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Does look impressive South Today the cameras are at a distance and therefore the moire is not there as well, they have a slight unique ending with the three presenters at the end so they’ve opted not to go for the tower shot at the end and of course all in glorious HD.
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I actually thinks in some ways the regional sets actually look better than the national set which just suffers from being far too big and looking somewhat cold and sterile. The regions are adopting a similar look but with so much more warmth.
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(16-11-2023, 11:35 AM)Brekkie Wrote: I actually thinks in some ways the regional sets actually look better than the national set which just suffers from being far too big and looking somewhat cold and sterile. The regions are adopting a similar look but with so much more warmth.
Possibly down to the lighting, B does appear to use some rather cool white LEDs, as well as the backdrops having a bit more colour to them.
To be honest, it wouldn't be the first time that regional sets have worked better in certain respects. I know they're sometimes maligned, but I think that the 2009/10 faux-Barco regional sets were nicer than the national Barco sets (particularly TC7 in News at Six mode). The newsroom lightboxes were quite well done (even if empty) and provided a cleaner backdrop than the Barcos, and the use of red in painted form is preferable to the overly bright red lightboxes that adorned N6 (luckily, since the move to NBH, they seem to have worked out how to get a deeper red through lighting).
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• Brekkie
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The only drawback I can see is the variation in equipment across the regions - though that's due to change. When you look at the handover at the end of network bulletins you notice the differences.
SET looks like it's being produced on a 2002 miniDV camera connected to firewire in webcam mode.
Midlands Today looks very yellow (initially I thought this was a lighting issue but it appears to be a racking issue since they've upgraded their cameras, the writing on the pillar is off white - it's even worse when they use the PTZ that's mounted to the wall, where the framerate goes mad and everything has a yellowy green tinge).
Points West looks like a fog has descended on their temporary set.
Slowly they're getting there, and hopefully by the end of next year they'll all look the same (as intended, the documents that go to each site seem to be built around getting the celebrity squares right - I imagine they want an entire column of regions to line their pillars up to demonstrate which region is which).
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I might be wrong, but it appears to me like they’re making the most out of Southampton’s bigger studio by not having the set form a strict rectangle - it looks like the left hand side (closest to the tower) is angled to make the set a bit bigger?
(This post was last modified: 16-11-2023, 07:58 PM by
Critique.)
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(16-11-2023, 01:09 AM)IanJRedman Wrote: Just caught up with it. Whilst the set is slightly smaller than the old one (offset somewhat by the cameras being positioned so much further back at certain angles) the technical improvement is vast. The fact the entire backdrop can change means this is potentially a very versatile set. Looks great!
The new set takes up approx 2/3 of the width of the old one - lots of space at the sides now which you won't see on screen. It will also fit easily at Bristol and you could probably fit almost two of them in Newcastle if you went right to the walls. Plymouth's studio is also quite generous so the set will have breathing space too in terms of width, but not so much in depth.
Most of the differences in how the set looks and works will be mostly down to two other factors - the height of the lightning rig (e.g. South East has the width but significantly lacks height) or the depth of the studio (e.g. some regions have the cameras almost against the back of the rear studio wall meaning less maneuverability). You may notice that BBC South are using more moving camera shots rather than simple zooms - they've got a lot of space to fling the cameras around so can be a bit more creative as they become more confident with the new set. They are one of only a small number of regions which will have the ideal setup - good ceiling height, generous width and generous depth. Bristol and Newcastle will also have this combination.
More LED = a lot more cost and changes to the standardised templates. That's why you will see all regions with very similar set dimensions, give or take a couple of metres or so. Remember that this project is not only to refresh sets which have outlived their lifespan but also to bring savings and efficiencies across the regions in terms of standardisation and ultimately reduction in staff once the gallery changes have been made. As has been mentioned, despite the initial cost, it will also mean that future set changes should be easily to implement with graphic changes and updates to furniture when necessary.
(This post was last modified: 16-11-2023, 08:24 PM by
Earlie37.)
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It's a relatively minor detail, but the headline wipe being different from the network one is bugging me. It's quite jarring when you see one straight after the other.
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(16-11-2023, 07:58 PM)Critique Wrote: I might be wrong, but it appears to me like they’re making the most out of Southampton’s bigger studio by not having the set form a strict rectangle - it looks like the left hand side (closest to the tower) is angled to make the set a bit bigger?
None of these sets are rectangular and outside of height they are all identical sizes and layouts - which is more akin to Norwich's studio shape, trapezoid.
Southampton's is more noticeable because of the size of the studio floor; the cameras are set back for long zooms at the top of the programme, as there is space behind them to move (I suspect, but don't quote me) the new set is installed at 90 degrees to the previous one to give as much space behind the cameras as is possible.
More interestingly is the strip of LEDs along the bottom of the screens that faces towards the cameras under the pillar - this is on all the sets but has only ever been seen on air from S'ton.
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(17-11-2023, 12:05 AM)Mike Wrote: More interestingly is the strip of LEDs along the bottom of the screens that faces towards the cameras under the pillar - this is on all the sets but has only ever been seen on air from S'ton.
From looking at what popped up on TV Live. I don't see what you mean as they all look the same.
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(17-11-2023, 06:08 AM)AaronLancs Wrote: From looking at what popped up on TV Live. I don't see what you mean as they all look the same.
Sorry, I wasn't too clear there
Credit to TV Live for these captures
tvlive.site
tvlive.site
tvlive.site
tvlive.site
Bottom left of the South Today capture you'll see the pillar that is at the end of the screens has an LED strip beneath it - I am not referring to the large pillar with the programme name on it.
Because the cameras are set back in the Southampton studio you actually see that detail.