7 September 2009
Spy Post, the San Francisco post house known for its work in commercials and feature film post production, has purchased a Quantel Pablo 4K non-linear color correction system. The Pablo is equipped with a full raft of Quantels MME acceleration technology as well as Quantels Stereo 3D toolset.
The top-of-the-range Pablo has been purchased as part of the major expansion program put in place at Spy Post following its recent acquisition by FotoKem, one of Hollywoods most established post production facilities. The new unit, together with new personnel recruited by Spy Post, means the company can now offer a complete menu of pre-production, production and post production services, including visual effects and design for commercials and feature films. With renovation and expansion work already under way, Spy Post will soon also boast the first commercially available stereoscopic DI theatre in San Francisco, powered by the Stereo3D-equipped Pablo color correction and DI system.
FotoKems Burbank headquarters is itself home to multiple Quantel Pablo systems built around a Genetic Engineering shared workflow infrastructure. All of FotoKems services will be accessible in San Francisco, available either in-house or through a high speed connection to FotoKems Burbank campus.
“The creative and technical excellence of film industry professionals in the Bay Area is world renowned, said Bill Schultz, FotoKem SVP and General Manager, Digital Film Services. Extending our service range to support them is a natural choice. Via our high bandwidth connectivity, we’re able to maintain absolute cohesion in work being produced at Spy Post and our existing facilities in Los Angeles at “Keep Me Posted” and the main FotoKem campus.”
Spy Post has an excellent reputation for the quality of its commercials, FX and DI post work in the Bay area and were delighted that they have chosen to expand their range of services with Quantel technology, said Quantel VP of Sales, Eric Thorne. And combined with the immense resources and capabilities of FotoKem, there is now a formidable new presence in the San Francisco market which will be welcomed by ad agencies and film directors alike.
28 August 2009
Discussions are underway between AFP’s board of directors and the French government concerning the future ownership of the press agency, according to Le Figaro newspaper. AFP CEO Pierre Louette believes the agency needs significant investment to be able to offer services that compete in today’s world and that the current corporate structure, set up in 1957, hampers the ability to raise the necessary money.
But the solution of becoming a company with one owner, for example the French government, raises the question of how the agency preserves its independence.
Rival agencies, such as Associated Press, are facing the same pressures as AFP, caused by the rise of modern methods of sourcing news. One way forward would be to offer specialist services, as Reuters have done for the finance sector.
26 August 2009
Worldwide shipments of set top boxes (STBs) are forecast to increase 4.2% this year, from 131.2M units to 136.7M units, according to iSuppli, the market intelligence company for the electronic industry.
The rise is despite the current economic downturn and is due to growth in the Asian markets and also the growth in boxes for the cable and IPTV markets.
More details of the findings can be found
target=_blank>here
24 August 2009
With its comprehensive worldwide view and the inclusion of online and mobile broadcasting contacts, the 2009 AIB Global Broadcasting Sourcebook will contain over 7000 names of key people in international broadcasting, making it an invaluable resource.
The AIB is busy doing further checks to ensure the accuracy of the details. The Sourcebook will be published in September with first copies being made available to AIB members
24 August 2009
In-Stat’s recently published report on Mobile Analog TV predicts strong growth over the next 4 years for sales of mobile devices which can receive analog TV.
Although the market is moving to digital, In-Stat forecasts that analog mobile TV receivers will do well in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, in the countries that have not yet formulated plans for digital TV or where analog signals will still be transmitted over the next five years.
The reason for this is the wide availability of analog broadcasts and the low cost, under $10, of adding analog reception to mobiles. Whereas digital broadcasting offers many advantages, it is often costly (for subscriptions to 3G or mobile digital broadcasts) or patchy (for TV via the mobile internet).
The worldwide user base of 54M mobile devices able to receive analog TV is forecast to rise to 300M by 2013.
The report was commissioned by Telegent Systems whose solutions enable reception of broadcast TV by laptops, netbooks and mobile devices. The full report can be downloaded from
target=_blank>www.instat.com/promos/09/mobiletv.asp
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18 August 2009
Vizrt announces that Viz Curious Maps 9.1the latest version of its branded mapping and geographic animation software for broadcastwill be introduced during the companys invitation-only Amsterdam Sessions, from September 10th-15th in the Hotel Okura in Amsterdam. Version 9.1 represents a major upgrade to Curious Maps, which is considered the defacto standard for creating and animating electronic maps.
At a time when breaking news can erupt in any corner of the world, its imperative for broadcast journalists to have sophisticated, intuitive map building software capable of integrating high-resolution global satellite imagery, said Ran Yakir, Head of R&D Israel, Vizrt. Curious Maps 9.1 is unrivaled in its ability to build, label, and animate all types of colorful, appealing maps so that broadcasters can effectively illustrate and convey the geographical locations and terrain impacting todays news events.
Viz Curious Maps 9.1 adds several essential features that make it easier to incorporate high-resolution global satellite imagery from several well-respected providers directly into the map building environment.
With Viz Curious Maps 9.1, users may now access digital satellite imagery from online services offered by Vizrt partner, DigitalGlobe. As a leading provider of high-res global imagery, Digital Globe offers an online library of tiled imagery that can now be accessed and downloaded from DigitalGlobe servers directly into Curious Maps 9.1.
This release also adds the ability to incorporate highly detailed 15 meters per pixel (m/pixel) resolution global and regional datasetssuch as Western Europefrom PlanetObserver. Until now, Curious Maps customers have only been able to use PlanetObserver datasets at 150m/pixel resolution.
Since the native 15m/pixel and 150m/pixel resolution datasets share the same natural color quality, its now possible to effect a dramatic, virtually seamless zoom from 150m/pixel images into closer, sharper 15m/pixel views of the same area, said Yakir.
In addition, Viz Curious Maps 9.1 improves the systems Curious Maps Editor (CME) by adding enhanced search capabilities and other usability updates. It also upgrades the map building process, extends support for 3rd party data and improves vector rendering performance.
By means of the Viz Curious Maps server edition, this solution provides realtime, branded map imagery to several clients embedded within Vizrts control applications. Templates created within Viz Curious Maps can be dynamically accessed through the Viz Trio character generator, Viz Content Pilot for template-based graphics, Viz Weather for the production and playout of advanced, realtime weather visualization , and Viz Artist for animation and visual effects creation. With this functionality, users can seamlessly create branded, animated TV maps and add them to graphics templates or insert them directly into 3D scenes.
