NBC replaces Betacam for PD150 and VX2000 HOMEPAGE GLOBAL-DVC

DVC LEDEN INFORMATIE BULLETIN              ©Van der Meer Video/Global-DVC  PRIJZEN ONDER VOORBEHOUD     NBC vervangt Betacam voor PD150 ================================= Een opmerkelijk nieuwtje op www.( for our new mailadres please see header on our new site www.global-dvc.nl ). NBC gaat voor zijn nieuwsitems/ ENG reportages (Electronic News Gathering)alle vertrouwde Betacams definitief vervangen voor de veel handteerbaarder en kwalitatief uitstekende Sony VX2000 en PD150 camera's. Het bespaart hun ongeveer 75 miljoen USdollars. Niet mis. Montage onderweg gebeurd op de Apple G4 met Final Cut Pro. Een definitieve kentering in de professionele wereld. Voor ons niet echt opzienbarend, wij waren al langer overtuigd van de geweldige kwaliteit. Het is wel het einde van een tijdperk. Niet alleen NBC achtten miniDV en DVcam goed genoeg, ook bij de BBC worden deze camera's nu volop gebruikt. Hierbij de correspondentie over deze NBC stap. Opvallend ook dat de immer strikte USA Union, de contracten dusdanig hebben aangepast, dat ook producers in het kader van een "One man Band" de camera en geluid zelfstandig mogen gaan hanteren! Bron mail en reacties op hot news www.( for our new mailadres please see header on our new site www.global-dvc.nl ) It truly is the passing of an era. Since DV came on the scene I've been amazed at what could be done with this format and just how good today's cameras are. Yesterday, I received this email about a discussion among some of the best Network freelance videographers out there one of whom is the best I've ever worked with, Bob Brandon. You may not know some of the names but, I think you'll find it interesting.  Jon Burkhart Bob Brandon wrote: > Just got this tonight, e-mailed from Bob Abrahamsen, > e-mailed to him. > Self-explanatory. > The following is a message from Dale Hancock that I got > today......scary, huh???? > Jim Cummins called a freelance meeting this morning to drop a bombshell...As of > today, that bureau will no longer shoot Beta of any kind...we are now > all DV..(Thank God I just bought a camera that can also do DV) Neil Shapiro is > starting with Dallas and is going to turn all of the NBC company away from > Beta into DV.. as you can guess, they are going to pay far less for the > gear which has to fit into three cases so there's no excess baggage > charge..he believes he can save NBC $75 million dollars with this change...they > have also shipped Clint Houston a DV Cam...little set of lights and small > tripod...he will be doing all of the speaker phones/building shots ect in > Houston from now on. Al Henkel has been assigned a dv cam and will go on One Man > bands on some elements ...same with Weidman who comes back from Israel > next week...so now, you have producers shooting NN spots and that's ok with the > new union contract ------------------------------------------------------ As I passed along earlier, NBC has started using DV for news coverage. It's a pilot project begun in one news bureau. The camera of choice is the Sony VX2000 and the PD150.  They were editing in the bureau on an avid media composer and have just gotten a new G-4 version of it.  In the field they're using an Apple Titanium G-4 with Final Cut Pro. When the network wants to use local footage, they are able to capture Betacam SP which is the format most of their affiliates still use. So DV is indeed ready for prime time. I've always felt it was technology considerably better than Betacam SP.  It was scoffed at by many professionals. Now it has become reality because of the economic necessity of trying to hold down the cost of news gathering. NBC will save millions of dollars a year in shipping cost for the smaller, lighter equipment, PLUS the producers will now be doing some of the shooting.  Aloha, Jon Burkhart   HOMEPAGE GLOBAL-DVC