Archive for March 8th, 2012

Indianapolis, Indiana – March 8, 2012: In the fractured and multifarious landscape of modern media, the Super Bowl stands as a monolith, gathering the nation together before its television sets to partake of common experience. Indeed, this year’s game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots was the most-watched program in television history, earning 111.3 million viewers. Of course, the modern Super Bowl experience includes much more than football. In addition to the multi-million dollar commercials, many are drawn to watch the celebrities and celebrity performances. This year, Country Music’s first couple, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, kicked things off with a rousing duet. Shelton was later featured in his judge’s chair on the season premier of NBC’s hit, The Voice. At halftime, Madonna starred in a richly choreographed medley of her chart-toppers (to the tune of 114 million viewers – more than the game itself!). Rock-solid Sennheiser RF equipment gave everyone involved as much peace of mind as one dare hope at this, the most critical of all mission-critical events.

With a stirring rendition of “God Bless America,” Lambert and Shelton gave the Super Bowl a patriotic commencement. Lambert sang into a new custom-made pink Sennheiser SKM 2000-XP handheld mic with an MMD 935-1 capsule that was created for this event. Shelton sang into a Sennheiser SKM 5200-II handheld mic with an MD 5235 capsule. “On such a high-pressure show with so many top-of-their-field experts managing such a massive logistical undertaking, one has to be adamant to get the mics you want,” observed Brad Baisley, the duo’s monitor engineer. ”Of course, Miranda used her new pink Sennheiser microphone, and Blake the Sennheiser SKM 5200. The top end is always superb, the sound is natural, and Miranda and Blake know how to work those capsules. Of course, Sennheiser’s RF has always been rock-solid for us, and that was proved once again at the Super Bowl. In addition to their great products, the assistance from Sennheiser’s Tim Moore was fantastic. He was extremely helpful in ensuring we had the equipment we needed in the appropriate frequency ranges.”

To put the magnitude of the Super Bowl in perspective, Madonna’s 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet tour – the highest grossing tour by a solo artist and the fourth highest grossing tour of all time – played to 3.5 million people in just over a year’s time. If you crunch the numbers, Madonna would have to play over thirty such tours back-to-back to match her one-time TV-land attendance at the Super Bowl! “Once the show starts, there’s not a lot you can do if something goes wrong,” said Matt Napier, Madonna’s longtime monitor engineer. “The best – and really the only – thing you can do in a situation like that is to have the best equipment available and to prepare thoroughly. I trust Sennheiser in Madonna’s high-stakes concerts, and that trust was rewarded with a perfect performance at the Super Bowl.”

“On tour, we have our own dedicated RF tech,” said Napier. “But as a general rule, we keep things simple and reliable by using Sennheiser wireless exclusively and their Wireless Systems Manager software, which is an effective tool for managing our frequencies.” Madonna used the Sennheiser HSP 4headset at the start of the medley and then switched to a Sennheiser SKM 5200-II handheld Blake and Mirandatransmitter with an ME 5005 capsule for the remainder. All of Madonna’s guests (Nicki Minaj, MIA, LMFAO) used Sennheiser SKM 5200-II handheld transmitters with Neumann KK 104 capsules. Cee Lo Green’s mic used the MD 5235 capsule. Sennheiser EM 3732 receivers captured the on-stage magic for the wired world beyond. Finally, Sennheiser 2000 Series wireless personal monitors rounded out the equipment list for Madonna at her request.

“No matter where we’re playing, the combination of the Sennheiser SKM 5200-II transmitter, ME 5005 capsule, and EM 3732 receiver delivers fantastic audio quality and reliable, flexible RF performance,” said Napier. “Together with Sennheiser’s 2000 Series wireless personal monitors, we’re high fidelity start to finish, with rock-solid reliability and easy frequency coordination. In addition, having the full support of Sennheiser affords me peace of mind. We needed a gold-plated SKM 5200-II transmitter for Madonna and a chrome SKM 5200-II for Cee Lo. With no time to spare, Kristy Jo Winkler and Tim Hunten, Sennheiser, and Jason Bellamy at Soundtronics arranged the delivery of these transmitters. The mics were on their way the same day. That kind of service means a lot in this industry. A big thanks goes out to the Sennheiser team!”

Oktobor Animation has relied on Shotgun software to manage all facets of their production pipeline since opening their doors in 2010. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Oktobor Animation was founded with Nickelodeon as their primary client, and the studio currently delivers animated programming to the cable channel. All work is done in-house and projects include the animated series “The Penguins of Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda” as well as the upcoming buddy-comedy, “Robot and Monster.”

In any given week the company has a minimum of two 11-minute shows in the layout pipeline, eight 11-minute shows in the animation pipeline and twelve 11-minute shows in CG post production; in just 19 months Oktobor has delivered 630 minutes of final animation. “Shotgun is the backbone of almost everything we do,” said Rob Di Figlia, Head of Production, Oktobor Animation, who over his fourteen year career tried a host of other solutions before finally landing on Shotgun, “We were in production the first week we were open so we had to hit the ground running. We needed an efficient task-based management system where an artist could sit down, publish, ship work and have it all tracked from one centralized location. Shotgun hit all of those requirements and was easy to integrate. Over the past 19 months, we’ve been amazed at how it’s been able to scale.”

Shotgun is a web-based system that provides instant project access to critical data, messaging and real-time project progress. With an open API, studios can build custom tools and bridges to other applications around Shotgun. Oktobor Animation has grown very quickly, from zero to 135 artists in its first 12 months and was able to evolve and customize their use of Shotgun on the fly, “As we were ramping up, new departments were literally coming online each week. We didn’t have to go back into code to create new reports and pages—that’s been the greatest strength of Shotgun, it’s very customizable at the user level,” said Jason Adams, Creative Director at Oktobor Animation.

“Everything we do touches Shotgun—it’s more than just a tool, it’s a platform. We’ve set it up so that you can’t open Maya without it querying Shotgun to bring up an artist’s work for the day,” Di Figlia continued. “We’ve been able to automate so many tasks within Shotgun and have defined tools that update shot progress within the system without requiring any manual input from the artists. Shotgun is also set up to let our packing department know what assets are ready to be shipped out at the end of each day—and is updated automatically so that at any given time our clients can log in and see the latest progress on any given shot. It’s an out of the box solution that we’re able to implement like a proprietary tool designed specifically for our studio’s needs.”

There are, on average, about 6500 tasks per week across each of the departments in the studio, in addition to these core production tasks, Oktobor also manages HR functions, finances, billing, candidate recruiting, vacation requests, contractors, machine and software inventory and IT tickets all within Shotgun, all with custom levels of access for different departments and personnel and all in one central location.

“Without Shotgun we’d have to have a small army of producers and PA’s to track the volume of data moving thru our studio on a daily basis,” concluded Di Figlia. “With Shotgun, those resources are freed up to put more money on the screen, which leads to happier clients. Shotgun becomes more indispensible every day as we continue to shape it to meet the needs of our studio.”

About Shotgun Software
Shotgun Software was founded in 2006 by a group of visual effects professionals to build production tracking and pipeline solutions. The founding members worked together on a major studio animated feature and are developing Shotgun to fill the mounting industry need for a commercially viable system for managing complex projects spread across multiple locations. Shotgun is actively developing the system with more than 300 industry studios including Digital Domain, Double Negative, Reliance, Framestore, Pixomondo, Playstation, Blizzard and Zoic Studios. For more information and an online demonstration visit www.shotgunsoftware.com.

Hollywood, CA, March 9, 2012 – In just two and a half weeks, Hollywood-based VFX company Dilated Pixels (DP) created and produced over 60 VFX shots for a special, recently-aired episode of FOX TV’s hit series “Fringe.” The announcement was made today by Dilated Pixels’ founding members, TJ Sakasegawa, Jeff Balis, Rhoades Rader and PJ Foley.

For the “Fringe” episode entitled “The End of All Things,” Dilated Pixels
digitally produced a virtual set with visuals representing the creation of the universe, as well as a series of visually integrated flashback images relating to the episode’s storyline. DP developed the look for the entire episode, created intricate simulations, and composited all of its VFX shots within a greenscreen set environment.

DP’s Derek Smith, in-house VFX Supervisor, led the team on this project, while working directly with Jay Worth, VFX Supervisor for “Fringe.” Smith joined Dilated Pixels last year.

Jay Worth said, “Working with Dilated Pixels has been a real pleasure this season on ‘Fringe.’ It’s always a risk to start with new vendors and artists in an established show because much of the time there is a learning curve as to the show’s aesthetic. The team at DP got it right away and was able to deliver on a couple of very difficult concepts with exceptional results. For the episode ‘The End of All Things,’ I threw a bunch of new ideas for our mythology at them – going inside the mind of one of our characters, seeing galaxies, the big bang and finding an interesting visual representation to display memories is not an easy task in less then three weeks. And of course the shot count went up by 50%… and the team nailed it on every front. The results were awesome and remarkable.”

Derek Smith said, “Creating a high volume of visual effects is never easy with a small team on a TV production schedule, especially when those effects need to represent something as abstract as the inside of a character’s mind! Thankfully we had access to some very talented and dedicated artists at Dilated Pixels, and I feel that the dedication to the craft really shines through in the finished sequence.”

Adds PJ Foley, Dilated Pixels co-founder, “This was really a significant project for us, as it was a high profile – and pivotal – episode within the ‘Fringe’ story arc. Working closely with the producers and show VFX supervisors to develop the unique, effects-driven sequences featured in ‘End of All Things,’ given a very quick turnaround time mandate, was a challenging and rewarding experience.”

ABOUT DEREK SMITH:

After spending several years creating 2D and 3D effects for commercials, corporate video, and film, “Fringe” VFX Supervisor Derek Smith then entered into the world of prime-time television as a lead artist on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” where he eventually made the transition to VFX Supervisor. His work on that show earned him an Emmy Award and two VES Awards.

ABOUT DILATED PIXELS:

Founded in 2007 by Rhoades Rader, Jeff Balis, TJ Sakasegawa and PJ Foley, Dilated Pixels is a full service visual effects, motion graphics, main title and live action production company based in Hollywood, CA. Since its founding, the company has blossomed not only as a noted visual effects house, but also as a one-stop production shop for commercials, music videos, and short-form web content from videogame companies, advertising agencies, brands, and notable directors.

The company’s staff is comprised of VFX artists and supervisors with a wide range of experience across all areas of computer generated visual effects. Dilated Pixels handles all aspects of any size CGI production, including concept design in pre-production, to on-set VFX supervision, and through to the creation of the final CGI elements for film, TV and web. Also featuring HD editing facilities, Dilated Pixels can deliver high-end visual effects through a highly efficient means of creation, maximizing the CGI- production-to-cost ratio for its diverse group of clients.

Clients of Dilated Pixels include FOX, Discovery, SyFy, Sony, Screen Gems, Lionsgate, Universal, Warner Bros., and CBS. The company is located at 6121 Sunset Blvd., Suite # 103, Hollywood, CA, 90028. The phone is 323/466-0930, and the web is www.dilatedpixels.net

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NORTHRIDGE, California – HARMAN’s JBL Professional today announced the release of LSR4300 Control Center Software for the Apple Macintosh OSX Lion platform. Existing and prospective LSR4300 Studio Monitor owners will be pleased to know the Macintosh Lion-compatible software is now available for download at www.jblpro.com/lsr.

JBL’s LSR4300 Series studio monitors offer groundbreaking features for computer-based project studios, post-production and broadcast facilities. Using LSR4300 Control Center Software, LSR4300 system functions can be controlled from computer-based digital audio workstations, allowing unprecedented functionality at the mix position. With networked features for computer users, digital connectivity, and an automated version of JBL Professional’s RMC™ Room Mode Correction system, the LSR4300 Series integrates seamlessly with computer production systems while providing greater monitoring accuracy even in acoustically-less-than ideal production environments.

The JBL Professional LSR4326P (powered 6-inch 2-way system) and the LSR4328P (powered 8-inch 2-way system) include HARMAN HiQnet™ network protocol that enables system-wide intelligence and allows speaker features to be centrally controlled from the mix position by computer or supplied wireless remote control. Control Center software provides control of volume, analog or digital input source selection, solo, mute, and EQ, for all networked speakers, removing the need to purchase an outboard speaker controller. Additionally, the software allows the user to create custom EQ presets, store and recall system configurations and view settings of the RMC system.

“We engineered the LSR4300 Series to address the needs of today’s computer recording customer,” said Peter Chaikin, Director of Marketing, Recording & Broadcast, JBL Professional. “With exceptional accuracy, RMC Room Mode Correction and software control, the LSR4300 Series studio monitors deliver outstanding performance in any room.”

JBL LSR4328P and LSR4326P Series Studio Monitors are available in pair packs that include an accessory kit containing LSR4300 Control Center Software, a calibration microphone, remote control, USB and network cables. Current LSR4300 owners can download Macintosh OSX Lion software free of charge, from the JBL Professional Website: www.jblpro.com/LSR.

Apple, Macintosh, OSX and Lion are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.2 billion for twelve months ending December 31, 2011.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – March 6, 2012 — iPi Soft, LLC, announced that iPi Motion Capture™ Version 2.0 — the next generation in the company’s scalable line of markerless motion capture technology — is scheduled for availability in Spring 2012. Featuring improved accuracy and workflow enhancements, the new version increases support for female characters, as well as an array of motion sensor devices, including ASUS Xtion and Kinect for Windows.

Michael Nikonov, Founder and Chief Technology Architect of iPi Soft, notes that given the interactive nature of today’s 3D video games, designers need reliable and accurate desktop tools that go beyond recording a traditional 2D video of an actor to help meet the challenges of compositing believable characters into immersive 3D environments.

“Motion capture is such an expressive medium for video game developers and digital filmmakers and the advancements coming to version 2.0 will provide users the ultimate solution of a personalized, markerless motion capture desktop solution for creating truly believable 3D character motion,” said Nikonov. “Despite the incredible diversity of CG worlds created by today’s video game designers, realistic human characters remain the core of compelling storytelling in most videogames today.”

Introduced in 2009, iPi Motion Capture has been gaining momentum as a professional and reliable alternative for capturing animation data without the need for expensive facility space, clumsy sensor suits with reflective markers or a team of technicians. The software uses sophisticated image processing and computer vision algorithms to recognize and track the human body and lets users shoot video using one or two MS Kinect motion sensing input devices or three to six Sony PlayStation Eye cameras. The digitally captured movement is then applied to a 3D character and rendered as part of a video game or a computer generated movie. One area of growing interest is with machinima, the animation genre in which filmmakers use iPi Motion Capture and existing graphics from videogames to create something wholly original.

For David Gonzalez, President of Mission Critical Studios, a New Jersey-based developer of mobile games, the software has proven to be a game-changer in how they work.

“iPi Motion Capture is so powerful and cost effective,” Gonzalez says. “It’s fantastic to be able to come up with an idea and in a few minutes record exactly what you want and apply it to your characters. iPi is what mocap should be all about — making your ideas reality in a matter of minutes.“ [Note: Additional information on Mission Critical Studios’ use of iPi Soft motion capture software solutions is available here: http://www.ipisoft.com/pr/mission_critical_ch.html]

Key Highlights of iPi Motion Capture Version 2.0
With the new iPi Motion Capture Version 2.0, customers can take advantage of:
• New actor appearance models and skeleton structure with improved accuracy in multiple person tracking, props tracking and head/hands tracking
• New project file format, including data for fingers and props
• Improved tracking accuracy
• Optimized tracking of female characters
• New custom “iPi Video” format with useful features specific to motion capture use
• Better video compression offering higher compression ratios, a plus for users dealing with large amounts of recorded video
• Support for new devices: ASUS Xtion and Kinect for Windows
• Depth and RGB video recording for ASUS Xtion sensor
• Support for latest official Kinect for Windows drivers
• Workflow improvements such as “New project” wizard that makes it easy for new users to get started, and “Recent files” caching for advanced users.

Pricing and Availability
iPi Soft makes available three editions of its entry-level markerless motion capture technology – Express, Basic and Standard – that differ by the set of available features and complexity of motions that can be tracked. The new iPi Motion Capture Version 2.0 is scheduled for release in Spring 2012. iPi Soft products are available directly from the web site and its worldwide distribution channel.


About iPi Motion Capture:
iPi Motion Capture is a markerless motion capture software tool that uses sophisticated image processing and computer vision algorithms to recognize and track the human body. The scalable system supports dual Kinect cameras working at the same time on the same PC capturing complex motions, including 360-degrees turns. It also supports other inexpensive off-the-shelf equipment such as PlayStation Eye cameras and webcams.

iPi Motion Capture brings a totally new workflow paradigm to filmmakers, CG animator broadcast motion graphics designers, videogame developers and prosumers in entertainment, military and other vertical markets. Captured animations do not exhibit artifacts like jitter or foot skate and can be exported in popular animation formats including FBX, BVH and COLLADA. The software is compatible with many leading game engines, 3D software applications and animation rigs, including MAXON CINEMA 4D, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3D Studio Max, DAZ 3D DAZ Studio, Poser, Valve Source Engine, Unreal Engine, Unity and others. It also includes an integrated motion transfer engine and supports accurate motion retargeting for custom rigs.

About iPi Soft:
Launched in 2008 by CEO and Chief Technology Architect Michael Nikonov, iPi Soft, LLC is the Moscow-based developer of iPi Motion Capture, a markerless motion capture software tool that uses sophisticated image processing and computer vision algorithms to recognize and track the human body. The company’s breakthrough technology digitizes the movement of a human skeleton, rendering it in expressive 3D characters for video games or computer generated films. For additional information on iPi Soft, product pricing or a 30-day free trial please visit, http://www.ipisoft.com.

Efficient Workflow Results in High Quality, Vendor-Ready 3D Models;
Process Dramatically Simplifies Lighting and Texturing of Digital Humans



The University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), Icon Imaging Studio, Lightstage LLC and House of Moves (HOM) collaboratively pioneered a new process to create digital doubles for the recently released Journey 2: The Mysterious Island from New Line Cinema, Contrafilm Production and Warner Bros. Pictures. The mysterious island is a place few people have ever seen. It’s a place of stunning beauty, strange and threatening life forms, volcanoes, mountains of gold and more than one astonishing secret. To capture the full extent of the fantastical action, digital doubles were created for the film’s main actors: Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzman.

Journey 2 visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis put a coalition of Academy Award®-winning talents on the task and they applied their respective crafts to revolutionize the way digital doubles are created. ICT’s Light Stage 6 captured full body lighting scenarios simultaneous to the scanning of character topology by Icon Imaging; Lightstage LLC recorded the actors’ facial shape and appearance at the level of pore detail and fine creases; and HOM contributed character rigging and conducted mocap sessions. All facial and full body data, lighting and textures were captured in just a few hours resulting in the creation of high quality digital doubles that were VFX vendor-ready with minimal time required of the A-list talent.

“When you have many VFX studios working on a project and they are just getting raw data, you can get vast discrepancies in shots with digital doubles. This is time consuming and expensive to correct,” said Shermis. “For Journey 2, we wanted to create a single data set with high-res geometry, texturing and lighting as well as a skeleton with a fundamental range of motion for all our vendors to use for their characters. Working with ICT, Icon, Lightstage LLC and HOM, we were able to fuse their individual proprietary technologies to create a new process that was convenient for the actors with amazing results.”

This collaboration represents the first commercial use of ICT’s Light Stage 6, a 26-foot diameter sphere outfitted with over 6000 LEDs and multiple cameras that digitize full body texture and reflectance data. By devising a way to insert Icon Imaging’s 3D scanning system into the Light Stage 6 dome, lighting data and full body scanning could be derived simultaneously resulting in immediate photo-quality 3D textures and eliminating a lot of time consuming steps along the way. Taking data from two completely different systems and getting them to align posed a challenge to all teams involved, but they refined a custom process for lining up the geometric lighting information with Icon’s 3D scans using reference points.

“With this process, the VFX vendors on the show were able to start at the 50-yard line so to speak instead of working from scratch and laboring through the tedious R&D process of building digital doubles,” added Paul Debevec, who heads up the Graphics Lab at ICT and developed both the Light Stage 6 and the technology behind the facial scanning Light Stage used by Lightstage LLC. “With the physical proximity of ICT, Icon and House of Moves, talent was in and out having had their body scan, texture, lighting and mocap data all captured in under three hours.”

“Paul and I had designed equipment completely separately but with the same purpose in mind. We took it over to ICT’s LS6 and it was kismet that it all fit perfectly – that was the easy part,” said Domi Piturro, President, Icon Imaging Studio. “We had to do some technology wrangling to make our systems complement each other but conceptually they were meant to join and in the end this new digital double system saves a huge amount of time while providing the highest quality possible. Perfect models literally went straight into productions without even one call for revisions.”

Once scanning was complete, the 3D model data was sent to HOM. The actors walked across the street – literally – to the HOM stages. Full body motion capture was completed on HOM stage 2, which is equipped with Vicon T160 cameras, to stress test character movement. HOM then tracked and retargeted the data to package for the VFX vendors.

“This process is going to redefine how digital doubles are made for film,” said Brian Rausch, Vice President of Production, House of Moves. “Before this process, mocap could not be completed until the models came back from VFX studios. The pipeline deployed on this project not only expedites the process, but now production companies have complete control over all the different layers of a character, how the light reacts with the character and their range of movement – something they haven’t really had before.”

Many of the film’s wide sweeping shots, such as travel montages, exteriors and wide angles of the beach featured digital doubles.

“With this digital double pipeline, the models are the best quality I have worked with and we were able to get them into production with the VFX studios quickly,” Shermis said. “I definitely foresee using this process again on future projects.”

About House of Moves
House of Moves has been the go-to studio for film, television, game and commercial creatives for over 10 years and has recently worked on projects for clients including Microsoft, Activision, EA, Bandai, Rockstar Games, Capcom, THQ, Naughty Dog Studios, SCEA, Bungie, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount and others. In addition to the HOM main stage, the 26,000 square-foot facility is also home to a full performance capture volume capable of recording simultaneous high-quality audio with a capture session without any interfering background noise. House of Moves is part of the OMG (Oxford Metrics Group – LSE: OMG), plc., family of technology companies. http://moves.com/

About Icon Imaging Studio
Icon Imaging Studio is one of the leading studios in the industry that specializes in highly realistic and complex 3D scanning, surfacing, modeling, photography and texture mapping. The studio combines a unique balance of the best artistic skills while utilizing the most advanced technologies. Equipped with an array of cutting edge hardware and software, Icon Imaging develops new technology to drive and push the creative needs of high profile films and game projects such as I Am Legend, Superman Returns, Fantastic Four, Madden NFL, Guitar Hero, Fight Night and Tony Hawk. http://iconstudio.com/

About the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies
At the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, high-tech tools and classic storytelling come together to pioneer new ways to teach, train and entertain. ICT’s Graphics Lab develops techniques for creating and displaying photorealistic computer graphics of people, objects and environments. The Graphics Lab’s Light Stage scanning systems have been used to create realistic digital doubles in feature films including Underworld 4, Avatar, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Spider-Man 2, King Kong and Superman Returns. The Lab’s 360 Degree Light Field Display won the Best Emerging Technology award at SIGGRAPH in 2007. http://ict.usc.edu/


About Lightstage LLC
LightStage LLC is a cutting edge, facial capture and digital acquisition company. Utilizing and expanding upon the LightStage technology developed at ICT, Lightstage LLC possesses the ideal tool set and pipeline for the creation of photo-real characters and digital assets. Lending its services to numerous films and other media projects, LightStage LLC has raised the bar in the area of high fidelity facial capture for motion pictures, television, and video games.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Tiffen leverages NAB 2012 to debut new and innovative solutions that range from production to post for broadcast and motion picture professionals
 
Hauppauge, NY – March 8, 2012 – The Tiffen Company, a leading manufacturer and distributor of award-winning accessories for the still and video imaging, motion picture, and broadcast markets, is pleased to announce its presence at the upcoming 2012 National Association of Broadcasters show (NAB) to be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from April 16 – 19 (booth C8818). Tiffen will be unveiling a number of new solutions across its legendary brands, which include: Tiffen optical filters, Steadicam, Lowel-Light, Davis & Sanford Tripods, Domke Bags, and Tiffen Dfx digital filter suite. “NAB is undisputedly the venue to debut our new and innovative professional product lineup for broadcasters and motion picture professionals,” comments Steve Tiffen, CEO, The Tiffen Company. “Our engineering teams have been working hard at developing the next Tiffen blockbusters, and I am confident that attendees are going to love what they see on the show floor at the Tiffen booth.”
 
The NAB 2012 Product Lineup – What to See at the Tiffen Booth
NAB press and attendees are invited to stop by the Tiffen booth (C8818) for a look at the newest technology gear and products from the following Tiffen brands:
 
• Steadicam: Considered the de facto standard for camera stabilizers by professional broadcasters and motion picture artists, Tiffen will exhibit the full line of professional video and film Steadicam solutions as well as the highly popular hand-held Merlin product.
 
• Lowel-Light: Lowel-Light will be showcasing four fixtures of the recently released Lowel Prime™ LED lighting system. Lowel Prime™ LEDs are brighter than many similarly sized production LEDs, with a wider, more usable 50-degree beam angle. Lowel Prime LEDs are fully DMX addressable and dimmable, and available in dedicated high CRI Daylight and Tungsten color models.
 
• Tiffen Optical Filters: Tiffen filters are manufactured using the company’s award-winning ColorCore™ technology, which enables Tiffen to control the color and density of its filters with greater accuracy than typical dyed-in-the-mass filters. In addition to showcasing the red-hot Variable ND, Digital Ultra Clear and Digital HT Filters, Tiffen will debut brand new filters for motion picture and broadcast professionals.
 
• Tiffen Dfx 3.0: Simulating 2,000+ popular award-winning Tiffen glass filters, specialized lenses, optical lab processes, film grain, exacting color correction, plus natural light and photographic effects, the Tiffen Dfx digital filter suite is the definitive set of digital optical filters for both amateur and professional photographers and video enthusiasts worldwide.
 
• Domke Camera Bags and RuggedWear Gear: For over 30 years, photographers from amateurs to pros have relied on the quality and reliability of Domke’s weather-tough camera bags, accessories, and utility clothing. Environmentally friendly, these durable products feature cotton canvas treated with non-solvent waxes, giving the fabric a lifelong resistance to inclement weather and a classic, distressed look and feel.
 
• Davis & Sanford Tripods: Tiffen will be unveiling a new line of Davis & Sanford tripods at NAB 2012. Designed for the professional shooter, the new Davis & Sanford Tripod Pro Elite Series incorporate the same high-quality engineering with outstanding price-performance value.
 
• Listec: In addition to demonstrating the brand new Listec Promptware PW-04, a mini teleprompter that turns your smartphone, iPod touch, and similar devices into a professional teleprompter, Listec will be showcasing a slew of new innovative teleprompters, including a model for tablets and Steadicam.
 
In addition to viewing Tiffen’s showcase of exciting new products, NAB attendees are encouraged to stop by the booth to participate in daily raffles for the chance to win one of Tiffen’s award-winning photo accessories or other great prizes, including Steadicam Smoothees and Apple iPod products as well as hear special presentations from Tiffen imageMAKERS.
 
Book A Private Press Briefing
To set up a press briefing with a member of the Tiffen management team or a private product viewing, please contact Anya Oskolkova at anya(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com.
 
About Tiffen
Tiffen has been a leading manufacturer of photographic filters, lens accessories, software, and camera accessories for the consumer/professional imaging and the motion picture and broadcast television industries for over 70 years. The company has a rich history of innovative product design, superior optical consistency, and unparalleled quality. Tiffen has been recognized for its product and engineering excellence, earning two Technical Achievement Awards and a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as well as an Emmy® Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Today, the company offers a wide range of products, which include: Tiffen® filters, Steadicam® camera stabilizing systems, Lowel® light, Listec™ teleprompters, Tiffen Dfx® digital imaging software, Domke® bags, Davis & Sanford® tripods, Zing® camera covers, Stroboframe® flash brackets, Saunders® professional trimmers, and Kodak Wratten® filters. Tiffen continues to enhance its reputation as a leading imaging accessory manufacturer through aggressive growth in the image-making accessory industry.
 
For more information on Tiffen, please visit: http://www.tiffen.com.
 
Tiffen is a registered trademark of The Tiffen Company. All other trademarks and products mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
 
Press Contacts
Tiffen North America
Anya Oskolkova
Zazil Media Group
anya(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com
(p) 617.817.6559
(skype) anya.oskolkova
 
Janice Dolan
Zazil Media Group
janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com
(p) 617.817.6595
(skype) janicedolan
Tiffen International
 
Bob Pank
bob(at)pank(dot)org(dot)uk
(p) +44 (0) 134 283 6056
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Dalet Enterprise Edition manages prep and production for long-form content and archive; additional Dalet systems drive news production and broadcasting for 20 television, 10 radio channels, scores of production studios
 
Levellois-Perrot, France – March 8, 2012 – Dalet Digital Media Systems, a leading developer of Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions, software and services for broadcasters announced today the initial deployment of Dalet’s advanced Media Asset Management platform and specialized video and audio solutions at the recently opened Astana Media Center (AMC) in Kazakhstan. Four Dalet Enterprise Edition systems will provide the operational MAM backbone for the center’s many workflows including: production / program preparation for long form and episodic TV series for broadcast; the country’s National Media Archive; news production; and radio broadcasting.
 
When it formally opens in May 2012, all of the country’s national TV and radio stations, the National Media Archive as well as other prominent, international broadcasters will operate from the new, 24-story state-of-the-art facility which features several multi-camera studios, auditoriums and event venues, office space as well as several indoor and outdoor multimedia presentation screens.
 
“Astana will be one of the most advanced production facilities in the region offering content producers the most relevant and sophisticated studios and tools for creating high quality content for national and syndicated distribution”, says Stephane Schlayen, Chief Operating Officer, Dalet SA. “We’re very pleased that Kazakhstan’s government and our integrator Akfa Teknoloji have incorporated Dalet technologies as part of the country’s ground-breaking expansion in media production.”
 
While Dalet Enterprise Edition provides the MAM backbone across systems, AMC will also rely on Dalet’s specialized toolsets to streamline many tasks associated with each unique workflow in the facility. For example in program prep, the toolsets facilitate ingest, content enrichment, language subtitling, version management, quality control, compliance, approval processes and promo production. In addition AMC will use Dalet’s dedicated toolsets for end-to-end news production as well as multichannel television and radio operations. The AMC Dalet systems are scaled to handle at least 450 simultaneous users across the production, news, radio and archiving units.
 
“With its modern infrastructure and tools, the Astana Media Center will be a magnet for content producers and entertainment companies,” says Vladislav Bogusevich, Technical Director for AMC. “It was very important that we select a technologically advanced system that can address current and future needs while proving state-of-the-art tools for the creative community. With Dalet’s proven and global experience, including many successful installations throughout Russia, we felt very confident about using Dalet at AMC. It puts us in the top tier of production and broadcast facilities. It was equally important to have a robust MAM system to securely manage our country’s official media archive. Dalet has the power and flexibility to meet the very precise and specialized needs of archivists as we preserve our media heritage.”
 
Dalet Enterprise Edition facilitated multiple integrations with many different systems to ensure a seamless production and delivery chain for AMC. These include Netapp and Omneon Media Grid storage, Final Cut Pro editing systems, Vizrt ContentPilot graphics, Pharos automation, Evertz video routers, Rhozet Carbon transcoders, Omneon Spectrum video servers, QualStore tape library with Xendata archiving software, among others.
 
“This project is a tremendous undertaking, offering the most innovative systems for all types of video and multimedia content production in the region. With capacity for 20 TV channels, 50-video edit suites, 10 radio stations and 35 audio production suites, it was essential that we incorporate Dalet’s Media Asset Management system to effectively manage the high volume of content, different workflows, media and metatadata for content production and broadcasts at AMC,” says Fatih Aktas, Chairman of Akfa Teknoloji. “On the production side, Dalet’s integrated tools for TV, radio and news production are very easy to use and fully integrated for streamlined and efficient workflows from ingest through archiving and multiplatform distribution.”
 
About Dalet Enterprise Edition
Dalet Enterprise Edition is a highly customizable Media Asset Management (MAM) platform that enables broadcasters and content producers to integrate multiple workflows and formats – news, sports, programs, VOD, archives in SD and HD – under one fluid system. Key elements include the built-in multimedia content catalog, enterprise search engine with a comprehensive set of user and group access rights, and tools to track metadata. The powerful Dalet Workflow Engine, based on the latest Business Produces Management (BPM technology) orchestrates end-to-end workflows both at the user level and in the back office, automating many background tasks to streamline production.
 
A wide range of Dalet production tools can be packaged with Dalet Enterprise Edition to meet the needs of specialized workflows for program prep, news production, archiving and broadcasting. Users have the right tools for the job right at their desktops whether for ingest, logging, production, captioning, subtitling, QC or news gathering, newscasts or live sports coverage. Dalet Enterprise Edition also increases efficiency and collaboration by managing distribution and archiving across systems and workgroups. A comprehensive Web Services API that meets the principles of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) provides point of access integration to interface 3rd-party systems. With full integration, media is made ubiquitous while metadata is expertly tracked across the entire production chain.
 
About Akfa Teknoloji
Akfa Teknoloji has been offering technology and integration solutions to premier media companies in Turkey, Asia and the Middle East for more than 14 years. Akfa represents top-of-the-line international brands, helping our customers in audio, video, education and broadcast with an experienced team of professionals in sales, systems integration and support as well as exceptional customer service and dedication.
 
About Dalet
Dalet solutions enable broadcasters and media professionals to create, manage and distribute content to both traditional and new media channels, including interactive TV, the Web and mobile networks. Dalet combines into a single system a robust and proven Asset Management platform with advanced metadata capabilities; a configurable workflow engine, and a comprehensive set of purpose-built creative and production tools. This integrated and open environment enables end-to-end management of the entire News and Sport and Program content chain, and allows users to significantly improve efficiency, and to maximize the use and value of their assets. Dalet’s solutions are delivered through a dedicated Professional and Integration Services Department to ensure the highest possible standards.
 
Dalet systems are used around the world by many thousands of individual users at hundreds of TV and Radio content producers, including public broadcasters (ABS-CBN, BBC, CBC, DR, France TV, RTBF, RFI, Russia Today, RSR & TSR, RT Malaysia, VOA, WDR), commercial networks and operators (Antena 3, Canal+, FOX, eTV, Mediaset, Orange, Time Warner Cable, Warner Bros., Sirius XM Radio) and government organizations (Queensland JAG, Canadian House of Commons, The European Commission). Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0011026749, Bloomberg DLT:FP, Reuters: DALE.PA.
 
Dalet is a registered trademark of Dalet Digital Media Systems. All other trademarks and products mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
 
For more information on Dalet, please visit www.dalet.com.
 
Press contact:
Janice Dolan
Zazil Media Group
(p) +1 617-817-6595
(e) janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Media Prima Berhad, Malaysia’s leading integrated media investment group, currently owns 100 percent equity interest in TV3, 8TV, NTV, TV9, Hot FM, Fry FM and One FM. Due to the demand of listeners in the east coast communities of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur-based Hot FM—part of Media Prima subsidiary, Synchrosound Studio Sdn Bhd—recently opened two new regional studios in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu, with four new HARMAN Studer OnAir 1500 digital mixing consoles supplied by local Studer and HARMAN Professional distributor, Mahajak Trio Electronic Sdn Bhd. These are the first OnAir 1500s to be delivered and commissioned in Southeast Asia.

Each station has been built with one main and one backup studio using the Studer OnAir 1500 12-fader console, with the result that Hot FM has quickly become Malaysia’s No.1 station in these eastern states.

According to Mahajak Trio Senior Manager, Sales and Project, Lee Chin Kah, a reliable, highly flexible and cost-effective solution had been required by the station. “Studer’s reputation is legendary in the audio industry and the attractive new OnAir 1500 product fitted the needs of our customer perfectly.”

Since acquiring the Malaysian distribution of all Harman Professional products, including Studer, Mahajak has set about offering a complete one-stop solution to broadcasters.

They were quick to want a demo of the OnAir1500, emphasizing its suitability for a regional studio such as Hot FM. “It ticked all the boxes and most importantly fitted their budget while still providing them with all the advance features they required,” Lee noted. “This newly developed digital mixing console is innovate, attractive, flexible, easy to configure and at the right price point.”

“Furthermore, no advance programming skills are required,” Lee added. “The OnAir 1500 has all the features available in Studer’s complete range of OnAir consoles and provides a fully scalable platform of solutions to broadcasters.”

Despite its advanced feature set, the OnAir 1500 console boasts a compact form factor and is super slim for ergonomic table top installation and ease of relocation. The NANO SCore engine frame contains all the control and audio functions, with standard XLR sockets, making any additional breakout panel unnecessary. Future audio expansion is possible with the two separate card slots on the back of the NANO frame.

With over 15 years experience working on both TV and Radio projects (including previous projects for the Media Prima Group), Lee Chin Kah understands the precise needs of the customer—a fact readily acknowledged by Keith Prestidge, Sales Director of Studer Asia Pacific. This has enabled the Mahajak Trio team to offer first class product support, including console user and maintenance training, which took place at the station’s Bandar Utama HQ.

The station’s broadcast engineers have taken to the new consoles immediately. “They like the easy-to-use GUI, which is critical in a live self-operation studio environment, and the simple installation, as well as the unique touch and action concept of controlling the console intelligently. Advanced features can be accessed quickly, while the intelligent colour coding system will steer the operator to the exact control required very quickly,” Lee reported.

A spokesman for the Media Prima engineering team was equally positive: “We needed a console that was reliable, well supported locally, fully featured and flexible to meet our workflow needs—but at the same time it still needed to meet our tight budget. The Studer OnAir 1500 console was the perfect fit.”

The four new OnAir 1500s will now feature as key parts of Hot FM’s daily news and music programming, while taking network feeds from the National Broadcast Centre in Bandar Utama, while each studio can go live and produce local programs for the regional states. Although the consoles are primarily configured as ‘on air’ consoles they are multipurpose in nature, and recording and automation program voice tracking are some of the other applications where they will be used.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.2 billion for twelve months ending December 31, 2011.

SHELTON, CT, MARCH 8, 2012—For more than 20 years, Anton/Bauer®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, and a premier global provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, has crisscrossed the globe with Buck McNeely, host and producer of the outdoor adventure television series The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely. From the frozen wilderness of Siberian Russia to the steamy jungles of Africa and many points in between, Anton/Bauer designs its products to deliver consistently reliable performance even in the most challenging shooting environments. Perfect for McNeely and his crew, Anton/Bauer batteries power the thrilling video that has propelled the exciting series to become the largest syndicated outdoor adventure program in the world. The crew’s recent two-week, on-location filming of an African safari is the latest example of Anton/Bauer batteries’ ability to ensure the show goes on, even in the most extreme environments.

McNeely and his crew traveled to Africa to film a safari storyline about a father and son documenting African wild life. The crew filmed stock footage of a virtual menagerie of animals in their natural habitats, including elephants, rhinoceros, baboons and Cape buffalo.

“In extreme climatic conditions, from deserts to the frozen wastes of the Arctic, and mountains to swamplands, we’ve found that Anton/Bauer products hold up,” says McNeely, founder, Outdoorsman International and producer of The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely. “They perform very well, even in the chaotic filming environment of chasing wild animals as they leap and bound across the African plains. We also like the longevity of the Anton/Bauer batteries, because when we’re shooting, it’s usually from dawn to dusk. Additionally, the batteries are very portable, which enhances our ability to get into remote locations and shoot great footage.”

Currently, The Outdoorsman crew is relying heavily on DIONIC® 90 and DIONIC HCX batteries. Also in the crew’s arsenal are two CINE VCLX batteries, which are used during production with monitors, lights and wireless receivers. McNeely was drawn to Anton/Bauer almost two decades ago, when he found himself in the snow of the Rocky Mountains with a dying battery right before a crucial shot. At that moment, McNeely knew he needed a more reliable and durable power source. Today, he carries six to eight Anton/Bauer batteries when his crew goes on location and uses four batteries on average per day.

The DIONIC 90 was designed by Anton/Bauer to deliver consistently reliable performance even in the most challenging shooting environments on Earth. It offers a RealTime® display that continually updates the operator on how much run time remains and on the state of the current charge. Weighing only 1.7 pounds, the DIONIC 90 can be transported without restriction under the IATA and DOT safety regulations (http://www.antonbauer.com/Support/TransportationInformation). The 95 Wh battery can handle a maximum load of six amps, and offers run times ranging from six hours at 15 watts to 1.75 hours at 50 watts.

The DIONIC HCX offers 124 Wh battery capacity and a unique motion detection sensor, which puts the battery to “sleep” after a two-day period without a power draw. This feature significantly reduces self-discharge and provides extended storage and battery life with nearly zero capacity loss. To “awaken” the battery, customers need only move or attach it to a device. When airplane travel is required, DIONIC HCX users can carry on up to two batteries per person per flight.*

While in Africa, a region where unusually high power surges are typical, The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely crew experienced severe issues with power spikes. In one incident, an extremely high power surge caused a spike to break through a surge protector and incapacitated a charger. McNeely located the nearest Anton/Bauer dealer, who immediately provided a contact for assistance. After having the charger fixed, another power spike completely incapacitated the charger, necessitating the need for a replacement charger. The Anton/Bauer dealer came through again, providing a loaner to ensure that production would not be halted in any way.

“Anton/Bauer means reliability. From its dealers to customer service to the folks at the corporate office, Anton/Bauer comes through every time,” says McNeely. “The Anton/Bauer team helped us to overcome our challenges and put on a great production…in fact, we may even have enough footage for half a dozen new episodes based on the content we shot in Africa. If not for Anton/Bauer, this excursion would not have been nearly as successful.”

*All carry-on / checked baggage passenger rules should be verified with your specific carrier prior to travel. For more information on Li-Ion travel, refer to www.antonbauer.com.

About Buck McNeely-Outdoorsman International
Buck has been producing THE OUTDOORSMAN TV series for 27 years. It is the largest syndicated adventure series in the world. It airs on over 500 TV stations in the USA and is in International distribution also. Visit www.outdoorsmanint.com for more info.

About Anton/Bauer
Anton/Bauer is recognized as the world’s innovator and a premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other key mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries. Based in the United States in Shelton, CT with offices in Europe and Asia, Anton/Bauer was established in 1970 and has expanded its product offerings to include many signature lines such as its leading Gold Mount® system, InterActive® chargers and Logic Series® batteries such as the HyTRON® 50, 100 and 140, and DIONIC® 90, 160, HC and HCX. Their products are compatible with every camera brand on the market today. Other Anton/Bauer high performance products include the Ultralight® 2, ElipZ®, CINE VCLX and the Tandem 150 Modular Charging System. Their superior-quality products have become an industry standard. For more information on Anton/Bauer, visit www.antonbauer.com.

About Vitec Videocom
Vitec Videocom brings together some of the most respected, most innovative and most sought-after brands in the industry: Anton/Bauer, Autoscript, Litepanels, OConnor, Petrol, Sachtler, Vinten and Vinten Radamec. It acts as an endorsing brand for these market-leading broadcast, film and pro video products, encouraging multi-brand system sales and simplifying the way that customers worldwide do business.

Vitec Videocom is an operating division within the Vitec Group, an international business serving customers in the broadcast, photographic and military aerospace and government markets. Vitec is based on strong, well known, premium brands on which its customers rely on worldwide.

Vitec Videocom – innovative products around the camera.