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I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W S
WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 38 - DECEMBER 2014
InSTUDIO
HD Production Causes Studio Rethink
Reduced cost, limited manpower and the inherent flexibility to seamlessly change environments easily,
are all driving forward the design of today’s video production and local broadcast news studios…
By Michael Grotticelli
Contributing Editor
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Studio changes include
automated production
technology to allow a single person
to operate an entire newscast,
either in an adjacent control or one
remotely located and controlled
over fibre or IP cabling.
Keeping It Affordable
An ongoing trend in studio cameras
continues to be smaller, faster and
ever-higher resolutions. For news
that means the highest quality highdefi
nition in a camera that costs
around US$6,000. Fully outfi tted
with a studio confi guration it will
run about US$10,000 per camera
(with teleprompter, viewfinder, hand
controls and tally light). That’s
compared to just a few years ago
when the same three-camera setup
would cost around US$100,000.
There are still some larger studios
that are including larger broadcast
cameras, capable of up to 1080p/60
resolutions (though they are not
currently producing in that format),
but these purchases are getting
fewer and fewer in number as the
image quality of the smaller cameras,
using CMOS sensors to reduce cost
has increased significantly. Mostly,
they are being installed at the
major sports leagues and network
news production facilities. Local
TV stations continue to keep it as
simple and affordable as possible.
The lighting fixture requirements
for HD studios has got cooler,
smaller and more brilliant; making
for better working conditions for onair
talent and reduced power costs.
New technologies like fluorescents,
LED and even micro plasma are
now commonplace in the studio.
Litepanels, for example, offers its
Sola 12 and Inca 12 LED Fresnels,
which have an output similar to a
HD cameras in studio configuration
traditional 2K, but only draw 346
Watts. As LED products get more
powerful and the mechanical
engineering gets more sophisticated,
we’re going to see even bigger
fixtures with super-low power draws
that are going to redefine lighting.
LED lighting is also being used
in creative ways to help enhance
different areas of a set with
alternating colours that help set
the mood for different stories. This
also allows the on-air talent to walk
around a set while on air and bring
the viewer closer to the studio. The
goal is always to make viewers feel
at home and comfortable, like they
were sitting in their living room.
Another company called Zylight
also offers a full line of portable
and studio LED lights that have
become popular.
Another lighting technology with
potential is micro plasma. With over
30 patents, Zacuto has developed
its PlaZma Light, which provides a
substantial amount of light coming
from a small, flat source.
Studio lighting – cooler, smaller and
more brilliant
Design Flexibility
The use of virtual set technology,
once popular with broadcasters,
has now lost favour for local news,
due to its complicated set up, and
high processing power needed to
run such systems. Instead studios
are installing off-the-shelf flat panel
displays that can be mounted in a
variety of ways and add colour and
graphics capabilities while allowing
the anchor to roam around a set.
Others are using rear-projection
cubes mounted in a monitor wall
configuration. This allows the
producers to change the backdrop
without having to build a new “hard”
Many studios now are fully automated to enhance production
values and save money
set for every newscast.
News studios looking for the “cool
factor” are installing large touch
screen plasma and LED displays
that allow an on-air reporter to
swipe the screen and move on to
the next image. Both CNN and Fox
News use such technology in their
main New York studios. The images
shown on these flat-panel displays
could be live video, a Google map
or a still image.
One or two operators do the
same job that used to require six
or seven to run studios. Automated
production systems from Grass
Valley (Ignite), Ross Video (OverDrive)
and others allow a single operator
to sit at a keyboard and manage
a rundown, even for live breaking
news. Hundreds of stations in the
US and Canada that produce news
have adopted this type of solution,
due to the inherent benefits it brings
to all types of production.
Those benefits include doing more
with less as well as “consistency”
in a newscast and an improved
on-air look,” said Ed Casaccia,
Senior Director of News Product
Line, Grass Valley. The company
has sold more than 100 of its
Ignite automated news production
systems throughout North America.
The latest station installation being
WNCT, the Greenville/New Bern/
Washington, NC.
Newscast production Grass Valley
Ignite
“It doesn’t matter who is at the
helm, the newscast always looks
the way it is intended to look. In
addition, Ignite provides the ability to
automatically repurpose newscast
content for both streaming and VOD
digital delivery when combined
with the GV STRATUS production
workflow system.”
Using the Ignite system, a library of
templates is created representing all
the combinations of devices, shots,
effects, and mixes involved in the
production of a given programme.
These templates include all of the
command syntax necessary to
control the various components
on the production. Working with
an ActiveX plug-in within the
newsroom computer system, the
director/operator associates the
appropriate template(s) with each
line in the running order. These
templated combinations of events
are triggered by the director/
operator at the specific desired point
within the live production, with any
changes made by the producer in
the newsroom computer system
running order dynamically updating
the overall event list.
Among the latest features is the
real-time control of the company’s
GV Director GPU-based switcher:
“ On-air talent is also doing more,”
Casaccia said, “being given the
tools to control camera angles and
graphics from the palm of their hand,
or from an Apple iPad or similar IPbased
interface. This technology
allows the reporter to walk around
the set while they present a story.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the
largest independent station owner
in the US, has committed its
stations’ newscast production to the
Ross Video Overdrive automated
production control system and
Telemetrics’ pan/tilt/zoom systems.
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