Archive for December 16th, 2011

WAYNE, NJ – WSET-TV, the ABC affiliate in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va. (DMA #66), has transitioned to local HD news with new ProHD cameras from JVC Professional Products Company, a division of JVC Americas Corp. The station recently purchased eight GY-HM790Us and eight GY-HM750Us, which will be used for studio and ENG work.

Affiliated with Arlington, Va.-based Allbritton Communications Company, WSET-TV is one six Allbritton stations that is standardizing on JVC ProHD cameras for studio and ENG work. The new cameras are part of an overall transition to local HD news production for all stations in the group.

This summer, WSET-TV connected three GY-HM790U cameras via fiber optic cable in the studio, avoiding the need for triax and additional cable bundles. “It was a huge quality upgrade for us in our studio,” said K.C. Spiron, WSET-TV director of operations and engineering. “We get plenty of power to run the monitors we need and it works well.”

In September, WSET-TV starting shooting ENG footage exclusively with its new ProHD camcorders. Spiron said the shooters quickly embraced the use of non-proprietary SDHC media cards and JVC’s native file recording technology, which provides ready-to-edit footage for the station’s Adobe Premiere CS5.5 NLE workstations.

“They love the ease of use and the flexibility. Focus Assist is a big help,” Spiron added. “From an engineering perspective, the quality is very good and they are very easy to configure. We were still tape based until this switch, so this has vastly improved our workflow. We use the JVC ProHD Clip Manager [software] for logging as well.”

With a lightweight, shoulder-mount design, the GY-HM750U delivers outstanding 1920×1080 images and can record HD footage in 720p, 1080p, and 1080i, as well as SD footage (480i). Ideal for ENG news, sports, and other location shoots, it offers the industry’s fastest shoot-to-edit workflow by recording native HD or SD footage in ready-to-edit file formats on low-cost SDHC memory cards. Plus, a new feature allows simultaneous recording to both SDHC cards for instant backup or client copy.

ABOUT JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY
Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC Professional Products Company is a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of JVC Kenwood Corporation. JVC is a leading manufacturer and distributor of broadcast and professional video and audio equipment. For further product information, visit JVC’s Web site at http://pro.jvc.com or call (800)582-5825.

CULVER CITY, Calif. – John Naveira, a 21-year veteran of Sony Pictures Entertainment, has been promoted to executive vice president, Post Production at the studio, it was announced today by Gary Martin, president of Production Administration. In his new role, Naveira will oversee a staff of ten as they implement all aspects of post production, from budgeting to digital delivery/answer print, on all titles at the studio. He will assume the position vacated by James Honore, who retires this month after 26 years working at the studio. more

Las Vegas-based Advanced Entertainment Services (AES) has been supplying cruise ships with special effects equipment for the last 20 years, including vessels for the Carnival, Holland America, Costa, Radisson and Crystal cruise lines. AES recently outfitted the Carnival Magic, the newest ship from Carnival Cruise Lines, with Viper S and Power-Tiny foggers from Look Solutions.

“I’ve seen an increase in Look Solutions’ presence on the last few ships we’ve done,” says AES’ Matt Dillingham. “The previous ship we supplied had five or six Tiny Foggers, some Power-Tinys, and a couple of Viper S foggers. Carnival Magic has six Viper S systems and two Power-Tinys.”

Several strong, compact Viper S foggers are used in the ship’s main theater. “Smoke is pumped through a customized delivery system that AES fabricates, to create a wall of smoke that images are projected on,” Dillingham explains. “Other Vipers, custom fitted with air-assist modules we’ve made, are used to create quick blasts of smoke coming out of the stage floor. They essentially create a CO2 jet effect without using CO2.”

He says he chooses Vipers for their “continuous steady output at a very low percentage – they’re the only machines with that capability that I’ve seen so far. I’ve found that all the other machines tend to “puff” the smoke out at less than 10 percent.”

The Power-Tiny units are mounted to flying set pieces in the main theater. “The Power Tinys are perfect for tight spots. These particular units are used to create the effect of smoke coming out of the stack of a locomotive set piece that flies in and out during the show,” he says.

“Everything has been working really well,” Dillingham reports. “I’m very happy with how conservative the units are with fluid – which was a big factor in their selection. Also, the foggers are extremely reliable. The Look machines seem to require less maintenance and repair than other units on the market.”

About Look Solutions

Based in Germany, Look Solutions manufactures high-performance fog machines, haze machines, battery-powered mini-foggers, low-foggers, accessories and fluids at reasonable prices. Look Solutions USA, located in western Maryland, serves customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For more information, or to request a demo machine for evaluation, visit www.looksolutionsusa.com or call Hunter Totty, Director of Operations, at 1-800-426-4189. Look Solutions’ Technical Service line is 646-300-0520.