ZDF heute

Germany's publicly funded ZDF channel has just launched its new look from a purpose-built CSO studio which claims to be the most modern news studio world-wide.

This page provides sample videos of the new look and contains also the first edition of the programme in its new look. http://www.heute.de/ZDFheute/inhalt/6/0,3672,7605126,00.html

In the weeks before the relaunch ZDF had a huge ad-campaign on television and in newspapers to promote the new look and there has been much discussion in the German press if the new look is actually the beginning of a new era of news presentation or if it goes one step too far.

What do TV Forumers think?

Edit: Here's the opening sequence: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/content/796426?inPopup=true
And a youtube-page with several videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/ostseefahrt#play/uploads/5/aLRpLlLHQXs

Good grief, you could be forgiven for thinking you had just walked into a major film productions studio space on that one. From the video it does look like they can create some pretty good shots with that set up.

Hmm, some weird camerawork there. I'm never convinced by virtual studios but that one is fairly slick.

Good to see they've kept their traditional clock as well as including some morse code in the theme, as Heute has had for what seems like decades. And the voiceover is back - "Heute - das Nachtrichten des Tages").

Stunning ... simply stunning.

OMG, that is just terrible, German channels were always bad in this obsession with virtual sets but this one is just too much.

One word...hideous!

Very slickly done, but amazingly flat and unnecessary looking for some things. Like the factory model thing

I like bits of it but those colours are horrible and old-fashioned. The way it pans round to the weather is really impressive, though.

In terms of the technical side I must say it does look very impressive, especially how the titles bode well from the clock straight into the studio, it does look like a really professional job and plenty of time has been spent on it. I guess the only thing that does let it down is the music doesn't seem as powerful as the previous set of titles, but as said they've managed to keep the Historical beeps within the opener.

It puts the original "Theatre of News" to shame, no ifs or buts.

EDIT: The opener is quite similar in style to ProSieben's Newstime, which has the titles merged into the studio.

Some of the effects were impressive. But overall it just didn't look good IMO. The desk is vile and not what you'd expect from a modern studio.

Wow, not normally a fan of these virtual sets but I like this, its done extremely well. Can't help but think that UK news sets just feel cheap and small in comparison to some European and US news studios with the exception of Sky which is big enough but isn't being utilised that well.

I have mixed feelings about this, in one way I think its bad that most of it is virtual, as those studios seem to be getting a bit old fashioned over here. Also, in that size studio they could have built a brilliant set which was 'real'

But then, I watch it and think WOW. It looks stunning, the colours and the shots and how everything looks so clean. Also the way the titles drift into the set. I do think the cameras look a bit fast and it makes you feel a bit dizzy at first, but overall it looks very very good.