Mark Schubin discussed the intersection of TV technology and opera, and live broadcasting of the NYC Metropolitan Opera (Mark’s Emmy-winning day job), following the 2009 HPA Tech Retreat. By popular acclaim, he has posted his HPA presentation in PDF form (alternate link: http://data.memberclicks.com/site/hopa/2009_TR_Pres_Schubin_MetOpera.pdf), and a link to a SMPTE Toronto Section webcast of his very similar presentation last December.

The webcast is a WMV-format linked slideshow and video stream; it works fine in Windows. On Mac it doesn’t work at all in Safari 4 beta (at least on my PPC Mac; YMMV), while in Firefox the video opens up in a QuickTime Window (assuming you have the Flip4Mac WMV plugins), unlinked from the slideshow; best to download the HPA preso PDF and flip through it while Mark talks, or manually advance the slides on the website.

The webcast is an unedited meeting recording; Mark’s talk starts at the 21-minute mark. It’s worth the wait; Mark is an entertaining speaker, and the presentation is amusing, informative, and at times terrifying: you’ll never feel justified complaining about technical hurdles or short turnarounds on your live broadcasts ever again, after seeing what Mark & Co. go through on a weekly basis.