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One of my joys of interviewing at NAB is the time

I spend at the Kata stand with Bellina Israel.

Sadly for me, but happily for her, Bellina does not

have to do battle in the halls of Mammon

anymore, she has attained freedom at last. On aflying visit to our shores, I spoke with Bellina and

Marc Jamieson from Focal Holdings during a

recent dealer meeting at A2Z.

Ed: Bellina, you’ve now gone from being a

suitcase model to a higher position with Kata, is

that right?

Bellina: I’ve become the brand manager from

the marketing manager, so a move sideways.

Ed: And upwards, I’m sure. The Kata video

product is now represented in New Zealand by

Focal Holdings but now there is more?

Bellina: Kata have gone from completely

broadcast oriented into the photo market and I

can say that, after this visit, I think we’ve

established a very strong hold in the New Zealand

photo market, as well as being leaders in the

video market. Our new lightweight protectionconcept has caught on very, very well here – it

looks like the market has really embraced the new

Kata designs and understands the attributes that

these bags provide.

Ed: Obviously it’s not only the product, but

you’ve also got to have the support in the

country, don’t you?

Bellina: Absolutely and I think lots of sheep

out there are happy to have a Kata bag thesedays!

Ed: ( Aside: We’re not going to put that bit in

Bellina – you’re not taking this interview seriously.

I’m going to have to be firmer with you from now

on. ) So, in terms of support it’s great to have a good

product, but Marc, it’s also good to have the stock and

actually to be proactive in the market?

Marc: Sure and I think also when you talk aboutsupport, it’s important to talk about the dealers who are

giving us that support and, in turn, putting it forward to

our customers. They’re really behind it; these guys have

been doing it for a reasonable amount of time and that’s

crucial to our success in distributing.

Ed: Certainly I’m impressed by the stands that you’veprovided. You walk into the nice big showroom here atA2Z and the Kata one immediately catches your eye?

Marc: That was something that was developedoverseas, but we’re really happy to have the stands. As

Kata Bags on Diets

APRIL 2012 Vol 179

Bellina with Marc from Focal Holdingsshowing the Kata stand at A2Z — it’s yellow!

Page 2

around for the last 15 years, so we have that backpack,

that shoulder case and that rain cover proposition also

for the very high end cameras; but we have completely

phased out our gloves and guards.

Ed: Also, I guess in terms of the range of bags thatyou have, with cameras these days being fairly similarin their size and shape, you don’t have the variationsthat you used to have – the big cameras with a big lenson them, where you had to have that support rightacross the length of the camera … the bag had tosupport the lens as well as the body of the camera, soyou didn’t get any damage if you dropped it?

Bellina: Yes, that’s true. We haven’t actuallyreduced our protection level – we’ve increased it.We’ve made the bags lighter these days, so you’regetting the same level of protection you’re used to …

Ed: But the cameras are smaller?

Bellina: Yes. But even the smaller cameras, weknow the lens is always the delicate part. You’ll findthat we have nice little pillows in our bags, to cushionthat lens and make sure that the connection is neverover-stressed. The little details in every bag are stillexactly what you were used to getting from Kata whenit was protecting much higher end equipment. Sowe’ve downsized as the cameras have, but the attentionto detail has remained in all our products.

Ed: Because all these bags are tested by the Israelimilitary aren’t they?

Bellina: Well, the Israeli military, the US military –

if you go on our Facebook page, you’ll see fantastic

images now coming in from all over the world, where

the newer bags have really been put to the test and

abused in harsh conditions and they’ve stood up.

Ed: Now this isn’t your first visit to New Zealand, so

obviously you’re building up a better picture of the

market here – what struck you about the New Zealand

market specifically for the Kata product?

Bellina: Well I’d say that New Zealanders, at least

looking through the retail sales, are not afraid to try

new things. They probably know the brand from our

video history in this market, so perhaps that opened up

a few doors in photo as well for us, and I think they’re

challengers – they’re not set in their ways, they’re

willing to go out and try something new, appreciate the

value set, appreciate something that’s a bit differentand not what everybody else is doing.

Ed: Over the years at NAB, we’ve covered various

new product releases, and we’re going to hold the

pages about new product releases until the NAB issue,

but in the meantime, there have been some pretty

major changes in the bag concept and, as you say,

there’s a whole range of bags very similar in their

structure. Bellina, can you just take us through the

structure of a Kata bag which makes it stand out from

“the rest”?

Bellina: Well Kata have always been known for their

protection; we’ve always made the most protective

bags in the industry. What we realised is that it’s not

enough to be protective, it also has to be super-light,

because you’re carrying very, very heavy gear and

these days everybody who flies knows how much that

costs them. But we’re not talking about just the cost of

air freight and overweight, but the cost of wear and tear

on our user’s body, which is, in our mind’s eye, much

more important.

you see, they stand out and the product looks great onthe stands. With the new larger showroom at A2Z itcertainly shows off the Kata range very well.

Ed: Now, for Kata, it’s not that you have to get your

product in from Australia, or anywhere silly like that;

you’ve actually got a decent sized warehouse and you

do keep stock?

Marc: Yes we get our Kata bags and Manfrotto

apparel straight from the factory. We have stock of all

core items and occasionally if there is a product that we

don’t have in the warehouse, we may look overseas and

get it in as a special order.

Bellina: The great thing now is, I think in the last

year, all dealers have not been afraid to go “yellow” and

what Mark has done is really come in and put our Kata

yellow splash on the walls with the displays. It’s made

our product really “in your face” – stand out, yes. I

think in New Zealand, you’re not chicken and you go

yellow.

Ed: There’s another expression about dogs, but we

won’t go there. But in terms of the range, it’s actually

got smaller Bellina?

Bellina: In video, yes, we’re streamlining all our

range and we’re really focusing on what sells through.

For cameras, we have the basic package which is a

great shoulder bag that everybody has known for the

last 12 years through A2Z, the rain covers and the

backpack option. Now obviously, the most popular

cameras are a lot smaller than they used to be, but the

other downside is that, you never know exactly how

many accessories you’re going to be carrying with your

camera. So it could be that you need a small compact

bag for just the camera out of the box with the basic

accessories, but if you’re kitting up with a matte box,

microphones, external whatever, you need to have that

step-up or step-down. So our range is really like the

Russian dolls, we have five bags with a gradual build

up; you walk in – bang – you’ve got the camera and

that’s the compact option; you’ve got your camera set

up with all the extras, you go one size up. Same thing

with the rain covers, we’ve got that build up which

covers the whole range of cameras out there and with

just the basic package of three, we can offer almost

every camera out there a suitable cover. We still have

our very high end selection that, again, have been

The “parachute” zipper toggles.

Page 4

– for the straps, we’ve gone and created very strong

nylon weaves that obviously can be thinner, narrower,

but as durable and strong as the heavy duty thick

straps. Zipper heads … every metal zipper head – well

one doesn’t weigh much, but if you look at most of our

bags you’ll see just how many zipper heads we have on

a bag. It can be up to 20 sometimes. If you remove all

those metal zipper heads and weigh that, it’s

considerable weight that we’re reducing; and we’ve got

these big parachute zippers that are easy to operate

even if your hands are a bit cold, or if you’re wearing

gloves, and it’s always on the main compartment –

secondary compartments will have little button zipper

pullers. Without looking, you know if you’re opening

your main compartment or a pocket on the side of the

bag. Basically, everything that could be removed

because it’s surplus, was removed.

Then we took the bags, sent them to the gym, and hadto make them strong again. So, if you look at our bags,we drew our inspiration from the human body … simpleskeletal structures can create strength, give youexcellent fortification without adding a lot of weight. Soin our bags we have aluminium skeletons to give youthat extra build durability; we have something that runsdown the front that’s called a “spine guard” and that,when you take it out (and you will be able to take itout) looks like nothing, it feels very flimsy, but it’s aspring. The moment I lock that spring in an arc, itbecomes very strong and durable, so I’m given a verysturdy protection down the front of the bag, with aspine guard that weighs practically nothing.

Ed: You mean, as we age?

Bellina: That’s down the line for all of us, even for

you!

Ed: Oh thank you.

Bellina: So, at the end of the day, we want you to

be out there shooting for as long as you can. We don’t

want to ruin your back; we don’t want your knees to

buckle under hip problems and things like that, so

weight is extremely important. We want you to carry

the weight correctly and we want you to carry as little

extra weight as necessary, because your gear is so

heavy. So what we did is we put all our bags on a diet

to make them as light as possible. We actually promise

to be the lightest, most protective bags in the market …

that’s a brand promise, and if you find anything lighter

that’s as strong, we’ll give you your money back.

The first thing in every bag is the fabric; where we used

to use very heavy duty and heavy fabrics like cordura or

ballistic nylon, we’ve changed to fabrics that come from

the parachute world which is very light, thin fabrics but

obviously they have to be very durable. They are called

“ripstop nylons” and they actually stop – they won’t rip

because of the hatch in them. Another thing that every

bag is constructed with is obviously foam. We couldn’t

find foam that was lighter, because foam, in its

essence, is light and then we came up with a great idea

to just perforate the foam, remove 40% of the surface

of the foam and make it 40% lighter. So that was a

“eureka” moment for all of us; and then everything else

Page 6

reaction to the style, some people actually preferred the

older style of the Kata bags?

Bellina: It all depends … we have our diehard grey

fans, but I think a lot of them realise the change is in

their interests and have adapted to it. We used to get a

lot of the opposite, which was that those bags look too

bulky, too heavy, they look like military, so it all

depends on the users. Basically, I think the huge

advantage of going lighter is especially when you travel

and you’re paying for every single gram overweight,

everybody appreciates this big change and we’re trying

to change the mind-set of the whole market to go

lighter, because at the end of the day it’s in our interest

to raise the bar of expectations. We want cameramen

to walk in and say “we want the lightest bag out there”

and to understand that weight costs you; it costs you

when you fly, it costs you every day in the wear and

tear on your body.

Ed: So either it means not paying extra for

overweight or just putting a little bit of extra gear in the

bag, so you’re still within your limit?

Bellina: Absolutely. Another nice thing, I think,with the overall look of Kata – it doesn’t look like a

So all this thought went into the bag, to really be able

to walk into the market and say “we are giving you the

best protection – the protection that you know you

always got from Kata, but in the lightest possible

package.”

Ed: But, as you say, it’s still strong and durable?

Bellina: Absolutely. We are the most protective,

not just the lightest anymore.

Ed: And at this moment I’m picking it up … and, yes,

I can easily pick it up with one hand, even though it’s

quite a big bag.

Bellina: Well there isn’t a bag in Kata that I can’t

pick up with my little pinkie, including our huge lighting

bags.

Ed: And even the little buttons, they’re sort of a very

strong plastic, but the pull cords certainly are light and

easy to see, because they’re a nice red against the

black. But tell me, these little bits of material at the

side here, what’s the purpose of those?

Bellina: Well this is a backpack for a video DSLR set

up and, quite often, you do actually carry a lot more

than just your gear with you, so we give extra straps

and these allow you to connect, on the

outside, all your extra bits and bobs.

Ed: So they’re for hanging things off, if

you want to add something to the bag

later?

Bellina: It’s always very versatile;

we give you a lot of modularity.

Ed: So even though the Kata colour is

yellow, there’s no yellow on this bag?

Bellina: No yellow on the outside;

always yellow on the inside – always.

Ed: Have you got a light in this one?

Bellina: No, you don’t need a light

when your interior is yellow.

Ed: Okay, so this particular Kata bag

we’re looking at here which is the Source

-261PL – the maximum bag weight is 2.9

kg and that’s with all the accessories

inside – all the dividers and straps, etc.

So this is 1-1½ kg less than the previous

version of this bag. But Bellina, I

understand there’s been a little bit of Rex Milton and David Epstein from A2Z.

more on page 9

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Page 9

Ed: And these are real good solid pockets that aredesigned to hold heavy things, unlike a standard jacketwhere you’d get a little sag and possibly ripping?

Bellina: Yes. All the pressure isn’t on the pocket;it’s a suspension system throughout the jacket. Thatmakes sure that the whole body is carrying the weightand not just the seams of the pocket. And everywhereyou look, there are lots of pockets, but they areconcealed. It doesn’t look overdone; you’re not apatchwork ofpockets, butthere’s a lot ofroom to storethings.

We have amedia card hol-der for all yourmemory cards;and my favour-ite is the“granny pleaser”… up yoursleeve, it’s not ahanky, but alens cleaner.

Ed: And it’s alens cleaner ona cord, so youdon’t lose it?

Bellina: The“granny pleaser”

camera bag anymore, or it doesn’t look as “in yourface” a camera bag, which means that when you’reflying, you’re not “clocked” as a cameraman.Cameramen are always clocked because they’reobviously a great cash cow for overweight, and if youdon’t get targeted as a cameraman, then you can getaway with a lot more weight, without being noticed.

Ed: Now before we go, a special product that is underthe Manfrotto badge, but it’s still looked after by thelarger Vitec Group, and this is something that yourepresent?

Bellina: Yes, we’re in charge of all soft textileproducts and it’s a brand new concept of apparel forphotographers who don’t want to look like fishermen …

Ed: ... or videographers?

Bellina: ... or videographers, absolutely. Wherethere used to be, let’s say, a video photo vest fromDomke, and that’s more or less the only piece ofapparel that we had in the market, we’re trying to comeout with a stylish new apparel range that gives you, asa working professional in the field, solutions for whatyou need.

If it’s protection against abrasion, somewhere to securethe camera straps so that they don’t slip off, make sureif you’re carrying an SLR that the camera doesn’t tiltback and forth. It can be a great everyday jacket, butit has all these extra features when you’re out in thefield working – so the pockets can be completely flat orunzip, open up, add a padded insert and then pop ineither your audio gear or your extra lenses or whatever– cables, etc.

The card pocket.

Page 10

in the past have been monster jackets and you’reloaded up and bulging pockets, whereas this is stylish,it’s Italian design and it looks good.

Ed: Would you wear one outside?

Rex: Yes – it doesn’t have to be a photographer’s

jacket or a videographer’s jacket, because it’s a stylish

jacket that you can use. It’s good for travel because

there’s lots of little pockets to put your passport and

things in and they’re secure. It’s ideal.

Ed: And it’s available from A2Z?

Rex: Exactly, yes, we’ve got a few sizes here at the

moment, but more sizes are coming in as they become

available … and the vests, of course, we’ve got the

vests. There’s three models in the line – there’s the

jacket, there’s the soft shell and there’s the vest.

Ed: So what’s a “soft shell”?

Bellina: A “soft shell” is exactly that. It’s a cool,

warm jacket that you can wear under your jacket or

under your vest when you want that extra layer of

warmth.

Ed: But it doesn’t have any special pockets?

Bellina: It has a lot of pockets, none that will

actually pad out. It gives you the little extra hand

warming function and that’s it. There’s no “granny

pleaser”. It can be worn just as an everyday jacket.

Ed: And it’s got those padded shoulders for putting

heavy things on?

Bellina: Padded Kevlar anti-abrasion.

Ed: And basically the vest is the jacket without the

sleeves … all the features are the same?

Bellina: You get the ventilation on the vest, so it’s

not as warm and probably more adapted to your climate

here. It doesn’t really get that cold does it?

Ed: No – never cold or rain in Auckland.

Bellina: Well then you have to travel to find the

snow.

Travel to A2Z to get your Manfrotto clothing or to anyone of a number of dealers throughout New Zealand forKata bags.

is definitely a good thing to have in ajacket and if you get stuck without yourhanky there’s also a solution there.

Ed: And I guess the whole jacket iswaterproof?

Bellina: Absolutely, using the bestoutdoor materials, giving you ventilationwhere necessary, rubberised zippers soyou don’t damage any of your gear …every little detail here is thought throughand we believe that we’re really enteringwith a new product into a new market,so that we can be the trendsetters.

Ed: And it doesn’t have a big “M” or“Manfrotto” anywhere on it, just a prettycool little logo?

Bellina: No, we’re very, very low keyin branding. We know that you guys areout there and you don’t want to show upwith a big logo, you don’t want to beadvertising anybody else, so our logo isnot in your face; you don’t have to takeout the black masking tape to hide a biglogo on your back.

Ed: And it comes in one colour?

Bellina: Black, black and black – so three colouroptions!

Ed: And Rex, you’re seeing this as a big seller foryou?

Rex: It’s a new line and a new direction but, yes, we’retotally involved with it because, as Bellina said, jackets

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Page 12

where, if people are overseas and want to watch theservice, they can log in and watch the service “live”effectively, over a stream. So I think the demand forthis type of equipment is going to increase as peoplewant to use the Internet or use their LANs to providethat content.

Ed: And once you see it in action then the brain starts

working and you think “oh I could do something else

with it”?

Rick: Yes, absolutely. I mean one of the other areas

that we’re doing at Pro Video Systems is digital signage.

We recently did an installation – we didn’t physically

install it, but sold some to Scott Base in Antarctica.

One of the things they wanted to be able to do was, as

part of the digital signage solution, take an off-air feed,

convert it to an IP stream and then put it in as a

window as part of the digital signage. This type of

device would achieve that easily.

Ed: Because you are intending to supply this as part

of a larger solution, you don’t want it to be the “weak

link” – is the quality there?

A Great CastI went with Chon Chai fromImaging Technology to seeRick Haywood from ProVideo Systems. Rick wastrialling the new AVerCasterfrom AVerMedia.

Ed: Rick – you’re MrPanasonic Broadcast in NewZealand, but you also needsome other products Iguess, to provide a fullservice to potential clients.You’ve found thisAVerCaster and it fits aniche for you?

Rick: Yes, I had an enquiryfrom one customer. Theysupply a lot of AVequipment into schools andthey were looking at usingthe Panasonic vision mixers,cameras and so on, toprovide TV studios forschools. They do a lot withradio stations at themoment, and were asking isthere a device out therethat would allow them tothen just stream that content out over their network, soover the school LAN? With a little bit of shoppingaround, we came across the AVerMedia product andChon brought one in for us. We tested it; it was “plugand play”, dead simple. It’s got composite video inputand component video in, but it’s also got DVB-T forFreeview …

Ed: Or, I guess, if you make your own DVB-T stream?

Rick: Well yes but, I’m not sure how easy that is. I hada bit of a look at that as an option, and creating a DVB-T stream and encoding it to an RF signal is notsomething that schools are going to be able to do. Butcertainly, yes, just plugged it in, hooked it up and awayit went. It was very simple.

Ed: I guess there are some other more expensiveoptions out there?

Rick: There are, but schools don’t have a lot of money… and it’s not just schools too, you know. We recentlydid quite a large installation at a funeral home, with hi-def pan / tilt / zoom cameras, HMX100 vision mixer, thewhole thing running in HD, and they often want to beable to stream that, so there are services provided

Rick and Chon holding the AVerCaster.

Page 14

Ed: I guess though, for a broadcastoption, people wanting to watch wouldhave to use bandwidth to receive this,stream this at home and it would bequite a few gig to watch a movie forexample?

Rick: Can I respond to that … forexample, if you installed this at homeand said “we’ve got a wide networkaround our house and multiplecomputers or devices or WiFi devices,you’re not downloading anything. Youplug it into your aerial and it takes theincoming RF signal off Freeview and thenjust sends it out over your network. Soyou’re not using up gigabytes of data;it’s purely streaming it over yournetwork. What you are doing is using

some of your network capacity, but it’s very low bitrate.

Ed: But that’s if you’re taking a Freeview signal in

there, but if you wanted to have your own television

channel and you wanted to broadcast?

Chon: Over the Internet? My estimate for high

definition H264 bandwidth is about 2 mb/s.

Ed: That’s too much money to give Telecom. Now

this isn’t the end of the roadmap is it – there’s more

product development possible with the AVerCaster?

Chon: For sure. AVerMedia is growing its product

range very quickly. They started by making TV tuner

cards and then they moved into games capture. This

has now progressed into the video capture and video

streaming market.

Ed: And they’ve already been successful with their

DarkCrystal product for the video industry?

Chon: Yes, version one is very successful for the

games market and, in the second generation, for video

capture.

The boys have just hooked it up to Freeview onto a

large plasma and it’s stunning – both picture and

sound. It really is like home TV with just a very, very

slight jitter with fast movement. Even the “ticker” is

clearly readable and I’m sitting very close to it so “top

marks” to this particular product I say.

Rick: Yes, particularly as I say, on the DVB-T inputs,the hi-def inputs, the quality was really impressive.

Ed: So you see yourself buying quite a few of these?

Rick: Well hopefully some customers buying quite a fewof them. I mean it’s all about trying to providesolutions isn’t it and I guess that’s what we try and dois pull all the pieces of the puzzle together, to providesomething that’s cost-effective.

Ed: Great. Now the man himself, Chon – tell me, thisproduct, this AVerMedia AVerCaster, I mean it’s a tinylittle box, what’s it actually got inside there?

Chon: The unit has a CPU inside for encodinganalogue signal into MPEG-2 for streaming, and youmay adjust the Bitrate as you prefer. With the DVB-Tsignal input, the unit has a bypass and streams thetransport stream ( H264/MPEG-2 ) directly onto the IPaddress.

Ed: So really then it just acts as a multicaster – yousay that you can have up to 16 DVB-T channels throughthis?

Chon: Yes, the professional model of theAVerCaster series, called AVerCaster Pro, which comeswith two DBV-T inputs going through the bypass, theunit can multicast 16 channels. In the service sidecomputer you can assign an IP address to each of thechannels.

Ed: So even though there’s no buttons actually onthis little box, where do you do all thechanges and modification to how yousplit your signal, etc?

Chon: Only at the first time whenyou run this device, you need to beconnected to a display monitor and runthe AVerCaster Web Manager software toidentify its IP address. From theManager software, you assign andconfigure the channels.

Ed: So that’s why it’s such a little box,it’s all software driven from the PC?

Chon: This device can be seen as astandalone unit. As long as you have adisplay monitor, all the setting can bedone without a PC.

Ed: Rick can see a number of users ofthis particular product in thenarrowcasting area, but I imagine alsoyou could have a TV station with this?

Chon: In theory, yes, it should beall right for a station to use and we arelooking at targeting this to churches,schools and universities.

NZVN

Plenty of “ins” and “outs”.

Page 16

And another one

LEDs don't have to be dimmed in order to exhibit the bandingissue. Some have it on the midway setting and others on thehigh and anywhere in between. It depends on the drivercircuitry design which varies from manufacturer tomanufacturer and at the specific shutter speed (fps) of thecamera settings.

The el-cheapo LED units that have dimmers on them are theones to watch out for. I am not saying that they all have thatproblem but it seems that even the more expensive ones ( and Iam not going to name any brand ) have the bug. I know thatComer is a very good and popular one, powerful and versatile,and I have never seen or heard of any issues with that one. Idon't think you can get far with any manufacturer circuitryschematics/specs/type as that is not relevant informationnecessary to the end user and also very confidential info.Electronic jargon is a language in itself.

At this time we can only go by other users’ experiences withvarious LED units out there. I would make sure that the store/source of my purchase has a return policy or exchange after Itry the lamp at various settings with different camera shutterspeeds to verify. It’s also worth mentioning that not all PWMdesigns will have banding. Some have a dual circuitry ( hybrid )that is designed just for that. Please don't ask me where to getthem or which lights have them. I don't know. I just read up onthem in the past during my research era; they were notmentioned in use for video applications. Read reviews, checkout YouTube for strobing/banding/horizontal lines etc. As to anon-LED light to recommend ... there are plenty out there –Lowell, Bescor, Frezzi, Anton Bauer to name a few. Whywould you want to go to the non-LED route ? Comer is the oneI recommend; Taky in L.A Color has excellent service and willanswer all your questions.

Have you had rolling bandsof light and dark in yourfootage recently? I have. Irecently recorded a show ina dark studio using a small,battery powered, no-brand,LED light panel that I got ina barter deal. I was using itas a soft light just on thepresenter. It was dimmedto a level that the presenterwas comfortable with butthat still showed him clearly.His light level was com-peting with a slide projectorat times so a balance wasneeded.

The image in my CMOSsensored television camera’sview screen was lighter thanthe background room light,indicating that quite a bit ofgain was being added in the“auto” mode. There was nopicture disturbance visibleso I recorded continuouslyfor an hour moving betweenfull wide and just the presenter head to tail. Imonitored the picture in the camera’s screen the wholetime.

When I later looked at the footage captured off the HDVtape onto my Adobe CS4 timeline, there were rollingbands of light and dark on the area illuminated by theLED panel.

On searching the internet, I found these explanations.

That banding effect is caused by the way the driver controls thebrightness (dimming) of the LED(s) in the lamp. LEDs are feda constant current through them as not to go overboard on themaximum allowed current. The dimming on the problem LEDs( the ones that have the banding issues ) is being controlled bythe driver that is the PWM type or Pulse Width Modulation.The PWM driver really is the problem as it "pulses the LED'son-off cycle duration to achieve the dimming effect.” Thelonger the on cycle, the brighter the LED(s) get. Problem is thatmost, if not all, LED lamp makers, do not specify the type( PWM or non-PWM ) of the controller driver used in theirdesign. The issue of banding really is not apparent on 30 fps( frames per second ) shutter speed capture, but at specifichigher speeds, notably 60 and higher. LED lamp makers did nottake that into consideration but I am sure that they are all awareof that and most likely will change the configuration to fix theproblem on their next production run. I have seen manycomplaints about that with cheap and sometimes expensiveLED units. The driver necessary is the constant DC current typethat varies the current flow and not the cycling of it. I have alsoseen the flickering effect when the battery voltage level is at aspecific low point ( minimum threshold ) of the lamp. This canbe accomplished by putting in a dead battery with the others inorder to lower the voltage. Banding is a serious issue andcannot be fixed ( or is almost impossible to fix ) in post.

WARNING Will Robinson!

Cheap LED light panels and CMOS sensor cameras don’t mix.

It’s not so clear in a still photo, so I put white rectangleson the left of the picture, to show where the light bands are.

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PRODUCTION | POST | VISUAL EFFECTS

Page 18

and on the local scene, Paul Richards from Nutshell

/� ŶŽǁ � ĂĐƟǀ ĞůLJ� Ăǀ ŽŝĚ� >��� ůŝŐŚƟŶŐ͕�

especially cheap stuff. We nearly lost a

shoot in Hamilton for Rock Quest due to

ƚŚĞ�s ĞŶƵĞ�ƉƌŽǀ ŝĚŝŶŐ�ƚŚĞ�ůŝŐŚƟŶŐ�ĨŽƌ�ƚŚĞ�

gig, which … like you say, did not show as

Ă�ƉƌŽďůĞŵ�Ăƚ�ƚŚĞ�ƟŵĞ͘�/ƚ�ǁ ĂƐ�Ă�ŵĂũŽƌ�

ŝƐƐƵĞ�ĨŽƌ�ƚŚĞ�ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ�ĂŶĚ�ŵƵĐŚ�ŚĞĂĚ�

ƐĐƌĂƚĐŚŝŶŐ�ĂŌĞƌǁ ĂƌĚ͘ �ZĞƐĞĂƌĐŚ�ŚĂƐ�ŶŽǁ �

revealed that CCD and CMOS sensors

react differently to LED.

^ŚŽŽƟŶŐ�Ă�ƚĞƐƚ�ŝƐ�ǀ ŝƚĂů�ĂŶĚ�ĞŵƉůŽLJŝŶŐ�, LJƉĞƌ-gamma or a

ƐŚƵƩ Ğƌ�Žƌ�ďŽƚŚ�ƐĞĞŵƐ�ƚŽ�ďĞ�ƚŚĞ�ďĞƐƚ�ƐŽůƵƟŽŶ͘

and from Clive Cannon, Technical Product Specialist,Sony ANZ

Firstly this is a completely different issue

to the one that I am aware of with LED

lights – especially blue, and that relates

to CCD not CMOS. The issue described

appears to be much the same as the issue

one would expect to get with fluorescent

lights, but more severe.

CMOS sensors acquire differently to CCD

ƐĞŶƐŽƌƐ͖ �ŝŶ�ƐŝŵƉůŝƐƟĐ�ƚĞƌŵƐ�����ƐĞŶƐŽƌƐ�

ƚĂŬĞ�Ă�ƐŶĂƉ�ŽĨ� ƚŚĞ�ĞŶƟƌĞ� Į ĞůĚͬ ĨƌĂŵĞ�ǁ ŚĞƌĞĂƐ��D K^�

ƐĞŶƐŽƌƐ�ƐĐĂŶ�ĨƌŽŵ�ƚŽƉ�ƚŽ�ďŽƩ Žŵ�ŽĨ�ƚŚĞ�ĨƌĂŵĞ͘�dŚĞƌĞĨŽƌĞ�

ǁ ŝƚŚ��D K ^͕ �ŝĨ�ƚŚĞ�ŝŵĂŐĞͬ ůŝŐŚƟŶŐ�ĐŚĂŶŐĞƐ�ĚƵƌŝŶŐ�ƚŚĞ�ƉĞƌŝŽĚ�

ŽĨ�ƟŵĞ�ƚŚĂƚ�ƚŚĞ�ƐĞŶƐŽƌ�ŝƐ�ƐĐĂŶŶŝŶŐ͕�ƚŚĞŶ�ŝƚ�ǁ ŝůů�ďĞ�ƌĞƉůŝĐĂƚĞĚ�

on the recorded picture.

In the case of an LED light switching on/off/on /off fast ( i.e

PWM ), then of course this is going to be captured by the

sensor and seen as horizontal banding. Fluorescent lamps

do a similar thing but with much less severe results due to

ƚŚĞ�ŚLJƐƚĞƌĞƐŝƐ�ŽĨ�ƚŚĞ�ƉŚŽƐƉŚŽƌ�Ğŵŝƫ ŶŐ�ƚŚĞ�ůŝŐŚƚ͕ �ŚŽǁ Ğǀ Ğƌ�

ƚŚĞ�ƉŝĐƚƵƌĞ�ŵĂLJ�ƐƟůů�ďĞ�ƐĞĞŶ�ƚŽ�ŚĂǀ Ğ�ŵŝůĚ�ŚŽƌŝnjŽŶƚĂů�ďĂƌƐ�

ƌƵŶŶŝŶŐ�ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ�ĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶƚ�ƵƉŽŶ�ƐŚƵƩ Ğƌ�ƐƉĞĞĚ�ĞƚĐ͘

^ŚƵƩ Ğƌ� ƐŚŽƵůĚ� Ăůǁ ĂLJƐ� ďĞ� K&&� ǁ ŚĞŶ� ƐŚŽŽƟŶŐ� ƵŶĚĞƌ�

fluorescent lights. Many professional camcorders with

CMOS sensors have a flicker reduce feature for use with

fluorescents.

and Chris McKenzie, Professional Lighting Services, NZ

Firstly I agree with Clive. The key point

with all of these fixtures is the level of

ΗƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂůΗ�ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ�ǁ Ğ�ĂƌĞ�ĞdžƉĞĐƟŶŐ�

from "prosumer" level product in the

marketplace. New Zealand users are all

ǀ ĞƌLJ�ƉƌŝĐĞ�Ěƌŝǀ ĞŶ�ĂŶĚ�ĂƌĞ�ŵŽƟǀ ĂƚĞĚ��ƚŽ�

shop around for the "best" deal.

^ŽŵĞƟŵĞƐ�ƚŚĂƚ�ďĞƐƚ�ĚĞĂů�ŝƐ�ŶŽƚ͘ �t ŝƚŚ�

ƌĞŐĂƌĚ�ƚŽ�ƚŚĞ�ŇƵŽƌŽ�ŝƐƐƵĞƐ�ŵĞŶƟŽŶĞĚ�ďLJ�

�ůŝǀ Ğ͕�ƚŚĞƐĞ�ǁ ŝůů�ŐĞŶĞƌĂůůLJ�ƐŚŽǁ �ƵƉ�ǁ ŝƚŚ�ŵĂŐŶĞƟĐ�ďĂůůĂƐƚ�

Ěƌŝǀ ĞŶ�ŇƵŽƌŽƐ�ŝŶ�ŝŶƐƚĂůůĂƟŽŶƐ͕ �Žƌ�ŝŶ�ĐŚĞĂƉŽ�Į ƫ ŶŐƐ͘

Professional fluoro units ( Kinoflo, Lowel, etc ) all use high

frequency ballasts which drive the lamps at a rate well

ĂďŽǀ Ğ�ŐĞŶĞƌĂů�ĐĂŵĞƌĂ�ƐĐĂŶ�ĂŶĚ�ƐŚƵƩ Ğƌ�ƌĂƚĞƐ͘ �dŚĞ�ďĂŶĚŝŶŐ�

and flicker issues that you see are the same as have always

occurred with any light source driven by an AC waveform.

�ĂƩ ĞƌLJ�Žƌ�ŵĂŝŶƐ�ƐŚŽƵůĚŶΖƚ�ŵĂƩ Ğƌ͘�/Ĩ�ƚŚĞLJ�ĂƌĞ�Ěƌŝǀ ĞŶ�Žī �

mains they will generally use a DC power supply to run the

unit. As all the notes state, the strobing issue is about the

frequency of the PWM dimming that most cheap units use

to control intensity.

t ŝƚŚ�ƌĞŐĂƌĚ�ƚŽ�ƚŚĞ�>���ƵŶŝƚƐ͕ �Ăůů�ŽĨ�ƚŚĞ�ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ�LJŽƵ�

have provided is accurate. Paul's problem is one that is

ŐŽŝŶŐ�ƚŽ�ďƵŝůĚ�ƵƉ�ĨŽƌ�Ğǀ ĞƌLJŽŶĞ�ƐŚŽŽƟŶŐ�ŝŶ�ůŝƚ�ĞŶǀ ŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚƐ�

which are not under their direct control.

There is a vast drive to use LED colour changing fixtures to

light everything and most of these are the cheapest units

available.

There are a large number of very good and pricey LED

colour changers on the market, but not a lot of them end

up in places we are going to shoot.

If you need to shoot in a suspect environment, as Paul says,

shoot a test. It may result in you having to tell your client

ƚŚĂƚ�ƚŚĞ�ůŝŐŚƟŶŐ�ŝƐ�ŶŽƚ�ƵƉ�ƚŽ�ƐƉĞĐ�ĂŶĚ�LJŽƵ�ĐĂŶΖƚ�ƐŚŽŽƚ�ƚŚĞŝƌ�

Ğǀ ĞŶƚ͘ �WĞƌŚĂƉƐ�ƐŚŽŽƚĞƌƐ�ĂŶĚ�ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ�ĐŽŵƉĂŶŝĞƐ�ŶĞĞĚ�ƚŽ�

ƉƵƚ�Ă�ĐĂǀ ĞĂƚ�ĂďŽƵƚ�ƐŚŽŽƟŶŐ�ŝŶ�ƉƌĞ-ůŝƚ�ƐĞƫ ŶŐƐ�ŽŶ�ƋƵŽƚĞƐ�

and proposals.

dŚĞ�ŬĞLJ�ƉŽŝŶƚ�/�ĨĞĞů�ŝƐ�ƚŽ�ƵƐĞ�Ă�ƌĞƉƵƚĂďůĞ�ůŝŐŚƟŶŐ�ƐƵƉƉůŝĞƌ͖�

Trade Me is not one!!

Any supplier worth their salt will be aware of the PWMstrobing issues. Buy fixtures with brands that you recognise on them.

So, what should you do?

If you already have an LED or Fluoro panel and you are

using CMOS or CCD cameras, you need to do tests at

different dimmed levels.

If you are planning to buy a new light or two, be well

aware of the issues. Ed. NZVN

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Page 20

few clients in Wellington that we go and talk to aboutgeneral business but this was a special trip.

PIX Recorders on ShowStephen Buckland from Sound Techniques was justback from Wellington where he was showing off the twonew PIX solid state video recorders from SoundDevices.

Ed: The Wellingtonians treated you well Stephen?

Stephen: Yes, the Wellingtonians treated me verywell, always do. I saw quite a few people and most ofthem are busy. I didn’t get my invite to go on the setof The Hobbit – they have a “no visitor” rule, so I can’ttell you anything about what’s going on there. It wasgood to catch up with people and show them the PIXrecorders. Though they might have read somethingabout them, they didn’t really have any idea what therecorders did, and how it might be of use to them.

Ed: I think that really, to me, if I had to make acomment, it’s seeing it, touching it, that makes a hugedifference, because it’s just so ergonomic?

Stephen: That’s right, and also I talked to somepeople who have used the other devices and they couldimmediately see how well built it was.

Ed: So did you make any sales?

Stephen: No. Sound Techniques are not that sort ofsales organisation really. We’re just breaking the icewith the picture market as far as the PIX goes andgetting people a bit more familiar with it, I suppose.

Ed: And having a few conversations about otherproducts that you’ve got?

Stephen: Not really, to be honest … we were mainlyjust showing the PIX off. Obviously we’ve got quite a

Stephen shows the PIX to an interested guest.

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Page 23

which was shot using the PIX. We don’t mind peopleusing it for a day or so to see how it goes.

Ed: And then you come and buy one?

Stephen: Well yes, hopefully. As I say it’s new tome, but I’m amazed when people look and say “wellhow much is it?” I say that, to buy a kit that works,about $5,000 for the fully featured PIX240 and they say“oh that’s reasonable, that’s what I thought” so I thinkSound Devices have obviously realised that as well andmade a device that not only has all these features, butit fits the price that people think is reasonable. NZVN

Ed: And they all wanted to take you out for dinner?

Stephen: Well I have to say, in Wellington, you needa bit of local knowledge, because there’s so manyrestaurants. To an outsider, you’re at their behestreally, you go where they tell you to. I can recommendthe Hop Garden if anyone’s heading down that way,boutique beers and good food, if you’re looking for aplace to hang out.

Ed: I remember well you taking me to some Mexicanplace in Vegas a number of years ago, but I think thehighlight of that was actually the After Show – BikiniMud Wrestling – wasn’t it Stephen?

Stephen: I’ve forgotten about thatGrant.

Ed: Really … you don’t remember “Sin-dy”?

Stephen: Oh! No, no – you must beconfused with someone else. If only weknew what happened to the Rodeo, theBucking Bronco Show and the MexicanCantina – all vanished.

Ed: They’re all in a landfill somewherein Vegas. But we’re here in Aucklandand it’s starting to hot up, there’s peoplecoming in and there’s something Ihaven’t seen before, you’ve actually gota hood for the PIX. This is a genuinehood?

Stephen: This is the genuine hood …magnetic, so it just clips on. Aseveryone in New Zealand knows, it’sbright outside, and the hood helps a littlebit. It’s still not perfect but relativelyinexpensive.

Ed: But you can adjust the brightnessof the screen can’t you?

Stephen: Yes you can.

Ed: And all the buttons are nicely lit up?

Stephen: You can adjust the backlight and adjust thebuttons as well.

Ed: Now Stephen, you had a few curly questions fromyour Auckland audience tonight – how do you feel aboutthat?

Stephen: Oh I don’t mind at all … they’re all good. Idon’t think there’s anything that fazes me or that isunusual. The thing I’m still unsure of is what’s thequality of the various compression algorithms? That’swhat I would expect camera people to cast theirdiscerning eye across. Everything I can see works andworks well.

Ed: And that’s what they seem to be doing tonight –you’ve got some pretty serious camera people herehaving a look and finding out what they think, and theyseem to be happy so far?

Stephen: They are, and what’s even better is we’reactually setting up a camera at the moment, just toreally prove the point, because the thing is that the PIXwill not work without a feed from a camera. You know,it’s not a stand alone audio recorder. You can play backyour video recording, but you can’t do much else unlessyou’ve got a camera providing a video feed to it.

Ed: Very good, and if you missed the event tonight,come along to the Sound Techniques showroom andtalk to Stephen.

Stephen: That’s right, we’ve got demo models, we’repretty liberal about people borrowing them, in fact youwould have seen tonight the guts of a whole commercial

Now where did I put it?

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Page 26

camera for TV2 in Auckland. After that it reverted backto booth announcing.

Ed: So you’ve been around a bit?

Gerard S: I’ve been around.

Ed: And you’ve come from those early days oftelevision production with tube cameras and tape?

Gerard S: I’ve seen it all. I used to look with greatenvy at people who had a one inch recorder or a twoinch ( which was very few people ) and then, of course,we were able to get into it; you were with us then,when they brought out U-matic. Three quarter inch –that was the start of a career for many people.

Ed: That was a great leap forward wasn’t it?

Gerard S: Yes, it was a marvellous leap forward.

Ed: And that’s it … together we’ve seen all thesechanges through the industry in terms of tape formats,camera formats and you’re still going, you’ve kept upwith product, but at the level at which you’ve beenworking. That’s true to say isn’t it, because you can goone way or the other, but you’ve chosen formats thatsuit the jobs that you’re doing?

The Beat Goes OnDon’t talk to me about ourgovernment performance man-aging education, removingadult education subsidies andnot funding communitytelevision, because it makes meangry. NZ on Air can findmillions for talent quests butnothing for TVNZ7. Someonedeeply affected by the dollarpolitics of community televisionfunding ( eg. Stratos ) is theproducer of “The Beat GoesOn”, Gerard Smith. I’ve knownGerard for many years and,true to form, like a rubber ball,Gerard has bounced back fromthis knock too.

Ed: Gerard, you’ve had a fewenterprises over the years, canyou tell us, in order, what thecompany names were, sopeople from the old days couldperhaps remember you?

Gerard S: Well we’ve reallyonly had Video Archives andthat’s when I met you Grant.The good ol’ days. VideoArchives went for years and then the first version of ourtelevision show about 2001 was called The PhoenixHour and then it became Auckland at Nine and the thirdincarnation was The Beat Goes On in 2008.

Ed: And that’s where you are now?

Gerard S: Yes, The Beat Goes On is a one hourtelevision chat show aimed at the “baby boomer” or50plus.

Ed: But way, way back you were well known for beinglead singer of a particular pop group weren’t you?

Gerard S: Yes, The Rumour. This was a Crosby,Stills, Nash & Young type group and we had greatsuccess in New Zealand. Our best year was 1971 whenwe had L'Amour Est L'Enfant De La Liberte and thatwent on to be No 1 on the New Zealand charts for sixwhole weeks. That was wonderful; we were young ladsof 23 years and we thought we were bulletproof! Itdidn’t turn out that way at all. Then, of course, I’ve hadexperience as a radio announcer at 2ZA in PalmerstonNorth, 1ZB in Auckland ( before it became NewstalkZB ) and 1ZM, and subsequently I did two years as acontinuity announcer. John Hayden and I were the lasttwo announcers to appear as continuity announcers on

Gerard Murphy and Gerard Smith.

Page 28

can be filming in highdefinition, but then you haveto knock it down to standarddefinition for the televisionstations, but it looksbeautiful when it’s recordedfirst time through.

Ed: Now, excuse mesaying this, but you’re notactually after quality –you’re after quality for thebudget for which you’reproducing this show, andtherefore you do have tomake compromises?

Gerard S: Oh we do. Asyou only ever make a livingout of what we’re doing; it’sa labour of love, there’s nota great deal of money to bemade out of it … we’re atelevision niche market. Theindustry does provide uswith the tools at this level –they’re good; they cannever compete with theTelevision New Zealand’s ofthe world, but we’re there.

Ed: But if you spent more money on expensiveequipment …?

Gerard S: Would it matter, yeah. It’s likeovercapitalising your house in a bad neighbourhood youknow. Do we need that quality? Probably not.

Gerard S: The new cameras I have are PanasonicAVCHDs – three of them – they’re wonderful. I thoughtthe MiniDV was great when we got those, but these areunbelievably clear at 1080. But of course we do allthat, everybody talks about it in the industry, that you

The studio for “The Beat Goes On”.

Page 30

noticing us and ringing about what we were talkingabout. Over the three years it’s paid good dividendsand we’ve got good travel and cruise bookings from it.

Ed: And you feel comfortable appearing on camera forthe length of time you do?

Gerard M: Well it’s not a Hollywood production … myinitial fears were dress and makeup and hair …

Ed: Well you haven’t got much competition in the hairdepartment?

Gerard M: Well I’m very jealous I haven’t got the baldlook. But once we settled into it, that wasn’t an issue.Luckily in the interview type format that we do, it’sbasically two Gerards having a chat, so that makes iteasy. We’re not sitting there wondering and trying totalk necessarily to the audience, so it’s a little bitsimpler.

Ed: Do you come up a new topic every week?

Gerard M: Yes, certainly. In terms of marketing, weexplain firstly to our suppliers that, in one programme,we will introduce the concept, the product, the cruiseline or whatever and talk about a special. We won’t doit with the suppliers unless they are prepared to go formore than one programme. Then in the nextprogramme, we can talk a bit more about it and back itup and go through the product again, so it’s giving thatreinforcement. Certainly the suppliers and cruise linesthat have worked with us when we’ve done 3 or 4 ormore over time have noticed better results.

Ed: Can you actually measure that to a specific bunchof programmes … I mean are the specials that youadvertise on The Beat Goes On only on The Beat GoesOn, or are they available elsewhere?

Gerard M: Not necessarily – generally this is part ofour marketing package, so we’ll backup what we’redoing on The Beat Goes On with very similar advertisingin The New Zealand Herald and sometimes The Heraldon Sunday, Sunday Star Times – but we know it’sworking because, when the clients do come in and seeus, most of them will comment that they’ve seen me orthey’ve seen the programme. Certainly we haveexamples where one little snippet we’ve used in aprogramme has piqued the people’s interest – forexample, on Cunard Cruises we were talking about howyou can have a High Tea every afternoon and, with thatone sentence, clients pointed out to us that that wasthe reason they really looked into it. It was one littlething, they thought that was nice and then they decidedto enquire, and all the other things that Cunard didhooked them. But one little sentence was what reallygot their interest.

Ed: Where can you see it going from here? Can youever see this developing into more mainstreamtelevision?

Gerard M: Absolutely …

Ed: So when Gerard Smith gets his satellite?

Gerard M: Yes, beamed worldwide and into outerspace; that’d be interesting for Martians to see what’sgoing on. No, The Beat Goes On format, with some finetuning, I see certainly being in the Sky Digital sort ofchannels and I think there would be a lot of interest …well certainly for travel, there’d be a lot of interest tothe Living Channel type format. So we’ve just got towork with Gerard and we’ll refine it and …

Gerard Smith: It’s an evolving process.

Gerard M: Evolving, absolutely.

Ed: It holds its own?

Gerard M: Absolutely. There’s an audience there.

Ed: And the production values are good?

Ed: Has going solid state been a winner for you?

Gerard S: Well, the one great thing that I love aboutthe new solid state is that when we record our TV show,we record the host, we do a wide shot and we do it witha guest and in the old days you might record for 20minutes, so there’s 60 minutes you have to capture.That’s all done away with now; it can be captured intoyour computer in about 7 or 8 minutes, nearly an hoursaved so there’s a huge saving. We might do thatseven times a week, so you can imagine how it allmounts up.

Ed: I also notice your lighting, you haven’t gone forfancy lighting … shall we say it’s “industrial”?

Gerard S: It’s industrial ( he replies amidst hislaughter )

Ed: But you’re providing light and it works?

Gerard S: It works doesn’t it – I mean the averageconsumer would never know that it was just an

industrial light. The same amount of light, if you gointo a professional lighting store, they could charge you$4,000 per light for that easily you know; they wouldn’teven blink an eye would they, but we can’t afford it atthat level. I won’t actually tell you what it did cost, it’stoo embarrassing.

Ed: But that’s it, you’ve got the lights in a fixedposition, you’ve got a standard studio arrangement,you’ve got your interview desk and your seats in thesame position … your cameras are all in the samepositions – it’s a fixed format show?

Gerard S: Yes, exactly. As long as it looks good, thebest we can get it looking, that’s all it needs.

I take a moment aside here to talk with one of The BeatGoes On’s regular clients, another Gerard, GerardMurphy from Bon Voyage Travel.

Ed: Now Gerard, you’ve been with The Beat Goes Onfor a number of years now I understand?

Gerard M: I certainly have – I think it’s over threealready. Initially, it was an experimental thing for usand our suppliers, cruise companies and airlines andsuch. It was going out to a small audience at the startbut, gradually, we began to hear back from friends,family and, more importantly, clients that they wereseeing it. Certainly it was a format that the “babyboomer” market enjoyed and gradually people started

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Adult Learning Alive in AucklandThere is a big range of evening classes available at Onehunga High School at very reasonable prices. I’m doing a welding coursewhich costs $48 for 8 classes of 2 hours each. All you need to provide is the metal ( free from any number of metal fabricators’scrap bins around Auckland ) and you can learn braising, arc, MIG and, what I’m going to be doing in Term 2 starting on TuesdayMay 15, wrought iron work. I’ve all ready braised some candle holders for my bach and feel confident with a MIG welder and I’veonly done 6 classes so far. At last I have a hobby that I always wanted to do and it’s not television!

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Gerard showing that he’s a happy reader.

Gerard S: I would imagine there’s a lot of supportfrom the Council …

Ed: So for community television in Auckland, thereshould be an outlet?

Gerard S: There definitely should. I can’t believe thatthis has been allowed to happen. Look at the AucklandCouncil, look at the size of it; you know they shouldhave looked at Stratos as an Auckland channel. I meanthey’ve proved themselves, they’ve been there for 15years before with Triangle, they’re good operators.Other people should have seen the value in an Aucklandchannel and come to their support. They’ve been hungout to dry.

Ed: Along with TVNZ7?

Gerard S: Yes. So you read a lot of Blogs andcomments. There are a lot of very annoyed people outthere that TVNZ7 is going and Stratos has gone,because it was a form of public service television and lotof that in New Zealand have we?

Ed: So if we don’t have Cue we don’t have anything?

Gerard S: That’s right, if we didn’t have Q wherewould we go? And the other funder of course is,youknow, New Zealand On Air should have helped them outshouldn’t they? Why they didn’t, we will never know.

Ed: Now I asked Gerard Murphy this question, wherehe wants to go … where do you want to go Gerard?

Gerard S: Well I’m constantly thinking of how wecould make the programme better from the point ofview of the lighting; I think the sound on the newcameras is great, so we’ve got that solved now; and ofcourse there’s the set design and the graphics in theprogramme. We’ve been going for 3½ years now and

the target I had was 100%; I think I’m up to about86% at the moment, of how I want to see theprogramme, so it’s not far to go. The next area we’regoing to tackle, of course, is the lighting, we’ve left thattill last, but we’ve changed everything else. You knowthe set now looks great, the cameras are great, thesound’s good, so just one more to go and that’slighting. Lighting is what we will actually spend somemoney on. I don’t think we will ever get up to thatTelevision New Zealand level, but they’ll be so closethat the average person will never notice the difference.You and I might Grant.

Ed: I hope so. NZVN

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Tim (09) 3608766 318 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland tim.timlin@panavision.asia

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