In Broadcast - December 2014 - 55

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 38 - DECEMBER 2014

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

N E W S

InSTUDIO

Technology In The Newsroom -
Why Innovation Matters
Newsroom technology has helped streamline the operations and rationalise the studio environment...
By Karen Walker
Product Director at Vitec Videocom

he newsroom has developed
and evolved over the last few
years into a lean, cost-effective and
efﬁcient operation. This change has
been supported by advances in
technology and a move towards
more automation throughout the
newsroom systems.
As much as the environment has
changed, four key features have
remained the same; accuracy,
reliability, quality and performance.
Directors, producers, camera
operators, and even the talent, need
to be able to rely on the technology
and equipment in order to execute
their roles, so much so that kit
with these features is considered
standard. Vitec Videocom brands
Vinten, Autoscript and Vinten
Radamec have a long history
in providing solutions for the
newsroom environment.

Camera Supports

Some of the most essential
pieces of technology in the studio
environment are the support
equipment, such as the pedestal.
The most popular pedestals
combine balance with impressive
height ranges in order to deliver a
better range of shots - with smooth
XY motion and intuitive steering
for tracking shots. Working in
collaboration with an appropriate
pan and tilt head, these pedestals
ensure camera operators can
perform a myriad of tasks with
minimal effor t - positioning,
tracking, raising, lowering, panning
and tilting - and can capture a wider
range of shots that make for more
compelling programming.
The role of this supporting
equipment, like the pedestal, is
to complement the camera's
performance. Vinten's full range
of products incorporates the

company's renowned Perfect
Balance technology that ensures
no matter what the camera size or
payload, performance is guaranteed.
Vinten also supports the
increasing use of augmented
reality in the studio environment -
particularly for large events such
as elections. The aim of such a
system is to seamlessly composite
an image of a real background with
a computer generated view of a 3D
model, so that it appears physically
real. This requires highly accurate
pan and tilt positional information
for the camera, which is typically
provided by encoded heads such
as the Vinten i-Series.
This high level of precise tracking
is also incorporated into Vinten
Radamec's Quattro SE manually
operated pedestals. This range is
ideal for use in a virtual studio, as
the high quality precision encoders
have been integrated within the
pedestal's wheels and column to
ensure the tracking is accurate and
on target for every shot, a crucial
requirement for the augmented
reality environment.

Around The Camera

Another crucial element of the
newsroom ecosystem is the
prompting solution. The Enhanced
Prompting Information Centre
(E.P.I.C.) from Autoscript is an
excellent example of an all-in-one
prompter display and on-air talent
monitor that provides a simpliﬁed,
power efﬁcient, ﬂexible solution.
Operating in live broadcasts, it is
vital that the prompting software
ensures that the operator's job is as
easy and stress free as possible. In

Vinten Radamec's Advanced Positioning System (APS) uses passive targets

Vitec Videocom Autoscript WinPlus offers live script updates to iOS devices

addition to the WinPlus Newsroom
prompting system that operates
to the highest standard in the
newsroom, Autoscript recently
launched an iOS-based prompting
system, WinPlus Remote, that
enables talent in the ﬁeld to receive
the most up to date scripts on an
iPad or iPhone, regardless of where
they are in the world.
On the studio side, the WinPlus
software, present in many
newsrooms across the world, now
includes Twitter integration, which
allows producers or prompting
operators to set up automatic tweets
based on the content of the script
from the prompting system.

Increasing Automation

Over the last few years the use
of IP-based solutions has been
one of the biggest developments
in newsroom camera support
automation. While manual support
still features strongly in the
newsroom environment, robotics
opens up further operational
opportunities, particularly for news
broadcasters operating around
the clock schedules. Networked
systems offer much greater
flexibility, enabling studios to
choose best of breed solutions for
each aspect of the robotic system.
As a result, robotics solutions
are increasingly using standard
commodity IT components, such
as switches and Ethernet cables,
to deliver performance, reliability
and cost-effectiveness.
One of the core benefits for
newsrooms is that broadcasters'
IT teams are already familiar with
the technology, so it can be installed
in advance of a manufacturer ﬁtting

the robotics system. Now with
smart interfaces, connecting the
robotics to the studio systems is
comparatively simple. A case in
point is Vinten Radamec's Intelligent
Control Engineering (ICE) platform
that enables premium motion control
within IP based studio automation
systems. ICE allows broadcasters
to simplify their robotic solution,
while still delivering perfect control
and accuracy.
Other developments in automation
are bringing even greater beneﬁt to
the newsroom. Vinten Radamec's
Advanced Positioning System (APS),
for example, is a completely new
concept in pedestal positioning
giving unrivalled positional accuracy
and operational ﬂexibility to studios.
Rather than relying on a ﬂoor target
or tile for navigation and positioning,
it detects unobtrusive, passive
retro-reﬂective targets placed in the
studio environment using a scanning
laser-based measurement system.
It can therefore easily adapt to an
often-changing studio environment,
allowing operators to free up
valuable studio ﬂoor space and
removes the need of the operational
overheads associated with targeting
pedestals using a floor target.
As the broadcast industry and
the newsroom continues to evolve
there will be increasing pressure
on decision-makers to ensure
the reliability and proﬁtability of
operations. As a result, the role of
the technology solutions around the
camera should adapt at the same
rate, using innovation to ensure
its usefulness, appropriateness
a n d e ff e c t i v e n e s s i n t h e
broadcast ecosystem.

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