In Broadcast June 2012 - 42

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 9 - JUNE 2012

InSTUDIO
Camera Supports: Technologically Dynamic
The camera support sector is unfairly perceived as lacking the technological dynamism of, say, the digital cameras which they carry, but a great deal of investment and unsung effort goes into the creation of such tools, to make the job of operators, working across ENG to large budget features, easier and more creative. “There is actually a great deal of R&D which goes into developing a product that is seemingly simple,” says Kyle Dann, Sales Supervisor, Product Specialist Group, at Anton/ Bauer citing the Matrix Cheese Plate solution. “It is imperative that we speak with our business partners and end users to make sure the product we deliver is as universal as possible and that best accommodates the needs of the user.” Vinten Radamec spent over £1 million research and developing robotics last year but Karen Walker, Commercial Manager admits that the sector does tend to be more conservative in some applications, partly because a new tripod, arm or robotic head would not be doing its job if its performance were noticeable on screen. “In the past a company would design and develop a product and 15 years later that product would be obsolete and a replacement would be launched,” she reveals. “Now, customer dialogue is an essential part of product development for robotics, so when new equipment is introduced, it is continually improved and upgraded in line with customers’ demand and feedback.” been a significant improvement in their performance at much lower cost for customers,” says Peter Harman, Product Manager, Vinten. “This has created a customer perception that camera supports will mimic camera trends, so much of our R&D has been based around reducing the weight and size and lowering the cost without affecting the performance.” Harman says it’s a continuous challenge for R&D teams who need to investigate new composite materials that can drive down weight but without compromising robustness, reliability and performance. “We have been able to achieve this using advanced technologies and complex, sophisticated tooling in component manufacture to help simplify the assembly processes and reduce the costs involved,” he says. Each type of production has its own set of production disciplines and therefore different engineering demands. For example, ENG operators are looking for fast or easy set-up with extremely robust and reliable products. “The different o p e r a t i n g environments of say, cine or OB production, compared to TV studios can have a dramatic impact on the performance of products,” says Harman. “Everything from temperature to changes in lighting has to be considered depending on the type of production.”
Adrian Pennington

Adrian Pennington discovers the precision engineering behind modern camera supports

Intelligent Engineering
For example, many of the enhancements gained from the company’s Intelligent Control Engineering (ICE) robotic camera support platform reﬂect comments from its customers. The ﬁrst in this series was the FHR-35 which enables a pan-and-tilt resolution of over one million counts per 360 degrees and is designed for use in virtual and real studios. New releases include the FH-145 and FHR-145. The key trends that tend to advance development in camera supports are the changes to the cameras themselves and we have seen a dramatic transformation in cameras during the last decade. “Cameras are becoming smaller and lighter and there has

42

OConnor’s new 60L with a 2575D head supports a Sony F65 camera

Personal Choice
The use of broadcast equipment tends to be very personal to the operator and frequently the choice of technology comes down to familiarity. There are certain applications, such as sports, where

operators are willing to be more experimental with technology. “Above all, broadcasters want to use equipment that is easy to use,” suggests Walker. “Studios tend to have ﬁxed installations, but for other areas such as ﬁlm, live production, corporate and ENG it’s mainly rental-based applications. They want a reliable product that is straightforward to use – that can be quickly built up and broken down and connects easily together. Integration is important too, the equipment should ﬁt seamlessly with their existing kit and provide a high quality, reliable performance. “The studio market is deﬁnitely
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Vinten Radamec FHR-145 ICE

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In Broadcast June 2012

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