In the future.....

[Canuck Photog]

We've seen some amazing advances, technologically, in our profession. I'd like to ask people here what they forsee in the future in terms of TV news photography, say, ten years from now. Here's my list.

1) Tape will be dead. Buried. We'll file our stories via wireless broadband using a super-compression protocol that doesn't make the video look like it's been through a blender. Sony will abandon XDCAM and patent it's own video compression protocol.

2) Microwave will be dead. See #1 above.

3) Advances in processor technology will make PROFESSIONAL cameras smaller and lighter. I suspect the only thing that will never change is the lens sizes...unless someone comes up with a way to polish plastic in a more precise manner

4) Satellite will still be around, but the trucks will be less expensive.

5) We'll record audio in 5.1 surround sound using a new fancy mic (long shot...). News won't be in stereo....

6) Someone will finally come up with a new cell technology that makes powering our gear less of an issue. 10 hour battery life on one charge. Even if you've been running that sungun all night.

That's all I can think of for now...!

CP

[svp]

1. Tape won't die, at least not in the small markets. BetaSP will finally be gone though.

2. CNN and Fox News are already doing Broadband live shots. Its only a matter of time before wireless broadband will be able to carry a signal at broadcast quality. Well, broadcast quality SD signal that is. Probably still gonna need microwave for full HD live shots though.

4. 4:3 will be as dead as VHS is right now and DVD's will be a thing of the past, much like CD's are being phased out by MP3's, IPods, and online downloading. Video will go the same route.

5. Goodbye fullsize shoulder cams and hello VJCams. Its a sad thought but it will happen.

6. 500GB P2 Cards!!!!

7. Final Cut will overtake AVID as the most widely used edit software in News (that is unless AVID gets off their a$$ and starts producing software that works)

8. NO MORE CABLES FOR LIVE SHOTS. Well, we can dream anyway. Could be possible if doing lives over wireless broadband.

9. More photographers will leave the tv news biz than new photographers that come in.

10. The reason for #9 is because THERE ARE NO MORE NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS! VJ's HAVE NOW TAKEN OVER THE WORLD!!!!!!

[shootercub]

In the future...

All your news will come from one source...

Ron Popeil.

[LuccaBrazzi]

Hey...who'da thunk that cellphones and WiFi would have worked?
maybe we can still dream about "wireless liveshots!"

[Corporate Management]

It won't matter to us, because robots will shoot all the news. They'll never take lunch breaks, never complain about doing dog lick live shots, and they'll do exactly what the reporters tell them.

Plus, the cameras and satellite dishes will be a part of their structure.

Bow to your robotic overlords.

[SamG]

Microwave will never die. But, instead of microwaving video/audio, you'll be microwaving a direct IP connection to the station. You'll get your video/audio, plus full connectivity for the laptop like you're at the station. Microwave can't die because how often are you covering something like a power outage... no power, no wifi (or whatever it is)

You can already do wireless live shots... one of the Nashville stations has one of their trucks so equipped.

[Sportsguy]

Microwave will never die.

Yeah, how else am I gonna make my popcorn?

[svp]

Microwave will never die. But, instead of microwaving video/audio, you'll be microwaving a direct IP connection to the station. You'll get your video/audio, plus full connectivity for the laptop like you're at the station. Microwave can't die because how often are you covering something like a power outage... no power, no wifi (or whatever it is)

You can already do wireless live shots... one of the Nashville stations has one of their trucks so equipped.


Very interesting concept. How about the cameras being equipped with a slot for a wireless broadband card (such as Sprint's card) and having the ability to set a dedicated IP address in the camera for its signal to be sent to? Now all you need is recievers with that IP address and you're doing live shots from anywhere, anytime, eliminating truck set-up time. You could even eliminate the need for a Sat truck. You could encrypt the signal so other stations wouldn't be able to pick up your pictures. Talk about a great way to cover breaking news!!!!! (All this assuming we have full wireless broadband coverage in ten years with no holes in coverage) Talk about saving money!!!

GOODBYE MICROWAVE!!!! GOODBYE BIG LIVE TRUCKS!!! GOODBYE EXPENSIVE SAT TRUCKS!!!

[Land Rover]

In the future...

All your news will come from one source...

Ron Popeil.

But wait! There's more!

[photogguy]

GOODBYE MICROWAVE!!!! GOODBYE BIG LIVE TRUCKS!!! GOODBYE EXPENSIVE SAT TRUCKS!!!

Someone already made a great point...live trucks will still be around, if only for electricity. They'll be used differently, but the truck will still be around.



9. More photographers will leave the tv news biz than new photographers that come in.

10. The reason for #9 is because THERE ARE NO MORE NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS! VJ's HAVE NOW TAKEN OVER THE WORLD!!!!!!

You forgot to insert the evil laugh! Here, I'll do if for you...


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! !!!!

[cameragod]

The Humans Are Dead!
WGoi1MSGu64

[svp]

Someone already made a great point...live trucks will still be around, if only for electricity. They'll be used differently, but the truck will still be around.

Actually, Jadoo's hydrogen power units for cameras come with a little stand and will supply enough power for lights for live shots or to run any electrical equipment. Portable power with no generator!!! So, once again....................

GOODBYE MICROWAVE!!! GOODBYE BIG LIVE TRUCKS!!! GOODBYE EXPENSIVE SAT TRUCKS!!!

Go ahead and continue to give me your reasons for keeping those big expensive trucks...........you better just hope Im not the owner of the station you work for ten years from now!

That would suck wouldn't it? Be paid as a photog should, have a take home car and gear, and never have to transfer your crap from your vehicle to a live truck. You can't drive one of those big out of control live trucks in the snow anymore. Boy, that would royally suck!!!!! God forbid we ever do anything in news that actually makes sense!!!

[Canonman]

How about the cameras being equipped with a slot for a wireless broadband card (such as Sprint's card) and having the ability to set a dedicated IP address in the camera for its signal to be sent to? Now all you need is recievers with that IP address and you're doing live shots from anywhere,

That technology already exists. Wireless webcams have their own ip address today. I was sitting at a tire store awhile back having my tires rotated and balanced and pulled out my laptop in the waiting room. Suddenly about 3 or 4 wireless devices showed up in range. They were wireless network cameras and the funniest part is they had a web interface for configuration as well as pan, tilt, zoom. Yes, it was the liquor store next door that I was looking at through their beer cooler. I was moving the cameras around from my laptop and web browser. But being a nice guy, I put them back where they were.

cm

[pre-set]

Microwave will NOT be dead. Ever. It works too well to just toss it in favor of broadband or WiFi.

They seem convieniant on first glance, but on closer examinatioin you must realize that they will only work when 1) you can find a signal. 2) the provider of said signal doesn't turn it off, either by accident or intentionally, 3) there isn't a power outage, 4) there's no gaurantee it can't be overloaded/busy/interfered with.

Microwave on the other hand just works and works and works... It's independant of local signal provider or power, can be used from distant locations where WiFi is non-existant, can't be turned off except by the operator, and can't be interfered with by the anyone without extremely specialized equipment.


Microwave (and it's associated trucks with gen. power and lots of storage for things like lights, gear, and people) isn't going anywhere.

Photog's on the other hand, are gonna go bye-bye....

[AlexLucas]

1. A standard HD format will win. Compression will be the new hallmark of quality, but at a certain point in the next four years, there will be a point where that HD standard will pop up. How you present it will be the question that people ask you on the street instead of, "is that a BetaCam?"

2. You're all right about the standard body size for cameras. The main body of the camera is going to get absolutely tiny. Someday soon, someone will come along with a cheap HD camera that has a built in, or 'atari cartridge' flash or hard drive media that isn't more than $150 a pop, a decent 2/3 inch lens, and a good viewfinder and flip out screen. That will be the winner. So far, no one can seem to put the tech completely together with the idea that a real easy format, with a real lens, and a real viewfinder will win. There are shortcomings in every prosumer model, and no one seems to have the same brain that guided the last two generations of camera.

3. VJ cams are not going to win. Lenses are not going to get smaller. That's basic physics, not polish applied to glass. (If the polish was the answer, they wouldn't be making giant telescopes, they would be making incredibly polished ones.) VJ cams are, for the most part, being used in niche work. Those that try to apply them for real work, well, they get disappointed, because they are inflexible. Try shooting at night with them. They're well, horrible. There is no argument here about them because I OWN ONE (Canon XHA1, has good light characteristics like a PD-170), and I know it's light characteristics. I do know what I'm talking about.
(Invariably, someone is going to take me up on this "it looks better than a Beta!" argument, as they always do. Do me a favor, and shut up, or I'll start talking the physics of light with real examples, and I'll start busting out the calculator).

3. The novelty of poor video in a tiny screen will wear off. Small cameras are a great place to start, still, those that have no skills, or haven't appreciably learned their skills, are going to fail. There is already a growing backlash against those that make terrible videos on YouTube. They're laughing, and making 'EPIC FAIL' comments on cable about YouTube losers now. The fad is dying, and with a vengeance. There is a growing backlash against the 'shaky cam' of the movie 'Cloverfield.' Real people, with real skill sets, aren't going anywhere. You can do a million things wrong in photography, if you're untrained. You have to do EVERYTHING right to make a clean image in our business. One slip up and you have unusable work. Skills will always win, because the youngsters with limited experience will always lose. You can have a 18-month cocky shooter that loses it, and can't work around a room with a backlit open window, something that a vet has no problem with. That's where people like Nino never miss, and the youngsters with no skills always blow up.
Skill is eternal. Editing tricks last weeks before they're burned out. How many rap videos have already smoked the life expectancy of the 'draw a flying swoosh on FCP' that just came out? Literally, that is less than a year old. Done for. Played out. Sick of seeing it.
No amount of 'effect' look will ever overcome the truth that the new 'Bladerunner' rerelease DVD looks incredibly bad ass, and 'Cloverfield,' well, looks like ass. Sure, they're different movies with different ideas and different budgets behind them. Are we going to see a rerelease of 'Cloverfield' in 25 years on the highest possible formats? I seriously doubt it. Is 'Flavor of Love' jumping to network any time soon? Hell no.

4. Quality always wins. The camera, and the format will never be the answer. Saying the format is the answer is like saying that you can't be a real artist if you only work in watercolor, and not oil paint.
Which NPPA Station of the year shop still shoots in DVCam? Didn't they just order Sony Ex-1s? There is some confusion there, but still, my theory holds.

[Canuck Photog]

3. The novelty of poor video in a tiny screen will wear off. Small cameras are a great place to start, still, those that have no skills, or haven't appreciably learned their skills, are going to fail. There is already a growing backlash against those that make terrible videos on YouTube. They're laughing, and making 'EPIC FAIL' comments on cable about YouTube losers now. The fad is dying, and with a vengeance. There is a growing backlash against the 'shaky cam' of the movie 'Cloverfield.' Real people, with real skill sets, aren't going anywhere. You can do a million things wrong in photography, if you're untrained. You have to do EVERYTHING right to make a clean image in our business. One slip up and you have unusable work. Skills will always win, because the youngsters with limited experience will always lose. You can have a 18-month cocky shooter that loses it, and can't work around a room with a backlit open window, something that a vet has no problem with. That's where people like Nino never miss, and the youngsters with no skills always blow up.



There's a book called "The Cult of the Amateur" by Andrew Keen. Basically he's saying (note: I only read a quick review) that amateur media (i.e. Youtube) is destroying creativity. I think, Alex, you and him would get along. :-)

I think you're right though...while I think there will always be bored people with handycams uploading shots of their cats talking, it's not ushering in some golden age of user-created content. This is why I hate communications profs...they lather at the mouth at this whole "democratization of the media" while we all know it's 90% skateboard videos and pornography.

Guys and gals: it's now more important than ever that your stories look CLEAN, WELL SHOT and PROFESSIONAL. We have a duty as pros to FURTHER DISTANCE ourselves from the amateurs. Keep up the good work!

CP

[SamG]

Actually, Jadoo's hydrogen power units for cameras come with a little stand and will supply enough power for lights for live shots or to run any electrical equipment. Portable power with no generator!!! So, once again....................

GOODBYE MICROWAVE!!! GOODBYE BIG LIVE TRUCKS!!! GOODBYE EXPENSIVE SAT TRUCKS!!!

Go ahead and continue to give me your reasons for keeping those big expensive trucks...........you better just hope Im not the owner of the station you work for ten years from now!

A) We've has a sat truck for a dozen years... the original (and largest) was a E350 w/dual rear wheels.
B) Your hydrogen power units MIGHT power lights & camera, but how is the signal going to get 10, 15, 25, or 30 miles away to the station if you're in the middle of a power outage? No power = no one can receive your wifi.

I agree you won't have big trucks (wait, what if you want to do multiple cameras with tape playback, etc) but you will still microwave trucks for quite a while... they'll just be sending data (IP communication) instead of audio/video.

[photogguy]

Go ahead and continue to give me your reasons for keeping those big expensive trucks...........you better just hope Im not the owner of the station you work for ten years from now!

I'm not worried. You won't be the owner of where I work.

You can't drive one of those big out of control live trucks in the snow anymore.

I've never driven an out of control live truck. I've always had control of the live trucks I've driven, snow or no snow.

---------------------------------

Now that we've gotten the pi$$ing match out of the way...I would love nothing more than to see live trucks go the way of the do-do, but it ain't happenin' any time soon.

I didn't know about the Jadoo. That would be nice to power a light that way.

[Trybe One]

1. Tape won't die, at least not in the small markets. BetaSP will finally be gone though.

2. CNN and Fox News are already doing Broadband live shots. Its only a matter of time before wireless broadband will be able to carry a signal at broadcast quality. Well, broadcast quality SD signal that is. Probably still gonna need microwave for full HD live shots though.

!


The HD Broadband is already in the works........
http://www.streambox.com/

[Ace Of Nothing]

Distant Past - Paper is king, radio is "dandy", TV is a fad at the World's Fair.

Past - TV's golden age. People still read papers, TV News inspires future Will Ferrell movies.

Recent past - TV is king, Smart people read papers, Internet is for nerds.

Now - Internet is for everyone, TV is scared, papers are dying or adapting. Most people know what a "blog" means.

Near future - Internet is King. Some popular blogs get the same ratings, production quality and funding as major TV channels. TV News and whatever papers survive all have major web presence that generates significant cash.

Future - TV is the Internet and the Internet is TV. They are one seamless portal that is on your mobile phone, large screen in your living room (what used to be called a TV), your laptop and your car. TV News and Newspapers are no longer confined by the limitations of their former medium. Everything is streaming live and on demand. "Blogs" are everywhere, some are popular, some are not.

Distant Future - The Humans are dead. Robots rule the earth. 10101 100 10000 10000 100000101010111001 100101010 101010010101010101. All hail the machine.

[F4 Fan]

In ten years I hope I'm retired LOL.

[cameragod]

A recent survey of web trends showed that Americans are watching 3 hours of video on line… per month.
Be still my beating heart. How will we ever survive???
TV needs to stop panicking about the internet and concentrate on more kick ass content that will keep the people who already watch 4 and a half hours per day.
Advertisers need to grow a brain and realize that the best bang for their buck is still the captive audience on TV.

[Fearless Leader]

Alex, i think you hit the nail on the head. People are getting tired of amateur video and poor image quality. You can only watch so many shaky, poor-sounding videos before you go back to the teley.

The "big lense" has to stay around. You can't beat physics and a tried and true design. Go ahead and change up the storage device, tape, optical, magnetic, whatever. But if the lense can't perform, you're recording high def crap.


I can't wait for even more widespread use of wireless for live shots. That would cut setup time dramatically, and open up many more possibilities as far as shooting lives.
-I think a pro camera with builtin wifi would be awesome, no external card, no computer connection, just the camera sending a wifi signal. It would make going live on a day to day non-emergency situation incredibly easy (just preset the connection settings and go).

[Buck Satan]

With this much microwave radiation bouncing around, I predict massive head tumors...:) and you thought cell phones were bad.

[AlexLucas]

Well, thank you guys for my observation #3. I do think 'the fad' will go away. I however, do not think, since the XL1, that the prosumer camera will ever go away. I don't think that people trying to make movies with prosumer gear will EVER go away. Look at Buffalo '95 films. I think they're difficult to watch but somehow, they're exciting at the same time.

Still, let me connect with you on a few more points:
I will tell you that I stole one part of this idea directly from Rosenblum.
Michael Rosenblum, a name I hasten to mention here for fear of torches and pitchforks coming out, was right on one thing with video, the idea of home video matching true production quality creates an opportunity for those with talent and no financial, insider moves, or real outside capabilities of getting in.
Rosenblum sees history right on this one. It is the home 'printing press' for video.
The printing press was a great invention, and it did actually do a lot for democracy. It opened up divergent opinions. Smaller prosumer cameras and home editing is doing that.

Here is where I totally agree with Rosenblum. Few can execute to an acceptable level.
99.9% of it smells like a SMOLDERING POO SACK ON YOUR FRONT PORCH.

People, if this stuff was easy, if writing and producing was as easy as you say it is, then EVERYONE could do it. Nonsense. Not everyone can play Chopin on the violin without making you gag, the same is with film and television. We don't televise fourth grade piano recitals, do we? There is a freaking reason for that. Then stop making, for lack of a better word, poo, and calling it a masterpiece.

Most people try instruments, until they realize that they suck at it.
Most people try sports, until they realize they suck at it.
Most people make motions in their head to write the great American novel, until they realize that they suck at it, or worse yet, have nothing to say.
Many, many people are just trying out video, and dabbling, and the community is realizing, albeit slowly, that most people really, really, suck at it.

It's a striking revelation coming in the video community, like most things in the universe, that "Oh my God, this is actually harder than it looks, and it never turned out the way I envisioned it." The problem is that people who carry around prosumer cameras are usually rich trust fund brats with too much free time to explore their 'artistic' ways, and really have nothing to say because they never suffered for their art, or actually lived in anything but luxury. For them I say this, "there has already been a movie about your life, and it is called 'Less than Zero.'

Eventually, there will be a few low renters that come out swining from nowhere with talent for it. I applaud them, and so should you. We have to let them get that chance, so I approve of the process.

I also approve of the process of telling people that their silly web video is downright derivative, and horrifying to the trained eye.

[Sportsguy]

The future, Conan?

All the way to the year 2000.

[code20photog]

People are getting tired of amateur video and poor image quality. You can only watch so many shaky, poor-sounding videos before you go back to the teley.


The next generation target demographic is watching feature films on 2.5 inch Ipod screens, obsessed with YouTube, communicate with cryptic text messages,have no clue as to the issues facing the country and the world unless it's on TMZ and posses the attention span that oh look something shiny.

Cell phone cameras have forever changed the perception of quality for those who are going to be the 18-35 demo before too long. The crappiest videos on YouTube are getting millions of hits, every kid has a $200 camera in thier pocket that takes decent enough video to share with thier friends. Crisp HD video doesn't mean squat to them, HDTVs are marketed to the disposable income brigade. As long as it's portable, easy to access and is what they care about, who cares if it's even in focus?

As for what I want?

To be able to feed video with split tracks and recieve video out in the field.

[long521]

Distant Future - The Humans are dead. Robots rule the earth. 10101 100 10000 10000 100000101010111001 100101010 101010010101010101. All hail the machine.

I, for one, welcome my new robot overlords.

[Bismarck]

The next generation target demographic is watching feature films on 2.5 inch Ipod screens, obsessed with YouTube, communicate with cryptic text messages,have no clue as to the issues facing the country and the world unless it's on TMZ and posses the attention span that oh look something shiny.

Cell phone cameras have forever changed the perception of quality for those who are going to be the 18-35 demo before too long. The crappiest videos on YouTube are getting millions of hits, every kid has a $200 camera in thier pocket that takes decent enough video to share with thier friends. Crisp HD video doesn't mean squat to them, HDTVs are marketed to the disposable income brigade. As long as it's portable, easy to access and is what they care about, who cares if it's even in focus?

As for what I want?

To be able to feed video with split tracks and recieve video out in the field.

I agree with this. Convenience always beats image quality. HDTVs will be used to watch movies, big-budget movie-like TV shows (although more and more of these are being watched on computers and iPods), and sports. Everything else will be watched in a Youtube window (or something similar), an iPod, or a cellphone. I believe this because I see it in action every day.

[svp]

Whoever shot this knows exactly how to attract young viewers:

http://www.b-roll.net/tv/view_video.php?viewkey=78b84f3d5d92f4faa000

No tripod and you feel like you're watcing an episode of "24". This is the style the younger generation is accustomed too, not the old timer non-moving tripod shots. If every news story were shot and told like the example above, I think you'd see a huge increase of young viewership.

[A Step Above Productions]

All local stations will have sister stations that do nothing but 24 hour local news.

[code20photog]

They already have something like that here. On our cable, a couple of the local channels have 24 hour news/weather channels, replaying stories, updated weather, etc. The NBC station has an On-Demand feature to access news and weather as well.

I think we're going to see a bigger push to the web, and I wouldn't be suprised to see the traditional "newscast" for the most part be a thing of the past. Instead of a 5 o'clock news, we're going to be uploading stories to the website as fast as we finish them, and either have on-line newscasts, some sort of notification system for subscribers, or stories sent to your phone or computer as they come in. My old station has a feature that sends you text messages when there is breaking news, weather alerts, sports updates, etc. My friend's station in Alabama has a daily podcast, you can download either the whole newscast or just the stories you want to see. With the emergence of broadband cards and wifi, you can access the news anytime, anywhere.

And with the emphasis on the web, again, quality isn't going to be the issue, but speed and accessibility. The ability to upload a story on a laptop in a newsvan (Heck, why buy expensive vans anymore, h'bout a Ford Escape?) is going to be the key to luring the next generation of viewers. That 10 minutes to put up the mast, pan in, set up the camera, gone. A web camera and a fast connection, and you're live in seconds. A automatic text message system that alerts subscribers to a news story (Sign up today for newstext and we'll send you a KXXX mouse pad!)We're already living in an instant gratification society and it's going to be more so as the cell phone camera generation becomes the main target demo.

High Def's great, but if you have to wait until 5pm to see the big fire downtown that morning, HD's not going to mean squat to anyone who wants to see it NOW!.

I could be totally wrong though...