It looks like BBC News has tweaked their virtual reality on the 10 O'Clock News tonight. The preevious version looked very cheap compared to ITV but the graphics still aren't as smooth as on ITV which is a surprise considering all of the research & development that went into the BBC's graphic system.
It looks like BBC News has tweaked their virtual reality on the 10 O'Clock News tonight. The preevious version looked very cheap compared to ITV but the graphics still aren't as smooth as on ITV which is a surprise considering all of the research & development that went into the BBC's graphic system.
The BBC and ITN both use the same BBC R&D originated camera tracking system (FreeD). Neither use any BBC R&D originated graphics generation system.
ITV News have a much larger studio than the BBC One News - and that makes all the difference. (Free D works better with a higher lighting grid, and ideally with smaller lamps, as it can then see more targets to get a more accurate position fix)
The BBC and ITN both use the same BBC R&D originated camera tracking system (FreeD). Neither use any BBC R&D originated graphics generation system.
ITV News have a much larger studio than the BBC One News - and that makes all the difference. (Free D works better with a higher lighting grid, and ideally with smaller lamps, as it can then see more targets to get a more accurate position fix)
But I thought the BBC's technology can be used in anyof their studios. Maybe the problem is that they should do these VR reports in a different studio. Thing is though even during their Election coverage they used Studio 1 and it just looked ropey.
But I thought the BBC's technology can be used in anyof their studios. Maybe the problem is that they should do these VR reports in a different studio. Thing is though even during their Election coverage they used Studio 1 and it just looked ropey.
There is a big difference between the BBC developing technology in R&D at Kingswood Warren, and a BBC department buying it or renting it in.
The BBC R&D Designed camera tracking system is called FreeD - this is the system that tells the VR system where the camera is in the studio (including ped height, tilt angle etc.) It does this by having a lot of carefully calibrated retro-flective bar code discs at varying heights in the lighting grid, and a small CCTV camera with an LED ring around it to illuminate the discs. By looking at the camera output - which ideally needs to see about 6 discs in the ceiling - a computer can judge from the relative positions of the discs where the camera is, how high it is etc.
This technology is licensed by the BBC to a manufacturer - and both the BBC and ITN use it with their VR systems.
The discs for the FreeD technology are installed in TC1, TC10 (now home of CBBC on One) and TC0 (home of CBeebies - but originally a VR development studio) - as well as the national news studio. These are the only studios where it can currently be used.
There is more to a VR system than camera tracking though.
There is also the chroma keying (do you use an Ultimatte keyer, one built into a vision mixer, or a different standalone device). Do you use a green/blue cloth, a green/blue painted flat and floor, or do you use the BBC developed retroflective true-matte beaded cloth and an LED ring mounted on the camera? (Which doesn't work well with autocue - you have to use an above/below camera screen which can cause eyeline issues - as an in-front of camera autocue won't work because the LED ring has to be there)
There is the scene generation issue as well - the BBC only really developed a 2.5D tracked DVE background system (Virtual Scenario - used by BBC Sport on the VR Grandstand quite a while ago) Third party 3D systems developed by companies like Viz or Brainstorm are used to generate the virtual environments.
Again different programmes and different companies will chose different solutions. There isn't a single "BBC" system that News could just borrow from another bit of the BBC when they wanted to do a VR. They have to spec and buy their own equipment. They initially had a flat - pan/zoom only system - but have now moved to a system that allows camera tracking and parallax, which was introduced before the election.
The VR recordings you see on the Six and Ten are done in the same studio as the BBC One, Six and Ten O'Clock News, and come from the same small green CSO area that the BBC One daytime summaries, and conventional CSO reports are shot.
With ITV's theatre of news, do they just move the desk in and out when they do some of their presentations or overlay the graphics over the desk area? Also when the reporter is in a totally VR environment is that done in another studio or a different end of the same studio? And did you see the newer VR stuff on the 10 tonight Noggin? It's much better but still not a patch on ITN.
With ITV's theatre of news, do they just move the desk in and out when they do some of their presentations or overlay the graphics over the desk area? Also when the reporter is in a totally VR environment is that done in another studio or a different end of the same studio?
ITN has two 'proper' TV studios in the basement (as opposed to the converted office space used for C4 and London Tonight). The 'theatre of news' set is in studio 2, and the totally VR stuff (eg 'The Briefing' on the 10.30, plus Alastair Stewart's election night stuff etc) is done in studio 1.
Studio 1 is also used for many of the short ITV1 summaries, and for the News Channel when studio 1 is unavailable.
Prior to the 2004 relaunch, the main ITV News set was in studio 1, and studio 2 was used for the VR stuff.
With ITV's theatre of news, do they just move the desk in and out when they do some of their presentations or overlay the graphics over the desk area? Also when the reporter is in a totally VR environment is that done in another studio or a different end of the same studio? And did you see the newer VR stuff on the 10 tonight Noggin? It's much better but still not a patch on ITN.
The new 3D VR system (with the two curved screens and camera tracking) has been in use since April I think, it was introduced shortly before the election. Prior to that there was a simpler 2D system with a single flat screen, which only allowed pan/tilt/zoom movement from a static camera.
On the subject of VR, is it not true that the backdrop of the newsroom for the daytime news summaries/updates is in fact not real and is opposite the main national set ( N6)?
On the subject of VR, is it not true that the backdrop of the newsroom for the daytime news summaries/updates is in fact not real and is opposite the main national set (N6)?
It's twue.
I wish they'd do the Ten promotions they did for the Nine, with Huw in shirtsleeves in the newsroom floor, it gave you the impression that they were working on the programme as you were watching.
