Earth: The Power of The Planet

Tuesday 27th November 21.00
2.4M viewers, 9.7% Audience Share
(Slot Average for Tues 21.00 - 21.30 = 2.16M viewers, 9% Audience Share)

Radio Times:
2/5 - Atmosphere
Dr Iain Stewart's hyped-up, over-enthusiastic delivery could be a turn-off if the visuals in this series didn't deliver everything he promises so loudly. "Tornados are like giant whirlpools!" he gasps dramatically. But the remark is accompanied by amazing footage that confirms just that. Then: "We live at the bottom of an ocean of air!" But who'd disagree after seeing the shots of clouds swirling over the Earth's surface like waves breaking on the shore? The globetrotting Stewart is examining the Earth's atmosphere - how it shapes our planet, creates our weather and what its relationship with life is. It's breathtaking, racing from one sensational sequence to another. You simply won't believe the acrobatics of an "air surfer", the spectacular lightning show in Argentina and the pillar of flame shooting up out of a frozen Siberian lake (it's fuelled by trapped methane gas, in case you were wondering).

Read more here

Dodeca Camera: 360 Immersive Video

This is incredible! Dodeca 11 lensed camera to generate 360 immersive media.

If you want your audience to feel as though they are on location with you then check this out. It provides true 360 immersive video - panning within live action footage.

See the demonstration video for Humpback Whales, it blew me away. Other demo's here: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/

Imagine having this camera on a jeep while filming Big Cats, out filming Killer Whales hunting or placed amongst a badger set at night.

http://www.immersivemedia.com/

Also see their Geoimmersive Ruotes being produced in association with Google Maps: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/onlinecities/

The UK Supplier is TX Immersive Ltd who currently have 4 cameras in the UK.
http://www.tx-i.eu/

They also have another company called Transmission TX who have worked with remote live feedback, e,g, from cameras attached to Sherpas on Everest.

OUTPUT
Each Dodeca camera outputs high res jpegs at 480 lines, when the images are blended together it can create an image of 1100 lines which I am informed equates to 1080i HD.
The frame rate can be adjusted to create timelapse or slomo.

It has a live output but it does require blending time before immersive interaction. This could be done on a laptop in the field. The current base station records upto 6 hours of material at one time.

The dodeca camera can be worn and steadycams and stabalisers are available.
You can also operate it remotely - e.g. setup in the middle of a seal or penguin colony and record and operate from a kilometer away.

COST
Camera costs 80,000 pounds to buy so you might be best to dry hire - after a two week training course, (or wet hire with a trained user)

PLATFORM
Currently working on Flash in aticipation of Flash 10 released next year.
Phil Windley has some kit for getting live and store and foward media back from the field.

There are plugins available for the Open TV (Sky) platform, which would allow playback and control of immersive 360 degree video on the current generation of Sky Plus and HD boxes.

WEIGHT
Base unit is 10-15 kilograms
Also need to take recorder unit in a backpack.

Paul Williams

Dodeca Camera: 360 Immersive Video

This is incredible! Dodeca 11 lensed camera to generate 360 immersive media.

If you want your audience to feel as though they are on location with you then check this out. It provides true 360 immersive video - panning within live action footage.

See the demonstration video for Humpback Whales, it blew me away. Other demo's here: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/

Imagine having this camera on a jeep while filming Big Cats, out filming Killer Whales hunting or placed amongst a badger set at night.

http://www.immersivemedia.com/

Also see their Geoimmersive Ruotes being produced in association with Google Maps: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/onlinecities/

The UK Supplier is TX Immersive Ltd who currently have 4 cameras in the UK.
http://www.tx-i.eu/

They also have another company called Transmission TX who have worked with remote live feedback, e,g, from cameras attached to Sherpas on Everest.

OUTPUT
Each Dodeca camera outputs high res jpegs at 480 lines, when the images are blended together it can create an image of 1100 lines which I am informed equates to 1080i HD.
The frame rate can be adjusted to create timelapse or slomo.

It has a live output but it does require blending time before immersive interaction. This could be done on a laptop in the field. The current base station records upto 6 hours of material at one time.

The dodeca camera can be worn and steadycams and stabalisers are available.
You can also operate it remotely - e.g. setup in the middle of a seal or penguin colony and record and operate from a kilometer away.

COST
Camera costs 80,000 pounds to buy so you might be best to dry hire - after a two week training course, (or wet hire with a trained user)

PLATFORM
Currently working on Flash in aticipation of Flash 10 released next year.
Phil Windley has some kit for getting live and store and foward media back from the field.

There are plugins available for the Open TV (Sky) platform, which would allow playback and control of immersive 360 degree video on the current generation of Sky Plus and HD boxes.

WEIGHT
Base unit is 10-15 kilograms
Also need to take recorder unit in a backpack.

Paul Williams

Rip Books to PDF

Put your entire library on a USB stick! This would be wonderful if only I could justify spending a thousand pounds. It's easy to rip CD's or DVD's but most people can't rip books. This device aims to make that a thing of the past by letting you make PDFs at 500 pages per hour, if you can turn them fast enough.
http://booksnap.atiz.com/

Blue Planet Live: Dates announced

Dates announced for 'The Blue Planet Live!' concerts taking place next year.
Visit theBluePlanetLive.com to book your tickets and enjoy the amazing images from the BBC Natural History Unit and the wonderful specially composed music by George Fenton.

My Britain: Video clips from across Britain (BETA)

Being developed (Beta version) not for general release: http://extdev.bbc.co.uk/mybritain

My Britain is a location-based video clip player that dives in to the BBC archive.The service allows users to explore on an individual clip bases or take journeys across the country by theme, drawing connections between BBC programmes past and present. This prototype contains 400 clips.

It's a location-based service the places clips on a map. Categorised in to topics you can find BBC clips by place. But they have also created new narratives that allow you to watch clips in 'journeys' across the country. 'Extreme British Sports' for example looks at the curious British pastimes from Bog Snorkling to Coal Carrying, taken from programmes broadcast over the last 30 years.

Nature UK Live on BBC.co.uk

Go to www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/ to find, browse and explore the best of British nature from across the BBC.

What is Nature UK? It's a new site developed and launched by a predominantly Bristol team for Science & Nature online. It is an experimental approach to delivering the best Nature content from across the BBC. It includes videos, photos, radio pieces and articles from News, TV, Radio 4 and local websites. Its launch coincides with lots of activity on TV celebrating the wonders of British wildlife such as The Nature of Britain and Autumnwatch and integrates the Breathing Places campaign.

The site is continually evolving as we roll out new features and functions and original material over the next few months.

Autumnwatch

Thursday 15th November 20.00 BBC2
3.3M viewers, 13.8% Audience Share

Radio Times:
In the final episode, Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and Simon King reflect on the highs and lows of the past fortnight. The team give tips about how to enjoy Autumn for yourself. There is information about applying for a Breathing Places grant from the Big Lottery Fund where you live.

Steve Leonard: My Life With Animals

Sunday 4th November 17.30 BBC2
2.4M viewers, 12.9% Audience Share

Steve Leonard is the ultimate animal action hero: a practising vet, with a passion for pitching himself against some of nature's most incredible athletes. He's raced with cheetahs, swum with sharks and thrown himself from a hot air balloon on the tail of a peregrine falcon! We meet Steve to find out more about his most memorable moments and the stories behind these amazing encounters.

The Nature of Britain: Woodlands

Wednesday 14th November 21.00 BBC1
4.5Mviewers, 18.6% Audience Share

Radio Times:
6/8 - Woodland
Alan Titchmarsh enters our ancient woodlands to discover beautiful butterflies, dormice and a bird with a beak like a pair of pliers. He reveals the secrets of the central character in all this drama, on whom all the creatures of the forest depend - the trees.

Nature UK Goes Live on BBC.co.uk

Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/ to find, browse and explore the best of British nature from across the BBC.

What is Nature UK? It's a new site developed and launched by a predominantly Bristol team for Science & Nature online. It is an experimental approach to delivering the best Nature content from across the BBC. It includes videos, photos, radio pieces and articles from News, TV, Radio 4 and local websites. Its launch coincides with lots of activity on TV celebrating the wonders of British wildlife such as The Nature of Britain and Autumnwatch and integrates the Breathing Places campaign.

The site is continually evolving as we roll out new features and functions and original material over the next few months.

A Virtual Woodland - The Future of TV online?

Sophie Stafford posted a link on the Love Earth Blog to a fantastic little website site this morning - http://www.upmforestlife.com/

This website is brilliant - a televisual experience online, exactly where television is heading - interactive storylines with the viewer controlling the stories path. Interesting, informative, pretty, and with lots of clickability and flashy bits!


Sophie Stafford writes:
"You follow a path through a tranquil Finnish forest, complete with bogs, brooks and glades, and each new vista is strewn with little 'species stars'. These bring up information boxes on the animals and plants living in the forest, many of which also play calls. Some species even have videos clips, so you can watch red fox cubs playing, silver-studded blue butterflies sipping from a puddle, as well as majestic elk.If you fancy a spot of virtual birdwatching, you can enjoy dunnocks and willow warblers singing, experience the common crane's noisy display, and catch a glimpse of a black woodpecker or Tengmalm's owl.The forest is managed for both biodiversity and wood products, and you can learn a lot about sustainable tree management as you continue your exploration, including thinning, harvesting and transport to the mill.It’s good to know that all the paper for Radio Times comes from this wonderful woodland."

Nick Baker's Weird Creatures: The Invisible Lizard

Friday 2nd November, 20.00, C5
0.8M viewers, 3.5% Audience Share

Radio Times: 5/8
Wildlife documentary series in which naturalist Nick Baker hunts down some of the strangest creatures on the planet. Nick is on a turbo-charged chase through Madagascar in search of chameleons - the so-called masters of disguise. Nick wants to find one of these 'invisible lizards', Brookesia, the smallest of them all, in order to bust a few myths and uncover the mystery surrounding this incredible lizard.