The Surprise…Wireless Studio Cameras At Television City
http://www.aerialvideo.com/technology/hd-wireless
Until I verified this myself yesterday, I was skeptical of a post a few weeks back by Father Bob Sewvello, but it is true! I had replied to Bob that the cameras in Studio 33 had white triax cables which was also true…till a few months ago. The link above takes you to the Aerial Video Systems site which is what CBS is using. If you look closely, you can see two aerials on each camera (one for data, one for compressed video) and a 12 volt battery attached to the base of the Vinten Quattro pedestals. There are five cameras on ‘The Price Is Right’ set and all are Sony 1500s…only the jib camera (taking this screen shot) is cabled now. More news…this week, CBS will be doing side by side testing of 4K cameras on ‘The Price Is Right’ and ‘The Bold And Beautiful’ sets. Thanks to Father Bob Sewvello for the sharp eye and this photo.
Not to thrilled about compressed video…
By the way, 3 utility men lost their jobs on this show because there are no more cables.
I wonder how this would work with 4K considering it’s a lot more bandwidth than 1080p
Wait until they have problems with the links. Cable is still the most reliable.
It’s a world where technological advancement makes it possible to eliminate jobs…to make the bean counters happy and the board members rich…guess “the price IS right” for the fat cats at the top…
I was editing a feature story about Giuliana Rancic visiting TPIR and noticed that too. Blew my mind. I imagine that not too many stages can pull this off. I’m sure TV City had excellent shielding from interference.
When I started at NBC NY in 1967, the TK 41s had 4 ( 3 + spare) thick camera cables. You had to have a person every few feet to move the thick, heavy cables. How times have changed!
I have done way too many productions where an RF camera has gone belly up and you have a hole in the production and no way of getting it sorted out. I think that RF links have their place in the tv world, but why on earth in a studio?!
For a while, they were using two Quattros and two Fulmars. But give me a hardwired camera any day. Wireless microphones aren’t exactly trustworthy either.
Those look like Interstate Optima (yellow top) car batteries! I’d be happier about the lost jobs if there’s now a ‘battery wrangler’ on the show.
The Emmy Legends site has a lot of good interviews with people who worked in early television (such as John Frankenheimer’s experience directing Playhouse 90). One of their big concerns was the crossing of camera cables during a live production.
Some how this reminds me of my pal Rich Bernal’s story of his college studio where the camera cables dropped from the grid at the center of the studio and sets were all around the perimeter. After a few weeks it was like a may pole and they had to un-plug the cameras and unbraid the cables.
If only they were as creative at coming up with worthy shows to watch as they are with coming up with neat equipment. 4k cameras on this show? What a waste!
Yes, at the taping of Barker’s 90th birthday appearance we were into Act 3 before I realized the cameras were wireless, and sadly that the stage seemed to be missing a few people.
I understand TPIR is undergoing a lot more editing than it did back in Barker’s time—if they want to clear the stage of big old triax/fiber cables, then they might as well be shooting “sitcom-style” with camcorders and syncing them together in post! Wireless cameras have their place……remotes and newscast live shots! NOT in a traditional studio!
The Unions did not understand where new technology would go. They refused to comprehend that jobs would be lost in the near future. An E-Board member was a cameraman on this program. This links shows an interview at NBC in 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWl58PhIKM0
The cameras do use Optima Batteries that can be use from Max performance in cars but they do go out easily.
Earless également car le camerio de gauche n’a pas d’écouteurs