Welcome New Low-Budget Videographers January 5^th 2018 - 11:00 AM

Because of the the holiday season, a lot of young people now have new video gear and may be anxious to try out their video production skills. The good news is today’s technology can provide great images at a lower cost than ever. An important, less technical, skill is…

Lavalier Microphones Keep Getting Smaller and Better December 13^th 2017 - 01:50 PM

Nearly 50 years ago — 1969 to be exact — Sony introduced the ECM-50, a tiny peanut-sized electret condenser lavalier microphone that virtually ended the reign of large, cumbersome microphones used in television broadcasting. Since then, the scope, quality and price of lavalier microphones has dramatically expanded. Here’s a look at what’s availab…

The Changing Face of Camera Tripods December 13^th 2017 - 09:00 AM

As long as there have been cameras, there have been tripods. In it’s basic form, a tripod is camera support. But, as cameras have gotten tinier in size over the past few years, tripods have morphed into new devices that would have not been recognized only a decade ago.

Single-Microphone Sound Makes a Comeback December 12^th 2017 - 01:00 PM

From the earliest days of professional sound, a single microphone was used in broadcast studios and on stage to capture everything — from actors doing drama to music performers. Then, when the close-miking multitrack era arrived, the trend disappeared. Now single-mic sound is back and growing in popularity.

Producing News in 360-degree December 12^th 2017 - 10:00 AM

360-degree video is hot. Global 360-degree camera sales are expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of more than 35% through 2020. When will 360-degree news production begin? It’s happening now say some experts.

Creating an iPhone X Package for Interviews December 7^th 2017 - 12:05 PM

The new Apple iPhone X is an excellent video camera for news and documentary interviews. But creating a very lightweight package around it can be challenging. I took the challenge and here are the results.

Privacy Risk Assessment Priority for Drone Operation December 6^th 2017 - 10:00 AM

On 25 May 2018, a new EU General Data Protection Regulation comes into force and will apply across all EU member states. Pending the outcome of Brexit this also includes the UK. There are potentially serious implications for drone filmmakers and in an increasingly litigious society it is probably only a matter…

HDMI Hikes Rates—Boosts Bandwidth for UHD December 5^th 2017 - 12:05 PM

A quick look at the lens to display pipeline highlights some trivial-seeming bottlenecks that place important constraints on motion imaging systems. One of these is the connection to the consumer display. The announcement of HDMI 2.1 is key to advancing to 4K and beyond, with additional support for HDR, and increased…

H.264 Versus HEVC: Understanding the Differences November 28^th 2017 - 09:00 AM

4K imagery has become the quality standard for many broadcast applications. A key requirement is that the transmission links be of sufficient bandwidth. Links using H.264 can be overwhelmed by the much higher bandwidth requirements of 4K video. HEVC is often the better solution. How does it work and what…

Smartphone Journalism November 21^st 2017 - 11:00 AM

In the five months since The Broadcast Bridge published Frank Beacham’s article discussing Using the iPhone for Professional Video there have been many world events that offered ideal opportunities to cover events with smartphones rather than traditional ENG camcorders. Opportunities where the camera or camera/newscaster would have been f…