do. Typically notNZSO stuff, although I’m doing some atthe moment, doing some repairs, butyes, I do editing, mixing, mastering herein my studio in Mt Eden. I did all theRugby World Cup mixing and masteringhere for the opening ceremony music – Ican do stereo and 5.1 formats.

Paul: Oh I hope so. He’s also supplied the sandbags that are used for holding the stands secure;especially in an environment like an orchestra wherethe mics are up high and you’ve got people movingaround. You know, quite often people bang into thestands and you don’t want people to get hurt oranything like that, so we secure them as best we can.

Ed: Safety first?

Sand bags often save the day.

more on page 35

Ed: Oh I’m sure it neverhappens – I think you’dbetter say it never happens.

Paul: No, it neverhappens.

Ed: It must be ratherfrustrating when you watchtelevision presentations ofsymphony orchestrasplaying and you know that itshould sound better thanthe television set isproviding?

Paul: Yes it is. TheLCD and plasma TV tech-nology is getting physicallythinner and thinner andleaving less and less spacefor good speakers in thesets. We long for the daysof the old wooden cabinetsand the cathode ray tubes,but …

Ed: I’m glad I’ve met another dinosaur. We’ll talkabout tape later.

Paul: … where we got decent sound, pretty muchalbeit mono back then. But these days, you’reaugmenting your television with your home theatresystems and they’ve really taken off in popularity.People are getting into the “surround” experience,which is great. I’m hoping that people’s appetite forgood sound in that context at least, will offset what I’mseeing as a downgrading of sound quality in the audioworld, you know with MP3 in particular. People aregoing for a “just good enough” experience, rather thanthe full dynamic range experience that you’d get off aCD or a DVD.

Ed: You can’t put that on your iPod?

Paul: Exactly, that’s right.

Ed: And in terms of microphones, how do you choosea microphone for your purposes. Obviously you’ve gota range of them here, do you used differentmicrophones for different instruments?

Paul: Yes, absolutely. At the end of the day, thechoice of microphone depends largely on where you’rerecording and what you’re recording. So if you’re in agood space, a good hall like the Michael Fowler Centrein Wellington where we typically do the NZSOrecordings, we use omni microphones. Omnimicrophones pick up that really good bottom end and areally nice open blending of the room and direct sound– so all our main mics on the tree and on the outriggers( that is the flanking microphones ) are omnidirectionalmicrophones. We use Schoeps microphones ( somepeople say “Showps” but it is “Sherps”, it’s German ).They are typically the standard microphone brand in theclassical recording realm;and used quite a bit in filmand video, but you know,they’re expensive mics. Forspot micing, typically we usecardioid microphones whichare more focused, soNeumann, Gefell, Milab,Sanken, AKG, a combinationof large diaphragm con-denser microphones andsmall diaphragm condensermicrophones. So those spotmics we normally havebetween 1 and 2 metresaway from the relevantinstrument or section andthe cardioid pattern allowsus to orient the mic so thatwe can focus the sound on asection or an instrument,and block out sound frominstruments that we don’twant to pick up as well.

Ed: If they’re not playingthem properly?

Paul: Yes well some-times that’s an issue, butwith the NZSO …

NZVN

When you have nice carpet make the most of it.

Microphones in place.

www.panavision.co.nz

Tim (09) 3608766 318 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland [email protected]

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NZ Video News March 2012

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Transcript of NZ Video News March 2012