In Broadcast - January 2015 - 64

64

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 1 | January 2015

InReply

Shotoku Sizes
Up The Market
For Year Ahead
Shotoku TR-XT
robotic control system

James Eddershaw, Sales Director, Shotoku Broadcast
Systems discusses the market situation and looks
forward to another year of opportunities ahead...
InBroadcast: How is your company adapting to
meet customer demands?
James Eddershaw: We have always based our
business strategy and new product development on
the speciﬁc demands of new and existing customers.
I suppose any manufacturer would make that claim,
but we can genuinely point to countless products,
applications and customisations which arose directly
from customer requests, and suggestions.
For example, our TR-XT robotic control system
is well known for its intuitive simplicity, this is as a
result of years of feedback from operators on what
is important in a live TV environment and, just as
importantly, what is NOT. The recent launch of our
SmartTrack rail camera system is another good
example - customers were asking for rail track
systems, but with enhanced capabilities like higher
payloads or ceiling mounted tracks with elevation
control.

For manual camera support systems we have
responded to customer requirements by launching
several new products like the TP-200 and SX-300 to
address the mid-weight and light-weight studio and
OB requirements.
At the heavier end we launched a completely new
SG-900 PT head ideally suited to large camera /
lens combinations often requested for Sports OB
applications.
For those customers requiring VR tracking for
Virtual and Augmented Reality productions our range
of manual and robotic VR tracking systems keeps
expanding in response to speciﬁc requests. Almost all
our support products are now available with integral
VR tracking, not just heads and pedestals, but also
Jibs and Cranes like the TK-59VR and the TK-53VR.
InB: What criteria are broadcasters using to
select products?
JE: Every customer is different of course, and will
have different priorities for their project. Cost is
always a major factor, including cost of ownership
so issues of support, service and reliability form a
major part of this consideration. On-air performance
of the system, whether it's a manual pedestal / head,
VR tracking system or robotically controlled pedestal
is always a major requirement for our customers.
Compatibility with a wide (and growing) range of
third party systems is of interest to many customers
- this might be automation systems for robotic
camera systems, new VR graphics providers or new
camera & lens models for 4K systems for example.
InB: Which territories are showing particular
activity?
JE: I'm pleased to say that our business has always
been very widely spread across the globe. This tends
to smooth out local market ﬂuctuations and ensures
a varied and interesting collection of passport
stamps!
The UK is always a strong market for us, while
internationally EU, North America and Asia have all
been very strong in the last couple of years.

Shotoku's SmartTrack rail camera system

InB:
Any
product
innovations ahead that you
can discuss?
JE: We are continuing
Midto enjoy success with our
weight:
Shotoku
recently launched SmartTrack
TP200
system and we'll see further
developments related to that
product range coming in
2015 too. We also
have
several
e x c i t i n g
developments
in the manual
camera support
ﬁeld, we'll be sharing
more details of those at
BVE in London soon, so do come and visit
us there.
InB: What else is going on at Shotoku?
JE: Plenty! As well as our new product
developments, we're all very excited to be moving
into new, larger, premises in nearby Sunbury. Since
Shotoku was ﬁrst established in the UK we have been
based in Staines, near London's Heathrow Airport.
This is a great facility and enabled us to grow
easily, in a very convenient location. However, we
have now reached the capacity of our ﬁrst home
and we'll be moving into larger premises just a
short distance away. This will give us the perfect
environment for further growth and development
during the next stage in our business.
Sunbury is very close to our
Light-weight:
current location so will
Shotoku SX-300
remain convenient for
customers and staff
alike.
InB: Thank you
for taking time
to answer our
questions.
http://www.shotoku.co.uk/camera-support-broadcast-systems http://www.inbroadcast.com
In Broadcast - January 2015

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