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46 TVBEurope Graphics
free. ‘Seamless Integration’ is the anxiety ‘buzz-pill’ to ease those worries. By testing and supporting workflows between common products and solutions, graphics makers assume some of that responsibility and this becomes a valuable selling point for their product. As a provider of products that control a multitude of broadcast systems, this is an everyday concern for wTVision. Gilbert: For genuine solution providers it means a lot of work to understand and deliver the detailed implementation of a ‘seamless’ integration. This work has to be paid for and the lack of interoperability standards for graphics means it is not reusable across different vendors’ equipment. For some vendors it is merely a ‘buzz phrase’ or an empty promise. Worst case scenario is that the customer discovers it is an empty promise after purchasing the equipment. Customers often perform insufficient due diligence on the integration and workflow side, instead being seduced purely by the visual appeal of the demonstration graphics. Harrison: Seamless integration is a nebulous concept. There has always been a requirement for integration in one form or another. News is the most obvious example. Graphic vendors now need to consider MAM, ingest, edit, playout etc as well. Conventional dedicated software is limiting and hard to adapt. As web technology develops and the web/app performance gap closes, the ability to provide an integrated solution becomes easier. The biggest challenge — as ever — is standardisation. For as long as vendors insist on implementing their own formats, the job remains difficult. Stadler: Seamless integration means more than just taking on graphics — it’s about looking at the complete package being delivered to the broadcasters. For example, live sporting broadcasts involve a multitude of content, including pre- packaged stories, graphics and videos. For a seamless integration, broadcasters need a system that can access the video content, merge graphics and then easily convert and send out a single video stream in SDI format. All this while also being able to instantly repurpose and re-size it for multiplatform distribution. It’s a huge task!
www.tvbeurope.com July 2014
Sören Kjellin, ChyronHego
What is the impact of
the increasing use of
‘augmented reality
studios’— a mixture of virtual and live — on the production of graphics?
Benovici: Orad started as a virtual studio company some 20 years ago. Remove the green screen and replace it with physical set, keep the camera tracking and the 3D graphics rendering and you have your augmented reality solution, sounds simple, right? Well, it isn’t, but it’s been our DNA for the last 20 years which is why augmented reality is an inhered part of our solution for many years. Artistically, you need to figure out how the virtual elements will blend with the real physical elements to achieve an on screen look that will look natural and not artificial to the viewer at home. To achieve such results we developed some unique features such as material shaders, depth of field shaders, and others that enhance the photo realism of the augmented reality object. We also perfected the camera tracking element
Brian Olson, Ross Video
so that the augmented reality object will remain fixed to its position regardless of the camera movement, thus creating the illusion that it is actually part of the studio. Workflow wise the entire creation and on air process is identical to the creation of regular graphic templates. That means that there is no need to create a
Niels Stevens, Adobe Systems
designers at the same table to produce good results. Gilbert: The obvious route is to select the graphics provided by the virtual studio vendor, but the danger here is that the graphics are compromised for other applications. It may be better to separate the graphics that interact with the virtual studio from the other
broadcast and outside of it — forcing our industry to think quite differently across all steps of graphics design work, from creation to authoring and playout. Olson: What most people don’t realise is that although graphics devices are used to render virtual sets and augmented reality, the skillset
“4K is frustrating. Just when you overcome the technological hurdles to get an adequate amount of headroom in graphics performance in one standard, the TV manufacturers come up with another one that cuts your performance down by a factor of four”
specific graphic template just because it is an augmented reality element. Such elements could be, for example, generated by journalists via the NRCS system. Fraser: We have been
involved with augmented reality shows since 2006, especially for large election coverage projects. This type of graphics creates beautiful integration between real sets and graphics that transform them into ‘props’ and ‘live furniture’ that sticks to the set as real objects would. Graphics have to be designed so that they remain legible from multiple angles and with ‘zoom’ robustness in mind — where a director and camera operator become part of the choreographed solution to convey information to the audience. It is a skill that must be developed and evolved with directors, operators, talent and
graphics (information overlays, branding) so that the best of breed can be chosen outside the studio environment. Harrison: To be honest, it doesn’t. From a pure graphics point of view, the use of AR is no different from regular graphics, except your virtual camera is hooked up to a tracking system. What does change is the control and asset side. You need to have an integrated approach to control as well as asset management. ‘On the day’ graphics need to augment any static element to your AR or VR set. So you need a flexible approach to control and a means to get new assets into the system. Kjellin: Huge. The converging of video and graphics is more than just a trend. It is a concept with great editorial potential and is likely to change video presentation both within
Brian Olson, Ross Video
needed to create quality content is not usually the same as a broadcast designer. For example, to create a realistic looking virtual set, you need to understand set design, which incorporates a bunch of different disciplines. You need to understand architecture, construction, lighting, camera blocking, etc. There are only a handful of people worldwide who do this well right now. It’s going to be an area of huge growth for people wanting to go into that field. Stevens: The model of
compositing is not that different — there is just higher demand which is a good thing. To blend the virtual with reality and create photo-realistic imagery is the foundation of visual effects. The key is planning. How will the shot work in the end? What cost and time will it take to produce high quality output?
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