Multiple WiFi prompters on a budget

An affordable WiFi teleprompting system with centralized scripting and playback, using technology from Datavideo, Teradek and IntraTec, has been put together by the UK-based European distributor Holdan.

With this system, which uses Datavideo’s iPad and iPhone prompter kits, scripts loaded into the tablet can be played back via the speed controller to give the presenter complete control.

Now Holdan has integrated wireless streaming technology to enable remote playout to any number of prompting screens from a central PC controlled by the studio manager.

Co-ordinating scripts between prompters in this way allows presenters to read the same text from differently positioned screens around a studio. The scripts can be sent to multiple iPad-based prompters within a range of 30 metres.

This centralized approach means that any last minute edits can be made live and relayed instantly to each screen.

The wireless system is based on the Teradek Cube mini encoder combined with an IntraTec Bridge high-powered WiFi transmitter. Scripts are produced on a PC or laptop using the freely available MirrorScript tool. The scripts are streamed to any iPad-based prompter running the free Teracentral app.

The iPads, housed in Datavideo TP-300 cue kits, become fully automated distributed teleprompter systems that can be remotely controlled and updated immediately from a central point.

“This type of distributed teleprompting system used to be the reserve of broadcast TV studios. Now web studios, video studios and local TV stations can liberate their presenters from being tied to a single prompter, while centralized playback control gives the studio manager total control over the pacing of a story,” explained Richard Payne, Holdan’s Technical Development Manager.

The Holdan WiFi Teleprompting Solution should cost less than £1,500 (+ VAT) for a dual wireless teleprompter system (excluding the PC and any iPads).

By David Fox

Autoscript PicoPrompt for iOS

Autoscript has partnered with Teleprompting Techniques to offer a professional prompting app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users. PicoPrompt (below - $69.99/£47.99/€54.99) is available via the App Store, along with Picoscroll, a free scroll app. Autoscript also offers a scroll control and a connector for iOS devices.

For broadcasters, the main benefits will be gained through Autoscript’s latest upgrade to its WinPlus software, which is claimed to be the most widely used prompting application in daily use. The new version allows producers to select and send single stories or complete running orders from the broadcast studio to a journalist or presenter’s iOS device anywhere in the world.

“We have been working on this product for some time to ensure it meets Autoscript’s high standards, and we believe we’ve done it,” said Brian Larter, Autoscript’s Managing Director.

“In combination with our software the app offers some unique benefits, such as allowing the script to be automatically formatted correctly for the device on location, and giving the presenter more control.” He believes that this opens up “a truly professional way of prompting on location while still being linked to the studio.”

As TV presenters often have to host shows from places within a studio complex that aren’t permanently cabled, Autoscript’s Magno Wireless Foot Control (above) will allow them to control the speed of the script without the need to run cabling.

The ten channel device uses licence-free RF technology in the 400mhz range for Europe or 900Mhz in the US, is promised not to interfere with any other devices and can be used up to 100 metres from the receiver module, and is claimed to be easy to add to existing Autoscript installations.

Also new is the Smart Combiner Wireless Receiver, which will allow up to four separate wireless controllers to be used in a single studio, and further Wireless Smart Combiners can be added to increase this.

By David Fox

iCue Teleprompter for iPad

The iCue Teleprompter application for the iPad from Prompter People is claimed to be “smooth, clear and simplistic”, with lots of options, although with several other iPad prompters available, there is plenty of competition.

Text can be altered to change size, font, colour and visibility. The background colour is also adjustable. iCue works as a stand-alone application, but with iCue's display mirroring feature it becomes more usable if combined with one of Prompter People’s many iPad teleprompter set ups.

The $4.99/£2.99 iCue also allows for different control methods, such as the infrared wireless remote included with the Flex Series, Proline or UltraLight iPad teleprompters, as well as the free iCue Remote app. This turns an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a fully functional remote control complete with playback, speed, search, scroll, timer control and shuffle. iCue can also be controlled using any Bluetooth keyboard.

Loading a script into iCue can be done by uploading text from emails, copied across via iTunes on a computer, downloaded from a web server, imported from other apps, or shared from another iCue equipped iPad.

For timing it can count up or down from a specific time, and can also be switched to a mirrored display when used with a suitable prompter mount.

By David Fox

Sony XM Pilot + XDCAM workflow

Sony is adding a "second screen", such as an iPad or smartphone, to its XDCAM workflow, to make it simpler to add metadata and integrate the file format with post. It has also started a Europe-wide tour offering day-long training seminars to users.

The new XM Pilot wireless metadata system "speeds up your workflow and reduces your costs in post by allowing you to flow logging information and metadata all the way to post much quicker and more easily, especially compared to paper logs," said David Young, Product Specialist, XDCAM range (pictured).

It uses automatic ingest tools, so you don't have to waste time organising and viewing clips. Users can also create metadata in planning (using a free planner) and import that into the XM Pilot via WiFi, USB or file-copying onto recording media, before going on location.

Users can access and input data on their iPhone or iPad, or Android device (with apps available as a free download for iOS and for Sony Ericsson phones). For post, there are free ingest tools for Apple's Final Cut Pro 7 (an FCP X version won't be available until Sony finishes work on XDCAM support in X) and for Avid Media Composer v5 upwards.

The system requires an add-on WiFi unit for the camera, which sends timecode, synchs metadata and streams proxy video and audio (with a two to five second delay – there is no delay if not streaming proxy). Panasonic offers something similar via WiFi on its HPX3100.

Talkback Thames used a beta version of the Sony system to shoot property series Escape To The Country for the BBC and found it cut logging time per episode from two days to just two hours.

The XM Pilot package consists of two hardware elements (dongle and firmware upgrade) and three software elements (planning tool, smart-device app and NLE integration).

Customers will have to purchase a £533 WiFi dongle, which plugs into the camera, and a firmware upgrade for their camera: a £670 activation board for the PMW-500; a £922 software activation code for the PDW-700/800; a £383 activation board for the PMW-350/320 or TD300; and a £2,375 SxS Card Key for the PMW-F3.

At least the software is free. It includes: XM Pilot planner (PC application with web access via any platform downloadable from Pro.Sony.com); the XM Pilot smart-device app (free download from Apple App Store, and on Android Marketplace); and the NLE Integration plug-ins for FCP7 and Avid.

XDCAM Station

The recently introduced XDCAM Station is a crossover between a server and a traditional deck, but less expensive. "Customers are getting a lot more functionality for less money," said Young.

It can support multiple actions simultaneously, both input and output, so it can add time delay to a recording feed or record to both the internal hardware and a Professional Disc at once. In January it will also be able to playout from SxS cards. It has three hard drives, for RAID 4 protection – if one goes down it can reconstruct its contents from the other two. Editors can access clips as they are recording, via an Ethernet connection, allowing them to edit live feeds as they come in – on Final Cut Pro now and on Avid when the next release of AMA, due this month, comes out. It can also be linked to a shared storage system. The latest version (2.0) of the XDCAM Browser can remotely control the deck over the network.

Sony recently sold 80 of the high-end XDS-PD2000 models (pictured), which use solid-state drives, to WDR/NDR, in Germany. SSDs are a lot more responsive than spinning disks, so everything is quicker.

An upcoming firmware update will allow the XDCAM Station to pack up a 35Mbps XDCAM signal (from an EX1, say) without changing or upconverting it, to 50Mbps files, for broadcasters who use a 50Mbps infrastructure (especially for archive systems).

PMW-500 camcorder

There has also been new firmware released for the PMW-500 (version 1.12), which improves the response time from the record button. "It's primarily used for newsgathering and people don't want to miss anything." It is possible to use the camera with pre-record (up to 15 seconds), but there is a trade off in terms of battery life (although the increase in power used is small).

The PMW-500 has proved popular. The BBC has bought 250 of them for news use, almost all of which have now been delivered. TRT, Turkey, bought 75 recently, while TVN, Poland, bought 12 after IBC. In total, more than 700 PMW-500 units have been sold across Europe – it is made in the EU, at Sony's plant in Wales.

XDCAM Workflow Tour

Sony's XDCAM Workflow Tour offers different sets of users (and dealers) a week of one-day seminars on how to get the best out of the technology and new ways of working, in a variety of locations across Europe.

It started in London last month, followed by Stockholm, and is in Copenhagen this week (28 November - 2 December). It will be in Amsterdam (5-9 December) and Belgium (12-16 December), and resume in the New Year on 9 January for five days in Köln, followed by Munich (16-20 January), Madrid (23-27 January), Lisbon (30 January - 3 February), Paris (6-10 February), Milan (13-17 February), Rome (20-24 February), Prague (27 February - 2 March), Warsaw (5-9 March), and Istanbul (19-23 March).

By David Fox

Rotolight AlphaNova + Magic Eye

Rotolight’s new AlphaNova series of energy-efficient flood lights has a unique colour matching ability that will allow users set its colour via an iPhone and match the colour temperature seen by the phone’s camera. This would be useful where DoPs need to match the light on a character shot in a greenscreen studio to the light on location.

The Magic Eye app also provides remote control over all three ANova variants, including the £999 ANova One 5600K and 3200K lights, but the colour matching works with the £1,145 bi-colour (2800K to 6900K) ANova Two.

Using the iPhone (or iPad) camera, it takes the ambient light colour and level “and transmits that via WiFi to the light, which accurately replicates that colour of sampled light,” said Rotolight’s International Sales Director, Rod Aaron Gammons (pictured above). It also allows instant recall of previous settings.

The 38W lights are claimed to be the equivalent of 1kW Tungsten. They output no heat, run from a V-Lock camera battery for two days on full power, and can be linked together to form one large array.

Although not available until the end of the year, Rotolight took orders for 100 units in the first three days of IBC (having only finished the lights a few days before), with the potential of another 1,000 in the pipeline. Unlike most LED lights, the ANova range won't be manufactured in the Far East, but are being built at Pinewood (where Rotolight is based).

Related post: Rotolight's Stealth approach to lights

By David Fox

Vortex i-ScriptBoy timecode logger

Until a few years ago, Vortex Communications manufactured the ScriptBoy Wireless Timecode Clipboard. It was "well-liked and hundreds are probably still in regular use," said Vortex director, Ian Prowse. "Then the RoHS lead-free directive came along, which meant that our custom-produced LCD Display was no longer allowed to be used in the product and the whole setup cost for a re-fabrication would have been prohibitive."

The original ScriptBoy used a licence-free wireless transmitter attached to the camera, which sent timecode as it was recorded to the “clipboard” where it was displayed in real-time, allowing users to hold the count whilst making production notes.

"This year, we are introducing a tablet/smartphone version which is based on the original concept but also includes comprehensive notes and pre-editing script functionality," he added. This is in response to continued demand for the clipboard, with almost weekly enquiries.

The new i-ScriptBoy works in a similar way to the legacy product, with stacks of extra features, but maintains the functionality production teams are used to. The Timecode Transmitter is now WiFi, and sends information from the camera to web-connected devices. Like the original, the timecode display can be paused, but the app also includes Shot and Take buttons to capture timecode automatically and store in the Notes area for later export to editing and logging systems.

The Notes Editor stores text from the NotePad and images from the DoodlePad so that the final stored notes file resemble those using pen and paper. It will work with any mobile device with a web browser (the transmitter contains its own web site), from an iPhone to a laptop.

The Transmitter synchronises all devices accessing the site and shares Timecode and Notes information in real time, providing coherent sets of notes and timings that all can see and update. An optional timecode re-generator can synchronize multiple cameras and other equipment that needs to be locked to the same timecode.

The i-ScriptBoy also comes as a package with a pre-loaded tablet to work out-of-the-box.

By David Fox

Vimeo Pro low-cost video hosting

Vimeo, the internet video hosting site popular with video makers (and the one we use at UrbanFox...), has gone commercial, with the launch of Vimeo Pro, aimed at small businesses, facilities and production companies, who want the cheapest, high-quality host on the web.

At $199 a year, for 50GB of video files (about 500 five-minute HD videos) and 250,000 video plays, Vimeo Pro will be a great deal less expensive than its rivals (where prices typically range from at least $1,000 upwards).

"We really think we are at a breakthrough price point for a premium service," said Dae Mellencamp, Vimeo's General Manager (pictured). "We don't think anyone is doing anything like it in the professional video hosting space."

Unlike most other sites, it doesn't calculate video throughput by the amount of bandwidth used (which is often difficult to quantify, especially in advance), but by the number of plays your videos get. An extra 100,000 plays costs a further $199 (as does an extra 50GB storage – the unused plays from the add-on packages will roll over for two years, but the 250,000 basic plays reset each year). Mellencamp believes that the basic amount of storage and plays "would cover 99% of people using the site."

It will be useful for productions or small facilities that want to put up rough cut edits or dailies for review, or who want to host video for customers, as URLs can be specific to each video (or a portfolio of videos) and can be password protected and blocked from search engines if required.

There are customisable, themed web pages (portfolios). It is easy to add a logo (there is no Vimeo logo). And there is no programming required.

Vimeo's video quality is high (up to 1080p – although 720p is recommended due to internet bandwidth limitations), and reliability is good as it is run on Akamai's servers and network. Video is H.264 encoded and available in both Flash and HTML 5 versions (with auto detect), so it will run on iPads and iPhones, and any PC or web-enabled TV. It was the second video hosting site after YouTube to support HTML 5.

Vimeo has about 7million registered users, and had 50m unique viewers in Q2 (not including all the players embedded in other site's web pages). It has become the main video site for film and video makers to show their footage, but it isn't open to commercial content (or anything that is intended to sell or promote a product or service). Vimeo Pro users that have content that is not commercial will also be able to place it on the normal Vimeo site, where any plays won't count against their play limit.

By David Fox

Glidecam iGlide Smartphone Mount

The new Glidecam iGlide Smartphone Mount is designed to allow smart phones such as Apple's iPhone to be attached directly to its HD-1000 Hand-Held Camera Stabilizer, to transform mobile phone video into smooth, professional-looking footage.

The lighter the camera, the more prone to shake it becomes, and mobile phones are amongst the smallest, lightest cameras, so need stabilising more than most.

The iGlide and HD-1000 combination will allow the phone to float, always balanced, and isolated from any shaky hands. The iGlide costs $49, while the HD range of stabilizers costs from $399.

Related post: Steadicam Smoothee steadies iPhone

By David Fox

dv Prompter arrives on Android

Datavideo's free dv Prompter software is now available for Google's Android platform. 

It can be downloaded from the Android Market, and will run on any Android device running Android 1.5 or above. It follows in the wake of Datavideo's Apple iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad app (which is now on version 1.3 with support for a new wireless remote). There are several other prompter apps available for both Android and iOS, but few of them are free.

dv Prompter is claimed to be "a fully featured teleprompter application, with fast loading of scripts or cue sheets, a variety of font styles and a variety of playback settings."

To mount it on a camera, users would need to buy the Datavideo Smart Phone Prompter Kit, TP-100 (pictured on left above), which costs about £230, or the £300 TP-200 kit (pic right) if used with a tablet device – although as the TP-200 is built primarily for the iPad, the tablet would have to be of similar proportions.

The kit incorporates a rigid camera hood and 60/40 glass to reflect the script while still allowing the camera to see the subject. Included is 3m wired remote control, for controlling the speed of prompting and jumping back or forward to different points in the script.

According to Holdan, Datavideo's UK distributor: "This is also one of the quickest and most convenient prompting solutions available, thanks to its fast assembly and use of the user's own smartphone."

By David Fox

Steadicam Smoothee steadies iPhone

Steadicam is the company that made possible all those smooth, flowing shots you see in movies or captured by the fittest people in the stadium for most of those cameras used to run the touchline for sports coverage. Now, if you shoot video on an iPhone or other mobile, you can also use Steadicam technology with the new Steadicam Smoothee.

We wrote about it back in February 2010, after seeing a demonstration of the prototype version at BVE (and we shot the video below with and about it, with the help of Robin Thwaites, International Director of Sales, Tiffen/Steadicam). It was expected to arrive a little more quickly than it has, but it is now available in the UK and throughout Europe (prices seem to range from about £130-170).

It will allow you to capture video or still images without the shakes you normally see when you take hand-held video on something as small and light as an iPhone (usually, the smaller and lighter something is the more likely it is to suffer from camera shake).

The Smoothee is pretty small itself (at 20.3x36.8x6.4cm) and is designed initially to be used with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and Flip Mino HD. More mounts for similar devices are in the pipeline.

You can instantly swap the camera mounts between the Smoothee and any tripod thanks to its patented quick-release removable mount, which can also double as a tabletop stand.

Steadicam Smoothee rig for the iPhone from UrbanFox.TV on Vimeo.

By David Fox

iPhone robotic camera mount

Satarii Star Introduction from Satarii on Vimeo.

Shooting yourself on an iPhone and having the camera follow your every move will be possible with a newly developed camera mount that can automatically point the lens at a remote tracker.

The Satarii Star Camera Base has been designed by a start-up company that raised the $20,000 funding it needed online. It should work with any iPhone-sized camera in landscape or portrait mode, such as a Flip or a small PoV camera, and follows the tracker wherever you hold it.

The two developers are hoping that it will be available for sale late this year, probably at about $200, although this will depend on the final feature set, and production costs. There will also, eventually, be versions for larger cameras. It could be very useful for anyone wanting to shoot their own piece to camera, particularly if they can make a larger version that could be mounted on a tripod and take one of the compact camcorders being used by video journalists.

Related posts: Multi-camera iPhone/iOS production, + Steadicam Smoothee rig for iPhone

By David Fox

Multi-camera iPhone/iOS production

Using a new £5.99 app from Apptopus, directors can now do a multi-camera shoot using iPhones or other iOS devices, with up to four iPhones sharing a WiFi network, and do a live mix on another iPhone or iPad.

The app, CollabraCam, also syncs the video to the director's device, and allows the director to communicate directly with each camera, telling them (visually) to pan a shot or move in for a close up.

The video clips are recorded to each camera and transferred to the director in the background. At the end of the production, when the session is saved, the final clips are uploaded in minutes with automatically generated credits.

Video clips can also be exported for editing in another app or saved via File Sharing in iTunes to edit on a computer.

Related posts: Making iMovies on iPad 2 + iPhone + Steadicam Smoothee rig for iPhone

By David Fox

Making iMovies on iPad 2 + iPhone

One of the highlights of Apple's introduction of the faster, sleeker, iPad 2 last week was the demonstration of the new version of iMovie for iPad 2, iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod Touch.

Although the $4.99/£2.99 app only works with 720p H.264 video, it can be used to create good-looking videos, has three audio tracks (plus one for background music), and looks to be about the easiest non-linear editor yet devised, thanks to its touch-driven interface.

Completed iMovie videos can be uploaded directly to CNN iReports (it even comes with an iReports visual theme), YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or MobileMe, which should extend the usage of iPhone footage on these sites even further – it is already one of the most widely used cameras on these platforms.

If Apple were to bring out a similar touch-screen interface (using the iPad) for the next version of Final Cut Pro (rumoured for release at or around NAB), it would be a great alternative to the mouse – there is already an iPad app that can do this in a basic way (Keypad Pro), as well as apps that allow you to use the iPad to control colour correction (such as Gradiest and vWave-Lite).

Paranmanjang – the 1st iPhone movie 

The first feature shot on an iPhone has already been shown in cinemas (in South Korea).

Director, Park Chan-Wook, who previously shot two movies that won festival prizes at the Cannes Film Festival: Oldboy (2003) and Thirst (2009), used two iPhones as his main cameras on the recently-released Paranmanjang (Night Fishing). There were also contributions from smartphones used by various members of the 80-person crew. It wasn't a tiny budget shoot (costing about $133,000 and shot over ten days), and the iPhones were used with add-on lenses and a variety of other rigs, including on cranes.

If you have shot something on an iOS device, there is an iPhone Film Festival next month (closing date March 31st). Entries must be shot 100% with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (although they can be edited on anything), and there will be three main categories: Best Film (Feature Film [over three minutes], Short Film and Series); Best Music Video; and Best Cinematography (Cinematography and Documentary).

Related posts: Multi-camera iPhone/iOS production, iPad puts broadcasters in control + Steadicam Smoothee rig for iPhone

By David Fox

iPad, iPhone + Android prompters

Datavideo's new TP-200 prompter for Apple's iPad is a rail-mounted system that can fit a wide range of cameras. It includes camera and tripod support rails, hood and beam splitter glass, but can also be fitted under the lens for use with retro-reflective light rings.

It comes with software for £330, including a wired controller that lets you control the prompting speed from up to three metres.

It can be fitted in both landscape and portrait modes with mirrored or standard text alignments. The iPrompt Pro software can also drive external displays using standard VGA or Composite video cables available for the iPad. The rig is also designed to accommodate Datavideo's £375 DN-60 solid-state CF card recorder, which can capture AVI, .mov or MXF files, or M2T files for HDV camcorders. It currently connects by FireWire, but there will probably be an HD-SDI version by IBC.

The new TP-100 Smartphone Prompter is similar to its old iPrompter, but can be used with a wider range of on-lens mounts, and includes the wired remote. It currently works with the iPhone, but an Android app will be launched at NAB. It costs £275.

Related posts: iPad puts broadcasters in control + Prompting: There's an app for that…

By David Fox

Free seminars - Join us at BVE 2011

If you are visiting BVE 2011 or The Production Show in London this week (Earl's Court 2 – 15-17 February), please come and say hello.

We'll be delivering our usual seminar (totally revised), Production on a budget, in the Production Theatre every morning at 10am – handy if you want to know which cameras you should have a look at later in the exhibition. We'll be talking about how to choose a camera for different budgets and for different types of production, and offering some tips on how to get the best from the technology. We will be putting up a pdf of the presentation after the first session on our main UrbanFox.tv website.

Also, on Tuesday, Christina will be telling How to survive as a freelancer (at 3pm in the Producer's Theatre – not the same place as our morning seminars), with advice on how to address such important aspects as getting paid, making a name for yourselves, and coping with taxes.

You won't need to pick up tickets for either session – just come along. Previously we've had lots of people standing at the back, or sitting on the floor, so it's probably worth coming early if you're interested (the picture above shows those who came early enough to get seats last year...).

There are many other worthwhile sessions available, free, in a load of seminar areas, although some will require you to queue up for tickets from the Seminar Registration desk (afternoon tickets can't be collected until after 12.30).

At the Production Theatre there will be sessions on multi-camera 3D, 3D commercials, file-based workflows, production management, shooting with a DSLR, and (at the end of each day) How to avoid becoming one of the 95% struggling Digital Film Makers from Den Lennie of F-Stop Academy.

At the Producer's Theatre there will be more on 3D (but aimed at producers), visual effects, getting programmes commissioned, casting, data workflow, drama production, and women in TV.

Also in the Production Show area is the Arri Production Skills Centre (which requires tickets), with sessions on the Arri Alexa, using filters, and lots on lighting, including Lighting on the Run and Energy Efficient Studio Lighting Techniques from the always enlightening Jonathan Harrison.

There is an even more extensive seminar programme at Broadcast Video Expo itself.

The 3D Revolution Programme (tickets required) includes sessions from such notable names as Phil Streather, CEO, Principal Large Format, Steve Schklair, CEO, 3ality Digital, and Chris Johns, Chief Engineer, BSkyB. There will be case studies, sessions on all aspects of 3D production and presentation, and a look at the future of 3D.

The Total Delivery Theatre (no tickets required) will look at IPTV, HTML5, Flash, mobile and online video. It will include a session on Thursday (13.30) by Rick Young, of Mac Video, on Broadcasting to the iPhone and iPad.

Broadcast Meets IT (tickets required) is aimed mainly at broadcasters, with many interesting and expert speakers on such topics as workflows, standards, cloud services, networking and infrastructure, Super-Hi Vision (Ultra HD), and several case studies.

The Audio Room (tickets required) will host a Radio Day on Tuesday, and over the following two days will look at such issues as sound recording, loudness measurement, workflows, wireless microphones, monitoring, audio over IP, and more.

The Post Production Theatre (tickets required), will have lots on 3D post, workflows, codecs, and where the industry is going (on Tuesday and Wednesday). On Thursday it will be devoted to Avid.

Sony's workshops will deal with: 3D Live Production; 35mm World; OLED Monitoring Technology; XDCAM File Based Acquisition; and Professional Audio.

Blackmagic Design will host DaVinci Resolve (colour grading) workshops, while Adobe's seminars will deal with all aspects of its CS5 suite (Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, etc.).

BSkyB prepares for 3D launch

BSkyB began transmitting 3D sports and events to pubs and clubs across the UK in April, where its surveys showed that about 70% of people were very pleased with it. It is launching a new "appointment to view" 3D service to the home in the Autumn (http://introducingsky3d.sky.com). We talked to its chief engineer, Chris Johns, about its plans, which include going beyond the TV screen - he demonstrated how to view 3D on an iPhone.

[UPDATE: Sky's 3D channel will officially start on October 1, with a weekend of golf (three days of live Ryder Cup coverage) and two 3D films, Bolt and Monster vs Aliens.]

Johns was one of the keynote speakers at TVB Europe magazine's 3D Masters 2010 conference, which was held at BAFTA, in London, and organised by TVB Europe magazine.

Related posts: Mastering 3D - from lens to screen, 3Ality check for 3D camcorders, The 3D skills shortage, The 3Ality of the HD to 3D transition, and Sky 3D - setting the standards.

Hague puts HD DSLRs in the frame

B Hague has introduced a new, low-cost camera support system for HD DSLRs. The Hague Digital SLR Camframe costs £64.95.

DSLRs can produce great HD video but are difficult to hold for handheld filming. The Camframe should not only make it easier to hold, but can also provides somewhere to fit accessories, such as an audio recorder.

It has a large camera plate with adjustment forwards and back to get the right balance depending on the lens being used. It can also be repositioned from centre to the left or right to get the camera in the required position. Also on the base of the frame are three mounting points for a monopod or a tripod quick release plate, for going from handheld to tripod mounted with the camera still attached to the frame including any accessories you may have fastened to it.

The Camframe has handgrips on both sides and on top of the frame. On either side of the top handgrip are accessory shoes for an external light or microphone. An additional handscrew is supplied to attach any other accessories to the base of the frame.

Extreme Flymount

Hague Camera Supports is joining forces with Flymount to sell a new mount designed for extreme sports. The new Flymount is a waterproof camera mount for action sports and is strong, compact and lightweight, for use on mountain bikes, windsurfers, quad bikes or hang gliders.

It is made from high grade glass reinforced nylon and stainless steel, to survive salt water or impact (giving you pictures like the one on the right from a Flymount fixed to the top of a windsurf rig). Although designed primarily for waterproof/shockproof cameras, it can be used with any small camera with a 1/4-inch thread.

iPhone Mounts
The improved video performance on offer from Apple's latest iPhone 4 makes it even more likely to be used for low-budget production.

The Hague MMC Mini Motion-Cam stabilizer is claimed to be "the most popular small stabilizer on the market" and Hague has now added a new mount to make it iPhone compatible. It has also released a standard i-Mount for mounting an iPhone onto any standard camera mount, such as a tripod, dolly or monopod.

Related post: Steadicam Smoothee rig for iPhone

By David Fox

iPad puts broadcasters in control

Several systems can turn an iPhone into an on-camera prompter, now there is also a version for Apple's new iPad.

Bodelin Technologies' new ProPrompter HDi is made of lightweight aluminium, into which you firmly clamp the iPad. It has a 16:9 hood and mirror, anti-reflection mask, Camera Bar mount, handheld grip, hood lens sock, and comes in a waterproof carry case.

It costs less than $1,000, although the iPad is extra, as is the ProPrompter App, which is $9.99 from the iTunes App Store. This is claimed to have been the first prompter app for the iPhone, and the latest version allows users to remote sync an iPhone or iPod Touch with the iPad, and use either of them to control the prompter via Bluetooth or WiFi. For a multi-camera shoot, the iPhone can control multiple iPads at once. Of course, an iPhone can also be used in its own smaller rig as a prompter, but won't be readable at the same distance as the iPad.

Videohub controller

Blackmagic Design used an iPad to control the Videohub 3Gbps router that ran all the video feeds around its stand at NAB via WiFi and intends making the app available free on the iTunes App Store. The initial app was created in just a few days, as the iPad was then only newly available.

It meant that someone could change a monitor to a different input with just two taps (first to select the output, then the input you want to go there).

Being able "to walk around cable free and change your video routing from a handheld device is enormously practical," said Simon Westland, Blackmagic's Director of Sales, EMEA.

Script replacement

A lot of TV shows still use paper scripts, just in case the prompter fails. While many news shows now use laptops or in-desk computers as this back up, that option isn't so useful for a standing presenter, which is why Fox affiliate WFXL in Albany, Georgia, has started using iPads to replace paper scripts.

It has bought six iPads for its news shows, but believes the move will save about $9,600 per year in printing and paper costs. The scripts and running orders are created as usual, but then saved as PDFs and emailed to the iPads.

Telestrator too

The US sports network, ESPN has also put the iPad (and indeed iPod touch) to good use, this time as a remote control for a telestrator, allowing presenters and commentators, to control on-screen graphics and draw on the screen, according to a report on Engadget. Rather than creating a telestrator app for the iOS devices, it runs a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) client to control the telestrator's Windows XP-based interface via WiFi.

Related post: Off-the-shoulder prompting

By David Fox

microRemote iPhone wireless focus controller rocks

Redrock Micro has announced a wireless follow focus that can use an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch as its user interface.

The Redrock microRemote can work with cameras that use prime lenses, such as HD DSLRs or the Red One, or video cameras equipped with 35mm adaptors, and is part of a kit designed to make focusing and focus pulls simple and repeatable.

For more details, please see my article on the TVB Europe magazine website.

By David Fox

Steadicam Smoothee rig for iPhone

The smaller and lighter a camera is, the more likely it is to shake when you go hand-held.

Many cameras have built in image stabilisation systems, but some of the smallest and lightest don't, such as Apple's iPhone.

However, there's an app for that, or there soon will be. The Steadicam Smoothee, from Tiffen, is the smallest of the famed Steadicam camera stabilisers.

You simply clip your iPhone 3GS into a holder, fit it to a small carrying system, and you can do smooth looking camera moves, with no shakes.

It will also be available for the Flip HD, and probably for other small cameras in the future. As demonstrated by Robin Thwaites (International Director of Sales, Tiffen/Steadicam), it is quick and easy to set up, and to move. Its iPhone mount can also be used as a table-top stand or mounted on a tripod.

There's no price yet (it'll probably be in the £100+ range), or release date, but probably later this year.