SMPTE-NY Newsletter
Issue #1
January 2014
Tim Dwight, Editor

In This Issue
January 2014 Meeting
Holiday Party 2013
Thank You Sponsors
A Night at the Museum
Digital Cinematography
SMPTE Awards 2013
Advertise Here!

Contact Ray Blumenthal to place an ad in the Newsletter.
www.smpteny.org
SMPTE-NY
Board Members


CHAIR:
Raymond Blumenthal
The Tiffen Company

SECRETARY/TREASURER: 
Herb Ohlandt, Rock Consulting

PAST CHAIR: 
NY REGION GOVERNORS:
Miltag Media Technology, LLC



Upcoming
NY Section
Meetings

 
January 22, 2014
"Over the Top Television"
How to Watch TV Without an Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV Feed
 
February, 2014
TBD

March 12, 2014
"Channel in a Box"
 
April, 2014
TBD
 
May, 2014
NAB Wrap-Up
 
June, 2014
TBD


Upcoming
Events

 
January 15, 2014
"News Gathering Technology"


February 20, 2014
SMPTE Educational Webcast:

April 5-10, 2014

Industry Links 

AbelCine Training
SMPTE members receive a 15% discount:
ABEL-SMPTE-15

Audio Engineering Society

IEEE Broadcast Technology Society

The Schubin Cafe
Nearby SMPTE Sections 

 
Welcome 
    Welcome to the premiere issue of the New York SMPTE monthly Newsletter!
     This is one of the initiatives of the New York SMPTE Section. Another was the recognition that our membership is slowly spreading out to the metro area.  Members who used to work in Manhattan are now working in Stamford, Bristol, Hauppauge and locations in New Jersey. 
     Under our past Chair, Bill Miller, a Connecticut Subsection was set up in 2012 and in 2013, a Long Island Subsection was organized. At the May 2013 Post NAB meeting both Subsections were able to join in the meeting, for the first time, by teleconference, which allowed members who could not attend the Manhattan meeting to take part.
     The Connecticut Subsection has also held its own meetings and Long Island will do the same this year. Our membership has grown and our attendance at meetings also has grown. We also had the biggest end of the year party to date with more people wanting to attend than we had room for. 
     Thanks to all the Board Members for their hard work this past year. Remember that you as members are always welcome to suggest meetings and locations. Contact a board member if you have any suggestions for meetings or are interested in getting involved  with the Board.

     This newsletter will normally be published on the first Monday of each month. 
     You can look forward to SMPTE NY Section meeting notices, upcoming and past meetings and industry news. 
     If you wish to submit an article, job listing, industry event, etc., please email your editor Tim Dwight, before the end of the month: smpteny@gmail.com


Happy New Year,   
Ray Blumenthal,
NY Section Chair

Happy New Year from SMPTE!
Happy New Year from SMPTE!

January 22, 2014 Meeting

 

"Over the Top Television"

How to Watch TV Without an Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV Feed

 

Eventbrite - SMPTENY January 2014 Meeting

January 22, 2014
5:30 PM Social Hour
6:15 PM SMPTE Business
6:30 PM Program Begins
8:00 PM Program Ends

Where:
BMCC Manhattan, Fitterman Art Center
81 Barclay Street, New York, NY
Click HERE for map

Speakers:
Nick Gold, Chesapeake Systems
An Overview of OTT

Tony Zare, Evertz Corporation
Technology Behind the Delivery of OTT 
 

OTT describes the method of delivering traditional television programs to the home without the use of an antenna or a cable or satellite subscription.  

Our two experts will describe the systems and the technology behind the processes that use the Internet to deliver content.

Holiday Party 2013

 

The SMPTE-NY Holiday Party was held on December 18, 2013, at CBS. Some 200 people enjoyed a live band, great food, drink and conversation. Studio 45 was converted from a show to our party with all the trimmings!

Produced by Chuck Diehl and Tim Dwight.

Click for 360° view Photo by Rick Hormigo

Thank You, Sponsors!
 
We wish to thank the many sponsors who made our holiday party possible. Click the picture to visit our interactive sponsor poster (a pdf version of the large posters displayed at the party). There, you will be able to click the person's name to email that individual and also click the company name to visit their website.. Please take a moment to thank people personally. 
 
Sponsor Poster
Click for Interactive Sponsor Poster

 

 

A Night at the Museum...
 
     Two working examples of vintage television equipment were shown at the SMPTE Holiday Party held at the CBS Broadcast Center from both the studio side and the receiving end.
     Cliff Benham brought a working version of an electromechanical field sequential color receiver with an integrated signal source. This receiver featured a synchronous motor driving a six segmented wheel composed of two each red, blue, and green filters, resulting in a color frame rate of 24 Hz at approximately 400 TV lines.
     The Museum of Broadcast Technology in Woonsocket, Rhode Island brought a working Ampex VR-3000 portable quadruplex VTR and Smith mechanical 2" videotape splicer (the original video editor).
     The Ampex machine was often combined with a 1-inch tube format camera (such as a Philips PCP-90, Ikegami HL-33, or Bosch KCN) for early (1970s) ENG remotes. 
     Also displayed was an Ikegami HL-77, an early 2/3" tube format camera.
Visit their website at www.wmbt.org
Cliff Benham
Cliff Benham
Photo by Tim Dwight
Paul R. Beck operates an Ampex VR-3000
Photo by Tim Dwight

 

 

Digital Cinematography Moves Past Rentals 

 
Douglass I Sheer
Douglas I. Sheer

 

By Douglas I. Sheer

 

     The way that the Digital Cinematography market is developing, indicates that, unlike the film-based era, this market is tending towards far more privately owned units, early on, rather than just relying on rental, as was the habit of the film-centric past.  This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the USA. This trend is highlighted in Digital Cinematography World tm 2013 that was just published in May, following the NAB Convention.

     The global study looked at DC equipment use and habits amongst four currently key segments: 1) Motion Picture and Episodic TV Production/Post, 2) Mobile/OB, 3) Independents and 4) Rental Houses. In all, 1,973 professionals responded to a survey conducted mainly by telephone in five regions: USA, Americas, Europe, Middle East/Africa and Asia-Pacific. The common factor among respondents was that they had to be doing at least 51% of their business in motion pictures or episodic TV program production.  

  

Private ownership broader than expected

 

The overarching finding of the study is that unlike film before it, DC methods and habits revealed in the report, suggest that rental is not as dominant as it was and more and more professionals are opting for ownership of the main means of movie and episodic TV production. This is particularly pronounced amongst Independents. While the industry has indicated that broadcast support is being sought, they are apparently not the only avenue for expansion of professional ownership.  

     In all, 12 product genres were studied, with an aim to quantify them and establish their respective installed bases and growth potential. 

Among them: 

1) cameras, 

2) camcorders, 

3) D-SLRs, 

4) cinema lenses (including primes), 

5) servers and storage/recorders, 

6) lighting, 

7) cinema sound, 

8) editing and graphics, 

9) creative software, 

10) tripods and supports, 

11) displays and 

12) Production Switchers.  

     Other parts of the report include: Classifications, Budgets and Revenues, Technology Trends, Brand Image Rankings and Magazines and Shows. Report data is available modularly. At the same time, especially as this is a bench-marking first in the emerging market, an effort was made to assess the total addressable market (the TAM).   

     Of the above 12 product categories, 10 of them have seen personal ownership outpace rental house ownership, indicating that in the electronic cine era, compared to the film era, private ownership is rising.  One of the reasons for this is that some of the early DC brands, like RED, focused on making DC cameras more affordable and accessible to independents, sparking the trend toward individual ownership.

     Only in the case of cameras and lighting is the rental house and therefor rentals more dominant, indicating that in those two categories rentals are still significant. Recently BlackMagic Designs lowered their already modest camera prices making their UHD cameras even more affordable than before.

 

 

UHD and Super 35mm the primary DC drivers

 

     While it remains somewhat difficult to pinpoint why purchases rather than rentals seem to be a growing trend in the Digital Cinematography market, when film was so much a rental-only market, indications lead to a few contributory factors. Among them, the relatively low cost of entry regarding key products such as 4K cameras, the existence of massive quantities of older yet adaptable lenses, including primes, the rise of a broad number of independents and the relative ease of producing movies and episodic TV with electronic gear. This has further been enhanced by the success of some early 3D movies many of which were made more possible by the use of HD and ultimately 4K camera technology. But, unlike 3D, for which enthusiasm has waned dramatically, 4K (and many other Ks) interest has continued to build, and this has been most pronounced, while not exclusively, within the main segments of the emerging Digital Cinematography market. Ownership behavior obviously varies by segment, by region and by product genre and by brand. One example of limits, is the fact that with a substantial existing base of already owned lenses from the film era as well as from still cameras, applicable in many cases and re-purpose-able, purchase of new primes or zooms has not been quite the runaway success story it could have been, at least not yet. So, the development of DC, despite the excitement it is generating and the opportunities it represents, requires some moderation in assessment.

 

Looking ahead

 

     The forward going assessment is that the market is expected to continue to grow and may ultimately attract many broadcasters, however slowly, and through that direction spread into institutional segments of the overall market, such as education, corporate in-house, churches and government. For now, however, use of the DC and UHD technology is pretty much confined to making movies or creating episodic TV series.     

 

     Douglas I. Sheer is the CEO and Chief Analyst of D.I.S. Consulting (www.disresearch.com) and can be reached at dougsheer@gmail.com  

 

 

SMPTE 2013 Honors and
Awards
New York Section
 
Fellow
 
       Theodore Szypulski has worked in the broadcast industry for more than 43 years, employ
Theodore Szypulski
Theodore Szypulski
ed by ESPN, Inc., for the past 22 years. The Society of Broadcast 
Engineers (SBE) has certified him as a professional broadcast engineer, their highest level of certification. The SBE also selected Szypulski as their 2004 Broadcast Engineer of the Year, primarily for his work as project director for ESPN's new broadcast facility in  Connecticut. A member of SMPTE since 1985, he is involved in SMPTE standards activities on ESPN's behalf and chairs three standards committees.
     Szypulski is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the amateur extra class level and has recently rediscovered this childhood hobby of amateur radio operation. In addition, he has held an FCC general radiotelephone operator license since his high school years.
 
 
Fellow
 
     Steven D. Tiffen is president and chief executive
officer of the Tiffen Co. The company 
Steven D. Tiffen
Steven D. Tiffen
has been 
recognized for its product and engineering
excellence, earning a Technical Achievement Award and a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well
as multiple Emmys. Tiffen has received an Emmy for engineering excellence and a Technical Achievement Award from the Society of Camera Operators.
     Tiffen was previously chairman of the digital imaging division of the Consumer Electronics Association and is a member of its executive board. He is also an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers, as well as a member of the Photoimaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association board, and has been a member of other industry-related organizations throughout his career.
 
 
Presidential Proclamation

  

     William C. Miller is the recipient of this year's award for contributions spannin
William C. Miller
William C. Miller
g decades and covering all aspects of the Society's key objectives in standards, education, and membership. Miller has served in management roles, including Governor, Section Chair, and Engineering Vice President, and has been a dedicated contributor in countless standards, conferences, and Section activities. Miller recently pioneered a program in which he matched donations made by other SMPTE members to pay for student memberships. More than 250 students are now members as a result. Miller truly represents the best of SMPTE, as illustrated by his selfless commitment of both time and money, demonstrating an outstanding belief in the value and future of the Society.
     Miller is president of Miltag Media Technology, LLC, a consultancy specializing in technical standards for television and related industries. He retired from the ABC Television Network in 2008 after a 33-year career in the network's Broadcast Operations and  Engineering division. He is a Fellow of SMPTE and recipient of the Society's 2002 Progress Medal Award.

  

  

Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society

  

     Tim Dwight for his tireless efforts in organizing New York Section meetings. 
Tim Dwight
Tim Dwight
     Dwight has consistently made the effort not only to improve Section meetings but also to ensure that meeting notices are distributed and meetings are publicized in advance of the events. He has also played a vital role in enlisting new members to the Section. Dwight has been the consummate "doer" for the good and improvement of the New York Section.


Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society
 
      Bruce Follmer for his consistent support of the New York Section since 1977. 
Bruce Follmer
Bruce Follmer
     As a Section manager, Follmer has been involved in organizing and producing numerous Section events. He has attended meetings consistently and has contributed and initiated many ideas, which he has organized and implemented. Follmer's contributions to the New York Section have far exceeded those of a typical Section officer. Follmer is currently engineering manager at ABC Television Networks.
     He began his career in television in the mid 1970s with Time/Life Manhattan Cable, supervising transmission and studio facilities, transitioning to engineering/management responsibilities as director of Technical Operations at Lucky Duck Productions in 1999.
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