NBC Wash/NY XDCAM?

[Skipcam]

I have heard that NBC's Washington and NY Buros are converting to XDCAM (SD), and the other Buros will follow. Anybody in those areas confirm? I assume this is the PDW530 at IMX 50 mbs. Are they accepting disks now?

[dinosaur]

There are currently several SD XDcams in use at the NBC News Washington Bureau. This was part of NBC News' current field trial of the XD cameras. It is not clear if these cameras are actually owned by NBC or are still on "loan" post Olympics from Sony. Only the folks at the L.I. City field shop know for sure. They've been shaking out some camera hardware & software issues in this trial. The test was exclusive to DC based crews, but may be expanding to NYC.

I spoke face to face with a LA based Sony Executive Account Manager two days ago and was told that it looks like NBC Universal is leaning towards adopting the F350 HD XDCam for company wide ENG work (O&Os, NBC News & AH). Maybe starting next year. NBC Sports is still primarily using ENG freelancers with Varicam. Higher end Burbank stage/studio work will still be HDCam (F900 & 1080i studio version) camera aquisition possibly until a 2/3" HD XDCam magically appears.

NBC and Sony are still holding their cards close to the chest. Its funny how a number of the Sony Account Managers are telling the masses one thing in person at these seminars and we keep hearing another voice saying something to the contrary. The question is, why would "Sony" be telling two contradictory tales?

[Skipcam]

A senior producer in the Atlanta buro tells me they will be getting a XDCAM (SD) camera in their buro in Aug or Sept and that all buros will convert soon after. He checked with someone in Washington Buro and they said they would use XDCAM untill the 2/3" HD version was availlable, then switch to that if it was SD/HD switchable. There was no mention of the 1/2" XDCAM HD. How do you track down these rumours? Any freelancers in the Wash DC area providing them XDCAM disks?

[Baltimore Shooter]

I mentioned this in another therad last year...

A (now former) freelancer from the DC area was approached by NBC News to work for them as a staffer. He said they were going to upgrade to the 2/3" HD XDCam as soon as it became available (in 2006 or 2007) and that they were going to no longer hire freelancers.

Since NBC was his biggest client, and faced w/ fewer freelance gigs w/ NBC AND having to buy a new camera, monitor, lens, etc. if he decided to continue freelancing, he decided to quit freelancing and become an NBC staffer. NBC even bought ALL his gear, which was then assigned to him (makes sense) and he moved to the NY bureau.

That's about all I know on that situation.

Warren

[Matt Box]

So if NBC is going XDcam but they will no longer hire freelancers then should freelancers feel less pressure to buy into XDcam??

[ED Scott]

I know I'm being petty, but it's Bureau.

NBC will continue to hire freelancers when staffers are not available. Not much really is going to change for "most" freelancers.

[EFP]

NBC really are tight-lipped about their gear dealings.
I think this is due to the idiotic mistake they made back in the Mll era.

However, there’s a well-known fact.

John Wallace, NBC Universal executive VP of television operations and production services already stated that NBC made an XDCam deal in both standard-definition and high-definition versions for NBC NEWS & Telemundo.

Alec Shapiro, Senior Vice President of Sony Electronics Broadcast and Production Systems Division confirmed the above.

He checked with someone in Washington Buro and they said they would use XDCAM untill the 2/3" HD version was availlable, then switch to that if it was SD/HD switchable.
There was no mention of the 1/2" XDCAM HD

Wallace (NBC) stated that most likely much of the field- acquisition material will remain in Standard Def for a while. So it makes perfect sense that they want a 2/3i HD XDCam that will switch to IMX-50 as IMX is the format NBC (along with 2 EU and 1 Asian broadcaster) are kind of responsible in making Sony commit to way back in 2000.

BTW, A cameraman I know recently saw an NBC crew shooting with XDCam. It was Donna Gregory’s crew and my connection had a chance to chat with the cameramen - he confirmed that Donna’s crew was indeed shooting in IMX-50….
The cameraman loved the XDCam, stated that everyone at NBC loved the workflow and the IMX quality. He too was told that chances are high that the hard news stuff he was doing will probably remain in SD due to the headaches involved of moving HD around.

Things could change I guess.
But once again:
Both CBS and NBC are aware of were Sony is taking XDCam.
It would be stupid of the networks to order a bunch of units and have them sitting un-opened in boxes – only to return them. It wou;d be even more absurd if the networks were to put in an infrastructure just to have it torn down (and or made incompatible) within’ a year. :rolleyes:

I know for a fact that CBS had a chance to test the ½ inch HDXD before the IMX cameras were even opened. I’ve been told they didn’t cut it for net ops and now the IMX cams at CBS have been running for 13 months (limited) to 10 months full force.

I hear that Boston (CBS local) and one or two others are already running the ½ HD XD – can anyone in Bruins-Land confirm this?

[Baltimore Shooter]

In March I ran into a CBS network guy who was using XDCam at the Washington bureau. We had a chance to talk while we were waiting around before a press conference. Essentially, he said it's one awesome camera. Tons of bells & wistles and a great picture too.

Warren

[dinosaur]

How do you track down these rumours? Regardless of what you may read here on this thread, its all from an outsider's perspective. All quite speculative.

If you run into staffer Bruce B. he would be a good inside source of info about what NBC News' plans might really be or even Jorge P. might have an ear on what direction they are headed. Bruce could refer you to someone in the LI City Field Shop who could really know.

[Baltimore Shooter]

The thing that bugs me about Sony's XDCam is that they didn't make a dockable unit so you could put it on a D-30/35/50. I think XDCam would be even more prevalent than it is now and I think it would be more in demand by clients.

Makes me want to say "Sony, what were you thinking"?

Warren

[SimonW]

A dockable unit would be useless. XDCAM is about much more than just recording onto a disc. If your camera doesn't have the firmware to be able to take advantage of all the XDCAM features there would be no point.

Also, I'm not sure the demand for XDCAM would go up just because of the availability of a dock. Freelancers would still have to have access to the unit, and for them to purchase the unit the client demand would need to be there in the first place.

Having big stations make large purchases of a format is a good method to pave the way for freelancers though. But I think the emphasis now is on moving people up to high def in the shortest time possible, even if we don't want to. The powers that be have decided.

Now if only they would sort out the damn distribution method for us independents and things would be hunky dory.

[Mike]

I've worked exclusively for NBC for the last 10 months and from what I can tell, the XDCam thing is not happening for NBC as quickly as it is for CBS. While it is true that they have put XDCams in the Washington bureau, I don't know of any other bureaus using that format...it is all still Beta SP. I've worked alongside with, and conversed with, various people around the company, including those that Dino refers to, and it seems that perhaps they are waiting for the XDCam HD 2/3" chip camera to come out. Several of my friends have taken the freelancer-to-staff offer and they are keeping their SP gear after NBC buys it and then assigns it to them. I think that is a clear indication that either NBC plans on keeping Beta SP around for a while OR, perhaps, there could be some eventual deal with Sony to take company-owned Beta SP cameras as trade for new cameras down the line.

[Skipcam]

EFP: thanks for the attributable quotes from the NBC folks. Baltimore: I have been told by two different Sony people in the last year (one at NAB and one at a Band Pro Hi Def workshop in Carolina that Sony will NOT be making any more dockable decks or cameras that accept them. They essentially want you to buy one of everything and their experience with the dockable decks convinced them there was more money to be made without them. I know Bruce B made the switch back to staff in NY but I don't have a phone number for him...the last one I had was in Miami. If anybody has a current number for him, PM me with it and I'll see what he has to say. Mike: can you tell if the Chicago Buro is getting a staff XDCAM by Sept? Ed Scott: Sorry, in my experience all Bureaus at all networks are internally referred to by the shorthand expression Buro. Old habit. I can't figure out how any station or network would use the 1/2" XDCAM HD in 4:3 for live shots etc. On disk it would only by 25 mbs. Is the camera output switchable to 4:3? I thought 4:3 was only available thru playback centerpunch. Greybeard: Have you been able to give any NBC broadcast an XDCAM disk yet? You and Dennis are the only guys I know who have these so far.

[dinosaur]

The F350 is 16:9/4:3 menu switchable when it is set to record the SD DVCAM mode. The side bnc video out is selectable between composite SD video or HD-Y in addition to the rear bnc HD-SDI out.
So, theoretically you should be able to send SD 4:3 out to a live truck or monitor.

[SandRat]

Correct. From the side BNC, you can output 16:9 or 4:3 and it can easily downconvert (realtime) thru the iLink to 4/3 for editing. The only problem is you can't shoot in HD and drag and drop a downconverted file thru the iLink. It'll just have to be done in post for now.

[Douglas]

So, theoretically you should be able to send SD 4:3 out to a live truck or monitor.

It's not just theory. I did a live shot this morning for Fox News Sunday with my F350 and sent the truck a 4:3 SD signal out of the BNC connector.

Doug

[austinsatguy]

Douglas,
Was just wondering what if any response you got when you pulled the 350 out for the shot.

[Douglas]

No response because I didn't see any reason to ask for permission or tell anyone in NY. Plus I had told Fox not to bother sending a producer for the shot so we were basically on our own. We got an A-OK on the shot with no camera or lighting adjustments at all.

The truck op was interested in the camera because the bars are non-standard. The truck op and I thought about sending HD-SDI to the truck and cropping to 4:3 just to experiment, but ulitmately we decicded to take it easy on a Sunday morning and read the paper while we waited for the hit.

As far as everyone else was concerned, it was just a regular shoot.

Doug

PS. I had my HL59 as backup and the truck had two 600's. Next time, I'll just bring the F350 now that it's been done once.

[Flaca Productions]

Douglas - which hit was it - Sen. Reed? I'm at the Shuttle Launch w/Fox...

Also - what about the bars are non-standard?

[Douglas]

Yes, it was Senator Reed. Not a great shot, but not too bad for the tiny little office he's got with windows on three sides.

It's be hard to describe the color bars difference, so I just emailed you a JPEG. The biggest difference is the horizontal bar with a black-to-white gradient. Maybe that's been on other cameras before, but nothing I own looks like that.

Doug

[dinosaur]

Is it the new SMPTE Color Bar standard for HD?
It make a lot of sense to be able to see the lattitude of the visible gray scale steps on a monitor.

http://preview.videosystems.com/mag/601VS_camSMPTERP219-2002.jpg

[Douglas]

Yes, that's it. However, the camera outputs the same color bars (edge cropped) in SD also. I like it.

Doug

[SF Camera]

I heard that NBC has purchased 2 new HD SAT trucks, one for the West and the other for the East. My guess is (And I agree with Mike) that NBC is waiting for the 2/3" HD-XDCAM but where would they get the spectrum needed for HD transmittion?

Also what is ABC News up too?

[Skipcam]

I have heard that ABC just placed an order for 30 of the new JVC GY HD200U camcorders. That's the upgrade of the original GY-HD100's introduced last year. The upgraded 200"s now have timecode in/out and HD-SDI out. This is a 5K camera with lens that shoots 720P and records to HDV. Haven't confirmed it, but thats the rumour.

[Matt Box]

Interesting...... I think you may be referring to the JVC GY HD250U
I didn't see anything about TC on the 200's literature, but I could be wrong.

While still something of a handy cam I think JVC would be making a smart move to have TC in/out (hopefully BNC) in addition to the interchangeable lens.

I wonder who will use them at ABC and what the union folks will think.

[SimonW]

Not only does it have HD SDI and timecode, but it also records 60P to tape (for realtime playback, not slow motion).

Yeah, the 100 was sort of a handycam. But unlike the other handycams and the XLH1, the JVC, with AB Dionics, balances very nicely indeed on the shoulder. They really thought that camera out.

[Matt Box]

Sorry to keep the rumor mill churning but I was talking to a friend at a CBS O&O and he says that they are still waiting for the XD cams. He said that CBS didn't want to spend the money yet and that they still wanted to test them out more at Newspath before handing them out to the O&O's. It all struck me as kind of odd because I thought the O&O's already had or were getting them??? And I just don't see newspath being the best place to test a platform. Dont they mostly just do lives?