COMM 3650 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Camera Operator, Broadcast Engineering, Wheellock
9 May 2018
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Studio Camera and Floor Director
Pedestal-mounted camera units are heavy, tethered to the control room through a patch panel
via a thick camera cable, locked into position with at least five separate locking mechanisms,
and expensive. The wheel lock prevents the wheel from moving. The appropriate spot to grab,
push, and steer the camera is the “pedestal steering wheel”. Just about all studio camera
units will have a pedestal or column lock that prevents the camera from moving up and down.
On the pedestal head, two more locks are common - the tilt lock and the pan lock. One more
lock may be present - the master lock - although no all units have one.
The viewfinder on the camera “shows” the operator what the camera “sees.” Located on the
front of the viewfinder will be a tally light, and when it’s “on” it means the camera is selected to
video program - the camera is hot, active, or live. The viewfinder can also be used to monitor
either one or two channels of return video - program video is routed as return video in a one-
channel system, but in a 2-channel system, the second channel of return video can be used to
monitor preview or to view the output of a second M/E bank - thus, the Camera Operator can
frame a shot for a specific effect.
Once the camera is powered up, the internal imaging chips - charged-coupled devices
(CCDs) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOSs) - will need to be tuned and
balanced with the other cameras through the CCUs. The Broadcast Engineer will white-
balance the cameras.
Intercom
The basic “wired” intercom unit has 3 parts:
● The headset
● The beltpack
● And an XLR cable that will hook in to the patch panel
The “wireless” version has the headset and beltpack that has a built-in wireless
receiver/transmitter.
It is common to operate a 2-channel intercom system (sometimes called the PL, party-line) so
that the Director can isolate certain crew members on a particular channel.
Camera Operations
Drag or Friction is the relative resistance the pedestal head will give when a Camera Operator
attempts to pan or to tilt. The camera operator often has to “set focus”- - to zoom in as far as
possible to the target (usually an anchor’s eye - it has a lot of detail) and get that image super
crisp.
The camera operator may use a shot sheet (list of shots) as a reminder of the progression and
sequence of compositions needed for a given program. It’s important for the camera operator to
anticipate the Director, not just react to directing commands.
Pan - left and right
Tilt - up and down
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Pedestal-mounted camera units are heavy, tethered to the control room through a patch panel via a thick camera cable, locked into position with at least five separate locking mechanisms, and expensive. The wheel lock prevents the wheel from moving. The appropriate spot to grab, push, and steer the camera is the pedestal steering wheel . Just about all studio camera units will have a pedestal or column lock that prevents the camera from moving up and down. On the pedestal head, two more locks are common - the tilt lock and the pan lock. One more lock may be present - the master lock - although no all units have one. Once the camera is powered up, the internal imaging chips - charged-coupled devices (ccds) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (cmoss) - will need to be tuned and balanced with the other cameras through the ccus. The broadcast engineer will white- balance the cameras. The basic wired intercom unit has 3 parts:
