BBC News 24 (Not Relaunch)

I have been a 'fan' if you liek of BBC News 24 and always love it when the clock and 30-second countdown go T-U.

Anyhoo - im just wondering as I know a few posters on here work for the Beeb.

I take it (by the crackle-effect and jagged outlines) that News 24 uses a Green-Screen (or Blue-Screen as is used up here on Reporting Scotland) for the background of the presenters...When i went on a visit to the NBC Studios in new York, they use a 30 second rolling-loop of 3 men in the background, I have never seen the cleaners in action on News 24 so was wondering if they used a longer rolling loop.

Also - dont know if any of you have noticed this:

News started off with a traditional TV in the background saying, for example "Scotland Today" (Scottish TV/ITV1) - then we went to the computer-made studio where the new spictures were faded onto the back walls etc. Now we are using TV's again - in the new form of Plasma Gas screens... Just my two-pence worth.

Anyhoo cheers to anyone who gets back to me

Apollo

News 24, for most of its life, has come from a studio with a (mostly) real background. It's only for the last two months that they've been living in front of a big blue CSO screen, and they left that on Friday night. The loop they used for the background was really quite short - and the same bloke was walking past all the time.

In case you've not managed to follow the News 24 relaunch thread (hardly surprising!), they moved into BBC World's studio over the weekend, will be in the national news studio overnight, and move into their new home tomorrow morning.

I've been on the NBC tour too, and seem to recall their news backdrops being big lightboxes with pictures in front of them - and nobody milling about, or CSO screens. Although I could be wrong..

HI,

The NBC Analogue studios do still use the positive-pictures (forgotten fancy name for them). They dont use a CSO screen for the background, the rolling-loop is also projected from the back as they can get away with it on the crappy American Analogue service.

Their one "Hot" Studio for HDTV does not use the big photos and they need to be real-live shots if any used at all , but that studio (used for Dateline) has two CSO green Screens on it - one for the background of presenter and other for weather.

I have always planned to go on the BBC Television Centre tour but never got round to it.

By the way - does anybody know why Britain still seems to use Blue screens when everywehre else uses green - and why don't you see a shadow on the screen on BBC but when GMTV's Andrea you (usually) see the shadow?

Also dont mean to sound stupid (But I am only 16) - what does CSO stand for?

Apollo

CSO stands for 'Colour Separation Overlay' - I don't know the ins and outs of the technology, but I gather that one particular colour (blue/green) can be replaced with another image. So, the presenters are placed in front of a specially painted area (or a curtain AIUI) and the colour blue, if painted behind them, can be replaced with the News 24 background. However, it does have certain drawbacks in that you can't wear clothing the same colour as the CSO is using, otherwise it would be replaced by the image! It can also make objects and indeed people have a hue around them.

I'm sure people with a lot more knowledge of the technology will be able to give you a lot more info if you're interested.

CSO - Colour Separation Overlay is a BBC coined name for a technique known as ChromaKey elsewhere. (CSO was coined as the name of the special box of tricks the BBC made internally to provide this technique in the days when the BBC made their own vision mixing desks...)

The BBC use green and blue screen techniques - both have advantages and disadvantages. People with blue eyes often have problems with blue (some eyes are quite close to CSO blue)... Green is a higher luminance "colour" so can be more difficult to "hide" around the edges.

The CSO area in the BBC One studio is green, as was the first News 24 weather position. The BBC One National Weather is CSO blue, as was the News 24 temporary News studio.

Look North have one blue and one green - Paul Hudson requires a change of jacket between Belmont and Emley bulletins sometimes

CSO can actually work with any colour, quite a few Astons/other overlay effects (eg "snow" at this time of year) are produced with a black background.

In the CBBC On-Air/Xchange studio (TC2), both CSO backgrounds are actually green, as are many of the graphics luma-keys used...

Yes but that is not a Chroma Key its a Luminance key