Archive for July 5th, 2012

(Los Angeles, CA) The Hollywood Post Alliance(r) – the trade association for the post production community – has announced a new craft award category for independent feature films at the 2012 HPA Awards. The category, which will include three separate awards recognizing color grading, sound and editing, was conceived to recognize the community of post production professionals who work on independent feature films.

The HPA Awards, established in 2006, honor the innovative efforts of post production experts, artists and companies at work in the dynamic and crucial post production arena, and have grown to be seen as the industry’s highest honors. The Awards encompass craft categories including: Outstanding Color Grading using a DI process for feature film, Outstanding Color Grading for television and commercials, Outstanding Editing, Sound, and Compositing for feature film, television and commercials. Entries in this first-ever indie category in the HPA Awards are encouraged, with the hope that the category will take hold and become an important part of the Awards from this year on.

In addition to the craft categories, there are a handful of special awards bestowed during the HPA Awards including; the Engineering Excellence Award sponsored by NAB Show, HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation in Post Production, Lifetime Achievement and the Charles S. Swartz Award, which recognizes broad and lasting contributions to the industry.

Leon Silverman, President for the Hollywood Post Alliance, noted, “Our vision for the HPA Awards has always been about celebrating the high degree of creativity and craft throughout our entire industry. Creating a category specifically focused on the artistic, creative and technical excellence of independent films and filmmakers is a way to ensure that the important work being done within this community could be recognized and honored.”

Entries in the Independent Feature Film categories will be accepted through August 10, 2012. Eligible entries must have been accepted into and premiered at a film festival between September 7, 2011 and September 10, 2012, and must not have executed a distribution contract prior to being accepted at its premier film festival. For complete guidelines and more information about the HPA Awards, visit www.hpaawards.net or call 213.614.0860.

About the Hollywood Post Alliance(r)
Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) serves the professional community of businesses and individuals who provide expertise, support, tools and the infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials, digital media and other dynamic media content.

About the HPA(r) Awards
The HPA Awards were created to foster awareness of post production, promote creative and technical excellence, recognize the achievements of post production talent, and build involvement in the Hollywood Post Alliance. The HPA Awards will be presented with generous support from Premier Sponsor, NAB Show.

# # #

Media Contact:
Ignite strategic communications
p: 818.303.8088
Christine Purse, chris@ignite.bz or Mimi Rossi, mimi@ignite.bz

Console Flexibility and Features Fit Production Style

RENO, NEVADA – A Solid State Logic C10 HD Compact Broadcast Console, is driving the audio in the new HD facilities for Channel 5 Public Broadcasting (KNPB). In addition to local and PBS programming, the station is the only fixed uplink facility in the northern Nevada area producing spot uplinks for the national news and business facilities, such as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg and FOX News. The C10 HD provides the features that fit KNPB’s production needs now, with the flexibility to handle new productions in the future.

“We knew that we wanted a fully digital audio board that would suit all of our current needs and be versatile enough to handle whatever productions we might be doing in the future,” says Fred Ihlow, vice president of technology for KNPB. “After researching virtually every console on the market, we chose the C10 because it gives us everything we need from an operational point of view, at a very good price point. The C10 is the final piece of our HD puzzle and is the ideal solution for our needs.”

The KNPB production studio, located on the Reno campus of the University of Nevada, is a single studio operation consisting of a Master Control, Video Control and Audio Control servicing a 4500 square foot studio space and announcer booth. While the station runs independently from the University, students have access to the facilities to produce internal educational shows. KNPB produces programs that include “A Conversation,” “Stewards of the Rangeland Series,” “Opemline,” and “Tim Janis: Music Across America,”. These productions are, in large part, accomplished through volunteer staff, and it is here that the C10 really shines.

“A majority of our programs are produced predominantly by a volunteer-based staff,” explains Ihlow. “Except for the engineer and director, everyone else is a trained volunteer, so they are not necessarily audio and video professionals. The C10 definitely proves itself as a good investment because, once it is set up for a show, anyone can operate the console. Our professional staff is building presets for the different programs we produce, and a lightly-trained volunteer can easily call up the settings and proceed with the show. The end result is very high-quality programming. Thanks to the excellent audio quality and ease-of-use of the C10, the bar has definitely been raised on our audio productions. In fact, we recently received an Emmy® nomination for one of our shows.”

KNPB purchased the new C-Play and Dialogue Automix options for the C10. C-Play is a fully functional spot and music playout system embedded within the console. Dialogue Automix automates the process of riding the faders in a talk or news show. The way these features streamline operator workflow is especially important for operations like KNPB, which depend on volunteer operators.

“Many of our programs involve panel discussions, probably the most labor intensive and nerve wracking job for live audio production,” states Ihlow. “The Dialogue Automix option for the C10 literally takes all the pressure off this type of situation and, once again, fits perfectly into our workflow.”

Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.

Two Vista Spyder X20-0808 video processors are adding visual punch to the sporting events broadcast at The Owner’s Box, the sports bar located in the new Omni Dallas Hotel. A sports lover’s dream with patio dining and oversized seating areas, The Owner’s Box lets patrons feel the luxury and excitement of being a team owner in a sports-mad city that includes the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

Walker Engineering, Inc. of Irving, Texas, collaborated with the City of Dallas, Matthews Southwest Developers and Omni Hotels on the project.

A glass floor displays newspaper clippings of the Dallas sports scene with a ‘jumble wall’ comprising 13 Panasonic full HD displays presenting dynamic visual content in a random, patchwork-style pattern.

“Each of the 13 displays operates independently or all of them can work in tandem so one game image fills the entire wall through the push of a button or as part of a timed sequence,” said Kip Kendrick, business development and manager of AVL systems for Walker Engineering. “Content is refreshed constantly and we can even brand the wall with vendor or corporate visitor logos: The Omni Dallas Hotel logo ‘pops off’ the wall during transitions and the ESPN Radio logo is haloed onto the wall when the network sets up live broadcasts from the bar.”

The jumble wall is fed content from a Blu-ray player, DirecTV, Apple and Windows computers, and a media server via a Crestron Digital Media switcher. By attaching two linked Spyders to the Digital Media switcher’s inputs and outputs, “the power of the Spyder is harnessed anywhere in the bar they see fit,” Kendrick added.

For example, there are five large-format projection screens above the stunning 60-foot ice bar. “We take advantage of the power of Spyder to show college and pro games on those displays. With the push of a button, the bartender can change the performance mode from unaltered video content to a wave effect – heightening fan excitement.”

Kendrick has used Spyder for worship market installations and live staging and chose Spyder for its stability and ability to pixel map and manipulate high-definition content across 13 screens spread apart. He said the 18-foot by 13-foot jumble wall defies the current trend toward “zero mullions” and, instead, assembles its 13 displays with varying and substantial distances among them.

“We imported a CAD dimensional drawing to Spyder, and it’s incredible how it takes 1920 by 1080 images and maps them across 13 screens with zero degradation to the video,” Kendrick continued. “We ran a Discovery Channel Space Shuttle documentary in full-screen mode in the entire bar – the rocket blast off was so cool to see! It’s also fun watching hockey and NASCAR moving from screen to screen.”

Kendrick praised Vista’s “support and commitment,” provided by Ryan Strope. “Ryan was there during the hotel’s opening day to certify that everything was fully operational. We’re very thankful that Vista captured our vision and made it a reality.”

Jerry Roskin of Walker Engineering was the lead project manager. Eric Dell and Troy Morgan at PanTech Design programmed Crestron touch panels for Spyder control – creating a GUI display of the 13 jumble wall screens and Spyder’s display options.

A Meyer surround sound system provides seven audio zones for patrons to listen to games or enjoy background music.

Boston Pops Calls on DPA Annually for the Nationally Broadcast Live Event

BOSTON, JULY 4, 2012 – The Boston Symphony Orchestra has once again tapped DPA Microphones for its nationally broadcast, live Boston Pops Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular. Held annually in the Hatch Shell at the Esplanade along the Charles River, the concert and fireworks show hosts nearly 400,000 attendees. As the most watched Independence Day performance in the U.S. each year, the Pops have continued to rely on DPA Microphones to ensure that audio at the Spectacular is as magnificent as the rockets’ red glare.

With limited rehearsal time and over one hundred production inputs, the Pops needed gear that sounded good from the start and worked dependably. DPA Microphones fit the bill for miking the orchestra, and the audio crew made good use of several of the company’s equipment options during the event. DPA could be found across the stage throughout the evening’s performance, with the d:vote™ 4099 instrument microphones in the strings section, 4023 compact cardioid microphones on the piano and in the woodwinds section, and 4066 omni headset microphones worn by the vocalists and narrators.

While there were many DPA microphones on stage, revelers and home viewers would have had to look closely to find the gear during the show. “One thing we like about the DPA line is that they have lots of low-profile miniature capsules and microphones that are ideal for television projects,” says Steve Colby, Boston Pops sound designer and music mixer for the TV broadcast of the Spectacular. “DPA makes it easy to use a lot of microphones but not have the gear in the way of the camera shots, which makes the directors happy.”

The discreet nature of the DPA microphones used during the performance wasn’t the only thing that drew Colby to the brand. Since the Fourth of July concert is held at an outdoor venue, Colby and the Pops needed microphones that could withstand the extreme weather changes of a summer day in Boston.

“We were looking for exceptionally high-quality, great-sounding microphones that were robust and dependable in semi-hostile outdoor conditions, such as heavy rain and high temperatures,” continues Colby. “We’ve had great luck with the DPA line. There are a lot of other high-end microphones that we’ve used throughout the years, but sometimes those were tough to use in the high-humidity conditions that often roll in over the city. DPA has been very dependable in these situations.”

In addition to using DPA Microphones for the Fourth of July Concert each year, the Boston Pops Orchestra also relies on DPA’s 4023 and d:vote 4099 microphones for most of its theatrical performances, whether it’s a simple presentation or a full Broadway-style show.

“Another thing we like about the DPA microphones, and the 4099s in particular, is that, unlike a lot of other clip-on microphones, they sound really good,” declares Colby. “Usually, there’s a tradeoff between having a microphone attached to an instrument and having a great sound. But, whatever DPA has done, they’ve created a microphone with audio quality that is very good and true to the sound of each instrument, even when placed very close”

The first Boston Pops Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular took place in 1974, at the suggestion of Boston-area philanthropist David Mugar to Pops Conductor Arthur Fiedler. The idea was in place to revive the then-diminishing Esplanade Concert Series by playing Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” with a few added extras. The next Fourth of July, howitzer cannons, fireworks and church bells were all added to the concert and, for the first time ever, a July Fourth fireworks display took place over the Charles River.

Now, 39 years later, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is known as the premier Independence Day celebration in the nation. Each year, since its inception, hundreds of thousands of people come from all over the country to the banks of the Charles River to celebrate America’s birthday, while another seven million tune in nationally on the CBS television network to view the event during a live one-hour primetime special.

ABOUT DPA:
DPA Microphones A/S is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.

For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com.

Devon, UK, based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialists S+H Technical Support again supplied its innovative LED Video Floor to the latest series of high profile television games show, The Cube – via producers Objective Television.

The series is recorded at Fountain TV Studios in Wembley, London, and broadcast on ITV 1.
Presented by Philip Schofield, contestants can win up to £250,000 of prize money by completing straightforward tasks within a 4 x 4 metre Perspex cube, which becomes extremely challenging with the addition of disorientating visuals and sonic effects plus the pressure of being in front of a live audience.
As such, the video floor has an integral role in the show’s overall concept.
S+H’s product was specified by set designer Julian Healey as a versatile, robust and cost-effective solution to run their floor based immersive visual effects. He has used it before and it was also chosen for its excellent ‘white’ settings.
The floor of The Cube was comprised from 36 panels of Video Floor making a 3.6 metre square surface area.
The Video Floor is a completely bespoke 18.75 mm video tile product available only through S + H Technical in the UK. It was originally seen on the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Using the ‘DIP’ system of three RGB LEDs positioned next to each other to populate the LED PCBs – as opposed to SMD boards – this produces a specific quality of pixel which is ideally suited to the Cube’s gaming video content displayed on the floor.
The floor of The Cube becomes a volatile and unpredictable physical boundary with which contestants have to deal and overcome whilst they perform the tasks!
The selection of video content is delivered by games software company, Lumina.
S+H has 200 panels of Video floor in its hire stock which is out constantly on a variety of projects. Apart from TV shows, it’s also very popular for making interactive bar floor areas at events, for ‘live’ dancefloors at parties and spectacular fashion show runways, where the anti-skid properties and thermal management systems ensure maximum safety.
Tough and well-engineered, it has a high-abrasive resistance and a strong aluminium alloy transparent covering, so it can be directly trampled on and stomped over with no ill effects. The panels can also be joined seamlessly for continuous ‘runs’ of video.
The airtight design is IP68 rated and so also good for exterior work and the modular design makes it quick, easy and user-friendly to assemble.
S+H’s Video Floor has also been used on The Cube roll outs in the Ukraine and Portugal.
S + H’s Terry Murtha comments, ““The Cube is one of the current flagship programmes of ITV and to be commissioned to provide such an important element of it is truly excellent. To then gain the work on the Portuguese and the Ukrainian versions as well is totally awesome!”

TORINO, Italy – HARMAN’s Soundcraft and Studer’s Italian distributor, Leading Technologies Srl, along with sister company Sound Light & Technologies (SL&T) recently participated in an exciting recording project with RAI Radio, using a combination of Soundcraft and Studer digital mixing platforms in order to optimize the sound.

The vast production of Rossini’s famous La Cenerentola (Cinderella), which involved around 250 members of cast and technical crew, was mixed on a combination of three Studer Vista 9 and Vista 5 consoles, with three further Soundcraft V1 desks providing backup. These were used in four different scene locations: while the actors, singers and choir were variously located in Parco della Mandria in Venaria, Palazzina di Caccia and Palazzo Reale in Torino, the orchestra was recorded remotely at the Auditorium RAI in Torino.

All locations were linked by fibre or radio bridge to give the actors the sense of performing in real time with the orchestra-and a Studer stagebox was positioned in each venue.

On duty were two Vista 9 consoles (configured with 52 faders), a further Vista 9 with 42 faders and a 42-fader Vista 5 located in the OB truck, which were used for mixing the Orchestra and actors’ microphones, as well as for 5.1 post-production, while the three Soundcraft Vi1 consoles were used for pre-mix of secondary inputs and backup.

A multitrack recorder received the audio via a MADI port on the Vista 9. The orchestra required 68 microphone channels on the desks with a further 12 channels for the choir (who were based in the same location as the actors).

RAI Radio provided technical staff while SL&T provided personnel support and other ancillary equipment from the HARMAN Professional portfolio, such as JBL EON loudspeakers and AKG microphones and headphones. AKG C414 XLII and various K141 and K702 microphones were used for mixing and monitoring by the musicians and engineers.

The La Cenerentola recording marked the latest success in a long relationship between Italy’s national broadcaster and SL&T/Leading Technologies.

The event itself was transmitted live around the world over a 2-day period in early June and the DVD, produced by Rada Film, will be available soon for marketing and promotion.

RAI Radio has the technical production rights for La Cenerentola, with Antonio Ciano taking overall audio responsibility, Fiervisaggio Giorgetti, technical project and installation supervisor, Marco Diodato and Domenico Narducci as Vista 9 engineers and Dario Chiapino as Vista 5 engineer.

Rada Film has the production rights for Cinderella under the authorisation of Andrea Andermann with the direction of Carlo Verdone. Providing the technical interface between Rada Film and RAI was Alessandro Bernardi.

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(r), Harman Kardon(r), Infinity(r), JBL(r), Lexicon(r) and Mark Levinson(r). 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 $4.3 billion for the twelve months ended March 31, 2012.

LONDON, JULY 3, 2012 – DPA Microphones were on board as more than one million people lined London’s famed River Thames in early June to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee with a River Pageant involving 1,000 boats. In typical British style, the weather was dreadful, with heavy rain doing its best to spoil what was supposed to be the highlight of the UK’s Diamond Jubilee weekend.

The cold, wind and rain proved no match for the DPA microphones, supplied by Thames Audio, and the unsung heroes of the event. Even in atrocious conditions, the microphones worked perfectly and guaranteed that the orchestras and choirs delivered a seamless performance. The microphones also ensured that the master recordings of the event would be forever timeless.

Among the DPA gear used for the celebration were the DPA 4088 Directional Headset Microphones, which were used to mic the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir. The group performed alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Symphony, the final of the ten Herald music barges to participate in the pageant. Photographs of the 12 choristers, soaked through and with their hair plastered to their faces, were transmitted around the world for days after the event – and there in the pictures were (among others) DPA’s sturdy microphones on the choir girls, doing their best to defy everything Mother Nature could throw at them.

“We chose these DPA microphones because they are small, unobtrusive and have a very directional quality,” says Thames Audio director Pete Cox. “This meant we were able to record the orchestras without picking up too much of the surrounding acoustics. Given that the Academy of Ancient Music musicians were in an acoustically dreadful see-through marquee, and accounting for the noise from the strong wind and rain, this was a very important point. The microphones were only a few feet from the PA but still gave us plenty of gain before feedback.”

DPA Microphones were also spotted on two of the other four music barges equipped by Thames Audio. Fourteen DPA d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphones could be found alongside musicians from the Academy of Ancient Music, which performed Händel’s Water Music aboard the Edwardian. Additionally, 30 musicians from The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Plymouth, one of the most famous and highly regarded military bands in the world, relied on DPA while they sounded their horns aboard the Valulla. For this portion of the performances, Thames Audio equipped the musicians with additional d:votes for the trombones, French horns and cornets. DPA 4060 Miniature Microphones were taped onto the clarinets and saxophones, with a few others mounted on the helmets of the musicians playing piccolo.

“All of our DPA microphones delivered exceptional results, and the damp conditions didn’t daunt them at all,” Pete Cox adds. “The sound quality remained fantastic throughout, and we were very pleased with the results we achieved.”

Thames Audio sourced part of its stock of DPA microphones from freelance sound engineer Ian Barfoot, who was also recruited to handle the sound mixing throughout the day.

“I have a large selection of approximately 70 DPA microphones, all of which were sourced from DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network,” say Barfoot. “I use them for all sorts of concerts, including a lot of Rock and Roll work, because they always perform exactly as they should. They are very forgiving, and you can put them through hell and back without having to worry about them. If I don’t have DPA microphones to work with, I tend to throw my toys out of my pram.”
The music performed during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant, believed to be the Thames’s most spectacular in 350 years, was recorded by the BBC for both broadcast and archive purposes. Live coverage of the event was transmitted to BBC Big Screens in 22 locations throughout the United Kingdom.

ABOUT DPA:
DPA Microphones A/S is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.

For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

Mexico undoubtedly knows how to celebrate. When the country recently marked the 150th anniversary of Cinco de Mayo – the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla, which halted an invasion by the French – it pulled out all the stops with an array of festivities and special events. Clay Paky Sharpy fixures and grandMA2 lighting consoles were on hand for the Cinco de Mayo Spectacular, the nighttime gala orchestrated by Five Currents, the production company for the 2011 Pan American Games Ceremonies in Guadalajara Mexico and countless other spectacles. A.C.T Lighting is the North American distributor of both Clay Paky Sharpy and grandMA.

The Cinco de Mayo Spectacular, hosted by former Miss Universe Ximena Navarrette, featured star-studded tributes, an appearance by the Mexican president and a massive display of fireworks. It was staged at the Guadalupe Fort in Puebla; the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Televisa broadcast the event nationwide.

Lighting designer David Grill, of David Grill Associates, Inc. in Mahwah, New Jersey, specified a grandMA2 for control of some 375 moving lights during the Spectacular and utilized a second full size MA2 as a backup console. A grandMA2 light served as the focus console remote. Solotech furnished the complete system.

“There was a massive main stage for the headline talent,” he reports. “Then there was the fort in the background. And the hill between the two that was a performance area as well. So everything in the environment was really part of the shot.”

Grill opted for the grandMA2s “because of the strength of their networking,” he says. “Stuff was everywhere, so we needed the efficiency of using the MA network. It made things really simple thanks to its processing speed. The way the system deals with effects enabled us to quickly do things that would have been much more time consuming on other consoles. We could also create all sorts of little visual mapping tools that made Pauls’ life much easier. All of this from a system dramatically more user-friendly than anything else.”

He adds that, “We had great support from MA in transitioning from grandMA, which we had been using, to grandMA2. And A.C.T took good care of us.”

Lighting director and programmer Paul Sonnleitner was accustomed to doing shows of the scale of the Spectacular, but this was his first with grandMA2. “I really liked the layout feature, which helped me manage the three distinct areas,” he says. “I could actually draw out where the fixtures fell. It’s a great tool for large rigs: You can see what color they’re in, what gobo. You can see the whole rig as a unit and grab large areas and change things without knowing the fixtures’ channel number.”

He also praises the grandMA2′s effects engine, which “has come a long way. It’s fun to build effects from scratch and add them to the MA toolkit.”

Grill deployed a complement of 44 Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads, which were mounted on the H truss at stage right for the headline talent and behind the main stage as backlights. “I’ve used them before on shows I’ve directed, but this was my first as a designer,” he says. “I love them to death. They’re incredibly bright, come in a small package and don’t chew up a lot of power. You cannot possibly get anything else at 189W that has a beam that bright.”

About A.C.T Lighting

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

For more information call 818-707-0884.