The ticker has now gone, and normal graphics have been resumed; I'm sure that the ticker will make a return tomorrow morning.
It seems that Sky are broadcasting a preview of the scheduled 11pm Hutton inquiry reconstruction. These previews feature their Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall in front of a rather nice background, matching their newswall graphic for the Hutton inquiry (minus the heads of the main players involved; they appear in a 'key' box at the side).
I quite like the graphic on the newswall, with the faces imposed on that dark background, and the light just glinting the image - quite appropriate and matches the tone and atmosphere of this sensitive story.
There have been quite a few differrent styles of graphics on Sky News in recent weeks. They seem to get that red slug off screen pretty sharpish now too. Let's hope there gearing up a new graphics set next month.
Remember the first day of the current new look in 2001? What a disaster. The slug was on permanantly, there was some strange 'i' and telephone graphics. The whole thing was a bit of a botch job. Let's hope they're testing out some ideas for a fresh look.
One good thing about the graphics when Sky use the ticker, they are resized, apart from the Breaking News one, so they don't take up anymore screen space.
Size doesn't always count at the BBC
The Hutton inquiry has been mobbed by BBC journalists over the last couple of days - not just giving evidence but also reporting on events for the corporation's many TV and radio bulletins. But numbers aren't everything and the Beeb still missed key points as correspondents dashed out of the courtroom to do live to cameras or radio interviews. Canny Sky News on the other hand stayed right up to date thanks to the magic of the laptop. No wonder it's billing the service on air as "the fastest". A Sky reporter tapping away at the speed of light with a live link to the newsroom ensured that the 24-hour news channel didn't miss a trick - much to the chagrin of the BBC hordes who lacked similar foresight. Expect everything to change tomorrow, but who'll be tuning into BBC News 24?
Could you provide more details on the VR systems intended use, or at the least offer us information on its capabilities, just to give us a chance to speculate
i imagine they're going to superimpose Francis Wilson into a cloud, then drizzle him down to earth, before landing him against a convenient and topical weather-related backdrop ....
.... thus bringing us closer to the weather than ever before ..... zzz ....
lol, Katnap - love it. But aren't pixies supposed to have wings?
Just as an aside, at midnight they were using the newswall rather than the desk. I don't know whether this continued throughout the night, but it seemed a tad obscure for them; certainly don't recall them ever using the newswall at that time before.
News 24 has been so appallingly bad at covering the Hutton Inquiry - remarkably, considering it's mostly to do with the BBC at the moment. They are currently running about 20 minutes behind Sky.
Anyway, if there aren't obvious graphical changes by the start of October or mid-September, I'll be surprised. Ish.
Maybe SKY are testing the ticker because they know of some important news that hasn't happened yet... I'm thinking along on lines of "Tomorrow Never Dies"
They're planning to use the same system they used for the virtual carpets they used during the war.
Also, both Littlejohn and Boulton are getting new sets for their relaunches.
7th Sept for Boulton
8th Sept for Littlejohn
Both dependent on sets being built and whether they might be going to the Labour party conference.
So will we be seeing a 3d floormap of the UK, with little rain clouds forming above the newsroom etc lol Certainly sounds more interesting than someone in front of a chroma-key screen...
