ITV NEWS studio set-up

I realise there's already an ITV News thread and I did pose the question but everyone was too busy posting details of who was presenting the current hour to pay any attention to alieviating my ignorance.

So could someone please explain the studio set-up as I'm a little confused.

Does the white illuminated floor actually exist or is it computer generated? I was convinced it was real and only the curved 'theatre of news' wall was green screen. This all changed when they accidentally showed an 'off to the side' shot one day and the only thing that was real was the desk, sitting in the middle of a totally green studio, with a sort of sloping thing going on about where the white semi-circlular 'stage' in front of the screen is (or isn't as the case may be).

Thanks.

The floor is real as far as I know.

http://www.lsionline.co.uk/news/images/004/DBC/004DBC11C2.JPG
From www.lsionline.co.uk/news/story.asp?ID=LKGWQQ

See also OWAN's caps from This Morning re. John Suchet's retirement.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/ohwhatanight/js08.JPG
More here

many thanks for that.

Does anyone have a video capture of the tribute package to John Suchet as broadcast on This Morning? I did capture it myself, but never got round to actually encoding it, and then accidentally deleted it.

I must say, ITV News as a whole has been growing on me of late - the whole operation seems very professional. I caught the ITV News at 10.30 last night, and Bill Neely presented it - I know he does the News Channel and ITV1 weekend bulletins, but I've never seen him on the News at 10.30 before. He was very good indeed.

It has never been fully explained whether or not they also use another fully green studio for segments where they walk across the floor through VR graphics.

I know what you mean about that thread though pip, I've never read so much jaw-jaw about presenter rotas in my life.

If I had caught those static grabs its VERY likely that I did record the whole thing - give me the date it was broadcast and ill see if i can dig it out and encode it for you!

Luckily, I've still got the capture of John's last ITV News bulletin, so I've been able to get the date from that. The date of his last bulletin was 26th March, and I'm sure the feature was on the following day's This Morning, so my guess would be 27th March.

As I've been going through my captures to free up space, I must have seen that one and saved it, not realising that the special report was in a different file!

I think they use a different studio when they walk across the floor - as the white flooring ceases to look real (and in some cases isn't there at all) This, presumably, also allows graphics rehearsals and pre-records to take place without the News Channel having to decamp to their broom cupboard studio ? I think that it suggests a second studio is available - though this may not have been the case at launch.

However when the presenters remain at the back of the studio and graphics just appear in front (but they don't walk on them) then they could be in the main studio (with some clever masking)

Maybe the CSO is part of that same virtual studio?

I wonder if calling the other studio the CSO is particularly accurate given the green nature of the main one

Can someone explain how the studio actually works, with the cam on the job etc. I was under the impression that the chomakey would just overlay a picture over the green and that was that. How does it know what bit the camera is pointing at and what to put there?

I think it's got something to do with all those dots on the floor. Presumably a virtual studio exists in the computer - whack the graphics into the vitual studio then as the cameras move around the real studio the position of the cameras tells the computer what to replace the green with. All guess work of course!

I'm sure there's someone who can give us a more technical (not too technical though) explanation.

Of course the real question we're all desperate to get answered is 'Who is presenting on the News Channel now? Oh no... hang on.... I've just realised that I can find that out by ... wait for it... bit radical this... turning the television on and watching the ITV News Channel.