The Latest Version of Newtek Lightwave™ 3D Animation Software Takes Your Art to the Edge

Image courtesy of Chris O’Riley

The latest version of NewTek LightWave™ 3D animation software takes your art to the edge. A complete palette of tools, LightWave 11 is professional, faster and way more powerful. TV. Film. Architectural visualization. Print. And Game development. Get incredible detail. Instancing. Flocking motion. Fracture. Bullet Dynamics. Virtual Studio Tools. HyperVoxels™ Blending. GoZ™ technology. Freedom to stretch your imagination. For real.

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First Word: The Tiny TV Transformer Review: LightWave 11 by Donetta Colboch, Director, Media Relations by William Vaughan

The unfolding transformation in television is coming from a small, yet powerful source. Exploring the latest release of LightWave 3D reveals many powerful refinements. WORD FIRST Page 5 Page 52 Make Your Own Transitions With Animation Store Creator EXCEPT Netherlands Visualizes Sustainable Living by Kris Gurrad by Claudia Kienzle A step-by-step guide to unleashing the power of high-quality animated transitions A visionary company develops a sustainable, ecologically balanced view of what The Tiny TV with ASC. can be with LightWave 3D. Page 6 Page 56 Certified for Success Iron Sky: Conquering the World, One Theater at a Time Transformer by Charles Quigley by Courtney E. Howard NewTek’s new TriCaster operator certification program will open doors for opera- A handful of animators unleash the power of LightWave 3D to create more than By Donetta Colboch tors and give the folks who hire them peace of mind. 140 shots for a new sci-fi film about invading Nazis from the moon. Page 10 Page 60 o matter how clearly we think we can predict the future, what really happens is usu- The X Factor Second Screen Experience Toy Design That Grabs Your Attention ally a surprise. Television is undergoing a transformation that not one media profes- by Claudia Kienzle by Courtney E. Howard sional, pundit or prognosticator saw coming even a few years ago. Producer Marc Scarpa is using TriCaster to help build a participatory fan A concept and design studio visualizes toy prototypes with LightWave 3D. N experience for The X Factor’s live online pre-show. Page 64 While most were looking at the ushering in of HDTV as the beginning of a grand new era in Page 12 Unfolding the World of Bunraku television, few imagined that it would be screens that fit in the palm of your hand that would A Rule To Live By by Courtney E. Howard shake the foundations of television. by B.A. Philips Origami Digital owner and VFX supervisor Oliver Hotz puts a LightWave 3D work- In television today, the “second screen” is the great transformer. The audience is now turn- WebStream Productions leverages TriCaster and the “90-20 Rule” to find success. flow in place for CG-laden Bunraku. ing to their laptop or netbook computer, media tablets like the Apple iPad or the ubiquitous Page 16 Page 70 smartphone — found in the pockets of consumers worldwide. These new screens are giving The Dream Rolls On Evolving Artist[ry]: One Man, One Tool viewers immediate access to breaking news, photos, video clips and other content they are by Cathy Sherman by Courtney E. Howard unable to see on traditional TV. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is taking its message worldwide on the Web. Animator and illustrator Chris O’Riley owns his craft with LightWave 3D. Page 20 Page 74 The Nielsen Company released data in October 2011 revealing that 40 percent of tablet Extreme Exposure Last Word: So Much More Than A Show and smartphone owners use the devices while watching television. The Nielsen findings by Kevin Mortimer by Andrew Cross, CTO, NewTek also revealed that 29 percent of tablet owners looked up information related to the TV The St. John Television Network is building an audience online and on TV with In the 21st Century, there’s far more to making television than producing on-air product. program they were watching online, and 42 percent visited social networking sites during TriCaster. Page 78 the show. Page 27 It’s no wonder that so many traditional video producers are transforming their shows into Volume 3 - Number 1: 2012 | newtekmagazine.com Teaching Teen “media productions” and themselves into “media publishers.” They realize that television is by Adora Svitak Editor-In-Chief no longer just about the show. It’s about viewer engagement that transcends the split-second A 14-year-old Washington State girl finds she can take her educational message Donetta Colboch to other kids online. [email protected] decision whether to change the channel. It’s about reaching out to viewers through show- Page 30 related websites, social media like Facebook and Google+ and even Twitter. It’s also about Creative Director/Design NewTek at NAB 2012 Killer Kite Productions | killerkite.com monitoring messages from viewers and integrating their thoughts and ideas into the TV show, by K. T. Reeder many times as it’s unfolding. NewTek will present three new integrated production powerhouses at this year’s Photographers broadcast conclave in Las Vegas. Phil Cassell, Tyler Nguyen, Guillaume Gaudet, Jessica Chou, Sulinh LaFontaine This type of viewer engagement doesn’t end when the show does. Today’s media publish- Page 32 ers package unaired material, organize online chats and tease the next on-air show for hours Contributing Writers Don Sperling Sounds Off Donetta Colboch, Kris Gurrad, Charles Quigley, Claudia Kienzle, and hours after the television show ends. B. A. Philips, Cathy Sherman, Kevin Mortimer, Adora Svitak, by O. J. Zukerman Consider the implications of this enhanced engagement. Not only does this second K. T. Reeder, O. J. Zukerman, James Lynch Jr., Courtney E. Howard, William The man responsible for the media operation of the New York Giants talks about Vaughan, Andrew Cross screen programming strengthen the underlying television show, but it also creates impor- building fan involvement with the team by tapping the potential of social media tant, new revenue opportunities that no one imagined a few years ago. Best of all, since and online video. Readers are invited to submit stories and story ideas via email to Donetta Col- Page 37 boch: [email protected]. younger viewers tend to engage in “second screening,” as one pundit has described it, these revenue sources are likely to only grow bigger with time, as more young people pick Ultra-Sound Medicine NewTek Contributors by Charles Quigley Carter Holland, EVP, Worldwide Marketing up the tablet and tune in. Brandon Winchester, M.D., trains anesthesiologists worldwide in a specialized Philip Nelson, SVP, Artist and Media Relations In this edition of NewTek Magazine, you will find many stories about media publishers who Rob Powers, VP, Head of 3D Development technique via the Web. are tapping into the opportunity second screening offers. Some have taken their efforts to Page 43 Ellen Camloh, Product Marketing Manager the extreme; others are still finding their way. Still others don’t even have a TV show, but are NewTek 3Play 820 NewTek Corporate Tim Jenison, Founder tapping the power of Web streaming to build viewer engagement. by James Lynch Jr. Jim Plant, President and CEO The common thread among them is none can be regarded simply as a video producer. How one replay operator found success and reduced stress in the pressure Dr. Andrew Cross, CTO cooker of live sports production. Steve Doubleday, CFO They truly are media publishers distributing stills, video, text, graphics and other content Page 46 Chuck Silber, COO elements through Web streaming, websites and social media to better tell their stories and Monumental Maneuvers Copyright ©2012 by NewTek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole attract and hold the attention of their audiences. or in part, in print or on the Internet, without written permission is prohibited. by Courtney E. Howard TriCaster, 3Play, LightWave, IsoCorder, LiveSet, LiveText, SpeedEDIT and Time- Pre-visualization specialist Radical 3D taps LightWave 3D to take CG aerial dog- Warp are trademarks of NewTek, Inc. LightWave 3D is a registered trademark of fights to a new level for George Lucas’ Red Tails. NewTek, Inc. All other products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or Page 48 registered trademarks of their respective holders. Printed in the USA. Cover Image: Guillaume Gaudet.

4 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 5 Make Your with Animation Own Transitions Store Creator Editor’s Note: Since this article was written, NewTek has announced should animate from full white to full black with no transpar- tion Animation, select the drop-down menu and browse to find three new models of TriCaster, all of which offer Animation Store ency. The transition supports full transparency, so grayscale the transition animation on your hard disk. If you are using a cut Transition functionality. colors will be interpreted as semi-transparent areas in the frame instead, you can scrub the timeline to find a suitable frame eginning with TriCaster 850 EXTREME, NewTek has transition. That makes it possible to do soft wipes and par- and then choose Set to confirm the change. Moving the scrub enabled high-quality animated transitions in HD on tial dissolves inside your Transition Animation. bar back and forth also will allow you to preview the transition BTriCaster. The included transitions are a great start, If your Overlay Animation goes full-screen, covering the and make sure it looks correct before export. but what if you want to use your own logo or graphics pack- entire screen at any point in the transition, you can skip the The next step is adding sound. ASC allows you to import age to enhance your production value? That’s where Ani- Transition Animation and use a cut frame inside ASC to se- a .WAV file and attach it to forward and reverse directions of mation Store Creator comes to the rescue. ASC makes it lect the frame where the background take will occur. That the transition. In the Audio Track section, use the drop-down extremely simple to take your own graphic look and create allows you to run a full-screen animation and at the selected menus to browse and select the sound files you wish to use a transition that can be used anywhere in the TriCaster. cut point, the source on preview will be taken to air under- for the transition. Next, choose a thumbnail frame. This is neath the Overlay Animation layer. the icon that will show up in the switcher and browsers to Creating Your Look Animation Store Creator compiles elements into a TriCaster animated transition. help you identify the effect. Use the scrub bar to find a de- scriptive frame in the transition and then hit the set button in the Export Properties section. You can also adjust the quality of the effect here. If you plan on using many Animation Store Transitions, you may want to leave this on normal. If you have just a few you can bump up the quality. The switcher memory indicator at the top of the screen will give you an idea of how much of your memory this effect will use. Going Live To use this new transition in the switcher, it needs to be exported. First, save the project and give it a name. If you need to make any changes later, you’ll be able to open Building the effect up the project without having to start over from scratch. Animation Store Creator is in- Next, choose File->Export to Live from the menu. That cluded on the EXTREME models will render the effect and place it in the user transition list of the TriCaster. The application inside the TriCaster. can be found in the Add Ons sec- Animation Store Creator’s primary function is to compile You should create the animation at the highest resolution of the main TriCaster menu. your elements into a TriCaster animated transition. That al- tion you intend to use. So if you need to use the transi- Once you’ve launched ASC, lows you to create the transition graphics in any application in a 1080i production, the best resolution to create the building the transition is actually tion you choose. For example, you could build elements in animation would be 1920x1080 at 29.97 frames per sec- quick and straightforward. First, LightWave, composite them in Adobe After Effects and then ond. You can create the animation at the exact length you load the image sequence for the import that completed render into ASC for conversion into a will play it in the TriCaster. ASC also allows you to attach Overlay Animation. transition file. Just about any animation you can make can sound effects to the in and out moves of the transition. On the left side of the ASC look for be converted into something ASC can use. Animation Store Creator works with image sequences. the Overlay Animation drop-down An Animation Store Transition can consist of two layers. The easiest format to use is a .PNG sequence. That can menu and select Browse. Navigate The first is the Overlay Animation. Think of this as your ac- be rendered easily out of SpeedEDIT, After Effects or any to your image sequence and se- tual graphic transition. You may use your logo or any other other compositing application. Render one sequence for lect one of the frames. Choose the full-color elements to make up this layer. The second is an the Overlay Animation and a second one for your Transi- frame rate that matches your origi- optional Transition Animation. This layer is a mask layer and tion Animation. The sequences should be exactly the same nal sequence - probably 59.94 for allows you to control the reveal of your background video length. Copy those to a flash drive or over your network to 720p and 29.97 for 480i or 1080i. as you wipe from source to source. The transition layer the TriCaster. Now, it’s time to compile the transition. Next, do the same with the Transi- By Kris Gurrad

6 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 7 If you need to use the new transition on more than Not just for one machine, use the Create Installer feature to make background transitions an easy installer. You can use that installer file to place Animation Store Transitions are not limited to just Pro- that transition on any TriCaster that supports Animation gram to Preview background transitions. You can also use Store Transitions. them in any of the keyers on TriCaster. With some clever Once the effect has rendered, exit out of Animation Store work in your graphics applications, this can have some re- Creator and back to the TriCaster main menu. Now it’s ally cool applications inside of TriCaster. You can even use time to test out the effect. Open any of your sessions and them to reveal on or build a matching lower-third still or title launch Live Production. To load your new transition, select graphic built in TriCaster. Using an Overlay Animation that a transition bin on the BKGD layer (other than the FADE) reveals your editable title graphic or LiveText source inside and click the gear icon. Click the drop-down menu and select of TriCaster, you can give the appearance of lower thirds the Browse option. Along the left side of the Media Browser, that animate onto the screen, without having to pre-render you’ll see an Animation Stores group, the same place you them all as separate movies. You can also achieve effects like building on a scoreboard graphic. In the example above, the Overlay Animation builds on the scoreboard graphic and then disappears, while the Transition Animation reveals each piece of the “real” lower-third graphic piece by piece coming into the system from LiveText on a network input. The result is a seamless animation that appears to build on the graphic with animated lens flares, full animation and even sound effects. Animation Store Transitions allow you to take your productions to the next level. Best of all, they don’t tie up a DDR or would have selected any of the stock transitions. Your tran- other switcher resources to do so, and they couldn’t be any sition should be under the User section with the name and easier to build! With Animation Store Creator, your TriCaster thumbnail you gave it inside ASC. Select your transition and EXTREME can produce professional transition effects that rival click the OK button. any other switcher and are simple to use in your productions. Select sources on the PGM and PVW buses and hit the Animation Store Creator works with image sequences, AUTO button to see the cool results. the easiest of which to use is a .PNG sequence.

8 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS NewTek makes sample test questions for its new TriCaster operator certification test available on its website.

The fee to take the certification examination is $150, which abilities. Another important benefit is having an objective way to is payable to authorized NewTek testing centers. Scheduling a benchmark the skills of employees and potential hires. time to take the exam is also handled by the test centers. Cur- rently, there are more than 20 testing centers in North America, Class dismissed including NewTek resellers and digital media training organiza- In developing the certification program, NewTek realized that Certified tion Future Media Concepts. everyone would come to the process with a different set of NewTek also has developed a curriculum for schools, skills, experience and knowledge. TriCaster operators with a training centers and resellers to use if they choose to of- working knowledge of all of the facets of the integrated pro- for Success fer an exam prep course, said Ballance. The curriculum is a duction solution should be able to take the test and pass with NewTek Launches a TriCaster Operator Certification ProgramA imed at Helping combination of videos that present exercises and informa- minimal preparation, said Hibsher. People Earn their Bona fidesW ith the tion designed to develop TriCaster expertise in students. It Those who have worked with other switchers but are new Integrated Production System. also includes both student and teacher handouts that are to TriCaster may need only to spend a few hours watching an integral part of the curriculum. The teacher handouts the videos on the TriCaster, he added. For those with little By Charles Quigley guide instructors through teaching the class, and the stu- to no experience with video production, a two-day class dent handouts lay out all of the information in class and offer like the one offered by Future Media Concepts may be the added explanation. The price to take the prep course will best solution. vary depending upon the training center. Regardless of where someone starts, however, the goal is While NewTek is making the curriculum available to help stu- the same. Obtaining TriCaster operator certification is a ticket dents, it is not necessary for those wishing to take the certifi- to better and more jobs. The certification is a sign to potential cation exam to have completed the class. Both Ballance and employers that the person they are considering for a produc- Hibsher acknowledge it is possible for those with a desire to tion is capable of getting the job done right. learn to prepare for the exam by using free resources available on the NewTek website, including the TriCaster manual, a sample 15-question test, two-hours of training video and TriCaster forums and facts. Online Certification Resources NewTek offers a number of resources on its website to help Having developed a curriculum and exam for TriCaster oper- those wishing to take the TriCaster operator certification test ator certification, Ballance said he expects to see a good deal succeed. These links are a great place to start. of interest from high school and college educators wishing to add a TriCaster class that ultimately will lead to certification. Details about the exam “The Pinellas County (Fla.) School District came two years ago http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/ asking for a curriculum to teach TriCaster operation,” said Bal- support-certif-get-certified/403-tricaster- certification-get-certified-details.html s use of NewTek TriCaster integrated production Test and curriculum lance. “They have about 10 TriCaster systems and may serve solutions continues to accelerate for TV shows, In- The new TriCaster certification test is a 75-question, multiple- as a beta site for a school district-wide deployment of the cer- Certified operator directory ternet streaming content and presentation applica- choice exam administered at authorized testing centers around tification training and testing.” http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/support- tions, producers increasingly find themselves with a the country, said Don Ballance, NewTek director of Training and certif-get-certified-op-directory.html common concern: “How do I find an operator who Education-Worldwide. Questions are drawn randomly from a Benefits Aknows TriCaster?” much larger bank of questions so no two exams are identical. Earning TriCaster operator certification offers a variety of Find testing centers That’s a fair question. After all, there’s a lot on the line dur- Test takers are given 90-minutes to complete the online benefits, said Ballance. Besides setting an operator apart from http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/support- certif-get-certified/test-center-locator.html ing the production of a live show and no real chance for a do- exam, which focuses on nine different areas in which they must those who have not yet obtained their certification, being certi- over in post. So, regardless of how many powerful production demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Some of the areas fied opens doors to live production situations where there is Operator agreement features are built into the TriCaster or how incredibly afford- tested include physical setup of TriCaster and general video a high demand for operators who have proven their TriCaster http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/support- able it is, if a producer isn’t comfortable that it will be put to its knowledge; live operation; network streaming and working bona fides. certif-get-certified/operator-agreement.html best use by a competent professional, that’s a problem. with audio. Because title pages are such a common element With TriCaster certification, operators can prove to potential At least it was until December 2011 when NewTek imple- in productions, there are also some questions regarding use of clients that they know their stuff and ultimately get hired more Exam resources mented a testing program to certify TriCaster operators as ex- NewTek’s LiveText character generator. often and for better jobs. That’s a particularly important benefit http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/support- certif-get-certified-exam.html perts on the integrated production solution. “I want a certified To achieve the highest possible score on the exam, NewTek in a business like live video production, said Ballance, because operator to be ready for anything,” said NewTek Training Pro- recommends students study the TriCaster 850 EXTREME and so many operators are freelancers who need an edge in set- Practice exam grams developer Dave Hibsher, the person who is responsible control surface. ting their services, and ultimately their businesses, apart from http://www.newtek.com/support/certified/support- for actually creating the certification test and building -a cur “The exam is not a fact-based test,” explained Ballance. the pack. Becoming certified also opens up the possibility of certif-get-certified-exam/practice-exam.html riculum to prepare people to take it. “It is a performance-based test in that some of the questions teaching TriCaster skills to other people, he added. “If a certified operator is going to kind of be a gun for hire, will present a scenario and the person taking the test will be Producers can expect to reap a few benefits from the TriCaster Download user guides that person needs to be ready for whatever production needs required to know what to do. For example, the test might operator certification program as well, Ballance said. Primarily, http://www.newtek.com/support/documentation.html are required for a particular show. I want certified operators to show an operator’s monitor screens with something wrong they can have confidence that the certified operator they hire has be experts who know more than simply how to do the most and ask how to fix it. It won’t ask: ‘How many inputs does the the competencies required to complete a production successfully. common things with TriCaster,” he said. TriCaster have?’” That is because the certification exam tests operators’ operational

10 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 11 temming from Cowell’s passion for social media, The For a webcast, the X Factor Pepsi Pre-Show Live was X Factor (U.S.) capitalized on another significant media fast-paced and intense with high production values. Prior Strend — weaving social media feedback into the fabric of to each of season one’s 26 episodes (airing from Sept. 22 the live television broadcast in real-time. Among its many social through Dec. 22, 2011), X Factor fans could tap into this media and online initiatives, X Factor Digital — a production unit innovative programming format using their smart phones, associated with the show — produced the one-hour X Factor tablets or browsers. Pepsi Pre-Show Live — a novel cyber event designed to drum Once online via the xfactorusa.com portal, fans became up excitement prior to the show’s Wednesday 8 p.m. telecast. an integral part of the pre-show’s unique format. They The pre-show capitalized on yet another television industry could tweet or post Facebook comments about behind- trend — the use of integrated production systems (IPS) to re- the-scenes interviews with contestants and judges, com- duce the capital investment, budget and manpower needed to mentary by co-hosts Dan Levy and Taryn Southern and produce innovative live telecasts, especially targeting online au- roving correspondent Jim Cantiello, or any of the activi- ties caught by special contestant cameras placed on Marc Scarpa, producer/director of the legendary CBS Televi- X Factor Digital’s X Factor Pepsi Pre-Show Live, engages viewers sion City lot in Hollywood, with the show before it even airs. Calif., where The X Fac- tor is produced. Real-time social media feedback, Skype calls with fans, and on-camera interviews with special fans and other guests were kneaded into the live content in a dynamic way. Feedback from the Twitter- sphere “Our goal was to create a compelling ‘participatory’ fan experience that comple- mented the main show by conveying that night’s key storylines to viewers in the digital media space,” said Marc Scarpa, producer/di- Photo courtesy of Jessica Chou from the Hollywood Reporter rector of X Factor Digital’s X Factor Pepsi Pre-Show Live. diences. X Factor Digital chose to use TriCaster 850 EXTREME, SYCOtv — a partnership between the show’s creator Simon the industry’s premier IPS by NewTek, a broadcast technology Cowell, Fox Networks, Freemantle and Sony Music — pro- innovator in San Antonio, Texas. duced The X Factorusa.com experience. Scarpa was hired How producer/director Marc Scarpa by Sony Music, which was responsible for producing all of X guided a participatory fan experience for Engaging fans Factor Digital’s online efforts, including the pre-show. The X Factor’s live online pre-show. Situated within a Sweetwater JOECO custom control room “As fans responded to what they were seeing, their feed- By Claudia Kienzle adjacent to CBS studios, TriCaster served as the powerful, back — contributed via social media, mobile devices, Skype integrated central hub of a bustling streaming media work- and other platforms — actually impacted and shaped the cre- In recent years, primetime television has embraced a new trend— flow. Priced at less than $50,000, TriCaster 850 EXTREME ative direction of the show,” said Scarpa. “Feedback from our singing competitions that combine live musical entertainment, rivet- provides firepower comparable to a hi-def truck for a tiny fans would actually change the trajectory of topics or people ing personal dramas and highly charged theatrical spectacles. This fraction of the cost. And by integrating all of the key func- we focused on, making them true participants in this engaging, was the case with season one of The X Factor, another Simon Cowell tionality of live television production — including switching live multimedia event.” invention that proved itself on British television and in 41 worldwide up to eight HD camera signals, adding animated transitional Perhaps the most pivotal participant of all was NewTek’s markets before joining the Fox lineup for its U.S. debut last fall. effects and text, as well as video encoding — a single opera- TriCaster, which absorbed all of the incoming video, audio and tor can man the entire show. social media data to produce and output a polished webcast.

12 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 13 rectly associated with the pre-show itself. The custom control There’s also a live production switcher control panel on Exploring the Creative Potential Photo courtesy of Sulinh LaFontaine room also used CBS Studios’ blazing fast 450Mb/s fiber infra- the interface giving the operator control over all 24 available of Emerging Media With TriCaster’s integrated functionality,Scarpa structure, as well as Bright Cove and Akamai’s content delivery channels, including eight external video sources, eight virtual only needs to interact with a single operator. network services. According to Scarpa, CBS Studios’ phenom- mix/effects channels, five internal digital media players, two Who is Marc Scarpa? enally fast data connection and technical expertise were criti- external network inputs, frame buffer and black. The interface By Claudia Kienzle cal to this production because of X Factor Digital’s demanding also displays a full digital audio mixer and tools for creating multi-device-streaming media challenges. digital video effects and transitions, as well as a virtual set Before stepping into the role of producer/director for X system. All of the sources on the display can be named to Factor Digital’s X Factor Pepsi Pre-Show Live, Marc Scar- Social media integration avoid confusion. pa had been honing his craft on many high-profile new “Since we were getting over 2,000 tweets per minute, our With the addition of a third-party system for robotic camera con- media projects. social media producer used a software-based social media trol, a single operator could manage an entire multi-camera produc- “The programming I like to create is participatory, real- curation solution called Mass Relevance to filter out those in- tion with high-quality results using TriCaster. But it’s also versatile time, and experiential. This means that it’s an experience coming tweets that were particularly relevant to what was be- enough to benefit a high-caliber, dynamic, primetime television show happening in the moment where the participant — tradi- ing said at that moment in the pre-show,” said Scarpa. They by streamlining the cost and technical complexity of the workflow. tionally known as the viewer — has an active role in the would filter tweets based on keywords such as the creation and conversation surrounding the programming judges’ names — including Simon Cowell, Paula Ab- itself,” said Scarpa. dul, Nicole Scherzinger, or L.A. Reid — as well as the To enable well-crafted storytelling, Scarpa has been names of competing singers or singing groups, and using the NewTek TriCaster integrated production so- any other key topics for that night’s storyline. lution for about 10 years now. Besides having all of “We used TriCaster’s Text Overlay feature to the necessary functionality to produce a high-quality With TriCaster’s integrated functionality, Scarpa only needed place the social media elements right onto the live broadcast within an affordable, compact system, to interact with a single operator, his Technical Director Victor screen in appealing displays, such as transpar- TriCaster also builds in many tools specifically designed Borachuk, to craft the live presentation. ent boxes, lower-third supers, and other non- for live media streaming. disruptive graphics that popped in and out,” said As a content creator, Scarpa is not limited to any par- Enabling technology Scarpa. “So if our host was asking Simon Cowell ticular platform, technology or tool, but rather chooses While TriCaster contains all of the tools needed for high-qual- about Melanie Amarro, (the contestant who ulti- whatever medium is right for the project. His impressive ity live television, in this particular instance it was configured to mately won season one), we might have had an bio can be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_ interface with a wide array of high-end, third-party video and overlay of a tweet, such as ‘Good choice, Simon,’ Scarpa, but here are some of the highlights. audio gear, including an audio mixing board, large multiview or any other select tweet about his thoughts on He is an executive board member and the founding display and a video/audio patch bay. that performer.” According to Mac Scarpa, The X Factor gets 2,000 tweets per minute New York Chair of the Producers Guild of America New Four of TriCaster’s eight video inputs were dedicated to Sony TriCaster supports the input of social media data, includ- from fans during the show. Media Council and a recipient of the Marc A. Levy distin- PDW-F800 XDCAM HD 4:2:2 camcorders that operators were ing tweets, Facebook posts, pictures and videos, from any guished service award. He won a Webby Award in 2010 for using to capture live video from the set inside the press tent iOS (iPhone operating system) device, such as an iPhone, Powerful storytelling tool Best Event/Live Webcast for his work on the 52nd Annual adjacent to the studio facility and X Factor Digital’s trailer. Other iPad or MacBook Pro. The user interface also offers one- “TriCaster is a multi-faceted tool that allows me as a direc- Grammy Awards. For this CBS awards special, Scarpa video sources included pre-produced video packages that were button Internet streaming that allows use of Adobe Flash or tor to have one point of contact to execute multiple functions developed, produced, and directed the first participatory stored on TriCaster and rolled-out live or as “look lives.” There Microsoft Windows Media to deliver a full HD live stream in the programming workflow. The compact nature of this unit online experience for the Grammy Awards, including 72 were also program opens, closes, bumpers and other graphics directly to the Web. frees up a seat or two in the control room so we can have a hours of continuous live streaming media coverage on assets created using After Effects and input into TriCaster as social media producer and others tasked with managing other Grammy.com, among other sites consumed by 3.8 million .mov files for live play-out. Ideal for non-traditional fare non-traditional elements of the show,” said Scarpa. unique visitors. Rather than renting an expensive, high-end HDTV mobile Since it is equally at home in the Web streaming and tra- “And financially speaking, there’s nothing on the market that He also produced Earthday Live!, a seven-hour live on- production truck, (where one day’s rental fee would equal or ditional broadcast worlds, TriCaster includes other helpful comes even close to what TriCaster can do at that price point,” line participatory broadcast that bridged the in-person exceed the fully outfitted cost of a TriCaster 850 EXTREME), X streaming features, such as the ability to simultaneously ar- he added. “HD trucks will not go away, but my guess is that attendance of 250,000 on the National Mall in Washing- Factor Digital chose to base its remote production of the pre- chive the webcast for later viewing and support for multi-bitrate you’ll see more and more of them — especially smaller trucks ton, D.C., with the online world of several million people show on a TriCaster. TriCaster was stationed inside a large streaming profiles. TriCaster’s Streaming Profile Manager also and Sprinters — outfitted with TriCasters in the future.” in 18 countries. trailer retrofitted with equipment racks to hold broadcast gear has an integrated browser that makes configuration, importing The impact of TriCaster is “immeasurable” because it’s em- “With participatory media, we’re not dictating the con- and sufficient console space for several work areas. and previewing of Web streams quicker and easier. Users can powering content creators to tell their stories and produce new tent to viewers. Participants are shaping the nature of the While one TriCaster operator could manage the switching save and manage all of their preferred settings for instant ac- kinds of programming quickly, inexpensively, and with high- content itself — in real-time,” said Scarpa. and graphics of the show, Scarpa had a wide array of crew cess at a later date. quality — in many cases content that would otherwise never people — including an engineer-in-charge, audio mixer, two All of TriCaster’s functions are readily available to the op- get produced, he said. encoding engineers, assistant director, several utilities, a tele- erator via an intuitive interface and the ability to display all of “This is especially true for younger producers just starting out prompter op, a social media producer as well as writers and the necessary video signals, buttons and control panels on a who don’t have million-dollar budgets to get their multi-camera executive producers — within the digital control room. widescreen multiview display. The operator can monitor all of shows done using conventional HD trucks and studios,” said Scar- In total, roughly 45 people contributed to X Factor Digital’s the video associated with each camera, as well as the preview pa. “In my opinion, TriCaster is ushering in a complete paradigm content creation efforts, several of which were directly or indi- and program signals. shift, helping people to tell their stories. It’s got the ‘X Factor.’ ”

14 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 15 Many are familiar with the 80/20 Rule; it’s been to clients has made WebStream Productions a zero-debt op- applied to everything from wealth to work. eration without outside investors that’s profitable and self- sustaining, he says. It’s not uncommon to hear things like: “80 percent of the wealth is in the hands of 20 percent of the people;” or “80 percent of Value-based sales come from 20 percent of the customers;” or even “80 per- production technology cent of complaints are generated by 20 percent of the people.” What makes it possible for Servizzi to deliver on the 90/20 But for John Servizzi, president and CEO of WebStream Pro- Rule is a perspective on technology that sees it as a means to ductions, in Indianapolis, the 80/20 Rule misses the mark. That’s an end and having a clear understanding of the goal that is try- because the key to his company’s success can be credited to a ing to be accomplished. business philosophy best described as the 90/20 Rule. “You know the major networks do some things that I’m not A Rule Servizzi has built a successful sports production business sure the casual sports viewer ever notices,” says Servizzi. by offering clients like NCAA. com, Turner Sports, collegiate WebStream Productions combines powerful, yet affordable production athletic conferences and indi- technology like the NewTek TriCaster and 3Play 820 to make vidual colleges and universities streaming a financially sound decision. to Live By turnkey game production and WebStream Productions finds business webstreaming services. The secret to his success –the 90/20 success living by the “90/20 Rule.” Rule- boils down to offering clients 90 percent of the produc- By B.A. Philips tion value the public is used to seeing on network television sports coverage for 20 percent of the cost. “Really what you do is you watch television and work with television people, and you deter- mine what they are doing,” says Servizzi. “How they are doing it isn’t really relevant. It’s watching what they do and seeing the innovation they bring to the table. “It’s almost reverse engineering. It’s figuring out how I can achieve the same thing they are, or at least 90 percent of what they are doing, at 20 percent of the cost. That’s where the creative engineering begins.” Pointing to the St. Louis Cardinals-Texas Rangers World Se- That strategy has served Servizzi well since founding Web- ries, Servizzi says, cutting-edge production tools, like the Stream Productions in July 2006. Since then the company FOX infrared “Hot Spot” camera are innovative, but he won- has produced streaming coverage of fencing, water polo, ders how much the casual viewer — the same sort of viewer bowling, golf, track and field, cross country and, of course, he targets with his streaming sports productions — notices. the twin mainstays of college basketball and football. “The “There is a lot of money being spent and bless them for doing expectation is there that universities will provide — espe- that because they are the innovators of the industry,” he says. cially at the Division I level — a video stream of their events, Such costly innovation coupled with a view held by many especially if they are not on television,” he says. By offering in the sports production community that only certain brands production values that approach the best that television has of video production technology can deliver a quality product to offer at 20 percent of the cost, Servizzi is creating value create a sweet spot for WebStream Productions, which is will- for his customers, which have rewarded the company by ing to employ significantly less expensive alternatives. “I have booking WebStream Productions for more than 500 events never walked onto a job site and heard anyone demanding a over the past year. Offering value based on the 90/20 Rule Craftsman hammer,” he notes.

16 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 17 At the core of the production technology Servizzi deploys in something that normally would be reserved for the relatively Beyond the technology, there’s always the expense of hiring a In other words, what elements make up the other 10 percent? WebStream Productions’ Sprinter production truck, its pair of small number of college games that are produced using high- production crew. But here too the evolution of lower cost technol- According to Servizzi, that 10 percent is a rather random col- production trailers and fly-pack is the NewTek TriCaster pro- end production trucks. ogy used to stream video on the Internet is having a surprising lection of pieces, including such things as the on-field down duction switcher. “We’re using TriCasters in every flavor that’s When the game is over, the 3Play 820 plays an equally and welcomed effect on WebStream Productions’ staffing costs. and distance, the electronic line of scrimmage and first-down available,” he says. important role. “At the end of a game, we want to be able In the mid-2000s when Servizzi started his company, line in football. However, he believes lower-cost tools are on The NewTek TriCaster, which is offered as six models, is a to deliver raw highlights, and we want to be able to maintain streaming video on the Web was a rarity on college cam- the way, and it should take between 18 and 24 months before production solution that packs the switching, graphics, char- raw footage on all of the plays — clean high-quality video,” puses. “We would frequently go into places that had never they become available. There are other missing elements, too. acter generation, recording and audio mixing tools needed to explains Servizzi. “The 3Play enables us to do that in a very streamed video, and in a manner of speaking, we became “Generally speaking, graphics are a little stripped down,” produce live network-quality HD or SD video, such as sports, simple workflow. It allows us to build a library of assets, and evangelists for streaming,” he recalls. says Servizzi. “We don’t always animate on and off the screen. into an affordable package. For WebStream Productions, its then moving forward when we see the same team three weeks Servizzi spent a lot of time talking to athletic departments and We don’t have the situation where a three-pointer in basketball integrated support for directly streaming to the Internet is an down the road, we have great video for our pre-game show.” working in some respects as a consultant to universities and is hit and the number flips and sparkles. But again, the causal added benefit that helps Servizzi to meet his clients’ produc- “I think really as far as things go, the 3Play 820 has been a conferences to educate them not just on the benefits of stream- viewer won’t notice these things are missing.” tion and distribution expectations at an affordable price. major game changer for producers at our level,” he adds. ing but also on how to add that capability on campus. “So now, Servizzi cautions, however, that this balancing act he Another critical piece of technology central to delivering on Delivering on the 90/20 Rule requires more than simply find- five years on, we walk onto those campuses, and they are cur- performs with technology, price and meeting viewer expec- the 90/20 Rule is the NewTek 3Play slow-motion replay system. ing powerful, yet affordable alternatives to higher priced pro- rently streaming. The infrastructure, it used to be like pulling tations isn’t about low-balling the competition. “On shows duction technology, says Servizzi. It teeth just to get enough bandwidth. Now we walk in and can of this level, it’s not a matter of us bidding against a major also requires experience and judgment to know when it makes sense to spend a bit of extra money to achieve what viewers expect. Nowhere is this more evident than with the cameras Servizzi deploys for football and baseball coverage. Typically, Servizzi uses prosumer-level cameras with HD-SDI output. However, this level of camera — while capable of producing remarkable HD imagery at a low price — suffers from one limitation that makes it unsuitable for certain camera positions at baseball and football games. “There is a problem of glass,” explains Servizzi. “If you want to WebStream Productions has built two production trailers, a Sprinter production truck and fly-pack get a good shot from distance, you with the goal of delivering affordable, yet professional sports productions to be streamed. are going to want to get a bigger Webstream Productions has streamed more than 500 events, such as college basketball and football camera, because frankly none of as well as less followed sports like water polo and golf, the low-end prosumer cameras have a reasonable expectation that the infrastructure is going to production company,” he explains. “Our business model within the last year. have the kind of glass you’re go- be in place. Man, has that made things easier.” has never been to go in and undercut the big guy. ing to need.” Often for big football As a consequence of adding streaming, these same univer- “You know, they’re doing it for $45,000; we try to do it for $2,500; stadiums, Servizzi will field a higher- sities have been developing a pool of video production talent and we’ll blow them out of the water. The reality is the shows we “The 3Play 820 has really given us the ability to do nearly every- end HD camera that accepts interchangeable lenses so he to support their efforts that WebStream Productions can draw are doing simply wouldn’t get done if we weren’t doing them.” thing that those larger replay systems do,” says Servizzi. can rent a 40x lens with a doubler. upon as crew for its sports productions. More commonly, WebStream Productions is faced with a situa- The 3Play 820 is a 10-channel slow-motion replay system Knowing where to spend a little extra money keeps viewers “We have looked at all of these universities that have begun tion in which a university or other enterprise is trying to get some- offering two simultaneous fully independent switchable play- and clients happy and maintains the goal of the 90/20 Rule. “If streaming as an opportunity, because when we go into these thing produced and streamed on the Internet for a certain price. out channels, up to eight simultaneous record channels and you are trying to do a baseball game with a 20x lens in center- campuses to produce games we have competent crew that is “They can’t spend a dime more,” he says, “so we are faced with 200 hours of HD recording. field, you are in trouble. That’s just the reality,” he says. working throughout the year and knows what it is doing that we answering, ‘How are you going to make that happen?’” WebStream Productions employs the 3Play 820 to add “If that camera in centerfield can’t zoom past second base, can draw upon,” he says. “We are very strict on one thing — and I am adamant about instant replay of slow motion clips, assemble packages, put boy, the people at home are going to know that. They are go- it,” he says. “If we do an event, our coverage will be done well, together half-time highlight reels and even provide game of- ing to know that’s not what they are used to seeing. So we The other 10 percent and it will be a TV experience. Frankly, if I don’t think I can ficials with access to instant replays of questionable calls — have to raise the ante a little bit on those shows.” If WebStream Productions is able to deliver 90 percent of the pro- deliver it on the budget, I don’t take the job. That is one of the duction value of a big game produced for television, what’s missing? things that differentiates us as a company. We do say no.”

18 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 19 The Dream Rolls On NewTek’s TriCaster spreads the message of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to the world. By Cathy Sherman For 15 years, the nonprofit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus has helped to make dreams a reality for students of all ages across the United States and Canada with its mobile state-of- the-art audio recording and HD video production studio. “Every year, the Lennon Bus kicks off its season equipped with all the latest and greatest HD audio and video equipment from our supporters,” said Hans Tanner, one of the three engineers on board the Bus. “This year, we were outfitted with an awesome new device — the NewTek TriCaster 850 EXTREME with the TriCaster 850 CS.” The Bus debuted TriCaster live streaming at the vehicle’s 15th anniversary celebration in January at the 2012 NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show in Anaheim, Calif. The dream is made possible by the many partners and spon- sors that believe in the mission of the Lennon Bus and with the support of Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, according to Brian Rothschild, executive director of the Lennon Bus. The on-board engineers help students write, perform, record and produce original songs and complete music videos in one day. Now with TriCaster, students also can explore broadcast- ing and live streaming. TriCaster 850 EXTREME can switch up to eight live HD video sources, provide discreet, ISO recording of each video source, key text and graphics over live video and compress video out for live streaming on the Web. Its many other features and options include full audio mixing, virtual set integration and full-featured character generator. “It’s our goal to have students involved in all aspects of the production so that they can see what the workloads are, see what opportunities are out there and then experience them during their day on the bus,” according to Jeff Sobel, chief engineer for the Lennon Bus. “There have been times when students thought they wanted to be musicians until they saw the video switcher and then realized that that was their life’s dream,” said Sobel. “They didn’t even know that was a career that was out there. It’s our mission to open their eyes to the possibilities.”

20 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 21 At SXSW in Austin, Texas, the Lennon Bus production team prepares for a webcast.

To capture the highest quality HD signals for posting down the road while streaming lower bitrate shows at the same time to the Web, the Lennon Tour Bus leverages TriCaster’s IsoRecording capability.

The Bus makes 200 stops traveling 10 months a year, providing free How can producers on the Bus create a live Inside the Bus, three compartments that can be separated by special intriguing for them, and adds a level of magic to hands-on programs to students in high schools, colleges and student show to be streamed at no more than 850kb/s so sliding glass walls, serve as control room, studio and chromakey set. Five the Bus experience that is hard to equal. groups and offers a variety of free workshops and other programs at mu- that viewers watching via the Internet can watch robotically controlled Sony HD cameras are ceiling mounted throughout the “And from a novice standpoint, the device isn’t sic festivals, concerts, conventions and community organizations. Stu- a high-quality show unencumbered by annoy- bus, giving good coverage of the interior. These cameras are permanent and hard to use,” said Tanner. “It takes literally sec- dents often have the opportunity to work with professional musicians, ing buffering while at the same time capturing all controllable from the switcher area. onds to explain the difference between the pro- such as The Black Eyed Peas, who have recorded some of their music HD video sources at their maximum resolution to “We also have mobile Sony HD PMW-EX1 and PMW-EX3 video cameras gram and preview channels, as well as the fact on the Bus. build a complete show later in post-production? that can patch into TriCaster so that we can get more creative positioning that each number corresponds to a different an- “The Bus reaches 250,000 students a year,” Rothschild said. “It provides The answer is TriCaster 850 EXTREME’s pio- and movement by mixing those in with the robotically controlled cameras,” gle. And as most know, that’s just the tip of the access to young people who never would have had the opportunity to use neering IsoCorder multitrack video recording that said Sobel. iceberg. The learning curve is extremely smooth, these instruments and digital equipment. I think the Bus has visited just allows up to eight camera inputs to be recorded “On top of that, depending on the event, we can use prerecorded video on and the TriCaster’s depth is insane. There’s so about every state through the years.” at full resolution, while simultaneously streaming the DDR, plus more graphics that we fly in there, as well.” much you can do with it, and it’s made our lives “We see the Bus as the living legacy of John Lennon and his belief in artis- program out at a bit rate that’s acceptable for an on the Bus so much easier.” tic expression,” Rothschild said. “The Bus continues to evolve as technology Internet audience. Lighting up faces improves. Every year, we incorporate new products and new techniques. “Because TriCaster can record on multiple Recently, producers on the Bus have begun experimenting with TriCast- Creative, practical “That’s where TriCaster comes in. It allows us to share what we’re doing tracks, we’re recording the full resolution pro- er Virtual Set Editor that will allow them to add a new level of creativity to The producers on the Bus not only have taken ad- with the world. We’re at the dawn of what live streaming can do for us right gram output in the TriCaster,” said Sobel. At the their shows. vantage of the traditional video production switcher now. We’ve wanted to do this for a long time. We looked for the right solution same time, producers on the Bus are encoding “The virtual sets turned out to be a really cool thing. Because we have capabilities of TriCaster, but also have identified and the right partner, and that was NewTek. TriCaster is the most amazing the live event at 850kb/s and streaming it from the a green screen, a Reflecmedia Chromatte fabric system set up in the back ways to leverage its unique production features to piece of equipment in the world for live streaming.” TriCaster. “So we’re still keeping the full HD qual- of the Bus, we did a couple of mock set-ups where we put people in vari- add new levels of creativity to their shows. ity that allows people to watch the program live at ous virtual sets. We were really blown away by the possibilities there. We’re For example, TriCaster support for the Apple Achieving balance a very reasonable bit rate live stream,” he added. having custom virtual sets designed for us, which we’ll be using in a lot of AirPlay wireless link from iPads may soon add a Often video productions originating from the Bus are destined to serve To stream live shows from the Bus, the produc- upcoming videos that we’re planning.” new element of creativity to shows about aspiring two audiences: those who will watch live online as an event happens and tion crew relies on a satellite uplink mounted to TriCaster’s virtual sets give students an opportunity to be a broadcaster musicians participating in workshops. “We’ll do those who will watch a show to be distributed more traditionally, such as on the top of the vehicle. TodoCast, the company for a day, said Tanner. “The ability to live key a green screen alone has lit up our standard workshop with the students where TV or on DVD, after the event. Differing expectations between the audiences providing the uplink, is responsible for the band- the faces of hundreds of students from the dozens of schools we’ve already we have them create a song and shoot a video, and unique technical characteristics of each distribution medium create a width needed to contribute content and manages visited this year,” said Tanner. “Seeing their friends go from being in front of but we have them work predominantly if not ex- production challenge. all aspects of online delivery. a piece of green reflective fabric to a virtual newsroom within seconds is so clusively on the iPad and iTouch” said Sobel.

22 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 23 Tell your story. Touch your fans. Everywhere.

The Lennon Bus streamed several interviews from SXSW in March, including a conversation with filmmaker Kevin Smith.

“One of the nice things about the TriCaster is that with the AirPlay technology, we can send the displays from the iPad SXSW over to the TriCaster and get actual display feed off the devic- The Lennon Bus spent a week in March at the South by es, which is really cool.” As an added benefit, there is no need Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, where it live streamed to send a camera operator out to the workshop just to do over- interviews and performances every day, including an interview the-shoulder shots of students running music software on the with filmmaker Kevin Smith. Among the live streamed perfor- devices because their on-screen work is transmitted directly mances was an acoustic session by Rachael Sage, The John via AirPlay to the TriCaster. Lennon Songwriting Contest winner. Another example is the TriCaster’s built-in audio mixing Austin is a long way from the live national broadcast 15 capabilities, which make setting up and producing some years on ABC’s Good Morning America, that gave birth to the >P[OTVYL[OHUOV\YZVM]PKLVJVU[LU[\WSVHKLK[V@V\;\ILL]LY`TPU\[LWLVWSLHYLWYVK\JPUNOPNOX\HSP[`]PKLV show segments easier, said Sobel. While the Bus uses Avid idea for a mobile production studio to help children make their JVU[LU[PUUL^^H`ZL]LY`KH`;OLNVVKUL^ZPZ`V\KVU»[OH]L[VILHTHQVY;=Z[\KPV[VNL[PU[OLNHTL Pro Tools to mix its musical performances, there’s often a dreams a reality, said Rothschild. At that time, the Bus simply need to mic and mix interviews before a set. For this appli- was intended to be a short-lived promotional vehicle for the 5L^;LR3P]L7YVK\J[PVU:VS\[PVUZHSSV^`V\[VWYVK\JL/+X\HSP[`[LSL]PZPVU5VTVYLJVTWSL_OHYK^HYLZVM[^HYLVY cation, the producers on the Bus use the TriCaster’s eight- John Lennon Songwriting Contest, which Rothschild, music WYVJLZZKPHNYHTZ:WLUKTVYL[PTLNL[[PUN`V\YZ[VY`[V`V\YMHUZHUKSLZZ[PTL^VYY`PUNHIV\[OV^[VYLHJO[OLT input audio mixer to mix interview segments and then im- manager David Sonenberg and Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, mediately take a Pro Tools mix of musical performances, created in 1997. =VS\TLZVMZPNUH[\YLSVVRZ[VTHRLLHJOWYVNYHTKPZ[PUJ[ he explained. Back then, students wrote, recorded and performed a /PNOJHWHJP[`TLKPHZ[VYHNLMVYHOPNO]VS\TLVMWYVQLJ[^VYR While AirPlay input support and audio mixing aren’t the kind song on the morning show. Today, however, people around -SL_PIPSP[`[VHKK\W[VLPNO[JHTLYHHUNSLZMYVTZOV^[VZOV^ of capabilities typically associated with a professional video the world can share in the mission of the Bus to reach young )\PS[PUSP]LZ[YLHTPUNH[[OLW\ZOVMHI\[[VU production switcher, a logically laid out, easy-to-use control people interested in music and audio and video production — :[YLHTYLJVYKWYVQLJ[HUKIYVHKJHZ[·HSSH[VUJL panel is, and here too, TriCaster delivers for the producers on not simply at limited venues where it appears, but worldwide the Bus with the TriCaster 850 CS control surface. via the Internet. The control surface, which is a tangible, control-for-control “TriCaster is at the heart of those events, helping us to com- For more information, visit newtek.com today. match of the TriCaster 850 EXTREME virtual interface, makes plete our mission and spread our message to the world. We are doing live shows easy. “When you start using the TriCaster 850 so happy to have this tool at our disposal and love sharing it CS, it’s hard to imagine doing a live show without it. It’s intuitive with those who step aboard be they young, old, big or small,” and totally reliable,” said Sobel. said Tanner.

24 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS :V\YJL!VULOV\YWLYZLJVUKJVT St. John Television Network taps power of triCaster 850 EXTREME for online and television sports coverage EXTREME

EXPOSUREBy Kevin Mortimer camera sports productions can be seen live via the While the quality of sports coverage at virtually every school’s dedicated sports website (http://www.Red- major college has increased significantly to keep pace with StormSports.com/). But taking it a step further, the what fans see on network television, the budgets required school gives its alumni, fans and supporters the ability to carry it out still lag behind. That’s why integrated pro- to keep up with their favorite Red Storm teams on televi- duction systems, which bring all of the features and func- sion — via national networks, such as the CBS Sports tionality of a traditional video and audio control room under Network, available to about 92 million subscribers, or the control of a single operator, have become so popular. SportsNet New York (SNY), a New York-based regional St. John’s University is located in New York City‚ the cable outlet available to about 15 million. ESPN also car- No. 1 media market in the nation that features 10 profes- ries many St. John’s produced games on ESPN3, avail- sional sports teams and 40-some colleges and universi- able in about 70 million households nationwide, online ties, each fighting for headlines and broadcast space. at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the The Athletic Communications unit within St. John’s De- WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE. partment of Athletics is responsible for generating pub- The school has been using NewTek TriCaster systems licity for the Red Storm’s 17 men’s and women’s varsity for the past six years in standard-definition (SD) digital athletic programs. resolution, and, coinciding with its move to all high-defi- To help carve out its place in the “media capital of nition (HD) production this year, is now using a TriCaster the world,” a rotating team of seasoned freelancers and 850 EXTREME system. With it, anyone can simultane- St. John’s Athletic Communications undergraduate and ously produce, live stream, broadcast, project and re- graduate students produce more than 120 live games in cord HD and SD network-style productions. One opera- HD (720p or 1080i) each year. tor or small team can switch between multiple cameras, Like many university-based operations, these multi- virtual inputs and live virtual sets, while inserting clips,

26 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 27 titles and motion graphics with multi-channel effects. Easing the financial burden lights that can be ready for ESPN’s SportsCenter that night. It’s The St. John Television Network For St. John’s, producing all of this content would be really amazing what we accomplish with TriCaster.” uses TriCaster to produce home financially daunting without the cost-effectiveness of the Fratto and his staff had no previous video production games across nine different sports seasons. TriCaster system. It offers various modules that address experience before using the original TriCaster STUDIO portable live production, video editing, 3D animation and system in 2006, he said. Six years later, Fratto oversees special effects tools. This can include a fully loaded, 24- a STJ-TV team that produces high-quality telecasts that channel switcher as well as software to produce high-quali- equal regional sports network broadcasts. ty video, text, graphics, animations and virtual sets. In addi- “We’ve come a long way, that’s for sure,” said Fratto, tion, each TriCaster system features networking inputs that adding that STJ-TV now has one full-time person who is allow users to send video and audio wirelessly from iOS trained in traditional video production (Sean McCluskey devices, such as iPad, iPod or iPhone, into a live produc- the school’s new Director of Multimedia Services) and has tion. TriCaster also allows users to bring in displays from a also retained the services of sports production veteran PC or Mac, using NewTek’s unique iVGA technology. Neil Gallow as a consultant. Those operating TriCaster at St. John’s include both “NewTek has helped us get to where we are today,” said professionals and students under the umbrella of the Ath- Fratto. “We can’t say enough about the support we’ve re- letic Communications unit. The St. John Television Net- ceived from the company. They really understand the rev- work (STJ-TV) enjoys the versatility of the system, accord- enue and exposure benefits of college sports coverage ing to Mark Fratto, Senior Associate Athletics Director for and are always eager to help us.” Communications, St. John’s University. STJ-TV has devised a production model in which some TriCaster is used to produce home games across nine professional camera and graphics operators are teamed ting. Fratto is quick to note that they will be competing in Original TriCaster different sports seasons and is transported to campus with undergraduate and graduate students. Students are the professional job market soon after they graduate, and still going strong arenas and stadiums in a fly-pack, with a series of relat- therefore able to gain on-the-job training and experience having experience operating TriCaster makes St. John’s “We began in 2006 with the original TriCaster STU- ed cases in tow. Fratto said the system can be used to by working in what is comparable to a professional set- grads more attractive to would-be employers. DIO product, and now we’re using the latest NewTek produce a basketball game in the afternoon and a soccer 850 EXTREME system,” said Fratto. His team also still playoff game at night on the same day. St. John’s students Training future uses the original TriCaster system for support, which have grown used to operating the TriCaster system while professionals can accommodate up to six camera inputs. “That origi- courtside for basketball games or in the press box during Of course, the downside to using students for production nal system is still in use for live online streaming and a baseball game. projects is a lack of work experience to begin with. Yet, Fratto video scoreboard images. It’s been a workhorse for For its multi-camera productions, Fratto’s team uses said, most participating students at St. John’s are up and us,” he said. four Canon XF305 and one XF105 HD cameras. The games running on the system within a few weeks of training. That’s The logistics of determining when and where the are streamed live directly from TriCaster for Internet-based key because ESPN, CBS or SNY — all highly rated sports TriCaster systems will be used as well as who will op- or cable TV network broadcasts. channels — won’t stand for second-rate production values. erate them takes a great deal of coordination. While To get the signal to its TV partners, St. John’s has used “We have 18-year old producers who are creating con- staffing and scheduling for these productions is com- traditional satellite transmission in the past, but Fratto’s tent for national platforms like ESPN,” Fratto said. “That’s plicated, especially when multiple events are going on, team is moving toward a system to transmit live HD video the biggest advantage. The live and on-demand video the performance of the TriCaster each and every time as an IP stream over the Internet to ESPN, CBS and other products that we are creating with TriCaster are profes- out is consistent. broadcast outlets. Fratto said the combination of TriCaster sional grade. Realistically, we don’t foresee a multimillion “The newest system (purchased in August 2011) is production and IP transmission saves his department tens dollar TV network truck coming onto campus and allow- the most reliable system we’ve had to date, although of thousands of dollars per event. ing a college freshman to run a sports production. Yet, we all have performed admirably,” said Fratto. “NewTek produce similar results every day here at St. John’s.” has really evolved the system’s operating software Mixed production crew The school likes TriCaster so much, in fact, that STJ-TV and got it right. We can create professional HD video “We love that the system is so compact, portable and ver- has been added to the curriculum. This year, for the first productions at a relatively low cost, no matter who’s satile that we can take it from venue to venue and not miss a time ever, St. John’s made available a practicum class in operating the hardware. It’s opened new doors for beat,” said Fratto. “It’s so easy when it comes to set up and live sports production. The course makes extensive use of student-athletes and coaches to benefit from expo- break down and so powerful that we’re able to stream content TriCaster and the many workflows for which it can be used. sure and has unleashed potential for revenue streams directly to the Internet as well as to TV networks and their mo- “TriCaster can do so much in such a small package,” through sponsorship, advertising and subscription- bile and Internet platforms. And we can produce instant high- said Fratto. “We can plug in a laptop and import graph- based consumption. At the end of the day, that’s ics created with the TriCaster’s built-in LiveText 2 software pretty incredible.” that we created that afternoon. We now have multiple lap- Discussing the limited funds the operation has to work tops loaded with NewTek software to create and manage with, Fratto said his team is happy to impress with their St. John’s students as young as 18 produce content for professional on-screen graphics that are imported seam- ability to replicate a $45,000 traditional truck production national platforms like ESPN, says Mark Fratto, SJTV Senior lessly into the game coverage.” for only a few thousand dollars. Associate Athletics Director for Communications. LiveText 2 software also is used to produce audio and video “Our students, campus leadership and television network elements for the large arena video scoreboards on campus. executives find that to be pretty amazing, and so do we.”

28 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 29 Fourteen-year-old Adora Svitak reaches students around the globe with her varied curriculum via the Web and the NewTek TriCaster.

To most people, there’s something a little incon- by recording and live streaming my lessons, the gruous about the idea of a student — particularly number of potential students is only limited to the an eight year old — as a teacher. Even now that I’m number of people on the Web. Indeed, as my audi- 14, there’s usually a double take of some kind at my ences grow, my goals and topics have as well. title of “student, author, speaker, teacher.” I began with a singular focus on the language arts; The published book is fairly self-explanatory, but while reading and writing is still my main topic, I have teaching? How does that even happen? With the de- also begun teaching a popular introductory series on but of my first book came frequent presentations at U.S. government for elementary and middle school schools, local at first, but increasingly national as more students, “A Kid’s Guide to U.S. Government,” as principals and teachers found out about my work. well as producing videos for the more current events- I began teaching many years ago, with presenta- minded viewers. I hope to help make oft-heard but tions on a beat-up laptop I toted to schools to get sometimes confusing phrases like “primaries and students enthused about reading and writing. I re- caucuses,” “social versus fiscal conservatives,” and member one of the first lessons I taught. How could “Super PACs” understandable. I forget that nerve-wracking assembly at the local el- I have many goals in teaching language arts, history ementary school? The teachers herded the children and current events, but one of the largest is to help into the gym, and as I stepped in front of the micro- students understand the world they live in — whether phone I gulped down my nervousness and began to by seeing persuasive writing technique in a magazine speak about poetry and stories. At the end of the ad, or understanding the complex machinations of the lesson, I started writing a story collaboratively with politics covered on the nightly news. I’m able to do this the students, taking suggestions from the crowd as more effectively by speaking to a larger audience with to what plot turns should happen next. TriCaster’s video production and live streaming. When the audience began asking questions about From the outside, my house in a serene residen- what books I would recommend and later clapped tial neighborhood looks just like any old house — a appreciatively at the end of my lesson, I felt a small yard that needs work, a welcome mat drenched in glow of satisfaction. And so my teaching career be- pine needles — but I’m guessing few houses have gan. I was eight years old. what I have inside. Below our messy kitchen and our However, I was limited by the usual confines of being piano-centric living room is the exuberant center of eight years old — namely, that I couldn’t jet around the activity that is the basement studio. nation without parental supervision, and I was still a stu- I’m lucky enough to be able to use TriCaster to dent with homework to do myself. So I began exploring connect with students from around the world. As other ways to connect with schools over a distance. I expand the causes I advocate for (literacy, youth When I first began using the NewTek TriCaster to voice, ending world hunger, education reform) and Teaching Teen film and stream my lessons, I must admit that I was develop more teaching programs for eager learners characteristically a little more in awe of the amazing around the world, I think back to my early days as special effects (“Did you see that, Mom? Look, I’m in that eight-year-old standing in front of the micro- a virtual studio!”) than focused on what new things it phone, and I realize that really, yet again, my teach- would empower me to do. But I quickly realized the ing career has only just begun. strategic importance of having such a powerful device available to help me broadcast my teaching. Editor’s note: Adora Svitak writes, teaches and webcasts from her home in Washington State. Adora, Whereas before I was limited to however many author of Flying Fingers,entered the national spotlight students I could reach in one classroom, I now at age seven on Good Morning America. Co-host had the ability to make professional videos for live Diane Sawyer described her as “a tiny literary giant.” streaming my teaching and posting archived videos In 2010, Adora spoke at the TED Conference — online for people to watch on-demand. her talk “What adults can learn from kids” has As a teacher there is nothing more empowering received more than 1 million views. To learn more than the ability to extend my “classroom.” Indeed, about Adora, visit http://www.adorasvitak.com/. By Adora Svitak

Photo by Tyler Nguyen

30 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 31 NewTek’s new TriCaster 455, a portable integrated production solution with IsoCorder recording technology included, provides 14 channels of switching for productions requiring up to four cameras.

Three New TriCaster Integrated Production Solutions Are Poised to Begin Helping Video Producers Meet NewTekTheir Evolving Requirements for Program Content at

N AB 2012 By K. T. Reeder

TriCaster 455

A drive to innovate, deliver superior value and meet evolving into the hands of producers — regardless of whether they are and capabilities are scaled for professionals who produce big, recording native QuickTime files with timecode. Doing so will video production requirements has defined NewTek’s approach producing for TV, an online video stream, social media or any live productions to air, projectors and the Web. allow producers to import QuickTime files and timecode direct- to product development since its earliest days. True to form, the combination thereof — who previously may have found them When portability and limited space, such as in tight booths ly into virtually every non-linear editing application available for company goes to the 2012 NAB Show (April 16-19) in Las Vegas, beyond their budgets. and small studios, is a concern, TriCaster 455 is the right solu- both the Mac and PC. NV, with three new integrated production solutions that fulfill its Indeed, it would be fair to say that these new products are so tion. It is scaled for mobile use to let professionals produce live By relying on IsoCorder technology recording and new mission of offering the utmost in performance, quality and value. significant in what they offer and the value they deliver that they rep- shows anywhere there’s a small footprint. This integrated pro- QuickTime with timecode support, producers can access all In many important ways, the new solutions also speak to an resent a complete revamping of the NewTek TriCaster product line. duction solution is a 14-channel switcher for up to four-camera content with per-frame timecode directly from within their ongoing, dramatic change in video production that has seen productions. It comes with four digital media players, support NLEs. QuickTime recording also will make it easier to upload online video streaming emerge as an important element to TriCaster 455 and TriCaster 855 for two network sources, four M/E virtual inputs and two out- video to any website because there’s never a need to run con- the overall success of many productions. As everyone from a NewTek is unveiling the TriCaster 455 and TriCaster 855 inputs. TriCaster 455 provides one-button Web streaming and at tent through a transcoder. network television executive to a pastor of a local church can tegrated production systems at the NAB Show. These new inte- the same time can drive screens on air or in house. At the NAB Show, NewTek also is announcing QuickTime attest, streaming video via the Internet reaches audiences in grated product solutions replace the TriCaster 450 and 850 series While both support all of the features offered by their respective codecs for its SpeedHQ files so that producers can import files ways TV can’t. Not only does it extend the show well beyond (including EXTREME models). They also eliminate the need to buy TriCaster EXTREME predecessors, each is packed with additional created on a Mac or PC directly into TriCaster without worrying the confines of linear TV, but it also helps producers maintain a separate CS option from NewTek, because a real, tangible control features that elevate their production capabilities to a new level. about file conversion. With SpeedHQ’s support for an alpha engagement with viewers in ways that were unimaginable even surface is included in the price of the systems. One example is NewTek’s pioneering IsoCorder record- channel, it is now possible to import titles from Apple Motion, a few years ago. TriCaster 855 is a facility-class, 24-channel integrated pro- ing technology. Formerly an optional feature for predecessor for instance, very quickly and painlessly. While NewTek was quick to recognize this emerging trend duction solution for shows requiring up to eight cameras. It is TriCaster models, IsoCorder recording of each input channel is a New real-time warping effects are another area where New- and address it with its earliest TriCaster products, this latest equipped with five digital media players for video clips, graph- standard feature on both TriCaster 455 and TriCaster 855. With Tek has raised the production bar. The new TriCaster solutions generation of TriCaster solutions elevates the company’s com- ics and titles and two network channels for sharing computer IsoCorder, it is possible to record one video source per input. take user-definable transitions to a new level by allowing pro- mitment to delivering content to a host of so-called second screens and displays from wireless iOS devices. It has eight NewTek didn’t stop there, however. With both new products, ducers to build their own transitions that warp to underlying screens by putting its highest level video production tools M/E-style virtual inputs and three outputs. Its size, capacity it is doubling down on the power of IsoCorder technology by video. This, for example, makes it is possible to fly video away

32 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 33 TriCaster 855 is NewTek’s new facility class, 24-channel integrated production solution.

The TriCaster 8000 is designed for a new era of production in which feeding a variety of media types to multiple media outlets is a priority.

on a cloth or integrate warping video provide the Program Out feed that drives a local or network TriCaster 855 into transitions in a limitless number TV show. With TriCaster 8000, NewTek recognizes that today’s of other ways. video production is just as much about delivering content to Many producers will appreciate the reduction of switcher la- a wide range of second screens via the Internet and social tency to as low as one frame. For certain applications, such media sites as it is about delivering a finished show to air. as a house of worship using a video projector, this ultra-low NewTek has designed TriCaster 8000 to, among other things, latency is critical to eliminate perceptible differences in time replace the laborious, time-consuming process of posting vid- between live action and switched video. eo to the Web — typically done after hours of editing offline — limitations is a thing of the past — a hugely valuable benefit to Like TriCaster 455 and TriCaster Both TriCaster 455 and TriCaster 855 also include audio with in-show publishing of up to eight subsections of a show, producers or technical directors who want to set up a show as 855, the new TriCaster 8000 delivers TriCaster 8000 mixing with seven-band equalizer and full stereo compres- such as interviews, still images and alternate camera angles. In they see fit. TriCaster 8000’s eight M/E rows offer full re-entry IsoCorder recording of video sources. sor/limiter per output; exclusive transition effects previously essence, this functionality transforms a technical director into without added latency and allow the use of M/E rows within M/E Here too, native recording is done in only available on TriCaster EXTREME models; transitions a media publisher, who can feed the show or any subsection of rows as well as up- and downstream overlays, and four layers of QuickTime with support for timecode recording. with sound effects; hardware and software fail safe to protect it to an array of different destinations. overlay each with its own 3D position and effects system. TriCaster 8000 also includes some interesting audio features, against loss of Program Out even in the event of a catastroph- However, while TriCaster 8000 makes it simple to meet TriCaster 8000 is loaded with tremendously powerful effects. such as support for the Avid Artist Mix external audio control ic system failure; Apple AirPlay input support; built-in push- today’s growing demand to feed content to multiple second It offers the ability to include per-effect-warping of video; pro- surface, the remote audio mixing app for the Apple iPad and button live streaming; Live Virtual Set support; and multi-view screens, it would be a mistake to underestimate the sheer provides for overlays; supports per pixel alpha blending between separate control of audio recording level. monitoring support. duction power this new integrated production solution brings sources; and includes fly-on and fly-off audio effects support. It The other remarkable thing about TriCaster 455 and TriCast- to any television production. also can be used to create transitions and overlay effects. Fade to black er 855 are their prices. The NewTek TriCaster 455 including TriCaster 8000 is equally well-suited for large and small The system’s virtual set feature comes with what’s sure to Once again, NewTek is embracing the future of video pro- control surface has a suggested retail price of $19,995, while shows, alike. Its eight input channels are expandable via soft- be a show stopper: up to eight hot spots per video source. duction with its NAB Show new product introductions. All three TriCaster 855 with control surface retails for $29,995. ware control of an upstream router to virtually any number Think of a hot spot as an on-screen trigger that activates any new integrated production solutions reflect a willingness on of camera inputs required. Input signal support includes HD/ imaginable switcher macro. A hot spot, for example, could be the part of NewTek to continue driving product development TriCaster 8000 SD-SDI, SD component, Y/C and composite. It offers 14 fully triggered by a news presenter with the wave of a hand through forward, not in a vacuum, but guided by real-world lessons At the NAB Show, NewTek also is breaking new ground with configurable outputs, including: HD/SD-SDI and analog video a defined area to execute keying in the latest election results learned every day from interacting with its customers. the unveiling of TriCaster 8000, its new top-of-the-line integrated support; HDMI; two projector outputs; and two DVI/HDMI or from a hotly contested precinct. With content distribution to a wide array of second screens production solution for the next generation of video production. analog multi-view outputs. TriCaster 8000 allows up to four sources, all individually posi- becoming a fact of daily life for so many video producers, TriCaster 8000 is a full eight M/E (Mix/Effects bus) integrated pro- The new integrated production solution supports a high de- tionable, in any virtual set. The virtual sets provide for four layers the enhanced ability of TriCaster to support a production duction solution with up to eight cameras, 14 configurable out- gree of customization with its multi-view outputs. Video sources of overlay, each with its own 3D positioning and effects system. workflow aimed at making it simpler and faster to meet these puts, switcher operation snapshot macro setup, assignment and can be laid out in any fashion desired. Various overlays, such It also supports 3D pan and zoom on any virtual set with user- demands could not be better timed. Nor could NewTek’s de- single button triggering, four downstream keyers, control surface as 4:3 safe area boundaries, can be applied. A checkerboard defined presets. cision to once again add important new production capabili- and much more. can be displayed to show where an Alpha channel or key is, The virtual camera support that’s part of TriCaster 8000 lets ties and thereby enhance the value of these new integrated With a suggested retail price of $39,995, TriCaster 8000, and virtual VU meters can be displayed as well. users fly the camera around within the set. Users can preset product solutions. which includes a hardware control surface, represents a break NewTek has included eight full M/E rows in TriCaster 8000 out camera positions, zoom in and out and pan from one presenter With its latest TriCaster introductions, NewTek is helping me- with the underlying concept of past production switcher de- of a desire to offer users complete flexibility in switcher set. With to another. TriCaster 8000 also provides for full-motion tracking dia publishers position themselves to satisfy the evolving video sign, namely that a production switcher’s function is simply to TriCaster 8000, dreaming up elaborate workarounds to switcher on every input. production demands of the 21st Century.

34 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 35 Radio, television and newspapers have long kept fans We do features, short features and full shows. We do connected with their favorite teams. But opportunities are live call-in shows for our fans. So it creates a one-way and emerging online for forward-thinking sports organizations to a two-way conversation and message with our fans. engage their fans with new tools, ranging from live streaming Increasingly we are trying to do more two-way with the video and on-demand highlights to interacting via social me- advent of Facebook and the advent of Twitter and other dia websites like Facebook, Google+ hookups and Twitter. social media outlets. We try to then take our video and The NFL’s New York Giants, winner of Super Bowl XLVI, make it more interactive. The TriCaster helps in creating are among the most successful at exploiting these op- that environment. portunities. The team employs a comprehensive lineup of NM: Didn’t you employ this two-way communications Don Sperling online vehicles to complement its presence in traditional strategy using social media and the TriCaster at the Super media — all with the goal of deepening the bonds the sto- Bowl? Sounds Off ried organization has with its fans. DS: We had social media night where we had two things The man who oversees developing and delivering content going on simultaneously. We had a live feed streaming out across all media platforms for the organization is Don Sperling, through TriCaster on the Web. We gave all of our players

The Vice President and Executive Producer of Giants Entertainment Discusses Web Streaming, Social Media and the Importance of Protecting the New York Giants Brand Image. By O.J. Zukerman | Photos by Guillaume Gaudet

vice president and executive producer for the New York Football their own hash tags, and we basically had live interviews Giants. A television production veteran, Sperling came to the with our players talking and the fans asking questions on team five years ago to build up Giants Entertainment, a full ser- Twitter through a live interface with their own hash tags vice production company. Sperling ultimately is responsible for with our hosts. We fed that out for an hour. stadium game presentation produced with seven HD cameras At the same time we were shooting that and doing cut- and a state-of-the art control room, 11 TV programs produced ins and cutting back and forth, we had another room next by the team, Web content, social media and even radio. door where we had four players over that hour talking NewTek Magazine spoke with Sperling about how Gi- about 15 to 20 minutes each to 40 lucky fans who had ants Entertainment is leveraging streaming video, the won a Google+ hangout. team’s website and social media to build a greater rela- Forty fans got to video chat — direct one-on-one video tionship with fans and the role of the NewTek TriCaster as chats — through their computers with our players, and we an integral piece of that strategy. were capturing that and intercutting that content through the TriCaster. We really created a social media night. We NewTek Magazine: How does Web-based video distribu- had a Google+ hangout chat, and we had live Twitter tion fit into the overall communications goals the New York questions being answered and streamed on our website. Giants organization has established? The Twitter pages blew up. It was incredible. It was one of Don Sperling: It is a key part of our communications strat- the best things I think we have ever done. egy through our website and links to our website, through NM: Sounds like the Super Bowl social media night was Facebook and through other social media. We utilize the quite a success. TriCaster in a studio setting and also a field setting to give DS: We really have been lauded by a lot of people. You the public access to our players and to our shows and to know, you really hate to beat your own chest and pat your- send out the messages of the organization. self on the back, but in this case we all felt like that was

36 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 37 The New York Giants use TriCaster in a studio and on the field OK. Even Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet From its control room in East Rutherford, NJ, Giants Entertainment produce to give the public greater access to its players. and the Dallas Mavericks), who was at and stream a wide variety player, coach and fan call-in shows with TriCaster. the Super Bowl, said it was one of the best things he had ever seen in the social media environment. NM: Beyond Super Bowl social media night, what does the typical week for Web-distributed video from the New York Giants website look like? DS: We have so many small features. We’ll do a morning and an afternoon re- port. Those are live to tape. We will do a live call-in show in the morning, which is audio only. A call-in plus that goes over giants.com. We’ll shoot a host of different features, like Papas Perspective, a clip with Joe Skiba, and interviews. We’ll have our Giants’ Insider. We have player shows

Anytime you put your players, your team, your game, your organization, your uniform, your brand, your logo in front of people, it has to look great because that is your brand and that is the message you are sending out to everybody. This is what the Giants represent. And as you know we have a very long, storied franchise –one of the most well-known sports franchises in the world, and we are very, very concerned, and we care about that brand and we protect that brand.

In addition to original TriCaster-produced programming, Sperling takes feeds from his operation’s traditional control room and streams them to the Web. like Roll Call with Antrel Rolle; Dave Tollef- son does a show with us. We have Can- NM: From a production value point of view, are you able to But then there are shows that are basically done for the ty’s Corner with Chris Canty. These are achieve online what TV viewers are accustomed to seeing? Web that have a look and feel of an elevated type of five-minute mini shows that we tape. We’ll DS: I think so, especially with all of the upgrades that New- production, but aren’t necessarily the network-type of utilize the TriCaster, and sometimes we’ll Tek has done with the TriCaster. I think if you go in to a show where you would use the EVS machines and multi tape it and send it over the Web later. production with a plan and say, “This is what we want to Chyron graphics. Then on Thursday, we have Big Blue achieve,” you can do it. However, most of the shows we do you can use the Hits, which is a half hour show on camera I don’t think you want to do something that’s never TriCaster because there are only a limited number of that we do in our studio. We bring play- been done before, because that’s not smart television in shows that we do on TV, and many more that we do on ers in and have different commentators. general. Producing content with the TriCaster for the Web the Web. We have fans do live call-ins and talk to is TV in a much more economic fashion. NM: Many organizations streaming video content on the players, and they answer the ques- NM: I would imagine that there is no comparison when it comes the Web have to balance the quality of the end product tions. We’ll simulcast special events. to the budget set aside for Web vs. TV video production. delivered with the bandwidth available to most people For instance, when we had our rally DS: Oh yeah, there is no doubt. viewing on the Web. How have you approached that at the stadium after the parade following NM: So, how have you gone about delivering a product that balancing act? the Super Bowl, we streamed that from is similar to TV from a quality point of view while working DS: It’s always a concern. Our cameras are really good. We the website. We produced that through from a different sized budget? use Sony 700 XDCAM cameras; we have Sony EX cameras. the stadium system, but we took the DS: We do certain television shows live to tape, which So the quality of cameras that we’re using, the quality that switched feed and sent it out through the we send out via satellite or fiber. We shoot those a lit- we send out is important, because it really is important to TriCaster to our fans. tle bit differently in the studio, not using the TriCaster. your brand.

38 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 39 Anytime you put your players, your team, your game, your years. Did its toolset and price help you achieve what you organization, your uniform, your brand, your logo in front of wanted to accomplish on the Web? people, it has to look great because that is your brand and DS: Absolutely, and right from the start NewTek has been very that is the message you are sending out to everybody. This is good. Anytime we needed a replacement or a part, they were what the Giants represent. And as you know we have a very there for us. We used to take the TriCaster on the road with long, storied franchise — one of the most well-known sports us everywhere and ship it and bang it and knock it. And they franchises in the world, and we are very, very concerned, and were great. If we needed a part or an upgrade, or when we we care about that brand and we protect that brand. needed the HD upgrade we got that right away. Or, we needed But we gauge what we can do. When we do things over the the new control surface or any kind of part, they were great. Web, there are certain things we would use it for and certain NM: How has the TriCaster played into the return on invest- things we wouldn’t. But we make that judgment on a case by ment equation formulated by the Giants for its Web pres- case basis. ence? NM: So what has been the response from the audience? Have DS: Our costs are minimal and our content is optimal so as an they been pleased with the video streaming smoothly, or do ROI, it’s a win-win. you get calls from Web viewers who complain about fits and NM: You mentioned that you upgraded since acquiring that starts related to insufficient bandwidth, or has adaptive bit original TriCaster? What are you using now, and what pro- rate and other streaming technologies eliminated those sorts duction features of the latest acquisition are you finding most of concerns? beneficial? DS: I think that has all kind of played itself out. Yeah, four DS: We like the new control surface. That makes the work- years ago we used to. But with greater bandwidth, higher flow a little bit easier and smoother. We also like having HD, speeds and our use of Akamai delivery systems, with the NFL because we shoot everything in HD and don’t use anything backup, we are having a lot of success getting out a smooth, that’s not in HD. We have been HD now for two-and-a-half seamless broadcast. years, and it’s incredible. When we get footage that’s not HD, Of course, things happen here or there. Something breaks we have to put wings on it. And you see that so clearly, so down. This place isn’t good; the connection is slow; we are in easily. It’s like, “Oh my gosh, look at that.” another stadium, and they don’t have a good connection. But So the quality is really important and again that goes back most of those issues have gone away with time. to the brand. Protecting the brand is a key issue, and the NM: You’ve been using the NewTek TriCaster for about four TriCaster does a great job with that.

40 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS espite a prolonged national debate over how healthcare these techniques and become proficient themselves,” says Win- will be paid for and delivered in the United States, it’s hard chester. “In other words, we were basically setting them free in the Dto argue that continued progress in medicine hasn’t im- wild prior to them learning their skills to survive.” proved care, shortened recovery times and produced better outcomes for millions of patients throughout the country. “I realized after that first webcast that I not only wanted to Patients, who likely lack a historical perspective, may be un- do these webcasts and procedure casts, but that I also was aware of how far medicine has progressed. But most physicians interested in trying to capitalize on the emergence —both and other healthcare providers could tick off dozens of advance- from an equipment standpoint and a bandwidth stand- ments, such as improvements in various heart treatments that point— of the ability to do high definition webcasting. “ have reduced death due to coronary artery disease by 40 percent since 1998, targeted therapies for cancer like Herceptin used in breast cancer treatment that have produced significant improve- Garage Classroom ments in survival, and combination drug therapy that has dramati- It occurred to Winchester that the Web was the ideal way to cally extended the lives of HIV/AIDS patients. provide education to those anesthesiologists who hadn’t been Another cutting-edge medical development for many facing reached in person, as well as a great way to provide ongoing edu- surgery is a technique known as ultrasound-guided regional an- cation to ensure training in the technique was thorough enough esthesia blocks. These blocks allow anesthesiologists with the for the long term. assistance of ultrasound imaging to administer anesthetic around In summer 2009, Winchester did his first webcast on the ultra- a desired nerve or nerves and have visual confirmation that the sound-guided procedure for a group of physicians in Beijing. “I block is being delivered precisely where it is needed. For anesthe- did it out of my garage, and it was about 100 degrees inside there siologist, surgeons and patients alike, ultrasound-guided regional on that July 3 day,” says Winchester. While his garage wasn’t air blocks can mean fewer complications and improved success. conditioned and the heat made things uncomfortable, Winchester While these benefits are impressive, there is a problem. Thou- was satisfied with the educational experience he was - deliver sands of anesthesiologists around the world have no training ing. Hiring a Chinese interpreter from Raleigh, NC, Winchester whatsoever in performing the procedure. Further, given their de- streamed a live lecture on the procedure to physicians in China manding schedules, most don’t have the time to travel to a cut- with subtitles and voiceovers in their native tongue. “It went over ting-edge academic hospital and participate in intensive on-site very well,” recalls Winchester. training to become proficient in this advanced technique. Less than a year later, Winchester teamed up with several other However, at least one physician is addressing this problem head- physicians to found Docstream.com, a Web video services com- on through the use of advanced video and Internet streaming tech- pany that provides the larger medical community with a way to nology to make training in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia stream live and on-demand video to help doctors learn about the procedures available to anesthesiologists worldwide. Shortly after latest advancements and procedures. For Winchester, however, completing his anesthesia residency at Duke University Medical Cen- the main focus remained on ultrasound-guided regional blocks ter in Durham, NC, Brandon Winchester, M.D., learned firsthand how and how to leverage webcasting to achieve his goals. great the desire was by a large number of anesthesiologists to learn Before ever presenting that first online class to physicians in how to use ultrasound to help them administer regional blocks. China, Winchester learned some valuable lessons about doing a “I learned how to use ultrasound for anesthesia techniques webcast that would help him as he proceeded. For instance, an from some of the world’s leading experts at Duke. They were my extensive search for the right streaming technology taught him how mentors. What I realized once I graduated from residency was important reliability is to success. Winchester personally demoed this was much more of a unique set of techniques than I had real- several alternatives and says it soon became clear that the number ized when I was learning them,” says Winchester. “I realized there of system crashes he was encountering disqualified the technology Ultra-Sound are literally thousands of anesthesiologists interested in learning he was considering. “After trying all of these approaches and see- these techniques that I just so happened to have become quite ing how often I got a Blue Screen of Death and how often my cap- good at by learning from some of the experts just sort of by hap- ture equipment wasn’t working adequately, I realized it was going to penstance by being at Duke.” be worth it to look at a higher-end solution for webcasting,” he says. At first, Winchester took the traditional approach to continu- “That was when I discovered the NewTek TriCaster.” By Charles Quigley >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ing education by successfully working his way into the medical MEDICINE teaching circuit and traveling to medical conferences a couple of Medical Lecture One medical visionary is on a quest to leverage NewTek’s TriCaster times a month where he could teach the techniques in person. But Initially, Winchester built his streaming setup around the Winchester found that approach to be lacking in two ways: first, TriCaster STUDIO, a small, lightweight production powerhouse and Web streaming technology to train anesthesiologist worldwide he could never reach all of the anesthesiologists who wanted the with support for SD video switching, virtual sets, audio mixing and on a technique that can reduce complications and improve outcomes. specialized training; second, he questioned if a single in-person the other tools needed to produce his webcast and stream it live. seminar was enough training. For his Web streaming lecture, Winchester settled on producing “We weren’t able to provide what I felt to be the necessary fol- a live two-shot show. One prosumer camcorder shoots Winchester low-up education for those attending on-location training to learn on a green screen and feeds the signal to the TriCaster as Input A.

42 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 43 Dr. Brandon Winchester streams instruction on regional anesthesia via the Web to physicians around the globe.

er 300, a more powerful production solution with support for high definition television – a major benefit for someone like Winchester. “I realized after that first webcast that I not only wanted to do these webcasts and procedure casts, but that I also was interested in trying to capitalize on the emergence — both from an equipment standpoint and a bandwidth standpoint — of the ability to do high definition webcasting. That realization just happened to time very nicely with the introduction of the TriCaster 300, so I quickly upgraded,” says Winchester. At about the same time he began using the TriCaster 300, Win- chester improved his garage-based production studio, adding air conditioning to make it tolerable during the summer heat, carpet to absorb sound and reduce echoes and professional lighting and prosumer Canon Vixia HD cameras to enhance video quality. Winchester recalls that moving to HD expanded his vision about what was possible with Web-based training. “I basically turned my sights from this regular webcasting that I was doing — just giving PowerPoint talks via the Web — to medical webcasting and multi-camera procedures.” Procedure-Casting While he continued to present the online equivalent of medical lectures with slides, Winchester began preparing to stream the procedure live from a pre-operative holding area at Duke Uni- versity Medical Center. Approaching the design and build of this system presented unique challenges. Unlike the garage studio, possible to eliminate the need of going around the room and repo- procedure and the second anesthesiologist runs the video pro- a pre-operative room is a busy place. There, an anesthesiologist sitioning cameras and having a camera man for each one.” duction and moderates the procedure for the online audience. In takes a thorough medical history from the patient, starts IVs, ad- The goal of a procedure webcast is to allow Winchester’s audi- other instances, there may be only the regional fellow or a resident Dr. Brandon Winchester converted an ministers pre-operative sedation if needed and ultimately does the ence to have a view of the ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia and an anesthesiologist. In this setup, the anesthesiologist only endoscopy cart into a mobile video platform complete with a NewTek TriCaster. ultrasound-guided regional block. So Winchester had to design procedure that is as good as, if not better than, viewing the tech- runs the switcher in so far as directing and teaching the fellow or his streaming system to be as unobtrusive as possible. “Building nique in person. To accomplish that, Winchester delivers three HD resident, who has a view of the program output of the TriCaster. a system that is able to do this in a guerilla-style manner is very views: the high-resolution video from the ultrasound machine; a In either case, says Winchester, the primary focus of the doctor The TriCaster places Winchester in a virtual set. Winchester, who tricky, and I’m still to this day making tweaks,” he says. “big picture shot” from an HD camera mounted to the ultrasound performing the procedure remains on the patient and there is no recently joined the world-renowned Andrews Institute for Ortho- Working with fellow physicians and engineers, Winchester machine that conveys how the patient is oriented on the table, decrease in the quality of care delivered, he adds. paedics & Sports Medicine, in Gulf Breeze, FL, uses the TriCaster converted a common endoscopy cart into a mobile video plat- where the anesthesiologist is positioned relative to the patient and to place a background image of the institute shot in the evening form to hold all of the video gear needed to live stream the ultra- how Winchester’s equipment is arranged; and a close-up shot of Future Focus through a window on the virtual set. The TriCaster also overlays sound-guided procedure or record it for on-demand playback. Winchester’s hands showing where he inserts the needle to ad- For the time being, Winchester says Docstream.com will con- a logo of the institute on the virtual desk from which Winchester Winchester built up his video cart with the NewTek TriCaster minister the block and how he positions the ultrasound probe. tinue to focus on providing online video channels for fellow physi- teaches. Input B on the TriCaster is assigned to Winchester’s Mi- 300 serving multiple roles, including as an HD video produc- “After producing some of these webcasts without the close-up, it cians and medical institutions to present their specialties. How- crosoft PowerPoint presentation. Winchester uses the PowerPoint tion switcher, a digital disk recorder and a live video streaming became obvious that something was missing. Adding the close- ever, he is confident that a medical video production cart similar slides full-screen or keyed over his shoulder on the virtual set, de- source. He added two prosumer HD camcorders outputting up shot of the hands has been critical,” he says. to the one he uses to stream and record the ultrasound anesthesia pending on whether he wants his audience to see his facial expres- HDMI signals as sources to the TriCaster. The output of one Unlike the webcasts of the PowerPoint lectures, Winchester procedure can help other doctors and facilities push the envelope sions as he explains the technique or he wants them to see all the of the cameras, as well as the video output of the ultrasound leaves performing the actual switching of video sources, adjusting of continuing medical education. detail of the procedure presented as a still image on a slide. machine, which is scan converted to 720p HD, are wirelessly pan-tilt-zoom angles, riding sound levels and ensuring the produc- While Winchester doesn’t see himself actually integrating the “Since it is only a two-shot setup, if I am detailing something that transmitted to receivers that feed two TriCaster inputs. The other tion is streaming or being recorded to disk to someone other than video gear and marketing and selling the cart as a business model requires full screen on the PowerPoint, I use a USB foot pedal that camera, which is affixed to a six-foot articulating mechanical the anesthesiologist who is performing the procedure. For that task, Docstream.com wishes to pursue, he does envision the possibility I programmed to act as the Enter key on my keyboard,” explains arm that extends from the cart, positioning a camera overhead mouse clicks and the simplest of keyboard commands, such as of a strategic partnership with the right company, should it come Winchester. “I can just hot swap it back and forth controlling the to capture a close-up of Winchester’s hands, is hardwired to a hitting the spacebar and Enter key to switch between sources, are along, to offer the rig to other physicians and medical institutions so TriCaster with the foot pedal to switch between those two shots.” third TriCaster input. used. Winchester also has programmed a wireless Microsoft Xbox they too can stream specialized medical procedures to their peers. To maintain eye contact with his audience, Winchester feeds The wireless video transmitters and a remote pan-tilt-zoom con- 360 controller to run the TriCaster, which provides a tactile control Docstream.com’s website quotes a story from news-medical.net his PowerPoint presentation to a monitor placed in front of him on trol system for the camera stationed on the end of the boom, Win- surface that can be used without looking at a computer monitor. as reporting that by 2016 half of all continuing medical education which his camera is mounted. “I am always looking at the audi- chester says, help to minimize the obtrusiveness of the video rig in At the Andrews Institute where Winchester now works, it is will be done online. With the potential for platforms like Winchester’s ence that way,” he says. the pre-operative room. “I approached this with three goals,” says common for two anesthesiologists and a regional fellow to per- TriCaster-based video production cart to be used by specialists in Shortly after deploying this type of two-shot setup for his inaugural Winchester. “A, to make it wireless; B, to be as portable as possible; form the procedure, he says. In these cases, one anesthesiolo- other medical procedures, a lot of that education is likely to be done webcast to the physicians in Beijing, NewTek introduced the TriCast- and C, to be as maneuverable as possible with as much control as gist performs the procedure or directs the fellow in performing the with live and on-demand video footage of actual procedures.

44 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 45 The NewTek 3Play 820 is an efficient and reliable replay system offering the flexibility needed for live sports production, says professional replay operator James Lynch Jr.

using a pen and paper, I labeled the clips of each star player highlights with dissolves between every clip and others who with the appropriate name and number on the 3Play 820’s wanted cuts between the clips. With the 3Play 820, I can deliver interface. I was then able to recall all of the highlight clips in whatever look is desired. As an extra benefit, I can even import NewTek an instant by using the filter tab. a music clip and play it over my playlist. I simply typed in a player’s name and number and all of the The NewTek 3Play 820 brings a new level of production to a clips lined up in the clip list. I added the highlights into the wide variety of users because it’s so affordable. Now all of the playlist, and I had a fantastic looking player package ready unique and exciting new features it brings to the table can be 3Play 820 to be played on air in a matter of seconds, which greatly im- part of every webcast or broadcast. pressed the producer. As a replay operator, I don’t ever have to worry about A replay operator finds success, reduces The 3Play 820’s clip list and playlist are organized into banks missing specific angles because I am always recording eight stress and pleases producers with the and pages. The clip list has four banks with four pages in each different sources — even though I may be working on some- results he achieves using NewTek’s bank, or a total of 16 pages. I use all of these banks and pages thing else. I am always neat, organized and quick to recall my in a single project when I run replay in a sports tournament. clips because of the unique labeling and filter feature. powerful, yet affordable professional When there are multiple games in one day and also multiple I have flexibility and creativity in my in-game highlights with slow-motion replay system. game days, I can easily organize games in a way that lets me all of the playlist clip features. My director can have different find them over the course of the tournament. I use the banks options because of my two output channels. Now that I have By James Lynch Jr. in the clip list to designate the game day of a tournament and the NewTek 3Play 820, I can add a professional, creative flare s a replay operator, I know firsthand that any event in demands. Multi-angled replay looks within a single replay se- the pages for individual games. to productions each and every time. a production can fly by, never to be retrieved or re- quence can be ready quickly and efficiently. When the director For instance, Bank 1, Page 1 is assigned to game day No. 1 for Acorded, without having the right tools. asks for a replay angle, I am able to call up the angle in the clip list the first game. Bank 2, Page 1, is used for game day No. 2 and the I was in just one of those situations during a live broadcast and let him know that it is ready as soon as he wants it. first game. In this way, when a producer asks me to find a particu- not too long ago. I had too much on my plate, and my replay When I first sat down with the 3Play 820’s replay panel, lar play in a different game on a different day, I know exactly where machines couldn’t do what I was asking. I needed to record I immediately felt at home as a replay operator. The basics to look. I also label each bank and page with a specific name, three separate camera angles at once, but I only had the abil- were there with the mark-in and mark-out buttons. It also was which makes it even easier to find a particular game. ity to record two. On top of that, these particular machines instantly clear to me how to jump between Channel A and I use the playlist banks and pages a little differently. I may stopped recording while I used the replay function. Channel B for multiple replay angles. be responsible for highlighting many different star players over Making matters even worse, I needed to keep track of each In any given situation during a game, I can offer the director the course of a sports tournament. So I use the pages in the event with a pen and paper, which greatly interfered with my multiple replay looks from both channels. The two channels playlist as the player highlight packages. ability to concentrate on game action for replays. The crowning then give the director the flexibility to cut or dissolve between Again, I am able to custom label each page in the playlist impediment to doing the job right was being responsible for replay angles. The 3Play 820’s control surface brings the inter- so I know exactly what page each specific player is under. creating highlights while at the same time running replay. It was face to my fingertips. I am able to efficiently trim and organize For example, in a baseball tournament, I highlighted the two a balancing act that the machines couldn’t handle, and neither events from the clip list and drop them down into a playlist for star pitchers’ strikeouts. I created two separate playlists and could I. That was before I had the NewTek 3Play 820. event highlights. added the clips of their strikeouts during the game in their own The 3Play 820 is an efficient, flexible and reliable replay sys- After using the 3Play 820 for just one game, I realized just playlist. Near the end of the game, the producer wanted to tem with the ability to continuously record up to eight sources of how much flexibility I had running this machine. I was able highlight the game’s great pitching. video in a variety of formats. Instead of running two separate re- to create highlight packages quickly before breaks, provide From Channel A, I recalled the playlist of one pitcher, and play machines, I have two separate and independent channels. multiple slow motion replays at one time and keep track of the from Channel B I recalled the other. Seconds after the pack- With these two channels I can provide the director with two specific players the producer called for. I truly experienced a ages were called for, I had them ready, and we were able to different replay angles that he can decide to go to or not. great sense of relief from having the power of the 3Play 820 show each pitcher’s highlights one after the other. I can quickly label key highlights, create playlists and run at my fingertips, and from that point on I was able to be as It’s one thing to just gather clips and play them back, but it’s replay without having to worry about missing a single frame of creative as I wanted to be. a whole other story when some creative, professional looking ef- video. In other words, if an event was missed during a replay, The 3Play 820 also makes it easy to organize clips with fects are added to the highlights to create an interesting story. I have the ability to shuttle through time in the clip list, find the custom labeling, which helps a lot when looking for a very The 3Play 820 gives me the tools in the playlist to edit clips in event and then play it out as another replay or store it in the specific event. Prior to having the 3Play 820, when a producer such a way as to make them interesting to watch. I see the play- playlist for later use. would ask me to gather clips and create a highlight playlist of list as a live video editing machine when I am creating a package. In a fast-paced, high-stress sports environment, it is impera- a specific player, I used a pen and paper to mark down clip I capture an event by marking in and out points in the clip list. I tive that all angles of the event are captured and quickly accessed numbers so I could go back and create the playlist later. then select the angle I like and drop it down into the playlist. for playback. It is my responsibility to make sure that all of the To create a good-looking playlist using this approach was As I repeat these steps, I create a vertical timeline in the important events are captured and then turned into a creative, time-consuming and tedious. It was also very stressful trying playlist. I can then add or trim time, change the speed, move interesting replay or highlight package for the production. to run replay and use pen and paper to keep track of certain clips into different orders and even have the option of leaving players. As a result, the production suffered from not living up the clips’ natural sound or taking it out. I can also add dis- About the author Speed is everything to its full potential. solves between the playlist clips. James Lynch Jr. is a professional replay operator for NPi Audio Visual Solutions, a provider of end-to-end mobile production services based Replays, commercials and highlights need to be ready within In a similar situation with the 3Play 820, I was asked to keep All of these functions are important to me because every in Cleveland, OH. a moment’s notice. The 3Play 820 is the answer to each of these track of multiple star soccer players during a game. Instead of show has a different style. I’ve had producers who wanted final

46 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 47 The first African-American military aviators to serve in the U.S. armed forces red and became known as “Red Tails.” visual effects (VFX), while one firm — Radical 3D in Venice, Calif. — handled all of the software packages that I’ve dealt with. endured and overcame adversity, including racial segregation and discrimination, Like the airmen, the film had a precarious pre-visualization (previs). LightWave helps us get the job done during World War II to fight in defense of freedom. Despite others’ attempts at start, but a strong and lasting finish. Mike Blanchard, head of post-production at Lucasfilm who works closely with pro- for the tight budgets that are out there denying them their own freedoms, the Tuskegee Airmen risked life and limb to Lucas first envisioned the film as a nar- ducer Rick McCallum and Lucas, was creating the video storyboard for the film with these days.” help bring an end to what was to become the deadliest conflict in human history. rative in 1988, but, 24 years later, ended the help of Dog Fights, a series that Jason McKinley, owner of Radical 3D, a high- Filming took place over five months in These trailblazers trained and flew with distinction, achieved success in virtually up releasing one of the first action films end computer graphics (CG) animation company specializing in television and movie 2009 in the Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia all of their missions, aided in the victory of the Allies, and, nearly 70 years later, with an all-black cast. It is a fictional por- special effects, created and directed for The History Channel. McKinley’s work on the and England. Pre-vis spanned roughly six continue to win accolades. trayal based on a wealth of historical re- series won him an invitation to Skywalker Ranch and to “take a run at the opening weeks for the opening sequence and 12 In 2007, President George W. Bush awarded roughly 300 Tuskegee Airmen the Con- counts from surviving Tuskegee Airmen sequence” of the film, he says. weeks for the closing sequence. McKin- gressional Gold Medal. In 2008, a portion of Route 6 outside Atlanta was renamed in hon- and the pilots’ mission logbooks from the “We pre-vised 100 to 130 shots using [NewTek’s] LightWave 3D, and they were ley credits his software tool of choice or of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 2009, more than 120 Tuskegee Airmen accepted President- 1940s. The film is replete with impressive really happy with it,” recalls McKinley, pre-vis supervisor and technical consultant on with helping speed production. elect Barack Obama’s invitation to attend the inauguration of the first African-American aerial feats and combat maneuvers, all Red Tails. They were so pleased, in fact, that they asked McKinley and the Radical 3D “LightWave is the fastest software out president of the United States. In 2012, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority reproduced digitally but based on factual team to previs the last 600 shots of the film, the climactic end sequence with flight there, period,” says McKinley. “There are Regional Bus Operations renamed its 100th Street depot to the “Tuskegee Airmen De- combat events. dynamics, planes, and aerial combat. “Originally, it was going to be 300 shots, but a lot of very good software packages out pot.” The same year, renowned filmmaker George Lucas debuted Red Tails, a tribute to Just as WWII united powerful militaries they kept expanding it and said ‘keep going.’” there, but they all take longer to do things. the Tuskegee Airmen nearly a quarter of a century in the making. from around the globe, Red Tails brought McKinley oversaw pre-vis of all the shots, as well as a staff that averaged Nothing can touch LightWave.” McKinley together some of the best talent and six artists but extended to 10 at times, with modelers and others working on and his team were able to streamline their Unique undertaking brightest minds in the business world- the project. “You can do a lot more with a small crew with LightWave than workflow further by taking advantage of Production of Red Tails proved to be as unique as its subject — a heroic group of wide. Various remote studios contribut- you can with any other software package,” he says. “You have a great pool of the assets and experience gained while black U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) servicemen who painted the tails of their aircraft ed computer graphics imagery (CGI) and generalists, and it enables you to do things on a budget better than the other working on Dog Fights.

48 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 49 Industrial Light & Magic took all of the pre-visualization work done by Radical 3D, including LightWave Jason McKinley and his team of LightWave animators at Radical 3D created hundreds of pre-visualiza- scene and motion files, without any difficulty, says Radical 3D owner Jason McKinley. tion shots for the George Lucas film Red Tails.

“We have one of the largest CGI libraries of military airplanes in the world,” explains Radical 3D artists worked remotely “The Red Tails escorted the B-17s during a massive propeller-driven, BF-109 at- McKinley. “We already had a lot of those assets built, and we also had seen almost with the client, Lucasfilm, and submit- tack. They fight them off, and then one of the planes gets hit. They stay with it, and LightWave is easily the every air combat maneuver. I interviewed more than 100 pilots, almost all of them ted a series of QuickTime files every day. then jets attack; they fight those guys off and one of the heroes is killed. It was a aces. We had really strong insight into the kinds of maneuvers they used.” They also handed off their pre-vis work massive, 600-shot sequence,” McKinley recalls. “In the final film, they split it into fastest, get-a-good-look- to Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a divi- two separate sequences: an escort mission where they were attacked by the regular as-fast-as-you-can Maximizing Motion sion of Lucasfilm. BF-109s and the last sequence, where they were attacked by the jets and defending LightWave has been McKinley’s tool of choice since he started his career in 1992. “ILM took all the pre-vis we had, all the lone B-17.” software out there — “It has always been my tool, and it has done really well for me,” he says. “You can get our scene files and motion files from In one sequence, “one of the Tuskeegee Airmen is on the tail of a German ace, without a doubt. great looks out of every software out there if you have great people, but for speed and LightWave, with zero issues,” McKin- who does an insane, high-speed, tail rotating maneuver where he actually spins getting a good look, LightWave is untouchable. ley says. “They used a lot of those mo- the plane a full 360 degrees in mid-air and shoots the Tuskeegee Airmen as he There’s no muss, “It helped me sell Dog Fights, helped us produce Armageddon, and helped us re- tion files in the final animation — that flies by,” says McKinley. “Later on in the film, one of the Tuskeegee Airmen does no fuss. ally well on Red Tails, especially with the motion tools that are good for flying things was gratifying. There are shots in the the same maneuver and shoots a plane down — and that was the money shot around. In fact, it made my career on flying things around; LightWave has done really film that are literally exactly the same used to promote the entire film. Every trailer ended with that shot — that was well for me.” as our pre-vis — nothing changed, not gratifying to see.” and it takes someone like Lucasfilm to McKinley and the Radical 3D artists relied on LightWave’s Graph Editor, a Virtual Stu- even a camera. Then you can see ones It was a real aerial combat maneuver that pilot Richard Candelaria, member of do it.” dio tool introduced in version 10 that enables hand-editing of live-captured and virtual where they changed the camera a little the 435th Fighter Squadron, 479th Fighter Group, described to McKinley during his Producer McCallum is equally thrilled performances, for Red Tails. “The ease of the motion graph editor was really strong for bit, but it’s the same airplane motion. research for Dog Fights. Candelaria performed the maneuver in WWII while being with Red Tails and its impressive effects, us,” he explains. “We used it a lot; it just makes flying things around very easy.” And then there are others that are a chased by a BF-109G German fighter that he could not shake. “In a last ditch effort, all of which started in pre-vis. He “LightWave is easily the fastest, get-a-good-look-as-fast-as-you-can software out composite or hybrid of a couple shots he pulled this stunt,” says McKinley. “It was such an iconic move; the fact that it also credits the pre-vis process with there — without a doubt. There’s no muss, no fuss,” says McKinley. “Everything is we did.” was real is even better. Matt Zeyn and Tom Bremmer did a great job with it. We used helping not only save money, but built in: You get your modeler, great animation, and a great renderer — all in the same LightWave for that shot.” also better focus the director, who box, ready to go.” Significant The move wasn’t in the storyboard or the story, but Radical 3D artists put in the might not have experience working sequences pre-vis. “They were so happy with it that it became a story point,” McKinley notes. with VFX. “Without pre-visualization , Outside the box McKinley and his team are especially “We are really proud of that one, specifically.” It is rare, but gratifying when impressive we couldn’t have done anything,” he The Radical 3D team produced roughly five different models and three separate proud of two sequences comprising “the graphics influence the storyline. says. “With someone like [McKinley] environments for the project. “It was all pre-vis, but it was nice looking; it wasn’t big money shot of the entire film.” Origi- Looking back, McKinley and his team of artists at Radical 3D continue to be doing pre-vis and a company like Halo cheesy,” explains McKinley. “I think it helped [the other studios’ CG and VFX artists] nally, the film’s final shot was one gigan- impressed with Red Tails. “Just the sheer scale of the project… The film has 60 doing animatics, it changes everything realize a lot more with pre-vis looking better than what they were used to.” tic, climactic battle. minutes of 100 percent CGI with 1,600 effects shots. It’s a massive-scale project, — the whole dynamics.”

50 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 51 What’s new? that it isn’t necessary to bounce around to multiple panels The LightWave interface continues to undergo enhance- to adjust settings that deal with rendering. It’s worth noting ments that might go unnoticed at first glance but will quickly that the options can still be found in their original location as Review: become apparent during production. It shows a new level of well for users who have grown accustomed to them being refinement to tools that we’ve grown to love. The Node Editor in a certain spot. Although these enhancements to the inter- has received a healthy facelift that also includes new function- face aren’t game changers, they have made an impact on my ality, like the ability to search for a specific node using a variety workflow that would be hard to live without. of search options and the ability to add multiple nodes all at The workflow for rendering multiple passes for compositing has one time, instead of one at a time. Using the new node tree list been improved with the Compositing Buffer Export panel. This makes is cleaner and easier to navigate, and the ability to connect and light work of breaking out multiple passes for saving and viewing and disconnect nodes when viewing the flow zoomed out is a big is sure to be a hit with render wranglers and compositors. The workflow enhancements found within the Node Editor , like the new node tree list, speed up the texturing process. What about new tools? Although LightWave 11 appears to have a focus on refining the existing tools, that doesn’t mean there is LIGHTWAVE 11 a lack of new tools. GoZ, the interchange tool that allows LightWave to send data to and from ZBrush, is by EXPLORING the latest release far my favorite new feature of LightWave 11. I’ve been working on several projects recently that require me to bounce back and forth between the two apps, and I couldn’t be happier with workflow in LightWave 11. Whether I start in LightWave and send a base mesh over to ZBrush for detailing, or I start in ZBrush and send a digital sculpt over to LightWave for animation and ren- of newtek’s dering, it’s all handled in seconds. The first time I sent a LIGHTWAVE LIGHTWAVE REDEFINED By William Vaughan

‘True refi3Dnement seeks Using GoZ and Shadow Catcher Material Node. Image by Amy Chen simplicity.’ – Bruce Lee game changer when working with large flows within ny studio producing quality work knows the node editor. that the last 10 percent of any production The Graph Editor has Ais actually 90 percent of the work. It’s in been given some polish as this phase of the production that the tertiary de- well with a slicker look and tails and refinement take place and the results the ability to zoom and pan can set the professional digital artist apart from in a more natural way. Inter- the amateur. face changes can be found With the release of version 10 last year, New- all throughout Layout that Tek began showing a new level of refinement to speed up workflow, like the many areas of LightWave, making it the most inclusion of Morph Mixer solid version in years. In just a year’s time since under the Deform Tab in- that release, a new update, LightWave 11, has stead of it being hidden in a hit the market with new tools and enhancements drop-down menu. This was that continue to show the development team’s a nice find for me person- focus on refinement. I’d like to highlight some ally since all the character of the new tools and enhancements that have models I work with include increased my productivity and ability to tackle sets of facial morphs. Ren- challenges quickly while in production. der options have been LightWave 11’s GoZ implementation is seamless allowing for moved to a single panel so ZBrush to easily fit into any LightWave pipeline.

The Composing Buffer Export panel makes light work of rendering 52 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS multiple passes in LightWave 11. www.NewTek.com 53 most studio pipelines. Now that it is included in version 11, we ment, and Rob Powers, NewTek vice president, head of 3D should start to see more artists writing tools for LightWave. Development, demonstrate the Virtual Studio Tools at the VFX LightWave 11 also has added more functionality in its Minds event in Los Angeles. FiberFX also has seen enhance- Virtual Studio Tools, allowing more controller types and the ments, most notably in the rendering department with new ability to configure the controllers to control any aspect of volume rendering modes and faster render times. Styling the LightWave that can be animated. I’m excited to try real-time fibers also seems to be more interactive and more stable. ZBrush sculpt over to Layout I was shocked that all of the maps puppeting inside of LightWave for my characters, after seeing One of my favorite additions to LightWave 11 is the new (Color, Displacement, etc.) were setup and ready to go. Lino Grandi, NewTek quality assurance manager, 3D Develop- Shadow Catcher material node. It’s a simple plug-and-play GoZ has completely changed my workflow for the better and node that allows for any surface to render only shadows and Amy Chen’s Tatermech composite was a snap to create using the has allowed for a seamless integration of these two powerful Shadow Catcher Node. reflections of other scene items while ignoring the model’s programs. The fact I can use ZBrush to create endomorphs for surface itself. This makes integrating CG elements my characters has cut character setup in half. into background plates extremely easy. Amy Chen, LightWave’s UV tools haven’t seen any updates in years and one of my students, used it on her TaterMech com- are in dire need of unwrapping tools, so I have found that I posite to marry her CG robot with a photograph in can pop into ZBrush and use its UV Master tools and within no time. seconds be back over to LightWave with a fully UV’d character Many areas of LightWave 11 have been refined, mesh ready for texturing. If I could change anything with the such as the performance of IK evaluation. Scene GoZ implementation I’d prefer that the color map coming from loading speeds and multi-layers objects also are ZBrush be applied to the Node Editor versus the Texture Editor, now faster to work with. VPR now allows users but that might just be my personal preference. to select a surface by clicking on the object in Destroying this statue object took seconds in LightWave 11 with the viewport, and lens flares are now supported in Fracture to pre-cut the object and Bullet Dynamics to collapse it. VPR. These are all small items when considered namics directly in Layout. This production proven physics en- by themselves, but when grouped together they gine is extremely fast and easy-to-use. Combined with the new help make the release feel solid. Fracture tool, which pre-fractures objects into multiple compo- It’s obvious that the LightWave development team nents, Bullet Dynamics allows for intricate animations of objects has been working closer with its users than ever, lis- shattering, exploding and collapsing to be produced with little tening to their requests. There are many enhance- effort. Bullet was recently used on the production, Time Slice, by ments to LightWave that can easily be traced back to the students at the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School user requests, and it feels like there is more communi- in Orlando easily saving them weeks of work and allowing for a cation between studios and the development team. more accurate simulation of destruction. You can watch Fracture With that said, I would have liked to have seen Mod- and Bullet in action in the short film online at: http://www.dave- eler get some attention in this release. It hasn’t seen school.com/index.php/gallery/block-04-movies/310-time-slice. any major enhancements or additions in more than a Although I shy away from scripting, I’m excited that Light- decade and is showing its age. The other packages Wave 11 now includes Python scripting. Python has quickly have caught up to, and in some cases surpassed an become “the” industry standard programming language in area that LightWave dominated. I also look forward to rigging and animation enhancements, primarily Instancing allows for mass duplication with little overhead. for character animators. Animation layers would go a long way for increasing my workflow. I’m a big fan of having the tools I need to quickly get the job Overall, LightWave 11 is by far the most stable, done. When I first heard that LightWave 11 was going to imple- solid version of my favorite software workhorse that ment built-in instancing, I was somewhat apathetic about it since I’ve experienced. The new tools and features are I have used third-party tools, like HD Instance, for years that “got being implemented with tight integration and with the job done.” However, LightWave 11 exceeded my expectations the end user in mind. There is a new level of refine- with an easy-to-use instancing workflow that simply works as ex- ment that shines in the latest version, and I hope to pected. The instant feedback with VPR and the clean workflow see NewTek continue down this path. should be a standard for all future features added to the software. In addition to instancing, LightWave 11 also includes Flocking, ‘The source of genius which can be used to generate realistic motions on crowds, such is imagination alone, as fish, bats, insects, animal herds and more. I’ve yet to use flock- the refinement of the ing in production but look forward to adding that new level of de- senses that sees what tail to crowd animation that would otherwise be too taxing on a Performance has been improved for the IK rigs to speed up character others do not see, short production schedule. animation, allowing for easier and smoother posing while working. or sees them differently.’ Although LightWave has had a dynamics engine built in for FiberFX instance accelerator demonstrates benchmarked rendering — Eugene Delacroix more than 10 years now, LightWave 11 now includes Bullet Dy- improvements of 2x for complex situations.

54 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 55 nds etherla Except N Visualizes Sustainablge y nabilit ustai y D tegrated nSe ecologicall Livinpt In nts with 3 . Exce ple imagi nme Wave 3D ps peo nviro ight hel nable e sustai y created with L imager magine a world that is sustainable. Where resources like sunlight, water, greenery and food are managed and con- served for ecological balance — a place where people Ican reside in an environment that fosters health, well- being and a connection to their surroundings. Except Integrated Sustainability is one of a rare breed of companies focused on dreaming up ways to live on this planet without harming it. With LightWave as its go-to 3D animation system, Except helps people imagine the innovative, ecologically sustainable environments they’ve designed by portraying them in credible, detailed 3D stills

and animations. ndly et-frie Plan Corporations and governments are among the entities that ask Except’s environmental consultants, architects and sci- entists to “bio-engineer” ways to make their buildings, facto- ries, complexes and even grand-scale urban projects energy efficient, sustainable and ultimately socially and economi- cally rewarding. “In many cases, people are already living in the settings to be transformed for sustainability. And it’s very difficult to get them excited about the proposed changes — and gain their trust and confidence that the proposed renovations will make their surroundings more beautiful, pleasant and enjoy- able — if you can’t convey what it will be like to live there,” said Tom Bosschaert, managing director for Except’s office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “LightWave enables us to create rich 3D visualizations that depict how our forward-thinking, ecologically sound soluien-zle tions will be used on various physicalBy projects,Claudia as wellK as what it will be like in those spaces,” said Bosschaert.

56 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 57

This was the case with “Schiebroek-Zuid,” a post-war Rotterdam social artists can use LightWave’s Viewport Pre- BosschaertW beganave in 1997 housing project slated for a sustainability makeover. Commissioned by view Renderer (VPR) to preview what the Light housing corporation Vestia and agricultural research network Innovatie- finished rendering will look like — which using Netwerk, Schiebroek-Zuid required extremely complex, colorful 3D illus- greatly speeds up the whole workflow. trations of how the futuristic, renovated community would look, including “CTRL-clicking a surface in VPR imme- and has remained a loyal a pedestrian corridor, Metro Plaza, Water Park, and Central Markets. diately selects it for editing, saving huge customer ever since. “Unlike visual effects for movies, our spatial representations need amounts of time in hunting down surfac- to be biologically accurate, incorporating natural elements indig- es for complex scenes,” he said. While he began using it enous to that place, such as plant life, forests, climate, water and Radiosity is an extremely critical 3D sunlight,” said Bosschaert. tool for showing the ambient properties of simply because theW ave light and shadows, such as the way light Light Plans for life shines, changes and reflects on objects project he was working While most of the visualizations that Except produces are large, and surfaces within architectural spaces. high-resolution stills, the team does full 3D modeling for every LightWave provides a capable radiosity on required it, illustration. This extra work pays off in the long run whenever toolset, but on complex 3D animations, won him over, starting clients decide they want to see that still frame expanded into Except artists augment their radiosity an animated clip. Since the 3D objects and scenes are already capabilities by using KRay, a LightWave with its 3D modeler. built, artists only have to move LightWave’s 3D camera around plugin focused on 3D animated radiosity, rather than starting from scratch. illumination and rendering. For the BK City Slim Project, Except designed plans to refurbish an historic, architecturally striking, brick building at the Technical University of Delft to make it energy efficient, carbon neu- tral and sustainable. Since it serves as the center for architectural learning at TU Delft, Except drew-up plans that pushed the envelope on environmen- tally friendly design. 3D stills were created using LightWave to showcase areas of the building, such as an adjacent Green Lung Energy Harvest- ing Atrium. One of the 3D stills showed how sunlight pours into the atriums’ glass ceiling and walls to create an ethereal, climate-controlled interior with walkways encircling gardens, and reflects on plants, tree leaves and flowers. Another 3D still shows how the same space would look at night, as lit by artificial lighting. Bosschaert began using LightWave in 1997 and has remained a loyal customer ever since. While he began using it sim- To promote “Polydome,” a revolutionary approach to green- As a member of the beta-testers group, Except was advanced two ply because the project he was working house agriculture developed by Except’s ecological engineers, seats of LightWave 11, prior to its official release in early 2012. Light- on required it, LightWave won him over, the company expanded its collection of 3D scenes into a two- Wave 11 enhances many of the core tools and features that Except’s starting with its 3D modeler. minute animation accessible on YouTube and Except’s website, design team uses the most, including instancing and radiosity. “I’ve never seen a program that allows www.except.nl. A voice-over and text were added to explain “Since we work on sustainable developments, we use a lot of you to have so much control yet stays the significance of a greenhouse ecosystem that can produce greenery and vegetation,” Bosschaert said. “So, when we need to completely out of your way,” Bosschaert high yields of foods with no negative environmental impact. create a 3D wooded area or forest consisting of hundreds of trees, said. “Whether it’s a table and chairs, In many cases, LightWave is used for 95 to 100 percent instancing is the only practical way to do it. The instancing engine grass growing on a wall or a giant hydro- of the 3D modeling, animation and rendering of these 3D lets us model and replicate biologically accurate trees but render electric dam, I can quickly make anything visualizations. Except has several artist/animators who are them as a group to conserve processing memory and power.” I need, often with just five or six core proficient at LightWave, but the program’s powerful toolsets LightWave tools. I don’t have to think and features make it rare that more than two must work on Sun-drenched trees LightWave lets artists change proper- or scale randomly. As they fine-tune the about whether the program can do it. It’s any given project. To give identical trees or leaves a random, natural look, ties such as orientation, reflections, color characteristics of their 3D scenes, the just like swimming in water.”

58 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 59 Energia Productions entrusts its first An Original Concept Unfolds Sounds crazy, right? “Can you imagine trying to pitch that in the UK, teamed up with Myers to work on the shots for the full-length, visual effects heavy feature film, Iron Sky is unique for several reasons, says Kelly “Kat” in Hollywood? It might have some legs if you were an estab- Cannes Film Festival teaser, which would later be used to help a dark sci-fi comedy poised to take the Myers, CG supervisor and LightWave 3D team leader for lished producer or director with a few solid shows and a run sell the film into several territories. Using Skype for communi- world by storm, to NewTek’s LightWave 3D. Iron Sky visual effects at Energia Productions in Tampere, of movies under your belt. However for a bunch of guys out cation and Dropbox as a remote server for LightWave content, Finland. Iron Sky’s storyline and the way the film came of Finland who had done a Star Trek parody in the basement Torssonen was able to check the progress, add assets, tweak From humble beginnings in the Northern European na- about are radical departures from the norm. In fact, a por- of someone’s house shot on blue screen and the CG done on content as necessary and send to the render farms before the tion known better for angry bird games or mobile phones, tion of the film was funded by fans of Samuli Torssonen, a less than 10 computers? Come on.... Never would have hap- team eventually migrated to Tampere. Energia Productions has stormed onto the movie scene and Finnish film writer, director, actor, producer, and owner of pened,” says Myers. “Still, the idea is brilliant and because The LightWave 3D team working on Iron Sky included stirred up a groundswell of interest and excitement in antici- Energia Productions known for his inventive short films. they had done such a fantastic job with their social media just five people at any one time: Myers, Whitehorn, Tors- pation of the Finnish visual effects house’s first full-length The premise of Iron Sky? In 2018, an American astronaut initiatives to promote Star Wreck, it was natural for them to sonen, Tuomas Kankola and later, Lee Stringer. “All in all, feature film,Iron Sky. is captured by Nazis, who via a secret space program, fled carry that fan base over into Iron Sky, which was immediately it was a very small crew considering the scope of the film Premiering at the Berlin Film Festival in early February 2012, Germany at the end of World War II and relocated to the dark accepted by their fans and caught on quick.” and how it was shot,” says Myers. “The amount of virtual Iron Sky became a social media phenomenon, logging more side of the moon. For more than 70 years, the Nazis have set work on the film is staggering and the compositors, than 5 million YouTube views of the Iron Sky trailer and more been assembling a space armada, finalizing their flagship Small team, big results many of whom had never done anything like this, did an than 100,000 Facebook and Twitter fans. The movie premiered spacecraft and plotting the invasion, assault and conquest of Within hours of joining the production crew, Luke Whitehorn, amazing job. But it was the LightWave crew that carried in North American in March at SXSW in Austin, Texas. earth from their massive, swastika-shaped moon fortress. an experienced third-party LightWave plug-in developer based the film to release.”

60 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 61 On the other side of the shop, a team of 15 to 25 artists Time was not on their side. “Often when we saw the rough then hand it over to us. In the end, not having boards was a engine for LightWave, but also to reduce the load on the worked in Autodesk Maya and The Foundry’s Nuke. Torssonen edit for the first time there would be a black card onscreen for good thing as we were creating our own directly in LightWave, network pulling assets, textures and more into the render produced the original shots shown in the teasers and trailers five to 10 seconds describing what is going on, followed by a saving time and money.” Iron Sky director Timo Vuorensola nodes,” explains Myers. leading up to the pre-production phase in LightWave. He enjoys dozen other shots of varying length that were ours to finish, needed to see near final production renders when working “It was critical because the network and server infrastruc- a rich history with LightWave, which he used on Star Wreck and says Myers. “Meanwhile half of the other team’s shots were with the editors so they could wrap their heads around the ture we had to work with had limitations. We had to optimize in the pre-production and conceptualization of Iron Sky. done and in the movie.” combat sequences in relation to the rest of the movie. the data going to each node, reducing network load and serv- Myers continues: “The difference to us was they had a year Torssonen and Myers decided to shift more of the work er strain while the compositors were pulling 2K and 4K plates Insert space battle and a half to get to that point with their shot away from Maya and mental ray to LightWave. “It looked off NAS units at the same time,” he says. The LightWave team Torssonen’s rule was that anything beyond five meters from count and three to four times the amount of better and the material was produced faster in LightWave,” helped the compositors balance load and resource sharing by the camera—or the actors—in a shot would be virtual set ex- people working away on material that was explains Myers. “And while it would mean more work making its footprint on the network as small as possible. tension elements created later in the computer. “When you essentially locked by the edit itself. It for us, the show demanded it be done. It became step off of those virtual sets and get into space combat, aerial wasn’t really going to change much, painfully clear that we needed to give the models Streamlining the shots combat and lunar landscapes with things blowing up every- if at all. We had three to five artists a facelift, build in additional details and fix ma- Each artist on the Iron Sky LightWave team was responsible where, things change drastically in terms of the scope of the and four to six months to fin- jor geometry problems then optimize everything for setting up and submitting his assigned shots to render. “With work,” explains Myers. ish what we needed to do for speed and render quality. Essentially, we put the other render applications, that’s next to impossible because In total, the LightWave team worked on more than 140 shots, and up to that point, models on a diet and whipped them into shape so we most artists that use other apps only focus on certain tasks or each averaging between 200 and 500 frames, out of the film’s it hadn’t really could use them effectively and efficiently—getting them skill sets,” says Myers. “Because the renderer is built-in and ready for the big screen.” an integrated part of our workflow, LightWave artists can take shots to final without depending on a full-time ‘shader writer’ or rendering manager.” By exploiting a combination been locked into of LightWave’s Viewport Pre- the edit because it view Renderer (VPR) and full largely didn’t exist renders directly inside Light- at all. Wave Layout, Iron Sky’s Light- “Before shoot- Wave team knew exactly what ing began, some they were getting before send- early boards were ing shots to the render farm. created based on older drafts of the A big achievement script, but so much for all had changed dur- On Iron Sky, the artists made ing the shoot, and full use of all LightWave utilities, again in the edit, including the software devel- that we didn’t have opment kit (SDK), with which Each LightWave artist on the Iron Sky was responsible for setting up and submitting his assigned shots to render. anything we could Whitehorn quickly wrote plug-ins use to start piecing that helped the team stay orga- animatic sequenc- The Iron Sky script simply said “Insert space battle,” which CG supervisor Kelly “Kat” Myers nized. “The entire package was es together.” and the movie’s LightWave 3D team did despite demanding deadlines. used throughout the show, and 800-plus total shots. One shot in particular that Myers’s team Myers, Torssonen and Stringer worked together to break up Models that the LightWave artists inherited from the less- each area of the package gave us what we needed to continue worked on spanned roughly 6,000 frames and was largely the shots among the LightWave team starting with advanced experienced artists “looked passable from a distance but to meet deadlines,” says Myers. “LightWave is all over this completed by one artist (Lee Stringer). pre-visualization and get the material to the Iron Sky editors. wouldn’t hold up on closer shots,” says Myers. “It was due movie. Most of the VFX seen in the theatrical trailer are Light- The very first shot Whitehorn and Myers did together was “We had to conceptualize the shots fast. Other departments ab- to a dependence on texture maps that were insanely large Wave shots, and we are not talking about little side shots or set almost 800 frames, using the new features of LightWave 11 solutely had to have near final timings and direction for picture (10K), combined with models that were over built or needed extensions. I’m talking about the fact that some of the biggest to achieve results that would have been impossible to accom- edits and mix-to-picture work that was being done by the sound more modeling work.” punch-you-in-the-face shots of the film are in that trailer. There plish in previous versions. “Other teams on the project tried to engineers for the film in parallel. We couldn’t stop.” “When [the modelers from the other packages] started to is obviously a lot more in the film, but that’s a good example of achieve the same results with other software but failed,” ex- see how we work in LightWave—how we would go about what LightWave accomplished in the movie.” plains Myers. “Time was quickly burning away along with the Extreme VFX spoken here fixing, texturing and lighting the models—they were a bit as- “We did the show under some heavy restrictions from a VFX budget. (Torssonen) made the right decision to bring in a “Working with Samuli was great because he could jump tonished,” he adds. time, budget and scope of the project point of view,” says My- LightWave team to continue on and complete the film.” in and mock up something in LightWave, helping to translate Model cleanup was done primarily in LightWave, as were ers. “LightWave helped get the show green lit and financed. In The scope of what needed to be accomplished wasn’t al- Timo’s vision,” says Myers. “Language was a problem initially additional texture modifications and enhancements using the places where it wasn’t used, those were the spots that put ways clear. “It got a bit daunting when the script called for an as they would have to speak Suomi (Finnish), to each other to LightWave’s nodal texture system. Adobe Photoshop and the film at risk of not delivering. LightWave is the package that ‘epic space battle’ on page 70 for instance, and all it said was work out the problems. Our universal language ended up being Eyeon’s Fusion helped to optimize the texture image assets got the show finished, and we demonstrated how powerful it just ‘Insert space battle,’” says Myers with a laugh. LightWave itself. Samuli would set up the basics of a shot, and for balance in render and speed—not only inside the render was every step of the way.”

62 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 63 Creative concept and design studio Applehead Factory relies on NewTek LightWave 3D to visualize toy prototypes and deliver the goods By Courtney E.Howard

pplehead Factory is all about creativity, passion and execu- Following the first series of Teddy Scares, which touts ap- tion. When the company opened its doors in 2002, it offered proximately 20 exclusive bears and features comic books, ap- Aone simple product — DrinkMaster Says, a card game full of parel, and more, Applehead Factory embarked on its second wild rules and challenges that involve — you guessed it — adult bev- line of toys featuring Tofu the Vegan Zombie. This seven-inch erages. To this day, the game remains a popular seller in stores like vinyl toy not only expanded the company’s zombie reach, it Spencer Gifts. However, in 2003, the company decided to delve into also introduced LightWave 3D into the creative pipeline. And, producing a more tangible form of entertainment — Teddy Scares, it wasn’t long before LightWave was being used to generate 3D a series of offbeat, but loveable, zombie teddy bears that have been prototypes for all Applehead products, including Teddy Scares. transformed from the soft cuddly teddy bears they once were to the “We quickly realized that we could save a massive stitched, scarred and reassembled bears they are today. amount of time and eliminate potential headaches before

64 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 65 going into final production by creating our toys in LightWave 3D,” explains Applehead Factory art director Joe DiDomenico. “Be- ing able to deliver a dimensional prototype to our manufacturers in China helps remove the confusion that often comes with manufacturing and delivering a toy using 2D schematics.” In addition to designing its toys in Light- Wave, Applehead Factory uses LightWave to create photoreal product renders for packaging materials—a huge advantage since the packaging is created as the toy is being manufactured. By delivering a photoreal image of the product in unison with the toy design, Apple- head eliminates the need for a product photo shoot—saving time and money in the delivery of the final product. “A benefit of using Light- Wave to generate 3D prototypes is the use of its photoreal render- Applehead Factory saves time and ing engine,” explains Applehead president headaches by producing dimensional prototypes with LightWave 3D. Phil Nannay. “We are able to produce imagery of products that we can easily put in front of our retailers and distributors for pre-orders. It also allows us to test market products to see how many units of a particular product we should produce, which helps us streamline costs on many levels.” Expanding the Business of 3D In 2011, Applehead Factory returned to its roots, developing a new product in the Drink Master Says series — DrinkMaster Says Super Quarters. Once again, LightWave proved instru- mental in creating the plastic tray prototype and the final product shot for the packaging. The CG product shot was also used to pre-sell the item to stores and to get early feedback from distributors. Then when it came time to manu- facture the game, the LightWave OBJ file was exported to an STL file and sent to the manu- facturer where steel molds were generated for the production of the toy. Applehead continues to integrate LightWave in its marketing and sales promotions, using the software to create mockups of point-of-pur- chase countertop displays. Online and virally, the company has also used LightWave to produce Teddy Scares and Tofu the Vegan Zombie

66 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 67 animated shorts, which have received numerous awards including a Telly Award. “Most people see LightWave as a way to create visual effects for movies and television,” says DiDomenico, “But we immediately realized it could make the development of our products better, easier and faster. The use of LightWave in our studio has completely changed our pipeline for the better.” Go Ahead, Brand Your Own Applehead Factory not only creates Teddy Scares for its devot- ed followers, it also creates custom Teddy Scares for businesses looking to extend their brand through custom products. Some of six months, 10 artists, and LightWave the company’s newest creations, created entirely in LightWave, debuted in late 2011. These included two eight-inch custom Teddy Scares — one bear was designed exclusively for Vamp Fangs, and the other, Hester Golem, was created for Eastern State Peniten- tiary’s annual “Terror Behind the Walls,” one of the largest haunted attractions in the United States. Last year marked the fifth year Applehead Factory has produced a custom bear for the Eastern State Penitentiary event. Collectively, the artists at Applehead offer a wealth of experience working on projects for companies such as Pixar, Dreamworks, NASA and many others. As Applehead Factory continues to attract new business with custom toy, animation and design services targeting companies that are ready to take their brand to new ex- tremes, LightWave 3D will remain the company’s go-to 3D software every step of the way.

Visit the Applehead Factory website at www.appleheadfactory.com

©2012 NewTek, Inc. LightWave is a trademark of NewTek. All rights reserved. All other marks are the property of their respective holders. 68 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS Bunraku combines computer graphics and choreographed live action to create a movie genre unto itself.

Unfolding the World of

Creative CG, Stunning VFX and True Artistry Blend to Deliver an ‘Bunraku’By Courtney E. Howard Onscreen Experience Unlike Any Other

unraku, the second film from acclaimed director Guy Moshe, is a unique blend of cutting-edge computer graph- Bics and choreographed live action, comic book and video game styles, gritty reality and fantasy and samurai and spaghetti western genres. Crime boss Nicola the Woodcutter (Ron Perlman) commands an army of thugs headed by nine deadly assassins in a post-war future without guns. Citizens of the small town, terrorized by Nicola’s re- gime, wait in hope of a hero to save them. A mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett) and young samurai (Japanese star Gackt) soon cross paths and with guidance from the local bartender (Woody Harrel- son) join forces in a quest to overthrow Nicola’s tyrannical reign. At Nicola’s side are Alexandra (Demi Moore), the femme fatale, and Killer No. 2 (Kevin McKidd), Nicola’s lethal right-hand man.

70 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 71 Origami Originality and complexity, so the decision was made to reassign all positing. Perhaps our biggest challenge was doing this all with very tight integration of LightWave with the rest of our tools, The one-of-a-kind film, which debuted on Sept. 30, 2011 in work to Origami Digital. a small team. At our largest, we had 25 artists,” Hotz adds, including our entire motion-capture pipeline.” a limited release, delivers an impressive cast and a wealth of The Origami Digital VFX team was responsible for creating “but we had a very good crew and a streamlined workflow that eye-catching, awe-inspiring visuals — all within a $25 million virtually everything that wasn’t in the immediate set, including allowed us, on average, to get 40 to 60 shots out per week — Multiple Iterations production budget. Bunraku is written and directed by Moshe, a view through the City Square’s main archway, a flyover from including all the exploration time that the director needed.” Artists need to be able to iterate to improve work, says Hotz. based on a story by Boaz Davidson. a Mob Office over the city and past several landmarks, and a Hotz entrusted his Bunraku workflow to NewTek’s LightWave “LightWave allows us to do that,” he says. “I find shading and Moshe’s Picturesque Films, Ram Bergman Productions and colorful, paper-lantern sky. In all, Origami Digital artists deliv- 3D, which he chose as the primary 3D application for all the texturing in LightWave so intuitive that we didn’t run into any Snoot Entertainment — all in Los Angeles — partnered to produce ered more than 1000 shots, which can be seen over roughly 83 modeling, texturing and rendering. Artists also used LightWave slowdowns on that end, giving us the opportunity to explore the film and bring Moshe’s vision to cinematic life. To realize the minutes of Bunraku’s running time. to do all of the setups for the shots. “We used [Autodesk’s] many different looks in a very short amount of time. truly unique and strong visual style envisioned for Bunraku, the Given the volume of VFX the team had to deliver for the Maya to create a majority of the transition sequences where “It has an extremely fast renderer, and where you usually production team elicited the help of Oliver Hotz, owner and visual movie, Hotz elected to farm out preparation tasks to other fa- buildings had to fold and unfold, and then transferred the ani- shudder to use motion blur with [other] renderers, I don’t even effects (VFX) supervisor at Origami Digital LLC in Los Angeles. cilities and enable artists to devote more time to the look and mation back to LightWave for texturing, lighting and rendering. have to think twice with LightWave,” Hotz explains. “We render Moshe decided early on that he would tell the story of Bun- design of the shots. RotoFactory, together with Origami Digi- Not having to think about licensing the LightWave renderer on with 3D motion blur.” raku by filming entirely on a green-screen stage and using a tal’s in-house rotoscope/paint team, delivered mattes for sev- our render farm was a huge relief,” says Hotz. “We then used LightWave also proved to be highly effective with scenes wealth of VFX and computer graphic imagery (CGI). The crew eral green-screen sequences. Pixel Magic completed speed LightWave to create all the passes that we needed and then having large polygon counts. “We had millions of polys for our filmed the live action over a 12-week period and on roughly 30 changes that were introduced in the edit stage. Algous Studios passed those off to compositing.” transition shots, and we had a much easier time dealing with sets at MediaPro Studios in Romania. delivered the type of blood Moshe wanted in the movie, as well the geometry in LightWave,” Hotz continues. Intensive Integration A smooth, tightly integrated production pipeline was a Lasting Impression Bunraku was shot entirely on a green-screen stage and uses a wealth of VFX and computer graphic imagery (CGI). prerequisite for Origami Digital artists to produce a wealth of Bunraku’s visuals are being compared to those of Sin City scenes combining live action, CG with high polygon counts and 300, both of which commanded much larger budgets than and striking VFX — all on a deadline. Bunraku’s modest $25 million price tag. “I am extremely proud “The integration of LightWave and Maya on the 3D side, as of the work we have achieved,” Hotz says. “I’m equally proud well as getting camera and geometry information from Light- of the way in which we were able to manage this project. Wave into our compositing software (Eyeon Fusion), was key “Typically, a project with 1000-plus shots would only go to a to the speed in which we were able to crank out iterations of large facility working six- and seven-day weeks to finish; or, it work,” says Hotz. “Having this seamless integration allowed me would be broken up into smaller, sequence-sized chunks and to make certain calls that would allow the artists to work more distributed to companies all over the globe,” says Hotz. “Due effectively. Sometimes, we would choose to use the geometry to our pipeline, tools and management, we were able to deliver in the compositor rather than a 3D package, because we could this project in the time allotted, with a small crew, in Los Ange- make interactive changes while sitting there with the director.” les, without overtime or weekend work.” Origami Digital also enjoyed tight integration with its internal job What Hotz hopes independent movie producers take away tools. The artists did not need to create render folders or pass- from Bunraku is that high-quality VFX work is available to proj- es folders, he says. “We automated things like z depth or matte ects of all sizes and budgets. “Going forward, LightWave will passes, and submissions to the render farm — all to make it easier continue to be our primary 3D application and package of choice on the artist, who could concentrate more on the creative work. for modeling, texturing and rendering. Its speed, robustness and “The integration with Maya was also key in moving elements support for custom scripting are all key to our success as a pro- to and from LightWave,” Hotz says. “We used our own tools for vider of 3D content to the entertainment industry,” he says. “We that integration, and it was a very smooth process. We have a will definitely continue to use LightWave 3D for future work.” Hotz, named VFX supervisor on the film, led a team of artists as provided elements for Origami Digital’s comps and finished at Origami Digital as they crafted a novel folded paper — or “blood only” shots that didn’t require any other VFX elements. origami, coincidentally — world of Bunraku. “The world it’s set Lastly, Imaginary Forces handled a montage sequence, “be- NewTek’s LightWave 3D served as the primary 3D application for all of the modeling, texturing and rendering required for Bunraku. in is almost circus-like in the feel of it, and it’s all origami,” said cause we had really liked the style of some of its other work McKidd in a Los Angeles Times interview. “The whole universe and it fit perfectly into this movie,” explains Hotz. is constantly folding paper to create a cityscape or interiors of rooms or the sunrise.” Design Departure The visual style of the work in Bunraku was a departure for Green-screen Greatness Hotz and his team at Origami Digital. “Most of our prior work was “Even though Bunraku was shot entirely inside of sound of a photorealistic/invisible style. Achieving the stylized look that stages, the director (Moshe) envisioned a massively ex- [Moshe] wanted took a lot of trial and error, so we came up with pansive world,” explains Hotz. Origami Digital was initially a workflow that allowed for experimentation without incurring contracted to deliver about 90 of the more difficult VFX overages or getting into a major time crunch,” he explains. shots in the production, while Snoot Entertainment’s Snoot “Another challenge was the length of the more intricate tran- FX division was assigned roughly 300 A-over-B set exten- sition shots that, at 2000-plus frames each, included a lot of sions. The project’s VFX work soon grew in both quantity geometry and passes to allow for control later, during com-

72 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com 73 rtist Chris O’Riley can never predict what his next proj- of his advertising work, which often involves fleshing out sever- ect will be, but he is always certain of one thing: the tool al different concepts for an ad agency to present to its clients. Ahe will use to achieve it. For nearly two decades, he has “Most jobs don’t lend themselves to purchasing off-the-shelf been tackling various animation and illustration assignments models, so everything needs to be purpose-built for each proj- from major news outlets and advertisers, growing and expand- ect,” explains O’Riley. “The speed of both LightWave’s modeler Evolving Artist(ry): ing as a digital artist, using NewTek’s LightWave 3D. and renderer are absolutely critical for this type of work.” “The very nature of magazine work is that the subjects are LightWave’s subdivision-surface modeling tools enable always different, often wildly so,” explains O’Riley. One week, O’Riley to quickly mock up low-resolution ideas or concepts, One Man, One Tool it’s a 3D environment image depicting a military engagement which can later be refined and rendered at high resolutions for a major news source; the next week it’s a satirically styl- without the need to rebuild or remodel anything. “Very rarely do ized product for a business magazine story. On the advertis- project deadlines measure more than a few days, and can be ing side, his projects have ranged from automotive work for just a few hours in some cases,” he says. “Without the speed Porsche, sport drink images for Pepsi and modeling work for of LightWave’s modeler, that would be impossible.” Harley Davidson to product shots for cosmetics companies like Avon and Clinique. Fast and powerful “What stands out to me are the unique challenges and re- When Porsche was launching its Panamera sedan, the compa- quirements that come along with each job. It’s that constant ny called on O’Riley to produce several eye-catching images for problem-solving that has always kept me interested,” says its debut. The artist needed to summon his creativity and imagina- O’Riley. In fact, he’s never backed down from a challenge, dat- tion for the important project, rather than spending time wrestling ing all the way back to college. with, and potentially having his workflow bogged down by, extremely large data sets. So, he turned to LightWave 3D to handle Solved with software the auto maker’s original CAD (computer-aided design) files. As a graphic design student in college, O’Riley was instantly “The deadline didn’t allow for creating a new, clean mesh, so interested in 3D modeling and animation; yet, illustrating detailed I had to pare down the CAD data as much as possible quickly scenes with accurate perspective by hand was always challeng- and render it directly, retouching any geometry issues in post,” ing. He soon learned, and became fascinated by, what was pos- O’Riley recalls. “LightWave’s ability to handle enormous data sible with 3D software—and he continues to be impressed with sets proved critical. The polygon count was enormous, yet the capabilities of his 3D tool of choice to this day. LightWave rendered it with seeming ease. “3D software was, at the time, an amazing solution,” recalls “When deadlines can be measured in mere hours, speed and O’Riley. “I could build entire objects, compose scenes inside a efficiency are absolutely critical,” he says. “Here, again, LightWave virtual world, and then render out images with not only accu- excels, with a powerful tool set and a refined user interface that rate perspective, but lighting, shading and movement as well. allows me to focus all my efforts on the task at hand.” It was quite remarkable!” “I’ve worked with other modeling software, and it seems that O’Riley test-drove a few 3D packages before settling on a I have to go through more steps or add numerous third-party favorite: LightWave 3D. “I quickly took to its more Spartan user plug-ins to accomplish the same thing I can achieve in Light- interface,” he says. “I always enjoyed (physical) model build- Wave out of the box,” says O’Riley. “LightWave has always al- ing—using my hands, woodworking, carving, etc.—and Light- lowed me to create everything from photorealistic to stylized Wave’s minimalistic user interface appealed to me because it renders in one all-inclusive package. LightWave has what I didn’t get in the way. Some programs seem try to do too much, need built-in, and with a few tools and good problem-solving, others not enough; LightWave strikes just the right balance. there’s nothing it can’t do.” More than any other program I used before or since, working in The artist also considers his 3D software package of choice LightWave feels like I’m using my hands.” to be “comparatively light” on system requirements. “I could run it at all on my early, modest computer systems, and now, Hands-on artist Animator and illustrator Chris O’Riley A majority of O’Riley’s magazine work, for Time and other continues to hone his craft and meet well-known news sources involves presenting ideas in new, clever, humorous or satirical ways. “It might be a family de- artistic challenges head-on, armed picted as salt and pepper shakers, spark plugs made out with the latest tools in NewTek’s of money, or an automobile with a mouth of razor sharp teeth,” he explains. “Sometimes it’s seamlessly merging LightWave 3D. By Courtney E. Howard two ideas or objects; sometimes it’s stylizing or exag- gerating an idea. In either case, it’s rare that I can begin with a base model, so for each image, virtually everything needs to be built from scratch for each concept.” The same is true

74 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 75 says, crediting the Viewport Preview Renderer introduced in ism. “That’s an image I’m pleased with reflections of photographic elements on rapher, until he was introduced to Time LightWave version 10. today,” O’Riley says, “but, as always, I 3D elements to be combined later. As Magazine’s art department. What he “The ability to see changes almost instantly allows me to have a list of ideas on how to improve always, the particular technique O’Riley thought, at the time, would be little more refine surfacing, lighting, and other effects to a level that just upon it for the next one!” uses depends upon the details, require- than the odd illustration job in between wasn’t possible when the only preview was a full F9 render,” he ments, and deadlines of a project. animation projects turned into 13-plus explains. “On tight deadline work, it can mean the difference Camera compatibility “It’s exceedingly rare that I run into an years of using LightWave for print im- between making hundreds of small tweaks as opposed to a Photography plays a big part in effect that can’t be created using Light- ages in magazines and advertising. few tens. The result is a much more refined image that needs O’Riley’s work, whether compositing CG Wave’s standard tools,” says O’Riley, “Before my detour into print work, my little to no retouching in post.” elements into a photographic background “and the rare times I do, a solution usu- main interest had always been in anima- LightWave has always had a powerful render engine, ca- or capturing images for texturing or ref- ally exists in the form of a plug-in or L- tion. I’ve been slowly getting back into pable of producing amazing effects, according to O’Riley. erence. “LightWave provides all the tools Script. With the tendency today toward that recently, and it’s definitely a direction Nonetheless, “the addition of interactive previews drastically necessary to seamlessly combine CG multiple packages, each with its own I hope to continue,” he says. As maga- speeds the process of refining texturing and lighting, which al- with photography,” he says. “Alpha chan- subset of tools, it’s refreshing that New- zines transition from paper to pixels, he lows me to truly get the most out of the renderer,” he says. nels, various buffer exports, front projec- Tek still includes everything in one single, is increasingly asked to create animated The artist also relies on VPR to work with, and impress, tion mapping, fog, and especially interac- affordable package.” versions of his illustrations for the maga- clients remotely from his studio. “With LightWave’s VPR pre- tive VPR rendering all aid in blending 3D zine’s tablet edition. “LightWave’s ex- views and screen-sharing through services like Skype, clients elements with background plates.” Full circle tremely powerful and extensive animation have near-real-time access to exactly what’s on my screen, The artist also often uses mapped O’Riley started his career in the 1990s tools have me covered,” he says. “The and I maintain ready access to the ever-growing archive of polygons or simple shapes set to “un- producing animations for myriad instruc- speed and efficiency of the program and resources and tools I’ve compiled over the years.” seen by camera” in LightWave to cast tion videos alongside an aerial photog- the user interface are things that I haven’t found in any other application and that I Continued evolution would find difficult to live without. A majority of O’Riley’s work is as a one-man crew. He “It’s amazing to think that I’ve been enjoys working in a team and the opportunity it affords him able to build a successful year career to learn from others with different talents and experience; over the past 15 years using one soft- yet, at the same time, he takes pleasure in the satisfaction ware package,” says O’Riley. “When of solving unique problems that comes with working other companies have added features solo. By singularly facing and overcoming challenges through high priced add-on packages, with each new and unique project, O’Riley continues NewTek has always kept LightWave a to learn and to hone his craft. single, all-inclusive program.” “I tend not to be satisfied with my own work for very long! On some level, each project is a learn- To see more of Chris O’Riley’s ing experience, and I usually end most jobs with a artwork, visit www.V4Digital.com. list of ideas or techniques I think could improve the next,” says O’Riley. “So, while I have a few pieces that I’m currently pleased with, I know it’s just a matter of time before I’ve improved on them and no longer regard them with as much distinction!” The artist is particularly pleased, albeit for the time being, with a fly image he recently produced for Digi- tal Modeling, a new book by William Vaughan, owner of Applehead Factory and creator of Teddy Scares and Tofu, The Vegan Zombie. “I had modeled several insects in the past, and this image represents the culmination of everything I learned on those previous,” he notes. Whereas the first insect (a wasp) was modeled in sections it’s extremely fast on the latest hardware,” says O’Riley. “That which were just placed together, the second (a mosquito) was speed is essential for tight deadline work where clients can, modeled as a single, seamless mesh. “While this may have been and will, ask for major revisions at the last possible minute.” an improvement in form, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the level of detail I was able to capture. For the fly image, I was able both Mastering modifications to model as a single, seamless mesh and to capture far more Revisions are an essential part of virtually any artistic or pro- detail than on the previous two.” he says. duction workflow and especially important in O’Riley’s high- The texturing on this latest insect image was vastly improved, profile work. “The feature that singularly changed and improved through the extensive use of weight and UV mapping. Camera my workflow the most has been VPR interactive previews,” he effects, such as depth of field, also greatly enhanced its real-

76 | THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCE FOR NEWTEK USERS www.NewTek.com | 77 78 |

THE OFFICIAL CREATIVE RESOURCEFOR NEWTEKUSERS LAST WORD than ashow Star Wars Star A By Andrew Cross S producers needtokeeppacewiththedemandsofanew eraofvideoproduction. are for use on-air, online, on a projector, in a tweet or any combination thereof — that today’s duction solutions. We are committed to providing the video production tools — whether they duction isunderway. to multiple distribution channels via multiple “Program Outs,” sometimes even while the pro- dramatically. Today, producerschanged need have to publish switcher content, including productionpreviously unused a content, of requirements the that is described, already I’ve as problem, The unchanged. essentially are they but whistles, and bells more few a have may and signals television definition high handle models today’s Sure, today. use in switchers planet? Itwasavideoproduction switcher. the destroys that weapon the actuate to on-screen used was device what guess you Can Alderann. of planet home Leia’s Princess of destruction Star’s Death the showed clip The forms theverynature ofwhat televisionisinthe21stCentury. actively engage in viewer input not only makes the core on-air show stronger, but also trans- streams. revenue new important generates also it but engagement, viewer increasethis content wasted otherwise publishing does only Not online interviews. extended post-show and with clips unaired of continue playback efforts chats, these too, show, the After production. of flow the efforts these into integrated is and show’sproducersfeedback on-air the the to returned is fact, viewers from In generate iPad. or laptop a as such screen, second a on ments develop- show-related discussing and monitoring and TV on watching are who viewers have would otherwise that viewers with engagement been previously impossible. of level a build to help generally interestpreviewto all stills, and snippets video select with productionon-air the and arousing sites, and tweets fan incoming monitoring trailers, production own their workin at hard are specialists media new air, shows these before Hours of production. aspect vital a already is channels distribution new these to content appropriate delivering how obvious become would instantly today,it on-air shows TV profitable unique content. Facebook posts, tweets, posts on Google+ and more — each of which demands its own Webstreams,include to TV Today,linear channel. beyond television goes alinear show a on out play than more much so for done is production modern because That’s rate. And that’s precisely where we at NewTek are headed with the design of our integrated pro- The odd thing is that the production switcher in that old clip isn’t all that different from the The other day, I was surfing around the Web and came upon a YouTube clip from the original In effect, this leveraging of the to Internet stream video clips, publish still image grabs and reaching are shows more and More airs. show the when cease don’t efforts These Indeed, if one were to look closely at some of the highest-dollar, most-popular and accu- more far be would Outs” “Program phrase ear,the the on hard so weren’t it If o much more a production switcher. requiredis what describe to way inadequate of an seem to “Programcome has Out” business. production video the in years few past the over transpired has thing funny released in 1977 (and subsequently known as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope New A IV: Episode Wars Star

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