There seems to be a blurring of the line between engineering fact and marketing hype emerging within our industry. We must push back to maintain high technical standards.

Part one of this three-part series explained why Media Composer | First, and some other NLEs cannot support round-tripping, the usual way of color grading with DaVinci Resolve in combination with an NLE (such as Media Composer or FCP X). Part 1 of this three-part also addressed the process of setting up Resolve for a grading project.

Given viewers' changing demands, broadcasters need to embrace OTT workflows. Yet, ensuring accurate delivery of technically sound content is challenging and requires the proper set of reliable QC and monitoring tools. Here are some suggested practices.

I was recently at a graphic technology event and while chatting I mentioned my niece was a graphic designer with an understanding of our industry. A colleague commented that no one knows what IRE is anymore. I had to agree thinking she probably didn’t either. The more serious issue is where is the relevance to IRE in the digital world? His response was that it was just good that pixels are finally square and not in any aspect ratio.

Boston first hosted Macworld in August of 1993 and it was there I bought a $2,500 Radius VideoVision I/O board that worked with Adobe Premiere v2.0. The year was a pivot point for the low-end NLE market as it transitioned from “barely workable” as I describe in this VideoVision review, to “quite practical.”

IT networks have stood the test of time as they are flexible, scalable, and have inherent resilience. But IP networks do not guarantee delivery of IP packets. So, is this something we should be afraid of, or is it really a pointer to a much brighter future?

Despite the fact that most broadcasters have been slow to embrace 4K production in their news studios, there are a few that have installed the latest cameras in an effort to produce a master file for archiving. They include non-traditional media organizations like Facebook Live, Netflix and YouTube, which all maintain 4K production studios that are made available to users with significant online followers.

Smartphone mobile journalism has been gaining much interest in recent months, it’s versatility and ease of use certainly has major benefits, and the pixel count arguably rivals professional cameras, but is it the utopian solution some would have us believe?

One of the most promoted technologies at recent shows is the cloud solution. This technology is forefront in the minds of many broadcast engineers and managers—perhaps more because of marketing than first-hand knowledge. Before you make the leap, be sure to understand exactly what benefits and costs the cloud will bring.

As the IOC prepares the largest 8K UHD production yet, from the Winter Olympics in South Korea, it’s worth asking if this ultra-high resolution format will ever be broadcast wider than the shores of Japan. In short, the answer is negative, but that won’t stop vendors developing a full production chain, just in case.