xdcam hd

Broadcast III
Production IV
Camera VI
Solent TV
Muse concert
PDW-F330
Professional Disc tapeless production
xdcamhd
xdcamhd
hillbillies
Grange Hill and Hollyoaks adopt XDCAM HD. Abi Pears reports
he BBC children’s series Grange Hill hit 30
this year. Made for the B BC by Lime
Pictures, formerly Mersey TV, Grange Hill
has started recording in standard definition
with the XDCAM H D Professional Disc
production system.
The last few episodes of the new series, which
started airing on CBBC in January 2007, were
captured on the PDW-F70 XDCAM HD recorder in
DVCAM mode. Hollyoaks, which is made by Lime
Pictures for Channel 4, is also now recording on
XDCAM HD decks, but in full high definition.
Lime Pictures, which has always pioneered
new technologies, also shot Hollyoaks: In the City
on HDCAM, with a stunt scene in XDCAM HD
using the PDW-F350 camera.
Graham Deaves, technical director at Lime
Pictures, says the company has bought several
PDW-F70 XDCAM HD recording decks for use
across Grange Hill and Hollyoaks. They replace
analogue recorders.
“Right now, we’re trying to phase out the
ageing BVW-250s,” Deaves says. “The XDCAM is a
very new venture, we’ve only used it in three or
T
four episodes so far, but it’s really good. It fits in
with our server-based post production and the
direct file transfer really speeds up the process.
“We are not shooting Grange Hill in HD. We
used XDCAM SD for the last few episodes of the
series with the Sony BVP-E10 camera. Hollyoaks:
In the City was all shot on HDCAM with one
stunt scene shot with the XDCAM HD camcorder.
Some of Hollyoaks is now shot on XDCAM HD
using the HDC-1500 multi-format cameras.”
XDCAM HD records in SD DVCAM or in true
1080-line HD pictures using MPEG Long GOP
encoding at a selectable bit-rate of 35, 25 or 18
Mbps. It also offers all the attrac tions of
non-linear, file-based production, such as
extremely high speed transfers and
sophisticated metadata capabilities, along with
robust, low cost media and running times
comparable to tape.
The PDW-F70 can up or downconvert any
input/output signal in real-time, fitting easily
into SD or HD infrastructures.
“Quality-wise, we’ve had no issues with the
technology; it’s cost effective and, because you’re
working with a disc, it’s not vulnerable in the
sense that it won’t get lost or stolen. All in all, it
has been a smooth transfer to XDCAM HD.”
Deaves adds that Hollyoaks will continue to
increase its use of XDCAM HD. “We currently
have one camera unit on the programme, but
we’re looking to install another. It’s all part of
the gradual upgrade to HD,” says Deaves.
“All in all, it has
been a smooth
transfer to
XDCAM HD”
Graham Deaves,
technical director
Grange Hill ■
II
Production
xdcamhd
Life TV series Pass &
Move shot with
the PDW-F350
making
a pass
■ Pass & Move
or the few that make it as a professional
footballer, there are dozens of equally
talented youngsters who don’t quite make
the grade or get that lucky break. Elite soccer
school Pass & Move aims to change that by
offering 8-16 year old boys a chance to rebuild
their dreams by taking part in an intensive
training, sports fitness and psychology course
designed to showcase their skills afresh to
leading coaches and managers.
The current trials are being filmed as a 5x30
minute reality series by Maidstone Studiosbased Life TV, which broadcasts channels Life
TV, Life 24 and Life Showcase on the Sky
platform. “These kids have had the knock-back
of being turned down by big clubs and Pass &
Move gives them a second chance to make
their mark,” says series director and producer
Bruce Vigar. “It’s sad that because kids develop
at different rates they may lose out. It’s not
something that big clubs follow up on.”
UEFA-qualified coaches led by former player
Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock visited venues across the
country from North Shields to Wigan and
Southampton trialing hundreds of aspiring
footballers and in the process selecting the
best 50 to play at Bisham Abbey in front of
Premiership scouts.
“We wanted to shoot in H D because of
international interest in the series both as a
finished programme and as a format,” explains
Vigar. “We wanted to achieve as high a quality
as we could and that means XDCAM HD. We
were also keen to try out the format’s post
production workflow since it’s something
we’re considering investing in for our own
production capabilities.”
Life TV’s ten-strong crew under Vigar and codirector Alec Lindsell followed the trials from
the start, building stories around some of the
key personalities. Alongside two PDW-F350s
F
hired with Canon lenses from freelance
cameraman Andy Walton, they used a
DSR-570WSPL DVCAM and an HVR-Z1E HDV.
“The location shoots were very full days and it
was a lot to cover even for that number of
cameras since each venue contained between
30-90 kids playing on four different pitches. We
were very pleased that even shooting at full
resolution disc space wasn’t a problem.”
Vigar found the slow motion function useful
for ac tion replays. “In a multi-camera
environment it was good to set the XDCAM HD
on slow motion with the others at standard
speed to capture skills and movement for more
analysis. The instructors did a series of top tips
which also benefited from slow motion replay.
“The two main features we liked on the
XDCAM HD,” he says, “apart from the image
quality, were clean slomos and caching –
particularly useful for sports coverage where we
were following certain individuals rather than
just burning storage on blanket coverage on a
‘just in case’ basis.”
Since the production only had about a day at
each location there wasn’t time to go through
extensive reviews of material, with the crew left
to film independently in ENG mode. “We
encountered quite a range of lighting from
various daylight conditions to filming little fivea-side pitches under sodium lighting , but
lighting wasn’t an issue we had to resolve with
the XDCAM HD,” says Vigar.
“I have to say it proved to be incredibly robust.
One of the days we had to film in very heavy rain
after coming out of a humid gym environment.
There was no problem with condensation.”
Although Life TV is in the process of upgrading
its post capability to encompass HD, the footage
for Sky is down converted to DVCAM and edited
on Adobe Premiere for delivery on tape.
“The image quality is fantastic and it ’s a
“By delivering
from disc
straight into
post you can
speed up
your post
production”
Bruce Vigar,
producer/director
shame it has got to come down to SD but at least
we’ll have the HD material to recut if we need
to,” Vigar declares. “The XDCAM HD route is
something that we’re very keen to pursue for a
number of reasons. By delivering from disc
straight into post you can speed up your post
production. It’s high quality HD and you get a lot
for your money.”
After the experiment on Pass & Move Vigar
has chosen XDCAM HD for Life TV’s next project,
Dress My Mate, and is exploring investment in
an XDCAM HD deck.
“I confess I was a bit nervous of disc media
recording before we started out. There is that
comfor t in having tape and I’m sure that
explains the reticence of some producers toward
tapeless formats. You can’t touch and hold
digital media whereas there’s something
reassuring about tape. But I’ve been very pleased
with it and I’m glad I had this opportunity to
explore the format. Just about the best thing I
can say is that you forget it’s a disc on the back
after the first day. Once you know everything
works you simply stop worrying about it.”
island sound
Solent TV upgrades to HD and digital satellite broadcast.
Adrian Pennington reports
S
olent TV, a not-for-profit commercial TV
station based on the Isle of Wight, has
installed a new studio centre for the
broadcast of a new channel on the Sky platform.
The station, which delivers local news, sports
and information about the Isle of Wight and
Solent region, already broadcasts to around
750,000 people via the Rowridge analogue
terrestrial transmitter as well as internet
streaming and local cable TV services. From the
beginning of the year it has been available on
digital satellite across Europe, making it the first
community station to do so.
“It has always been our ambition since launch
in October 2002 to secure a digital platform,”
explains Paul Topping, the station’s head of
broadcasting. To enable the transition to digital
satellite broadcasting , Solent TV turned to
systems integrator Broadcast Networks who,
together with Sony Professional Ser vices,
Miranda Technology and Suitcase TV, devised a
turnkey package which maximised production
values while keeping costs to a minimum.
“We’re not trying to replicate national
programming or be a regional broadcaster,” says
Topping. “We’re empowering the community
with local news and information.” The entire
production is run by a crew of 12 and, with no
engineering department, it was vital to achieve a
solution that could be easily supported.
Topping identified three key criteria.“It needed
to be able to fit into our budget and yet still
produce content that looks a million dollars.
Even our live news gallery is run by just two or
three people so the system had to be as
automated and as simple to use as possible.
Thirdly, it had to stand the test of time. The easy
option would have been an industry standard
DV solution. But Broadcast Networks and Sony
went the extra mile, looked to the future and
advised us on what we needed to keep ahead.”
Central to this was the selection of XDCAM HD
as acquisition format which, believes Topping,
provides Solent TV with one of the fastest
newsgathering systems in the country. A news
editor, three journalists and a camera operator
split the use of three PDW-330s. Most news
content is shot in DVCAM mode for SD 16 :9
broadcast although special events such as
Cowes Week and the Isle of Wight Music Festival
will be acquired on HD.
“In our experience XDCAM HD has saved us
considerable amounts of time when we edit
using proxy data and we only go to full
resolution footage when we’ve finalised the cut.”
He continues: “We’re pushing its proxy data
function to the limit. If we’re at exotic overseas
locations – like Southampton – we can short
circuit the delay in getting back to the island by
sending MPEG4 clips by email or ftp to the
station or even play live straight out of the back
of the camera if we need to. If it ’s urgent,
journalists will use the camera to perform a
quick edit while travelling back to the studio.”
“XDCAM HD
has saved us
considerable
amounts of time
when we edit”
Paul Topping,
head of broadcasting
XDCAM HD
Nigel Cooper, editor of DVuser,
explains the essential points
about XDCAM HD
XDCAM HD offers image quality so
impressive that Discovery HD has given
it a huge thumbs up after their usual
fastidious testing procedures. XDCAM
HD also offers an impressive optical
disc file-based tapeless workflow like
you wouldn’t believe! It is simply years
ahead of anything else currently
available.
Both the PDW-F330 and PDW-F350
XDCAM HD camcorders are true multi format cameras that can shoot in native
24p, 25p, 30p, 50i and 60i at full 1080i
resolution. Sony have given both models
the ‘One World One Camera’ treatment,
which means they can shoot in PAL and
NTSC, simply switch to your region in
the menu and away you go.
Both models are also badged with the
CineAlta logo, which basically means
they are both high-end professional
camcorders that shoot in ‘true’
progressive mode as well as interlaced.
The PDW-F330 and PDW-F350 can also
shoot in standard definition as well as
high definition with switchable
recording between high definition and
standard definition DVCAM formats. In
HD mode you have three quality
settings: High Quality 35Mbps variable,
25Mbps constant and 18Mbps variable.
Shooting on XDCAM HD is an absolute
dream. The cameras are not too
different from what you are used to
with high-end shoulder-mounted
DVCAM models and Digital Betacam.
When it comes to the post production
workflow of XDCAM you are in for a real
treat. It’s fast, it’s rock solid, it’s efficient,
and it’s by far the friendliest workflow
I’ve ever used. XDCAM HD works with
most popular editing systems including
Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Avid Media
Composer, the Sony Vegas, and
many others.
■■■
■ Solent TV’s presenter team
www.sonybiz.net/xdcam
to access Nigel Cooper’s
full, easy to read guide
to getting started with
XDCAM HD
III
xdcamhd
Broadcast
IV
Production
xdcamhd
disc
rocks
XDCAM HD has
achieved great
popularity since its
launch last summer.
Adrian Pennington
reports
arely six months after its launch, XDCAM
HD has built a broad and enthusiastic
following particularly among corporate
video producers for whom it has swiftly
become their standard format.
“We’ve been shooting HD for some time on
HDW-750Ps, but we went with XDCAM HD
because it was affordable for the majority of
our clients,” says Bob Hayes, produc tion
manager for Impact Image.
Hayes monitored the reaction of BHP-Sport
to XDCAM HD during its gruelling shoot for the
Land Rover G4 Challenge this summer.“The fact
that they had used it in anger in such tough
conditions convinced us it was robust enough
to work with our clients,” says Hayes. These
include the MoD, BAE Systems and Eurofighter.
“We often produce big-screen programming at
6000 x 1000 pixels for projection at airshows
so our clients are used to ultra-HD. XDCAM HD
material slots into our timelines seamlessly.”
One of the other reasons he went for the
system was its workflow. “You can view shots
you’re bringing into the system by thumbnail
so you can edit the proxies first . Then the
transfer to Final Cut is highly efficient.”
Freelance director/cameraman Alasdair
Smith’s unit is so new he’s yet to shoot with it
but he’s already had an oppor tunity to
experience the workflow. “I’ve been dubbing
Digital Betacam onto XDCAM disc and editing
that way for a recent shoot in Bulgaria. I’ve also
been able to send proxy files of a Digital
Betacam shoot via XDCAM to Denver for offline
B
and that has been transferred to Aberdeen for
online. These are fantastic benefits.”
Like Smith and Impact Image, Cypher Media
acquired its XDCAM HD from Visual Impact. “We
felt we needed to future-proof our production
workflow and spoke to a number of cameramen
who enthused about the prospect of disc,” says
Cypher Media video and events director Brian
Darnley. “It gives you a good hour at 35Mbps and
the discs are small to store.”
Although only a month with the company, the
XDCAM H D unit has been out to Athens
capturing compilation material for delegates of
a PricewaterhouseCoopers conference. “We’re
looking to play back video at future conferences
from hard drives rather than tape. This way we
can have all our media on one machine,” Darnley
adds. “It’s a professional, state of the art piece of
kit which gives us confidence when talking to
clients about their video requirements.”
Sean Griffiths runs Warwickshire-based Ice
Productions which has just completed a series of
projec ts for a major insurance customer.
“XDCAM HD is a cracking bit of kit which is
recognised by our clients,” he confirms. “They
understand HD and they can see the difference.
We’ve had some fantastic feedback.”
The combination of image quality with discbased workflow has Griffiths hooked.“It’s quite a
forgiving camera. I tend to shoot slightly
underexposed because I’m after a filmic look. It’s
that 35mm feel that people comment on.”
For Griffiths the disc based technology “is
stunning”. There are huge advantages, he says, to
file-based systems “in terms of being able to
check what you’re filming very quickly, show the
client immediately and use the proxy files for live
logging and onsite rough assembles.”
Griffiths also experimented with the timelapse function on a recent trip to Belfast for a
major bank. “Their HQ had a large glass frontage
so I shot clouds passing across to add a bit of
sheen to the presentation. The viewfinder is
excellent, the flip-out screen is handy for
reference and the four channels of audio
provides generous coverage even without
separate sound recording.
“Par t of the reason to be involved in H D
produc tion is to understand where the
technology is going. This year we’ll be able to get
our feet firmly on the ground with HD.”
The XDCAM proved versatile enough for use at
the August 22 gig by rock group Muse at
Cornwall’s Eden Project.
The unit, hired from Galaxy Light & Power, was
largely left untweaked by producers Music
Engine despite the descending evening light.
“We played it straight out of the box and
found the pictures held up remarkably well
compared to HDCAM,” says Music Engine’s Guy
Moore. “The event wasn’t lit specifically for TV so
we had to contend with lots of low and flashing
white light which is normal for a rock concert.
The contrast levels particularly pleased me since
I thought that that was an area where the
XDCAM might struggle. On a side by side
comparison with HDCAM I found there was very
little difference between the formats.”
media friendly
Corporate communications
company ST16 explains why it
invested in XDCAM HD
Music Engine says it has to acquire in HD for
record label clients looking toward the
international market. “We feel that XDCAM HD
will become a regular part of our main OB shoot
going forward,” affirms Moore.
The format has also proved ideal at capturing
split-second meteorological phenomena. Alister
Chapman of Ingenious Films travels the world
chasing extreme weather formations for
documentary and stock footage sales to
Discovery and National Geographic . “For
lightning, we’d set up for a storm and leave the
camera running which used up a large amount
of tape,” he says. “Now only when I’ve seen
flashes do I press the button because the
camera’s cached the previous ten seconds.”
■ Eurofighter
“XDCAM HD is
a cracking bit
of kit, which is
recognised by
our clients”
Sean Griffiths,
ICE Productions
■ ICE Productions
Midlands-based corporate
communications company, ST16, which
specialises in using film and media to
help organisations internally, has
invested in the latest XDCAM HD
equipment, supplied by Visual Impact.
Company director Jeremy Stinton
says one of the key selling points of
XDCAM HD is the high speed transfer
capabilities of footage from the camera
to editing system. “Clients always want
things faster and yesterday is usually
too late. The XDCAM means a
dramatically increased workflow and
it integrates neatly with our Final
Cut HD suites,” Stinton says.
“The crunch usually comes trying to
get any new equipment past the
finance director. But this was an easy
sell. The volume of ST16’s work is such
that the removal of batch capturing
from tape means the XDCAM system
saves more than a full day of time in the
edit suites every month. This increase in
profitability alone means that the
XDCAM HD will pay for itself inside
two years.”
The proxy system also helps with
overseas work, with the edit able to
begin before the camera or any discs
get back.
Simon Crofts, company director and
video director, adds: “If I am on a shoot
in the US and the client needs the edit
within the next couple of days, it would
usually mean a red eye flight and then
straight to an edit suite. Now I know the
edit can start before I have even stepped
on the plane.”
ST16 assessed solid state alternatives,
but was put off by the media costs. “The
expense of the card system means
that too much of the budget is spent
on the card system and not on the
camera end,” Crofts says.
The XDCAM HD pictures are also a
step up in quality. “About 70 per cent of
our work is shown on plasma monitors
or projected at conferences and HD
makes for stunning pictures on the big
screen. What’s more, clients don’t need
fancy high definition projection to benefit. The benefits in clarity and colour
reproduction even permeate to webbased material. The better the source,
the more scope there is for subtle grading and high-quality compression.”
V
xdcamhd
Production
Muse at the Eden Project ■
VI
PDW-F330
xdcamhd
blooming marvellous
Cameraman Philip Bloom explains what its like working
with the PDW-F330 and PDW-F350 XDCAM HD cameras
ameraman Philip Bloom spent 17 years at
Sky News covering a wide range of stories
including 9/11, the Israel-Palestine conflict,
the Iraq War and tracking paedophiles in South
East Asia. In 2005, he was short-listed for a Bafta
Craft award for a series of short films entitled If I
were Prime Minister.
At the end of October last year he branched
out on his own as a freelance lighting
cameraman, editor and director specialising in
documentary shoots and reportage.
Bloom’s first task was to build up his
equipment arsenal from a standing start. “I had
nothing apart from a few bits and pieces like an
HVR-Z1E, cine adaptor and HVR-A1E,” he explains.
“I needed a full-size pro body.”
Bloom immediately found himself hiring
DSR-450s for his first project, a three month
shoot for 6x30 minute documentary series The
Insider, produced by Mentorn and Raw TV for
Channel 4. “I started using hire DSRs but found I
wanted my own camera,” he explains.“The
DSR-450 is a great camera but with lots of
programmes being made in HD now, surely the
way to go is the XDCAM HD line.”
Having experienced the SD-only version of
XDCAM while at Sky, Bloom was already
enthusiastic about the disc-based workflow but
turned to Creative Video to bring him up to date
on the PDW-F330 XDCAM HD.
Subsequently, he has upgraded again to the
PDW-F350, purchased through H Preston.
C
crossing over
Wailing Banshee founder
David Baumber has been
shooting XDCAM HD for a recent
transatlantic video for London
Business School and Columbia
Business School in New York. “I
can’t rave about it enough,” he
enthuses. “To be able to leave the
disc in-camera, plug-in firewire
and see your clips is fantastic.
Previously we’d shoot 40 minutes
of tape, get back to the edit suite,
capture it for 40 minutes and then
scrub though to select a shot.
We’re not looking at timecode but
a clip number which saves so much
time. We’ve been waiting for the
arrival of tapeless acquisition
and it’s finally here.”
During Baumber’s six months
with the camera he claims not to
have used his DVCAM or Digital
Betacam VTRs. “I’m thinking of
eBaying them,” he says. “If you
wanted to make a copy of some
raw footage before you’d have to
dump the material onto tape in
the edit suite. Now I save all the
clips on a Lacie drive and reuse
the disc.”
A recent Wailing Banshee project
for Sony Ericsson required a 40
minute film featuring leading tennis stars. “We shot in SD on this
occasion but the chroma keying
was excellent.”
■ Philip Bloom
“I’m a big advocate of the XDCAM HD format.
As a cameraman, editor and director, I want to
know I will always have my master rushes on a
solid format and that it’s not going to be wiped
by magnetic interference. To have what could be
weeks of hard work abroad stored on a fragile
hard drive terrified me.”
It is also, he says, important to work with
longer record time on disc (68 minutes at 30
Mbps).“Although you could get 40 minutes of SD
onto a 8GB solid state card, it doesn’t scream
news format,” he explains. “You don’t want to
keep swapping over tapes or cards, but keep
filming until you have your entire package. It’s
also reassuring that you can just pick it up and
record without inadver tently overwriting
previously recorded material.” In crash record
mode, the laser always picks up from the last
recorded section.
While Bloom feels strongly that file based
workflow is the future for factual acquisition,
the format is so new that he’s encountered a
resistance among production companies. “If I
give a producer a disc, their first question is ‘how
do much do I have to pay to convert it?’ As soon
as I mention it’s HD and show them the actual
disc and the thumbnail system, all their worries
disappear. The most important thing for them is
how they’ll make it work in their systems.”
Since neither Mentorn nor Raw TV currently
possess XDCAM HD decks, Bloom is dubbing
rushes onto tape via his HVR- Z1E for delivery at
the end of each day. “It’s a neat solution until
they start buying XDCAM HD machines,” he says.
He’s also just shot a pilot for a C5/The History
Channel documentary on XDCAM at 25p SD and
was able to use the software for the first time.
“I downloaded the MPEG-4 proxies from three
full discs, selected a rough EDL and dumped
those onto tape.The process saved me about two
hours rather than plodding my way through
tape. It was an absolute joy.”
Bloom’s biggest bugbear has been having to
wait for tape to ingest in order to begin an edit.
“Using the XD HD Firewire download straight
into Final Cut Pro is considerably faster than real
time. With the Windows-only software included
with the camera, the disc drive mounts on a PC
desktop, providing simple and fast drag-anddrop transfer of files. It’s terrific.”
Bloom finds a memory stick handy to adapt
new bodies to his personal settings.
The small flip-out LCD screen can be used for
rough colour reference, he says, although he
recommends directly plugging into a high
resolution monitor (he uses a Marshall field
monitor) if intending to tweak the composite
video and setup menus. “You can make very
subtle changes to the range of gamma and
blacks,” he says. “It’s very simple to use and gives
you room for a lot of trial and error.”
With component video output on the
PDW-F330 (the PDW-F350 features HD-SDI)
he’s plugged the XDCAM HD into his home TV for
easy viewing of rushes from his sofa.
For audio, Bloom appreciates total control over
four channels.“The stereo mic input on the front
means I have the included stereo mic on
channels 3 and 4 leaving me free to plug in a
boom or radio mic. It always gives me clean
audio. So many times I’ve forgotten to switch
from the rear to top mic it’s nice to have two
always running.”
Although he’s shooting in DVCAM mode for
The Insider, Bloom is using a Canon 20x 6.4 HD
lens. He’s also purchased a two-thirds inch
adaptor (the XDCAM HD has a half inch chip) so
he can fix any wide angle lens to the body.“I can’t
really see any difference in quality,” he observes.
“The adaptor slightly increases the focal length
of the lens but otherwise it’s really good.”
He’s also shot with the Redrock M2 and
Brevis35 cine lens adaptors which despite being
a little cumbersome has created a very fine
filmic look. “According to the makers of these
adapts I’m the first person to try that technique
using the XDCAM HD.”
It ’s always a tricky balance for freelance
camera crews when making kit purchases. They
need to offer equipment which is going to gain
them good business but knowing when to
embrace leading edge technology and judge
when one format changes to another can lead to
risky decisions. Bloom knows he’s made the right
one. “I’m selling XDCAM H D every day by
showing what it’s capable of,” says Bloom. “If
you’re doing SD it’s fantastic. For HD it’s even
better. It’s incredibly flexible. It will become
widely supported because everything is cost
based. Edit time and digitising time is cost based
so when producers see they can slash their edit
and digitising time to about a quarter real time
and when you can show them by random access
and reviewing in camera what you’ve shot, the
advantages of not having a tape-based system
come to the fore.”
Perhaps the overriding factor for Bloom was
the 100 per cent rating given by Discovery for
XDCAM HD as an HD acquisition format. “If it
wasn’t rated that high I wouldn’t have got it,” he
adds.“There’s no point getting a camera if it’s not
fully accepted by HD broadcasters.”
“If you’re doing
SD it’s fantastic.
For HD it’s even
better”
Philip Bloom,
lighting cameraman
tech spec
of PDW-F330
■ Cost effective XDCAM HD camcorder
■ Non-linear Professional Disc
recording
■ Up to two hours recording at 18Mbps
MPEG HD
■ Compatible with SD and HD
workflows
■ Thumbnail images instantly accessed
and browsed
■ Edit in camera or high speed
transfers to edit systems
■ Metadata capabilities
purple haze
Purple Media has recently bought a
PDW-F350, with a view to offering clients a
superior quality. “We were using HVR-Z1Es,
which were good, but not at the standard
we were looking for,” explains Nigel Steer.
“Our aim is to create high-end, broadcast
quality media for our clients but without
the London prices, and the PDW-F350 has
allowed us to do that confidently.”
Purple Media used the camera for a
recent Playboy fashion shoot. “The fact
that the PDW-F350 is high definition was
a real attraction for us but it’s only really
when setting up the camera in the
menus that you really get the most from
the format.”
The camera was supplied by Sony
Specialist Dealer, Jigsaw Systems. “Jigsaw
allowed us the opportunity to assess the
camera before we decided to buy, which
really helped in the final decision, but I
think it’s the software and tapeless
import to Final Cut Pro that has been the
biggest asset. The continuous work flow
gives us more time editing rather then
capturing which is a real benefit.”
“The camera does everything that Sony
said it would,” says Steer, “we’re really
very pleased.”
VII
xdcamhd
PDW-F330
VIII
Production
xdcamhd
music and
movement
Dance film initiative Y’DScreen benefits from XDCAM
production. Adrian Pennington reports
he Y’DScreen project, initiated by Youth
Dance England (YDE) aims to bring up-andcoming film directors together with youth
dance groups with the goal of creating highly
original dance films.
Together with South East Dance, the national
development agency for screen dance, YDE
produced four short films for broadcast on
Channel 4’s 3 Minute Wonder strand. These
included Stereostep a film of urban dance and
physical theatre by 19-year-old Eastbournebased filmmaker Craig Viveiros.
Viveiros’ pitch stood out for its ambitious
attempt to capture the street dancers in three,
minute-long takes ranging from 20-200ft .
Stereostep was shot in a derelic t par t of
Bermondsey using a PeeWee track dolly, 25 crew
and 100 cast comprising London dance group
Impact and Birmingham’s Tru Street Dance.
“Youth culture in England has lots of stereotypes
and misinterpretations so I wanted to give a new
perspective,” Viveiros explains. “The tracking
shots are intended to mix with the movement of
the dance itself.”
With cinematographer James Friend he
weighed up various formats before concluding
that XDCAM would allow them multiple takes,
easy loading and playback in a short time span.
“Because the footage is stored on disc we
T
“Other
cinematographers
were intrigued as
to what format
it was”
James Friend,
Cinematographer
■ Stereostep
wouldn’t lose any quality when watching it back
or even worse record over a take,” he says. “It
allowed us to push the boundaries of our
creativity.”
Friend used his own camera and appreciated
its ability to view rushes within moments of
shooting. “We had to be technically spot on,” he
says. “This wasn’t a case of editing in post –
essentially it’s one shot.”
The camera moves into three air ducts to enter
and exit buildings – devices which masked the
cuts to create one seamless shot . “It was a
nightmare technically but a masterpiece once
we’d achieved it,” Friend adds. “We were two
months in preparation often on location
measuring the scene over and over again to
figure out the right frame. At one point we had
to shoot over bollards with less than an inch
clearance.”
It took over thirty takes to nail. “We had to get
the timing pretty perfect. It was a great help to
view the rushes back straight away.”
ARRI 6K HMIs were used to accentuate the
daylight and provide illumination into a room
through holes made by removing some bricks.
The final shot required a contra zoom – a
simultaneous track and zoom in which the
background and foreground appear to move
toward each other. “When zooming like that and
focussing on something small, it’s very hard to
tell if the image is sharp. By instant review incamera we could tell if we’d got it right or not.”
Viveiros and Friend watched the final piece
projected as a full resolution HD file at C4. “It
looked stunning,” enthuses Friend. “The colour
was amazing in HD. We had comments from the
other cinematographers who were intrigued as
to what format it was. Some thought it was shot
on film because we didn’t add texture in post we
just used the raw resolution that came out of
the camera. Others thought it was top end HD.”