DEFINITION June 2018

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FEATURE BBC TELEVISION CENTRE

happened on a conventional set from soap opera Eastenders . “We lit that with new lights and shot it with new cameras and lenses – we tested all of the cameras on the market in all the modes using the exact same camera positions and distributed them along the same signal paths, and viewed them on the exact same monitors. We were looking for ease of use, ease of set-up, also compatibility with other equipment. Performance on the day was quite key, we had a couple of very esteemed guys from the vision world to help us judge the products. “To be honest what was quite refreshing was that the manufacturers all sent their bright sparks engineering-wise and they were very honest, as some of their products were only just passing beta stage. A couple of 4K cameras weren’t fully functional, you could see the direction they were going in and they still looked great, but some of the functionality wasn’t quite there yet, where some of the others were much further ahead. Beta software and cameras were fine as we didn’t need them for another year, when the studios opened.” At this stage, Studioworks were

sure that the freelance operators were happy with them. We got the thumbs up from everyone involved and while that was happening we put a tender out, and Fujinon were the successful bidder in the tender as well. That meant the balance of cost and quality for the procurement side was favourited, too. “We looked at every conceivable manufacturer of cameras and all the senior engineers from those manufacturers came along. We also had demonstrations for camera operators and lighting directors. It was a clean slate, really, and there was no competitive advantage to what we had used before. It was my job to consider all options and it wasn’t just based on cost – you’ve got to make sure you get the right quality as well. We’re talking equipment like vision mixers, broadcast monitors, audio desks, routing, comms systems – we took about a year researching before the tenders went out.” CAMERA TESTING When you already have sets or can build new ones easily it becomes easier to produce repeatable testing for equipment. This is exactly what

of research. We spoke to BBC R&D and some BBC technical people to try and understand the direction of the broadcast market, and certainly 4K, but it also included IP and HDR workflows. We did many trips to trade shows and factories and got many products on demo. Fujinon was part of a wider process to try and understand the market. “Because of a challenging budget we needed to balance cost with quality. For us, looking at the Fujinon lenses helped us hit the cost point very well; we trialled some of their products for a few months in Elstree on all of our productions including A League Of Their Own and Strictly Come Dancing . We put the lenses on normal static cameras, on Steadicams, on jibs just to make

BELOW It wasn’t just cameras that needed bringing up to date – so did mixing desks.

WE LOOKED AT EVERY CONCEIVABLE MANUFACTURER OF CAMERAS AND ALL THEIR SENIOR ENGINEERS CAME ALONG

DEFINITION JUNE 2018

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