“I love to remind our team that more eyes are actually watching the video, whether they're in the room, watching IMAG or at home watching on Apple TV or one of the other streaming services. So, video plays a major role in what we do, getting the gospel out,” says Shaun Miller, central production director for Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee.
The Panasonic AW-UW160 PTZ Camera and AW-RP150 PTZ Controllers have received the Church Production Road Tested Certification.
As part of Church Production’s Road Test Experience, Miller and his team at Rolling Hills have been evaluating the Panasonic AW-UE160 UHD 4K PTZ Camera. It features a one-inch 4K sensor and an optical low-pass filter, which reduces the moiré effect when using LED lights or LED displays. It also has a much-improved auto-focus that works great with auto-tracking and more than enough connectivity.
"Church online is our second largest campus making video critical." - Shaun Miller, central production director for Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee
“I was fascinated by the amount of connections and options on the back of the camera, including XLR for audio inputs and SFP for fiber, SDI, HDMI, all the various options for plugging into it, but also to the size. The thing is very form factor to what you're typically seeing in a PTZ, so I would've expected it to be much larger,” Miller explains.
Panasonic has also implemented a lot of features into this PTZ camera. The UE160 has 120 frames per second in HD and supports vlog, for users who want extra latitude and color grading to get that cinematic look.
But Miller says he was most surprised by the crop features. “So this is a 4K camera, so in our 1080 universe that we're running in, I'm actually getting multiple outputs from it. So, from one camera, I'm getting a wide shot and a tight shot on our pastor using the crop. Features like that in our workflow of fewer cameras, I can put one camera further back in the room and now it's the wide, it's the tight, all from a single source, but it comes into the switcher as two separate camera feeds.”
From one camera, I'm getting a wide shot and a tight shot on our pastor using the crop...all from a single source, but it comes into the switcher as two separate camera feeds.” - Shaun Miller, central production director for Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee
Miller says he’s also impressed that Panasonic has figured out how to make a PTZ camera broadcast-capable, in the sense that he can take a live panning shot and it looks like a manned camera. “It doesn't have the stutters and the stops and the speed up and the slowdowns that have plagued --- I felt like --- previous PTZ generations,” he says.
The Panasonic AW-UE160 also features an optical low-pass filter. “At first, I was like, cool, what's that? But after learning more about what it does, it actually is Panasonic's way of fixing the moire effect you get from LED walls behind your talent, your pastor or your worship leader, and it's pretty cool. We were using it even on some LED fixtures that we rented that were on stage that we're causing a flicker. And you hit that button and it goes away. It's magic!”
“It doesn't have the stutters and the stops and the speed up and the slowdowns that have plagued --- I felt like --- previous PTZ generations.” - Shaun Miller, central production director for Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee
Finally, to get smooth organic movement with a PTZ, the controller you're using is important. If you don't have enough tension on the joystick, then it's hard to get a nice smooth left-to-right or up-and-down. The same goes for the rockers, it's hard to get a good zoom in or out that's smooth and comes to a smooth stop. Miller says this is where the Panasonic AW-RP150 Remote Camera Controller comes in. “So, the Panasonic RP150 controller is a big upgrade from what I've seen in the past,” Miller concludes. “The joystick or the control unit for the pan and zoom and tilt is one of the best I've ever used. The sensitivity to it and the ability to do a soft smooth pan was phenomenal. And from the RP150, you can paint, which does your color correction. We were about to match it with our other branded broadcast cameras and it looked great, and all from this little control unit.”
>> To see Rolling Hill’s story, click here.
>> Here's more information on the Panasonic AW-RP150 Remote Camera Controller and the Panasonic AW-UE160 UHD 4K PTZ Camera.
