BR
Caught the opening of Wales Today - and I'm still to find an element of this rebrand I like. The new titles are just awful - not a patch on the last version, and even worse than the 1999 set.
So it seems Newyddion may be the last chance the BBC has to impress with this look - and they've generally come out of these revamps the best in previous years, but I'm not exactly confident this time around. The best we can hope for is as the BBC seemed to have forgotten them that locally they'll try and do something and show these design companies how it should be done.
So it seems Newyddion may be the last chance the BBC has to impress with this look - and they've generally come out of these revamps the best in previous years, but I'm not exactly confident this time around. The best we can hope for is as the BBC seemed to have forgotten them that locally they'll try and do something and show these design companies how it should be done.
OV
I have to say the broadcast quality itself from Cambridge is perfectly alright, or at least it has been since the change to the digital 16:9 kit. It is let down however by the set, as the lighting in there is horrible, making it appear to be unsatisfactory quality. It was also let down by the quality of the titles and such on the server, which looked like it was recorded from the analogue source as the new kit was being introduced. The ident was terrible in the dancer days (Capoeira), with a soft picture and smudging of reds. Thankfully they've had good digital copies of the idents since the current set came in, and at quick glance it seems they have the new presentation in digital.
Last week however, I did notice the Magic Forest ident had the same soft picture and smudging of reds as seen with the analogue kit/recordings. I assume it was some sort of technical problem requiring the old kit to be brought back into action for the ident, possibly while the new presentation was setup, as I'm sure it's been fine before. I haven't looked to see if it is back to normal now.
noggin posted:
Cambridge has had a number of incarnations technically since it launched in Jan 97.
The first Cambridge sub-opt came from a very temporary, and absolutely tiny, studio in the local radio centre cubicle, with a small gallery built on the top floor - though this didnt stop the region doing a full service for the 1997 Election - entirely split from Norwich - less than 6 months after it launched.
Once the radio newsroom on the first floor had been emptied - and all staff moved to the bi-media newsroom in the solicitors office next door, the newsroom was converted into a studio space, and the set moved up there. Around the same time the gallery was expanded, and the main vision mixer (a very small original model) was replaced with an ex-Anglia News model purchased when Anglia upgraded their East and West studio to digital and sold their analogue studio kit.
That kit stayed in service for many years - but a year or so ago the entire infrastructure - cameras, vision mixer (and I think sound desk, though the lighting desk remains the same AIUI) were upgraded, to allow for digital 16:9 operation. It now has pretty decent kit capable of delivering perfectly fine pictures.
However - like most sub-regional operations it runs on very low staffing levels - and the team have to be very multi-skilled...
The first Cambridge sub-opt came from a very temporary, and absolutely tiny, studio in the local radio centre cubicle, with a small gallery built on the top floor - though this didnt stop the region doing a full service for the 1997 Election - entirely split from Norwich - less than 6 months after it launched.
Once the radio newsroom on the first floor had been emptied - and all staff moved to the bi-media newsroom in the solicitors office next door, the newsroom was converted into a studio space, and the set moved up there. Around the same time the gallery was expanded, and the main vision mixer (a very small original model) was replaced with an ex-Anglia News model purchased when Anglia upgraded their East and West studio to digital and sold their analogue studio kit.
That kit stayed in service for many years - but a year or so ago the entire infrastructure - cameras, vision mixer (and I think sound desk, though the lighting desk remains the same AIUI) were upgraded, to allow for digital 16:9 operation. It now has pretty decent kit capable of delivering perfectly fine pictures.
However - like most sub-regional operations it runs on very low staffing levels - and the team have to be very multi-skilled...
I have to say the broadcast quality itself from Cambridge is perfectly alright, or at least it has been since the change to the digital 16:9 kit. It is let down however by the set, as the lighting in there is horrible, making it appear to be unsatisfactory quality. It was also let down by the quality of the titles and such on the server, which looked like it was recorded from the analogue source as the new kit was being introduced. The ident was terrible in the dancer days (Capoeira), with a soft picture and smudging of reds. Thankfully they've had good digital copies of the idents since the current set came in, and at quick glance it seems they have the new presentation in digital.
Last week however, I did notice the Magic Forest ident had the same soft picture and smudging of reds as seen with the analogue kit/recordings. I assume it was some sort of technical problem requiring the old kit to be brought back into action for the ident, possibly while the new presentation was setup, as I'm sure it's been fine before. I haven't looked to see if it is back to normal now.
TP
It depends which version of Aston they use. Some are more capable of snazzy effects than others
Techy Peep
Founding member
all new Phil posted:
It'd be nice if they all animated properly too like the national ones.
It depends which version of Aston they use. Some are more capable of snazzy effects than others
DE
It depends which version of Aston they use. Some are more capable of snazzy effects than others
Absolutely, while national centres enjoy the benefits of VIZrT engines, a lot of regions are stuck with Aston Motifs. Some are getting Aston Greens, but while the Greens are capable of some animation effects, the Motifs are limited to some pretty basic animation effects. Certainly backgrounds wiping on with a set pattern and text animating on afterwards are beyond the capabilities of older kit. I think Tunbridge Wells don't even have an Aston and rely on a Collage for lower thirds ... that may have changed, but was certainly the case until relatively recently. Collage is again a reasonable but basic character generator and graphics source, but the automation of it is only possible with preset templates, and again, it can only handle basic animations rather than the animated wipes required by the full new look.
Somewhat amusingly, most full frame graphics are designed to be placed against moving backgrounds. Again with the high spec VIZrT engines, this is perfectly possible AIUI, but with the kind of kit most English regions have (Aston Motifs, Collage, Paintbox, PictureBox even) they've had to make do with static backgrounds.
Techy Peep posted:
all new Phil posted:
It'd be nice if they all animated properly too like the national ones.
It depends which version of Aston they use. Some are more capable of snazzy effects than others
Absolutely, while national centres enjoy the benefits of VIZrT engines, a lot of regions are stuck with Aston Motifs. Some are getting Aston Greens, but while the Greens are capable of some animation effects, the Motifs are limited to some pretty basic animation effects. Certainly backgrounds wiping on with a set pattern and text animating on afterwards are beyond the capabilities of older kit. I think Tunbridge Wells don't even have an Aston and rely on a Collage for lower thirds ... that may have changed, but was certainly the case until relatively recently. Collage is again a reasonable but basic character generator and graphics source, but the automation of it is only possible with preset templates, and again, it can only handle basic animations rather than the animated wipes required by the full new look.
Somewhat amusingly, most full frame graphics are designed to be placed against moving backgrounds. Again with the high spec VIZrT engines, this is perfectly possible AIUI, but with the kind of kit most English regions have (Aston Motifs, Collage, Paintbox, PictureBox even) they've had to make do with static backgrounds.
TP
Off-topic, but relating to deejays comments about character generators...
Where I'm currently working, I'm in the process of developing a complete transmission system for "Contingency Planning".
I've got the whole CG system running and outputting from a web page, with as much whizz-bang effects as you want (and a few more that perhaps you dont want haha)
It's all controlled from a master PHP script which also runs/controls and allows editing of the running orders. It runs the videos from either vt tape decks or a non-linear laptop.
Who needs expensive kit when a trip down to your favourite PC shop will do nicely
Techy Peep
Founding member
deejay posted:
While national centres enjoy the benefits of VIZrT engines, a lot of regions are stuck with Aston Motifs. Some are getting Aston Greens, but while the Greens are capable of some animation effects, the Motifs are limited to some pretty basic animation effects.
Off-topic, but relating to deejays comments about character generators...
Where I'm currently working, I'm in the process of developing a complete transmission system for "Contingency Planning".
I've got the whole CG system running and outputting from a web page, with as much whizz-bang effects as you want (and a few more that perhaps you dont want haha)
It's all controlled from a master PHP script which also runs/controls and allows editing of the running orders. It runs the videos from either vt tape decks or a non-linear laptop.
Who needs expensive kit when a trip down to your favourite PC shop will do nicely