Seminars for camera and broadcast technology

Two-day expert seminars at BET in Hamburg. On one of them I am listed as a media engineer, on the other as a cameraman – which is a fair description of the two ends I work at.

I have been teaching in this field since 2009 – first directly for NDR, on seminars around broadcast cameras, and part of the BET team since 2011.

Umstieg auf 1080p/50 in der Produktion ↗

With Michael Mücher, for support, systems planning and supervision: the awkward parts of a format change rather than the brochure version. De- and reinterlacing quality, field dominance, which existing cable paths still carry a 3G-SDI signal and how to measure that, synchronisation, XAVC-L against XAVC-I, MXF variants, playout and archive, metadata – and in which order a given house should make the change at all. Twelve people maximum.

4K, Log und HDR für Kamerarecorder ↗

For experienced camera operators: working precisely with logarithmic curves such as S-Log3 for HDR and SDR. We shoot one scene with the different techniques and grade it on the spot, so the HDR and SDR results can be compared side by side. Exposure that survives the colour suite, LUTs against grading on set, what actually reaches the viewer down each distribution path. Ten people maximum, and you are welcome to bring your own camera.

File-Technologie UHD / HDR ↗

With Michael Mücher, for file technicians, material managers, data wranglers and editors: two days through the format jungle. Containers and codecs, what an MXF carries that a MOV does not, how HDR and WCG change the levels inside a file, which metadata become necessary and how to check them, where a data rate says nothing about picture quality – and what to do when a file simply will not play. The analyser software we work with comes from Bernhard Schuur, who was involved in the standardisation of MPEG-4 AVC. Twelve people maximum, with a 120-page handbook to take home.

2/3-Zoll-Kamerarecorder ↗

With Michael Mücher, for experienced camera crews on Sony 2/3-inch recorders. Out of eight hundred menu items, which twenty actually change the picture – and how to reach them while the clock is running. How eleven stops are possible at all, how to separate a person from the background in camera rather than later, why two identical bodies deliver different pictures, and what a UHD zoom really does for its price. We restage a backlit interview with a stand-in and compare the manufacturer settings against the ones we developed – which are by now established in a number of production houses. Twelve people maximum, own cameras welcome.

Einsatz von Kameradrohnen ↗

One day, and the only one of these aimed at production management rather than technicians: which drone for which job, what it costs, one operator or two, which permits and insurance are actually required, where flying is not allowed at all – and how to tell a serious offer from a cheap one.

All five also run as in-house seminars, and the questions people bring from their own infrastructure are part of the programme.

The other side of the screen – the same person, the other end of the chain.