This was a great APP in the iPhone but it’s 10x better in it’s new HD iPad guise…fantastic are my words to describe this APP.

[xr_video id="9f3ab044a0b4408aa61f283a324b09dc" size="md"]

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

It’s ironic that small independent production companies these days are streets ahead of local broadcasters when it comes to just about any part of video production. In the central belt of Scotland we have two main broadcasters…the BBC and Scottish Television (STV).

Both broadcasters are still using outdated SD camcorders for news output, STV are still supplying a cameraman with his trusty 10 year old Panasonic DVC-PRO camcorder and a reporter while BBC Scotland are sending out Video Journalists or VJs as they are technically called with Sony HVR-Z5s recording in DVCAM mode. The word is that good old STV are looking to hit rock bottom by training up VJs and “doing away” with fully trained cameramen for news…BAD MOVE !!!

Nothing being recorded for news so far this year is future proof …as the future is HD…so what’s the problem ? One guess…money ! News does not in practice make a broadcaster any money in fact it’s a large drain in resources. If they could they would drop local news programming altogether and feed us with generic news from London but their is a law that decrees a certain amount of local output including news must be produced by local broadcasters.

This lack of finance spreads throughout the broadcasters like a bad smell hampering any commitment to HD let alone solid state…Panasonic do not make tape based camcorders any more and Sony will soon be the same…tape is officially dead ! Solid state is now so good and getting cheaper there is no excuse to stay with tape.

The technical boys at the BBC state that 50Mb/s is the least the BBC will accept when at least 15% of HD programmes are being made with Sony EX-3s running at 35Mb/s so who’s kidding who. The problem is easily solved with the introduction of a NanoFlash, the HD-SDI out of an EX-3 or the far superior PMW-350 is 4:2:2. This means you can output 4:2:2 into a NanoFlash running at 50Mb/s or higher complying to any broadcasters HD needs.

Sadly if you ask around STV most people have not heard of a NanoFlash nor can 50% of their outdated Avids accept HD or Quicktime files…it’s a joke. The BBC are more “HD conscious” because they were built as an HD digital HUB but their news is still SD which makes it no better than the History Channel when it comes to local event SD archiving. The BBC are using EX-3s with NanoFlash recorders piggy backed, recording high quality HD programming though I do hope they swap the EX-3 for the PMW-350 which would give them 2/3″ lenses, lower noise and lower light filming.

One other point …local independent cameramen don’t know which way to go, they too are stuck with outdated DSR-450 SD camcorders and mainly hire HD camcorders as once again everyone is specifying different camcorders from Panasonic HPX-3700 P2 to Sony HDW-650s using a digital tape. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, formats don’t help the situation, P2, SxS, XDCAM, HDCAM, SDHC, CF the list goes on though out of the six I have named P2, XDCAM and HDCAM are the only formats that need special dedicated card reader/disc reader/tape player.

If the broadcasters want some friendly free advice don’t nail your HD flag to a “dedicated” format…SDHC and CF cards are available world wide so you won’t be stuck if you run out of cards in the middle of China. Lets not forget the new HD Canon XF305 camcorder running at 50Mb/s…4:2:2…no interchangeable lens but more than a match for anyone producing medium to low end HD programming and better still running onto CF cards.

The future will not thank the short sightedness of todays broadcasters for continuing to produce SD news footage when a fairly cost effective solution exists today in the shape of a NanoFlash and lets not kid ourselves 35Mb/s SxS HD footage is more than acceptable for HD news output.

Conclusion…We have two local broadcasters with two entirely different objectives the BBC are firmly committed to producing programming, more and more towards HD…then we have STV who are committed to produce programming at the lowest common denominator. The BBC are guaranteed a budget…STV are loosing advertising revenue. My solution for STV is to employ someone who can produce local adverts and programmes that are worth watching !

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

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For more information on Mojo, please visit www.MojoProAudio.com

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

I received an email from a fellow professional who bought into Sony’s Z7/MRC1 system this is what he had to say…

“Hi Philip, i have recently purchased 2 Transcend CF Memory Cards, 32 GIG,400 speed, pleased with the price, but having nothing but grief when using them with my Sony Z7 Camcorders and the MRC 1 Memory recording unit.

After searching the internet I discover CF recording problems all over the place along with corrupt footage using the Sony MRC1, it seems to be an unreliable unit and is possibly a reason why it’s the only unit in Sony’s range to use CF cards.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

I have a good friend who want’s to buy a Sony PMW-350L, NanoFlash, Sony PVM 740 OLED monitor etc, etc. Before he commits to purchase the camcorder he got me to check if the 350 outputs HD-SDI and composite video at the same time…NO ! Now this is not an issue for me because I don’t have a Super Bright Transvideo wireless  video monitor costing £3000. My friend John uses this piece of kit a lot as some directors enjoy wirefree monitoring.

Sony bring out a splendid camcorder in the 350 and by all accounts looks like you will get HD-SDI 4:2:2 out of the back socket and 525 SD out of the side VIDEO OUT but NO….instead you get HD-SDI 4:2:2 and HDMI but no composite out of the VIDEO OUT. At this time of writing Sony have not got back to me but be assured I will have an answer from them this week.

You would think a firmware update would solve this oversight.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Please note the picture you are viewing is a digital photograph straight off the screen. It’s not a Photoshop job !

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd