ZDF heute

Technically very accomplished - and I think the design is very clean and fresh - and very European. However I think Virtual sets can be very distancing and cold - and this doesn't change that view. Reality ISN'T virtual - and news is about reality.

Whilst technically very clever their virtual set has no depth whatsoever - leaving them to shoot the very big desk from odd angles to try and add some. ITN learnt from this with their virtual set - and now have a backdrop with some attempt at depth. The ZDF style of cameras moving at the same time as the background animating can look very strange - almost as if the presenter is floating - because all other "real" references are gone and you've got two lots of motion happening at the same time. Similarly - because the "set" has no real architecture as they cut between shots, you have no real frame of reference - so it makes things look quite jumpy. When the presenter turns out of the inset shot to relate to the factory 3D model - he just appears to jump.

I quite like the subtle drifts on the insets, but running VTs in the inset and doing a zoom into them is a bit strange. Not sure the grammar really works.

Similarly the down-the-line shots are very book-endy, and the box is just that. No real design at all, and no integration. It actually looks quite flat and dated in that regard. Zooming into the live for an answer just like the BBC One O'Clock News did on their old semi-VR set in 1996... I didn't like it then either...

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" is a good thing to bear in mind. I think they are showing off all of their new toys in this show - and they'll learn what works and what doesn't.

It doesn't seemed that geared up for standard seated interviews. I guess if they do studio interviews they will be stood up - with some kind of graphic explainer for the reporter to use with the presenter? From my memories of watching German news bulletins - they were much more less into two-ways and studio interviews and much more into VT packages with the occasional live report done as a rant rather than a two-way.

They've done a good job with the eyelines in some situations and seem to be running without any guide projection (ITN project dim guide images so that their presenters have an idea what is being keyed in where when they look at their green wall, rather than having to look off at a preview monitor on the wall or on a camera)

They do have seating area which can be seen at about 26 min. into this video: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/content/heute-journal_vom_17._Juli_2009/Sendungen_Alle,228/799096

However, you're quite right, noggin, that they do not have studio guests on German TV news programmes very often. The reason for this is that both publicly funded TV channels do not produce their news programmes in the German capital Berlin, where I suppose most of the potential guests (politicians and the lot) work. The ARD produces its news programmes in Hamburg, the ZDF in Mainz which is the capital of the German Bundesland Rhineland-Palatinate.

And they use projections onto the green wall for better orientation for the presenters: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/content/797548?inPopup=true

Very impressive, and it looks good with just the green, how its setup, very clean and like the cameras. It puts how ITV's use of the virtual studio to shame I think.

I also would like to know how ITV News key in their overhead lights and why?

Could be wrong but I heard €13million mentioned in one of the videos.

Also, with the clock, the pips have always spelt at Heute (today) in morse code. I hope this touch is kept.

Apparently it cost 30 m. euros. And it is 700 square metres big.

My God all that money for nothing, they could have build a huge newsroom and put a normal size desk instead of that Chinese Wall. It looks so silly.

I suspect this setup will exist throughout many different designs and iterations, and its its flexibility that will justify the price. Also if it is a commercial company, they could possibly rent the studio space to other companies, productions, or broadcasters.

Yeah they could of, and they would look like everything else out there. Sky spent all that money on theirs, only a few years down the line had it all redesigned, which must have cost a lot of money, considering the changes that were made at the start of this year. Not only the studio area had a new look, but most of the newsroom itself, with new plasmas, and strip lights installed in almost every corner of the newsroom.

I think it looks great both on and off air. Like the cameras, wonder if Sky's will look like that when they get HD installed?

Except Sky built a news gathering operation, new equipment, and new premesis. It wasn't just a studio...

The re-decoration was a lot cheaper, its like the difference between building an extension and new floor on your home, compared to re-painting all the rooms and buying a new sofa!

I think a lot more took place then just decoration, they moved desk space, restructered the Sunrise set,taken down the globe wall and installed a new platform for the desk, and the gallery wall. Most of the overhead panels was removed too, so it wasn't just a case of a repaint and a new sofa.

But if you had seen what I replied to, ginnyfan said, which was they should have just built a newsroom, then my argument was why they probably did not which would be cheaper, so they wouldn't have to "redecorate" the newsroom when they wanted a refresh. Plus Sky's newsroom is always empty anyway. Just looks like a huge space with a load of lights and screens for decoration.

Love it.

Seems to be a bit 'Special effects for the sake of looking clever' Especially with the weather panning and things.

I get the slight feeling if there was a new series of The Day Today it would happen in a studio very simmilar to this one.