:: NEWS - MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY ::

 

BBC Factual Adopts Apple's Final Cut Pro for HD Work.
BBC Factual has confirmed that it will use Apple's Final Cut Pro HD suite for the creation of "high-profile productions" said John Attartd, head of technology at BBC Factual Studios. This follows an earlier move where 75% of its post-production workflow now takes place on the Apple Mac platform using the Final Cut Pro Suite. Apple has also released a short quicktime movie featuring an interview with Mark Harrison, Head of Art Studio & Production Innovation for Factual & Learning at the BBC.
Video: to view the BBC interview you have to go to: http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/action/ and then link to the BBC item via a scroll menu at the bottom of the movie window.
Source: HDTV
Images: Apples

 

ITV Productions Move Some Workstations to the Apple Mac Platform
In a similar, but more low-key move to the BBC, ITV Yorkshire's in-hourse production group has moved some of its post-production facilities to the Mac platform and the Final Cut Pro Suite. According to the Apple report, two of ITV's flagship series Heartbeat and The Royal will now be post-produced with the new system. The system, installed by XTFX utilises 12.5TB of storage on an Xsan system and the company hopes to add another 21TBs of storage to keep up with the high demands of production. Offline editor Gary Westmoreland states that the systems were tested over a period ot time to make sure that they were equeal to or better than the previous 'closed' systems traditionally used by ITV. Once they were happy with the results "we went for it" he states. The system also allows editors to search over 16,500 sixties music titles via keywords in iTunes. Previously Westmoreland states that they used to spend a lot of time "physically getting CDs from the library and searching for songs".
Images & Source: Apple.com

 

 

TV vs. PC - Mobile TV Looses Out.
According to Matthew Phillips of Olswang research (right), 70% of people surveyed said that they were not interested in viewing TV content on their mobile phones. Short run items such as music videos were okay, but people prefer to watch long-form content such as feature films on their TV sets. The reasons stated were that people were on the move and more interested in listening to music or reading a newspaper, than trying to watch a movie on a small screen where the duration of the movie would likely be longer than the journey itself. Phillips went on to suggest that most people already have a mobile device such as a video iPod or PSP to view content without having to pay an incremental fee to their mobile phone company.

The real battle he suggested is between the PC and the TV. The survey found that most people now have a computer or laptop in the living room and are multitasking - viewing e-mails, downloading videos or music while also watching TV. Most respondants were watching as much pre-recorded material as live or 'appointment to watch' content (news, soaps etc.). Phillips suggested that in the future devices such as Apple's iTV or Microsoft's 360 box may well offer a more convenient method for viewers to download content from the web and then view it on their TV sets.

 

Apple's consumer devices

Apple's Video iPod allows users to download digital video content such as video podcasts, TV series or even feature films. However, as the research shows above, users prefer to watch movies on a larger screen. Apple is to address this issue when it introduces its new iTV device early next year. It will allow users to download movies and other video content such as video podcasts, and to display them on a standard TV or HDTV set.
Source: Telecom TV, Olswang.
Images: Apple web site, Telecom TV

 

 

	Mobile Phone Users & Video Technology. According to a Jupiter Research report entitled "Video on Cell Phones", 25 percent of consumers are interested in receiving video on their mobile phones, but only 1 percent of users would be willing to pay for video delivered content. A spokesperson for Jupiter research added that "it would be best for providers to adopt a business model that combined paid and ad-supported mobile video subscriptions". Image: Nokia & RTE websites. Source: broadcastingineering.com e-mail 6/10/'06

 

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