Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of the hardest-working programmers in media servers, Michael Zinman, owner of The Zinman Co. (zinmanco.com). His work can be seen on a wide variety of television shows ranging from awards shows like ESPN’s Espy Awards to game shows like NBC’s Minute to Win It. In addition to designing content and programming for broadcasts, Zinman also is a prolific software designer, the creator of iPhone apps including In Your Back Pocket and Genielux. I wanted to find out more, so I tracked him down for a discussion on how the role of the Media Server Programmer & Designer has evolved.
PLSN: I’ve been looking over your projects on your website, and I notice you’ve added even more since the last time I checked… you are definitely a very busy man!
Michael Zinman: 2010 was a great year and this year seems just as promising! Since last year, I’ve committed myself to only programming media servers, mostly for TV, with the occasional stint programming lighting on the side.
PLSN: How many people work at The Zinman Company?
MZ: I’m the only one here full-time. Many of the media server projects I do, I will hire techs and programmers on a per-show basis. The Zinman Co. also does a lot more than digital lighting. Typically, we come into a project as a complete turn-key solution: producing the content for all of the screens, providing all the equipment, and then programming the show. And we’re an architectural lighting design firm too — my other companies include Genielux (an equipment locator app for the iPhone), Zinman Software (which creates lighting-related apps and the Loops For Media Servers collection of HD content for media servers) and Faux Pixel Art (illustration and 3D rendering studio).
PLSN: And you write all those software apps yourself?
MZ: I do — or I will get it started, and then pass it along to programmers who can handle the integration of the web programming needed for some of the apps. Genielux is an example of this.
PLSN: what kind of content creation software do you like to use?
MZ: I typically use After Effects (AE) and Cinema 4D (C4D). I like C4D, as I’m able to export compositions into AE. I also know a lot more C4D animators, which makes it convenient to hire out animators on larger shows. In this case, I would start the C4D project (creating geometry, camera moves, etc), then pass it along for final details like lighting and shading. This workflow works very well for me. There are also a lot of AE users in Los Angeles too. And, of course, there’s Photoshop, Illustrator and Final Cut Pro that I use too.
PLSN: Where do you get your ideas for content?
MZ: I start every project no differently than if I were lighting a show. It’s important to receive the necessary documents like the resolution of the screens and their respective placement onstage prior to doing any work. There’s not a lot I can do if I don’t have this information, and it can take some time to nail down the final specs, as it usually is in budgeting while I’m trying to begin my work. Once I listen to the music, I usually already have a clear idea of what I want to do. Sometimes I may get direction from the artist or creative in production; which is very helpful. Regardless, I then create rough sketches and breakdown the music into a visual narrative. I may also create renderings as a visual aid for myself, the animators and for discussion purposes. I also look closely at the production design to develop looks that complement the set and the overall feel of the show. I then approach the design team and/or artist with my design intent. If all goes well, I then begin producing the content.
PLSN: How long does it take to create one piece of content?
MZ: The budget ultimately determines the amount of development time for each look or act. For a low-budget production, I usually budget 10 hours per song as an average with myself as the animator, and as much as 40 hours per song for the larger shows with two or three animators.
PLSN: Tell us about your software, In Your Back Pocket…
MZ: Many times I will use the Pandoras and the MBox on the same show. And since both servers have their own library, it made sense for me to either purchase new content or create my own that both servers could share. So I developed “In Your Back Pocket,” which are 400 HD loops that are designed and pre-rendered for most media servers. This is the library I use on both systems. The name “In Your Back Pocket” is a reference I hear all the time from designers and producers…“I love that clip, keep it in your back pocket!”
PLSN: So Loops for Media Servers is part of In Your back Pocket?
MZ: Loops For Media Servers is the parent company, and In Your Back Pocket is a product of that company. With the success of In Your Back Pocket, I plan on creating many more collections. One more thing, this collection of loops is designed for media servers, making them easily blendable from one layer to the next. A programmer can pick a clip for the foreground and blend another clip as the background. With this collection, you can easily colorize the foreground without affecting the background. Most, if not all, royalty-free sites offer expensive HD content that is hard to separate colors or key very easily. They are too developed.
PLSN: I’m looking at the clips, and I can definitely tell a difference in your loops over stock content in most media server libraries…
MZ: Thank you! Most of these clips will also tile seamlessly, which is great too. They’re also pre-rendered for most media servers and sorted by color, allowing the programmer to easily follow along with lighting. Before I made “In Your Back Pocket” I had about 4800 clips between the MBox and Pandoras. But these weren’t HD clips. So now I only have the 400 HD clips I made loaded, which is all I need for a library as I can get any combination of looks using my loops.
PLSN: Do you sell individual clips?
MZ: I will have some clips available for sale through Pond5.com by May. But these won’t include the After Effects projects as the collection is offered through the website.
PLSN: How did you get into digital lighting, and why did you decide to move away from Lighting Programming?
MZ: I like being in control! And by moving to screens, I am a part of the creative team instead. So in 2007 I purchased the Pandoras Box Media Servers. I got lucky getting my foot in the door from my mentor, lighting designer Greg Brunton; he began hiring me as his server op. So from lighting programming to screens, he’s the one who gave me my shot. Today, my company owns four servers and four consoles and all the processors and scalers that go along with this type of gear.
PLSN: You mentioned that your first media server was Pandora’s Box, and on your website you have a studio with two of those and two MBoxes.
MZ: The Pandoras are great; though I find myself using less of them. Typically I’ll put this system on a game show where it can sit for a couple weeks and make money. The MBox EXtreme is my favorite server. I use the MBox with all the specials and live shows. It has all the functions a great server should have, and it does it better than anything else, in my opinion. I am planning on taking delivery of two more units this year.
PLSN: Who are some of your recent clients?
MZ: Recently I’ve been doing a lot of game shows with John Conti (NBC’s Minute to Win It and Nickelodeon’s BrainSurge). I also do a lot of projects with Full Flood and Design Partners Inc.
PLSN: What’s the show you’ve had the most media servers on?
MZ: The most I ever had to run was for Miss Universe at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. We had 10 Pandoras Box Media Servers, so 20 HD outputs! In addition to programming, I also created the content for all of the screens, which took a very long time developing and rendering these clips to deployment.
PLSN: Why did you settle on the EOS or the Congo as opposed to a moving light console like the grandMA or a Hog?
MZ: Simple answer is, I hate touch screens! Even though the EOS has them, I use the overlays. I started with the Congo in 2006 and have seen it develop into a fantastic console. The software updates are frequent and the console is “knock wood.” I can also customize the profiles and encoder pages, which makes it very fast to use for programming media servers with so many parameters. Both consoles have profiles for just about every DMX or ArtNet media server available. ETC is also very good about creating new profiles for any device very quickly.
I purchased the EOS with the intent to sub-rent them between shows, as there’s a higher demand for them. But it turns out that I don’t rent them out very much because I use them all the time. As for the larger moving light consoles, like a grandMA, I think the EOS and Congo are just as capable. Maybe not for 1,000 moving lights that the MA can do, but for a media server, they are just fine.
Multiple Skill Sets
After our interview I reflected a bit on the evolution of media servers in the lighting industry, and I was struck by how media server programmers now need so many different skill sets beyond the mastery of a lighting console to be successful. The invention of the DMX-controlled media server is putting the control of video into the hands of the lighting designer; no longer is lighting separated from video in terms of scenic elements and environment. Not all lighting programmers want to take on that added responsibility. But if they do, as you can see with Zinman, the sky is the limit in terms of creativity. I say, “Buckle up and aim for the moon!”
