“At Sky Sports News HD, the news is the star, not the technology”
including the vision mixer, lighting and pre-programmed camera shot selection. Mosart is keyboard-driven, and it is the programme director who drives the keyboard.” McGuiness believes that the
system’s ability to trigger multiple devices concurrently allows the creation of complex live sequences that would otherwise require pre-rendering or rehearsal – something that is simply not possible in a 24-hour rolling news environment. Macros and continue points simplify automation setup, allowing the director to programme the system just once, but then proceed through multiple events or effects. Looping can then be applied to rundowns, segments, sequences, and clips. According to McGuiness,
Mosart’s customisable graphical interface makes it easy for story elements such as cameras, clips, and graphics to be assigned to on-screen buttons for easy and quick access. “A range of interface overviews can also be assigned to buttons, making the GUI a virtual shot box for touchscreens. Story scripts from our newsroom computer system are shown directly in the GUI, and allow operators to store clips and graphical elements in a pool ready to be used on request.” Mosart automation is also used to support the audio mixer — a Lawo mc2 66. Graphics play an important part of any rolling news operation, and Sky has opted for a fully integrated Vizrt system, incorporating Viz Content Pilot and Viz Artist. Complementing that system is Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for 2D work, along with Cinema 4D and 3D Studio Max for 3D work.
Touching distance “The new channel has been tapeless from launch date,” confirms Browning. “We are using Avid — and the set-up allows producers to do their own editing at their desks, as well as permitting suites to be used by our dedicated editors.” With several months of
operation behind them, does Browning feel the launch has reached expectations? “Launching a new channel is always an exciting challenge. And this has been totally
innovative, too. For example, we are especially proud of our touchscreens. A few years ago, these didn’t exist. They perfectly symbolise how we work. “In addition to text, we also use them to create graphics
and animations. The show hosts present this data from their tablets and everything that they do on their small iPads appears immediately on the big monitor. There are no tricks. This is
Bill Browning
sophisticated technology which is created without post production and perfect for quick visualisation. And for the viewer it’s absolutely satisfying, I think, to see everything that happens.”
HD-SDI, SD-SDI en HDMI - SDI output with embedded audio - Powerful multiscreen via 2 HDMI outputs with 3 way selection - 2 channel DSK - 2 PIP functions - Clock on screen
- Countdown timer on screen - PC remote control
SD Portable Studio
- 2x AUX out with preview on monitor - Luma key function for text overlay - 8 input talkback system with tally function - SMPTE Pattern out - Frame Still Store
HD Portable Studio
- 5 channel portable studio - HD 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p - 2x HD-SDI & 1x HD-YUV HD video output - Luma key function for text overlay - 5 input talkback system with tally function - Clock on screen
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