So we’ve got these Dolby E Decoders and Encoders at IMG MCR.

We need to use them more and more for various client requests – but for the last year or so Richard Bagnall was the only human in Chiswick who understood how to make them do something useful. We all had a look at them and most of us are still clueless as to how they work.

In many attempts he was kind enough to explain to me what we as operators need to do in order to utilise them, and I’m exicted to say that last week something made CLICK in my brain when I understood the magic behind them: they’re not complicated as such – they’re just incredibly badly labelled ni the Cortex system!

Let me pass on this essential knowledge in this guide and assure you this: if you know how to work an Axon Shuffler, you sure can operate one of these Dolby Cards!

What’s Dolby E again?

It’s a system to encode up to 8 discreet audio channels into one data stream which occupies only one AES pair. Undecoded it sounds like rather horrible white noise at full level. You use a Dolby E Encoder to create this stream and a Decoder respectively to turn said stream back into discreet channels.

We use the 8 channel system here because we’re recording our audio in 20 bit. Modern Digital Betacam machines do this too as do HD Cam / HD Cam SR machines and our EVSes.

Axon Crates and Cortex Software

In our current setup, all our audio gadgets (such as Procs and Shufflers) as well as certain video equipment are all fairly generic cards that sit it crates made by a company called Axon in The Netherlands. We communicate with these cards via our software called Cortex.

We do this every time when we want to setup our Shufflers for example. Playing with the Dolby cards is done in exactly the same way: pick your favourite position (far left or far right) and look for Cortex on the desktop.

Our Dolby Cards can be found at the bottom of the list on the left.

Dolby E Decoders

There are three cards per decoder in total but we really only care about a signle one:  the Embedder. That’s the card in charge of inserting our audios back into our SDI video stream.

They look exactly like the ones we use on our Shufflers and Procs, don’t they? That’s because technically they ARE. You already know how to operate them – how exciting! Just as a refresher: Embedder A/B determine where the first 8 channels will leave the card, while Embedder C/D do the same for audios 9-16. Easy.

The NEW thing for our Dolby scenario is the dropdown menu just in front of each channel selector called Source: this box selects the input into the embedder card  which on our Procs and Shufflers is always set to Rail 1.

Rails and Locals

The Source dropdown box contains three words we’re not familiar with: Rail, Local and AddOn. This is where we need to replace a couple of words with something more human. Let’s forget AddOn immediately – we won’t ever use it.

Let’s think of Rails and Locals simply as inputs – that’s all they are. Rail 1 and Rail 2 are phiscal inputs at the back of the card, while Local A and Local B come from the bus of the crate in which the cards are seated. Think of it as internal connections between cards in the same crate rather than cables sticking out out at the back (like Rail 1 and Rail 2).

It gets even easier: we’re not using Rail 2 or Local B. All we’ve wired up for our needs are Rail 1 and Local A.

So Rail 1 is what we switch into our Decoder from the matrix. Say we’re switching AJDF v52 into Dolby Decoder 1, all 16 audio tracks are available via Rail 1. We can now route them to the output channels we want. If we were to leave all our Source boxes on Rail 1 and switch out channels 1-16 as they are (1 onto 1, 2 onto 2, etc), the card would simply pass the audio without doing anything.

To complete my migration from PC to Mac I’ve downloaded the trial version of the latest Premiere Pro CS 5.5 yesterday. I bought CS 3 a few years ago and haven’t regretted it, but at work we have CS 4 and now CS 5 and I can see the feature improvements and benefits to our workflow.

As last time, this is a rather large expense for me (£285 for the upgrade, which is still better than £810 for the full version) – however Premiere is a fascinating powerful programme and I know how helpful it is.

My old version has made its money back many times over so I’m sure this version won’t disappoint me either. In fact, I’m quite excited about the new options in version 5.5 and the idea of having it on my laptop.

Here are my hands-on notes, my first impressions and my two cents about Adobe’s rival to Final Cut Pro.

For the geeks: I’m using Premiere on a MacBook Pro with 8GB of Ram, 64 bit OS (Lion) and an Intel Dual Core i7 processor at 2.7 GHz.

I was more than happy with Premiere CS 3 on my aging PC and I wouldn’t have upgraded right now – had I not discovered the amazing world of Macintosh. I’ve tried my share of virtualisation options but I find that approach a bit clunky for creative endeavours (albeit impressive).

Since I’ve already side-graded to the Mac versions of Photoshop CS 5 and Dreamweaver CS 5.5, all that’s missing in my arsenal is a good video editor. Getting tired of learning new platforms every six months, and hearing too many mixed reviews about Final Cut X thought I’d stick with what I know.

I’ve been a Premiere user since version 5 (when it wasn’t CS) so that’s been well over a decade now. With today’s powerful hardware there has never been a better time to edit high quality videos on laptops. CS 3 had its faults but when you know what makes it “not crash” you can get by well. Importing files with odd codecs and mixing them on the timeline really doesn’t play well with CS 3. I’m thinking of footage from my plastic cameras like the Harinezumi or my Keyfob jobby  here.

The New Adobe Media Encoder

When CS 4 came out we got it at work, and one of the major changes was the addition of Media Encoder. I loved it but not much else had changed. There had been more export presets and codecs, many of which we never touch due to specific client requirements. We are using Media Encoder so much these days, probably a hot property across the industry – so I’m very happy about the changes I can see in CS 5.5.

In comparison to CS 3 and before, you could only work on one file at a time – when Premiere was encoding, you couldn’t setup your next job (i.e. go back into the timeline and edit). This seriously slowed down workflow. Media Encoder is a queue which you send a job to and start it at your own leisure. Since it’s a separate programme, you can keep editing while the encoder does some work. That’s great already.

But the new Media Encoder is like having Pro Coder thrown in with Premiere – that alone is worth the money for the upgrade! Media Encoder is now a standalone programme that can be used with files other than Premiere Projects. This is huge!

It loves to batch encode anything – which is such a helpful feature for a chunk of files your client brings along on a hard disk and demands they need to be done by tomorrow morning. No problem: drag them into a watched folder, hit “start queue” and let the computer burn the midnight oil.

It also gets less in the way as Media Encoder CS 4 did (or so I find) and it’s super speedy, yet takes a back seat while you’re working on other applications. And I’m on a 13″ laptop here!

Content Delivery Integration

Under File Export – Media, you set all your video and audio parameters, as well as where your output file should live – but with one incredible addition: you can now also tell Premiere where to FTP the file!

This my friends is big news: it means Premiere CS 5.5 is now becoming something comparable to Content Agent. Not exactly something we associate with video editing but rather a file delivery suite.

Again you get this thrown in – major brownie points go to Adobe for this addition! I am not sure if this feature was present in CS 4 or CS 5 – if it was, well that’s even better

Yes, you CAN export to tape

The Export to Tape option is still there by the way – it’s been removed from Final Cut X but the broadcast industry is far from tapeless even in 2011. This has caused major uproar among Final Cut Pro editors who are probably as confused about X as I am: Are Apple abandoning Pro and Studio? Is X an amateur version? If so, where does iMovie fit in?

Let’s not worry about this for now. Premiere Pro CS 5.5 can export to tape, that’s all we need to know at this point (and before you ask, it’s greyed out because I haven’t got a tape deck attached to my laptop right now). This is such a welcome addition to my vast DV tape library that needs some transferring, weeding out and cutting down.

You can of course import from tape as well – as before either via FireWire or a connected HD-SDI card.

Well before the European launch of the Nintendo 3DS and many announcements I kept thinking: what will the impact of this device be on the broadcast industry?

3D television is spreading like wildfire and appears to be the next “in-thing” – if it wasn’t for overpriced TV sets that require you to wear sunglasses. This major hurdle needs to be overcome for 3D broadcasts to be successful.

Nintendo’s new handheld console is at the time of writing the ONLY display out there that can give viewers the desired experience without the need for 3D goggles.

Partnership deals with Disney, Warner, Dreamworks and even broadcasters such as Sky and Eursport have already been signed, which tells us that “gaming” isn’t the sole focus of this puppy. When Sainsbury’s had the Nintendo 3DS on offer earlier this week I couldn’t resist and bought one.

Let’s see how (and if) it works.

How does it work?

Parallax Barrier Autostereoscopy

The Nintendo 3DS utilises a technology known as parallax barrier autostereoscopy. This means that there’s one (or several) areas where a 3D image can be seen. Move out of that area and the effect is gone – which is why this system can only be appreciated by one viewer at a time. In our case we’re talking about 10-15 degrees of view.

You have a depth slider with which the 3D effect can be increased or decreased (or entirely swicthed off). I think it works incredibly well when the slider is somewhere in the middle, however some of my colleagues found it “does their head in”. They found this is especially true at scene cuts for full motion video.

Images appear to be floating in front of and behind the upper screen just like we know it from 3D screenings in IMAX cinemas.

I have to say this works really well if you’re looking at images or movies, or if you’re playing games in which you’re mainly watching the screen; however when you’re playing a game like Pilotwings or Street Fighter where you inevitably move the console in your hands the effect is a little irritating due to the very narrow viewing angles you have to hit for perfect vision.

Quick History Lesson: Nintendo and 3D Gaming

The Nintendo Virtual Boy. On sale for 6 months in 1995.

When I did my homework on this subject it came as a surprise to me that Nintendo has been keen on getting involved with 3D gaming since the late eighties – incidentally as long as the TV broadcasters wanted to make 3D happen. It never came to fruition due to lack of displays that could support 3D.

Nintendo released the Virtual Boy in 1995 in Japan and the US but that product didn’t sell so well. Only a few years later the Gamecube came out – and can you believe it was capable of rendering 3D images? Again because there were to displays, this feature was never used by Gamecube titles – apart from Luigi’s Mansion.

Looks like Nintendo have at last got their wish and went to market in 3D with this puppy.

What’s in the box?

• Nintendo 3DS (obviously)
• telescopic stylus (inside the console)
• charging cradle
• standard 2GB SD card (inserted into the console)
• lots of documentation
• 6 mysterious AR cards

The inclusion of a charging cradle sends a subliminal message from the manufacturer: “We reckon you need to charge this thing A LOT – probably so much that the jack will get worn out so quick that we’d rather give you free a cradle instead”.

Stylus Galore - taken with the 3DS

The new stylus is made of metal and it’s much shorter than previous integrated plastic styli in models. However you can pull it apart to make it almost the same size as the DSi and DSi XL styli. I still prefer using a full length one though.

]]> http://www.versluis.com/2011/04/nintendo-3ds-no-glasses-required-its-like-futureworld-dude/feed/ 0 http://www.versluis.com/2011/01/adtec-rd-60-the-future-of-satelite-transmissions/ http://www.versluis.com/2011/01/adtec-rd-60-the-future-of-satelite-transmissions/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:35:58 +0000 Jay Versluis http://www.versluis.com/?p=4466

Since we started to explore the possibility of satelite transmissions in 32APSK last year, Adtec have been busy working on a new box that could potentially revolutionise the way we think about satellite receivers.

Imagine we could have 30% better pictures and 4x the amount of discreet audio channels than we currently have, but at the same time use the same amount of satellite space and hence maintain transmission cost? Or perhaps reduce the costs and keep the current picture quality?

Well the Adtec RD-60 makes this possible: by combining H264/MPG4 and 32 APSK instead of the current broadcast standard of MPEG2 and 8PSK you can save money or increase the quality of your transmissions. Too good to be true? We’ve tried it – and it works

The unit is currently in its final testing stage and I was one of the lucky geeks to get my hands on this new puppy. In this article I’ll share my brief experiences and will talk you through what this new IRD has to offer.

This review is based on a courtesy unit that was given to us at IMG for testing. We’re using Software Version 1.02.14 E

History

Adrian from TV2Go told me that the boys at Adtec have been working on this unit since February 2010. Shortly after the features had been decided upon, hardware was manufactured and the first unit was available to selected testers in late 2010. At the time of writing it is mid January 2011.

Features

What makes this 1U unit so special isn’t only the blue flashy lights at the front. Apart from an excellent web interface we have

• 2 RF inputs
• 4 ASI inputs
• IPTV input
• 6 pairs of audio – that’s 12 discreet channels on the output
• integrated Dolby E Decoder
• 4 HD SDI outputs
• GigE and Ethernet connections (you can set seperate IPs and gateways for these)
• 2x USB ports for future use (use your imagination)

The back of the unit in action... please excuse the cable mess!

The first thing that strikes me is the web interface. It’s easy and intuitive, even though the idea that you have to “log in” to the unit may seem strange. It’s because under the hood the RD-60 is running a Linux Kernel which requires every user to log on to the system before you can make changes. Default credentials here are “adtec” as user name and “none” as password.

I would think that if you’re working across several units, you could pass those credentials via the URL – and as soon as I find out how I’ll let you know.

The web interface itself is very straightforward – just type in the IP address of your receiver and off you go. I’ll show you this in a screencast in more detail.

Many of the RD-60′s features can bought via license keys – so if you need that integrated Dolby Decoder you can save a buck or two. That keeps the price of the base unit down and makes upgrading at a later stage easy and convenient.

Input Selection

Once your signal is locked, you’ll see all available service on the input selection screen on your web interface. When I say “all” I really mean that – you could have an ASI stream, AND an RF stream AND even an IPTV stream connected on all inputs at the same time, and the RD-60 would show you all of those. Then you go ahead and select which one you’d like to unit to display.

This is different to the usual approach of telling an IRD which input to look at for services (like on the Tandberg 1290).

Audio Matrix built-in

The RD-60 has the potential to transmit 6 pairs of discreet audio. That’s… a LOT! At the same time, that’s what we’re dealing with today. It can offer those either as embedded groups with the video or AES pairs. But what it can also do is to map the channels.

So instead of you having to do this with another piece of equipment once the signal leaves your receiver, you can select which pair leaves on which group – job done! This is a nice approach and keeps it separate from PID selection. Imagine this in conjunction with a built-in Dolby E Decoder, where you could then map individual decoded channels.

Let’s take a look under the hood of two broadcast VT formats: both are called HDCAM, both do some form of HD, but apart from the operational differences, the funky coloured flap and two extra letters, what is the real difference between them? Let’s find out.

HDCAM (non-SR)

HDCAM was introduced by Sony ages ago in 1997. No other tape based HD broadcast format was around at the time, and it quickly became clear that one was needed for HDTV to succeed. The HDW-M2000 machines are based on the DVW-2000 series of VTRs and record with a datarate of 144 Mbps (that’s a 50% increase compared to Digital Betacam’s datarate of 96 Mbps). HDCAM features 4 audio channels and can handle all common framerates between 24 and 30Fps.

But here’s the snag: a full HD frame is 1920×1080 pixels. To keep the datarate low enough to put this on tape, HDCAM – like its consumer cousin HDV – records frames at 1440×1080 pixels, where each pixel is horizontally squashed and expanded 1.33 times upon playback. The same idea is employed in 16:9 SD signals, where each “square” pixel is stretched 1.78 times to fit the wide screen aspect ratio.

In addition, HDCAM uses the same DCT compression that Digital Betacam uses very successfully. But unlike its predecessor, HDCAM compresses the YUV signal in 3:1:1 rather than 4:2:2. That’s not so good – but again the aim is to keep the datarate low.

Tape stock is essentially the same as Digital Betacam with the same particle density, and the only difference is a bright orange flap and some more holes at the bottom.

In a nutshell: HDCAM doesn’t actually record every detail that the HD-SDI signal potentially has to offer – so a completely new recording format needed to be created. Sticking with the same cassette shells made famous with the introduction of large Betacam SP tapes in 1986, Sony gave us…

HDCAM SR

HDCAM SR (as in “Superior Resolution”) was introduced 6 years after HDCAM and hit the market in 2003. SR records with a choice of 440 or 880 Mbps, which is over three times as much data as HDCAM.

The format prominently features 12 individual audio tracks and has a built-in Dolby E decoder (i.e. feed it Dolby E as an audio pair, and see the result as decoded single channels if you choose). The SRW-5000 VT machine looks and behaves completely different than its predecessors, which gives you the first impression of a very different beast.

SR’s main advantage is the ability to record the full HD signal “as god made it”: Square 1920×1080 pixels in full 4:2:2, 4:4:4 or even 8:8:8 (it depends on what you feed it; 8:8:8 recording at 880Mbps is achieved by twice the tape speed). Instead of DCT, SR uses the more efficient MPEG4/H264 compression for video (audio is uncompressed).

“Why would I need to record that much data, Jay? Isn’t that a bit overkill?” – Well it depends on your application. If you’re shooting on SR and you’re using it as a replacement for film, then you want to capture everything the HD image sensor has to offer. HDCAM SR can so this for you. SR tapes also come with a pre-attached Tele-File sticker, which contains a 1K memory chip to store meta data about your tape.

12 audio channels give multi-lingual broadcasters a distinct advantage, not to mention less deterioration in post production. At the time of writing it looks like HDCAM is now assumed to be a good TX delivery format, while SR is mainly used at the pre and post production stage.

Even though SR’s tape comes in Betacam cassettes, the particle density is twice as high as in HDCAM and Digital Betacam tape stock. Sony’s official stock brochure states: “We developed particles some 50% smaller than our previous best to capture wavelengths as small as 0.29mm — a human hair can be 300 times wider! The result is incredible performance: two times the output and 2.7 times the recording density of HDCAM tape”.

However, according to usage reports this higher density comes at a cost: minor shocks can cause severe impact on your precious recordings – which is why a new tape box has been introduced with the stock. Featuring a honeycomb pattern on the inside, sometimes even bubble wrap and tighter locks on the outside. Sony do not recommend for any stock to be re-used. That’s probably not feasible in reality, so beware of dropouts upon re-usage of your stock.

There you have it. Share your own experiences with HDCAM below if you feel like it.

Sources and Further Reading

Wikipedia’s page about the History of Betacam (covers HDCAM and SR)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Betacam

Forum Post at Creative Cow
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/240/3

SR Stock explained in detail:
http://www.tapeonline.com/faqs/hdcam
http://www.tapestockonline.com/hdcamtapefaqs.html

Official Sony SRW5000 page (HDCAM SR VTR)
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-videorecorders/cat-rechdcamsr/product-SRW5000/

Official Sony HDW-M2000 page (HDCAM VTR)
http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/cinealta/post/hdwm2000.shtml

Official Sony HDCAM SR stock brochure:
http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/mkt/recmedia/brochures/prodbroch_hdcamsr.pdf

This is how nPSK works...

We made some television history the other night: in a test for the NFL International Distribution, Adrian from TV2Go and us folks at IMG Mediahouse have successfully brought a 32APSK encoded signal across the Atlantic, with a datarate of 30Mbps using a 9MHz carrier!

Since the start of the current NFL season in 2009, part of my job is to bring in feeds that originate in the US for an uplink stateside to NSS7. Our clients then downlink these feeds in Europe. In North America, DirectTV offers the NFL (and nearly 200 other channels) to domestic customers via their fleet of ten satellites. Using MPEG2 and H264 encoding, QPSK and 8PSK modulation are commonplace in satellite transmissions.

Ray was looking after this year's NFL season (I was behind the camera of my mobile phone)

However satellite bandwidth is expensive, and we’re dealing with demands of ever increasing datarates. Compression alone will only get us so far, so the only other way to increase throughput would be to increase phase modulation on the TX path. Lucky for us, the DVB-S2 spec has another trick or two up its sleeve.

Using 32APSK modulation and Newtec equipment, Adrian, Ray and I successfully brought over a stable 30Mbps connection using only a 9MHz carrier. With our 5.6m dish, carrier to noise was 18dB – which is not too shabby. Newtec kindly provided an NTC 2263 receiver for this, which provides an ASI output – so we had to wire it into a Tandberg 1290 IRD to decode the signal into SDI.

The results are gooood! In layman’s terms: 32APSK increases the amount of data that can be sent in comparison to 8PSK by about 30%: with 8PSK modulation on a 9MHz carrier, we’d be getting a maximum data rate of 20Mbps. In 32APSK we’re getting 30Mbps!

8PSK Gray Coding - imagine this x3 for 32APSK

As I understand it, 8PSK sends all bits in one phase revolution, or orbit. 16APSK uses twice as much using two orbits, and 32APSK uses THREE orbits. How exactly this works is beyond me – but it’s sure as hell exciting to see the results!

On the transmission front, Adrian was using an Adtec Encoder for this project. Although MPEG2 is commonly used in satellite transmissions, we were utilising MPEG4/H264 compression which is more efficient than MPEG2 – so that’s TWO new technologies in one fair swoop!

The Newtec seems to be the only demodulator that can currently cope with 32APSK downlinks. Even though the Tandbergs have 16APSK and 32APSK as an option in the Licensed Features list, I understand these are hardware upgrades, not software upgrades.

And speaking of Tandberg 1290 receivers, we encountered a slight problem: every once in a while (say every 10mins or so), the 1290 would glitch for a couple of seconds, as if it’s not coping with error correction (at least that’s what it looked like). Apparently this phenomenon happens because of i-frames sent at irregular intervals from the encoder. I understand that due to different on-board chipsets, the Tandberg motherboards 3.x are NOT causing these glitches, whereas the version 2.x do (at the time of writing, we currently have the latter ones here at IMG).

“But what’s the application, Jay? Why go through all that trouble and pay for a new infrastructure?” I hear you ask. Simple really: saving money. If you can use the same satellite space for more data, then you’ll be able to use a 6 MHz carrier instead of 9 MHz or provide more services in the same space. Adrian suggests carriers as narrow as 3MHz for decent broadcast quality – superb for news gathering.

We’re hoping to utilise 32APSK with MPEG4 for the forthcoming NFL season 2010/2011 starting in September. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Newtec NTC 2263 demodulator wedged between two Tandberg 1290 IRD's

My own notes, invaluable in times of severe panic

Sometimes a feed comes in, gets an English voiceover and is put straight to air on ESPN UK. But on Sunday, we pulled various aces from our sleeves to bring the Serie A “Milan Derby” to an expecting UK audience.

The feed comes in from Eutelsat W3 in HD, the studio for pre match presentation is SD, the commentators are on site in Milan and come in via ISDN. Question is: How do we synchronise comms with pictures, and how do we create HD graphics during the match?

We use pretty much EVERY piece of kit IMG Mediahouse has to offer, that’s how.

In this article, I’ll explain some of the challenges my dayjob in MCR has to offer. My colleagues and I feel like rockstars when a feat like this can successfully be pulled off, and I’m happy to say we did it once again. We’ve never done this particular route before, so it deserves a mention here.

First of all, the audio commentary will reach us instantly via 128 kbps ISDN circuit. Even though we have our man Paul Ryan on site, we have no influence on the picture circuit. It’s provided by Infront Media, who do a similar thing to the Italian Serie A football that we (IMG) do for the English Premier League: international distribution. This involves getting a feed from the stadium (either via fibre or satellite) to a dedicated facility, add graphics and potentially commentary and send it out for further satellite uplinks around the world.

more notes...

Here’s the snag: By the time we see the signal, it could potentially be bounced off two satellites, each path taking roughly one second. Take into consideration compression and decompressions along the way, the pictures could arrive roughly 2-4 seconds later than the commentary reaches us – how long exactly requires a sync test. At this point, we’re not sure if the host broadcasters will let us step in front of the camera.

Even so, one delay unit alone won’t be able to provide a full 4 seconds or longer should we need it, so we’ll have to plan for TWO units. Here’s the signal path:

• ISDN commentary comes in as analogue audio
• pass through a BEL delay unit (we’ll set this to 1000ms or one second for now – maximum here is 2400ms)
• delayed output needs to be converted via Proc Amp into embedded SDI audio for distribution around the building
• Proc goes into yet another Proc with option to delay a maximum of 2600ms
• this delayed Proc is onpassed to the Studio so commentary can end up on air eventually
• in addition, an UNDELAYED version straight from the ISDN unit is passed to the Studio so the presenters can interact with the commentators in real time

That’s audio sorted. Now let’s have a look at the video signal:

• The clean pictures come in off satellite in HD
• a downconverted version is sent to the Studio
• the HD feed is sent to a HD capable gallery, which is connected via TBU to the Studio Gallery (they’re in different buildings, and we’ve run out of tie lines by this point)
• we’ll create the HD graphics in one gallery, while audio gets mixed in the main studio
• we then take this dirty HD video feed and combine it with the audio from the SD Studio via an interesting bit of kit known to us as Shuffler 4
• Shuffler 4 (HD pictures plus Studio’s audio) are sent via HD SDI to ESPN TX at Arqiva Chalfont on dedicated fibres. We’re also providing an HD ASI feed via direct line to Arqiva Newman Street, and a downconverted SD backup feed is sent via BT Tower

Confused? That’s nothing! Various requests for recordings at various stages of the process require further audio shuffling and downconversions, but let’s not mention this here.

All that counts is that all went very well and our clients were happy.

Join me next week when I’ll tell you about an interesting 32APSK downlink test we did for NFL football.

Here’s a funny one…

I made this video on Xbox drive noise over a year ago. It has now had 55.000 views and 129 ratings on YouTube. Out of a sudden YouTube are inviting me to cash in on it.

It means that they’re eager to display adverts in the video and on the page. I can apply for this particular video only, and it won’t affect any of my other 130 videos in my account.

But here’s the snag:

if YouTube REJECT my application, the video and all its 462 comments video responses will be DELETED forever! It means that all my loyal fans will lose out on a smashing exposure on how bad Micro$oft and their rotten console is. It’s a bit like being in Vegas at the roulette table!

The sign-up tutorial is very nice and straightforward, and it outlines the copyright pitfalls one can get caught out by. In my case, it’s the inclusion of the Xbox 360 logo at the beginning and the end of the clip. I could argue it’s fair usage… but now that there’s money involved, bureaucrats may get a bit funny.

So what shall I do? Gamble and put everything on red, but risk losing it all? Or become a gazillionaire over the next 12 months?

Have your say below – and enjoy the video