Sony XDCAM HD System Gives “Wired Science” Series The Right Chemistry For Capturing And Editing Content

Tapeless HD Workflow Increases Image Quality, Eases Multi-camera Color Matching and Reduces Editing Time

PARK RIDGE, N.J., Feb., 2008 – The new PBS series “WIRED Science” covers a diverse mix of topics, including news segments on health, physics and chemistry; expert interviews; and even scientific demonstrations of what puts the “glow” in glowsticks.

To handle this range, the show’s creative team chose the most flexible and efficient production system they could find: Sony’s XDCAM™ HD Professional Disc System. The optical-disc-based system was used to shoot the show’s premiere season, which is currently airing. According to the production team, the HD tapeless workflow offers unique efficiencies for capturing and editing material that far exceed their previous tape-based experiences.

The team, headed by Gordon Bell, vice president of engineering and operations at KCET-TV in Los Angeles, shot more than 300 hours of footage for the 10-week series using three Sony PDW-F350 HD optical camcorders.

Bell favored the camera for its small, lightweight design, SD/HD switchable recording and true 24P look, as well as special features like time lapse and slow shutter.

The system’s flexibility also allowed the crew to shoot footage from multiple vantage points simultaneously.

Bell noted that instead of having to stop shooting and match up the white balance for each camera when the scene changed, the crew could simply instruct each other via walkie talkie to dial in a specific color temperature so all cameras would match.

Additionally, the immediate, random access to digitized material enabled the crew to turnaround footage quickly.

“The file-based nature of the PDW-F350 camcorder is a definite asset, making it possible to take a proxy file, flip it into the editing system, start editing immediately and eliminate the amount of digitizing time,” Bell said. “This is a huge cost savings in man power and tape stock. When we were in the field shooting, we could review thumbnails right there and reshoot if necessary. The proxy video on the discs could be reviewed using the Sony PDZ-1 viewer for the purposes of logging and transcribing thus reducing or eliminating the need for dubs of any kind.”

The “WIRED Science” team also uses Sony’s HVR-V1U HDV professional camcorders to capture specific shots that required smaller or more mobile equipment.

To find more information or to see footage from the “Wired Science” shoots, visit www.sony.com or www.pbs.org/wiredscience.