Interruptible foldback

Last updated November 03, 2023

Interruptible foldback (IFB), also known as interrupted foldback, interruptible feedback, or interrupt for broadcast, is a monitoring and cueing system used in television, filmmaking, video production, and radio broadcast for one-way communication from the director or assistant director to on-air talent or a remote location.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] The names are backronyms for the Telex IFB-XXX model line.^[11] Less common names for the system include program cue interrupt (PCI) and switched talkback.^[12]^[13] IFB is often facilitated using an earpiece that on-air persons wear to get cues, feedback or direction from their control rooms. The earpiece itself may also be referred to as an IFB. Sometimes IFB is accomplished by the director talking to off-camera personnel who visually cue the on-camera talent.

The IFB is a special intercom circuit that consists of a mix-minus program feed sent to an earpiece worn by talent via a wire, telephone, or radio receiver (audio that is being "fed back" to talent) that can be interrupted and replaced by a television producer's or director's intercom microphone.^[14] On a television news program for example, a producer can talk to the news anchors, to tell them when they are live on the air and when to begin reading off the script on the teleprompter or cue cards. In live television, some news anchors are seen listening to IFBs in order to report breaking news and announcements.

In electronic news gathering (ENG), the IFB can be sent through a telephone hybrid, or some other return link in a broadcast auxiliary service. The physics and design of electronics cause time delays in signals as they travel through wire, fiber optics, or space and when they are converted back and forth from physical sound, electronic signals, radio waves, and from analogue to digital. The latter process and other audio processing can introduce unacceptable delays or echos into the sound. To achieve the mix-minus program to the IFB, certain audio elements that originate remotely from the mix point will be eliminated from the mix that is sent back to the IFB at the remote site to avoid those undesirable effects.

Wired or wireless in-ear monitors (IEMs) may be used to carry the IFB audio to the on-air talent.^{[ citation needed ]}

Related Research Articles

Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aesthetic, or otherwise creative treatment is done in order to produce a finished version that is appealing to listeners.

Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.

Dead air is an unintended period of silence that interrupts a broadcast during which no audio or video program material is transmitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XLR connector</span> Style of electrical connector found primarily in professional audio and lighting

The XLR connector is a type of electrical connector primarily used in professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. XLR connectors are cylindrical in design, with three to seven connector pins, and are often employed for analog balanced audio interconnections, AES3 digital audio, portable intercom, DMX512 lighting control, and for low-voltage power supply. XLR connectors are included to the international standard for dimensions, IEC 61076-2-103. The XLR connector is superficially similar to the smaller DIN connector, with which it is physically incompatible.

Sound design is the art and practice of creating soundtracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, video game development, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production, radio, new media and musical instrument development. Sound design commonly involves performing and editing of previously composed or recorded audio, such as sound effects and dialogue for the purposes of the medium, but it can also involve creating sounds from scratch through synthesizers. A sound designer is one who practices sound design.

A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience. In many situations, a sound reinforcement system is also used to enhance or alter the sound of the sources on the stage, typically by using electronic effects, such as reverb, as opposed to simply amplifying the sources unaltered.

In audio engineering, a mix-minus or clean feed is a particular setup of a mixing console or matrix mixer, such that an output of the mixer contains everything except a designated input. Mix-minus is often used to prevent echoes or feedback in broadcast or sound reinforcement systems.

Electronic news gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape technology in the 1970s. ENG can involve anything from a single reporter with a single professional video camera, to an entire television crew taking a truck on location.

An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building, small collection of buildings or portably within a small coverage area, which functions independently of the public telephone network. Intercoms are generally mounted permanently in buildings and vehicles, but can also be detachable and portable. Intercoms can incorporate connections to public address loudspeaker systems, walkie talkies, telephones, and other intercom systems. Some intercom systems incorporate control of devices such as signal lights and door latches.

A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the special requirements of television production. A professional television studio generally has several rooms, which are kept separate for noise and practicality reasons. These rooms are connected via 'talkback' or an intercom, and personnel will be divided among these workplaces.

The production control room (PCR) or studio control room (SCR) is the place in a television studio in which the composition of the outgoing program takes place.

Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio, television and the World Wide Web. Such media disperse pictures, visual text and sounds.

In sound recording, a talkback system is the intercom used in recording studios and production control rooms (PCRs) in television studios to enable personnel to communicate with people in the recording area or booth. While the control room can hear the person in the booth over the studio microphones, the person in the booth hears the control room over a PA, monitor speaker, in their headphones or interruptible feedback (IFB) earpiece. Take numbers, reference data, and sometimes count-ins or remarks are also "stamped" onto recordings through talkback, similar to a clapperboard.

A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions:

In-ear monitors, or simply IEMs or in-ears, are devices used by musicians, audio engineers and audiophiles to listen to music or to hear a personal mix of vocals and stage instrumentation for live performance or recording studio mixing. They are also used by television presenters to receive vocal instructions, information and breaking news announcements from a producer that only the presenter hears. They are often custom-fitted to an individual's ears to provide comfort and a high level of noise reduction from ambient surroundings. Their origins as a tool in live music performance can be traced back to the mid-1980s.

Telos Alliance is an American corporation manufacturing audio products primarily for broadcast stations. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, US, the company is divided into six divisions:

An audio engineer helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound. Audio engineers work on the "technical aspect of recording—the placing of microphones, pre-amp knobs, the setting of levels. The physical recording of any project is done by an engineer... the nuts and bolts."

In sound recording and reproduction, audio mixing is the process of optimizing and combining multitrack recordings into a final mono, stereo or surround sound product. In the process of combining the separate tracks, their relative levels are adjusted and balanced and various processes such as equalization and compression are commonly applied to individual tracks, groups of tracks, and the overall mix. In stereo and surround sound mixing, the placement of the tracks within the stereo field are adjusted and balanced. Audio mixing techniques and approaches vary widely and have a significant influence on the final product.

A television production truck or OB van is a small mobile production control room to allow filming of events and video production at locations outside a regular television studio. They are used for remote broadcasts, outside broadcasting (OB), and electronic field production (EFP). Some require a crew of as many as 30 people, with additional trucks for additional equipment as well as a satellite truck, which transmits video back to the studio by sending it up through a communications satellite using a satellite dish, which then transmits it back down to the studio. Alternatively, some production trucks include a satellite transmitter and satellite dish for this purpose in a single truck body to save space, time and cost.

Clear-Com, also known as ClearCom, is a manufacturer of electronic intercom products, widely used to enable stage management and crew communications in theatre, filmmaking, video and television production, concerts, professional sports competitions, special events and audiovisual presentations. Providing the first portable party-line intercom system to feature simple XLR cable connections, Clear-Com soon became an accepted industry standard. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored the company with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award in 2010.

References

↑ "IFB". Pro Audio Reference. AES. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
↑ Kaempfer, Rick; Swanson, John (2004). The radio producer's handbook. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 120–121. ISBN 1-58115-388-0.
↑ Morris, Andrew (2007). "Intercom and IFB Systems". In Graham A. Jones; Edmund A. Williams; David H. Layer; Thomas G. Osenkowsky (eds.). National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook (10 ed.). Focal Press. p. 1331. ISBN 978-0-240-80751-5.
↑ Richardson, Peter; Richardson, Bob Jr. (1993). Great Careers for People Interested in How Things Work . Career connections. Weigl Educational Publishers. p. 28. ISBN 1-895579-08-2.
↑ White, Glenn D.; Louie, Gary J. (2005). The audio dictionary (3 ed.). University of Washington Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-295-98498-8.
↑ Zetti, Herbert (2011). Television Production Handbook. Wadsworth Series in Broadcast and Production (11 ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 176, 401. ISBN 978-0-495-89884-9.
↑ Today's video (4 ed.). McFarland. 2005. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-7864-2206-8.
↑ Benson, K. Blair; Whitaker, Jerry C. (1992). Television engineering handbook: featuring HDTV systems. Standard Handbook of Video and Television Engineering (revised ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 4-117. ISBN 0-07-004788-X.
↑ Medoff, Norman; Fink, Edward J.; Tanquary, Tom (2007). Portable Video: ENG & EFP (5 ed.). Focal Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-240-80797-3.
↑ Fairweather, Rod (1998). Basic studio directing . Media Manuals. Focal Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-240-51525-0.
↑ http://www.telex.com/us/wireless/product/IFB-325/1437
↑ Whitaker, Jerry C. (2002). Master Handbook of Video Production. McGraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering Series. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 237. ISBN 0-07-138246-1.
↑ Utterback, Andrew Hicks (2007). Studio television production and directing. Media Manuals (2 ed.). Elsevier. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-240-80873-4.
↑ Higgins, Jonathan (2007). Satellite newsgathering (2 ed.). Focal Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-240-51973-9.

This filmmaking article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "IFB". Pro Audio Reference. AES. Retrieved 2017-12-17.

[2] Kaempfer, Rick; Swanson, John (2004). The radio producer's handbook. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 120–121. ISBN 1-58115-388-0.

[3] Morris, Andrew (2007). "Intercom and IFB Systems". In Graham A. Jones; Edmund A. Williams; David H. Layer; Thomas G. Osenkowsky (eds.). National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook (10 ed.). Focal Press. p. 1331. ISBN 978-0-240-80751-5.

[4] Richardson, Peter; Richardson, Bob Jr. (1993). Great Careers for People Interested in How Things Work . Career connections. Weigl Educational Publishers. p. 28. ISBN 1-895579-08-2.

[5] White, Glenn D.; Louie, Gary J. (2005). The audio dictionary (3 ed.). University of Washington Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-295-98498-8.

[6] Zetti, Herbert (2011). Television Production Handbook. Wadsworth Series in Broadcast and Production (11 ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 176, 401. ISBN 978-0-495-89884-9.

[7] Today's video (4 ed.). McFarland. 2005. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-7864-2206-8.

[8] Benson, K. Blair; Whitaker, Jerry C. (1992). Television engineering handbook: featuring HDTV systems. Standard Handbook of Video and Television Engineering (revised ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 4-117. ISBN 0-07-004788-X.

[9] Medoff, Norman; Fink, Edward J.; Tanquary, Tom (2007). Portable Video: ENG & EFP (5 ed.). Focal Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-240-80797-3.

[10] Fairweather, Rod (1998). Basic studio directing . Media Manuals. Focal Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-240-51525-0.

[11] ttp://www.telex.com/us/wireless/product/IFB-325/1437

[12] Whitaker, Jerry C. (2002). Master Handbook of Video Production. McGraw-Hill Video/Audio Engineering Series. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 237. ISBN 0-07-138246-1.

[13] Utterback, Andrew Hicks (2007). Studio television production and directing. Media Manuals (2 ed.). Elsevier. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-240-80873-4.

[14] Higgins, Jonathan (2007). Satellite newsgathering (2 ed.). Focal Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-240-51973-9.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]