[Former Member 406]

When the new Nottigham set debuted the other week, it was commented upon here that the set size would no way fit into the Birmingham or Hull studios and therefore dispelled the notion that all regions would be getting an identical size of new set.

But the new Birmingham set revealed yesterday looks to me to be the same size as the Nottingham one.

So, now I'm confused.

Either the EMT set is of a sufficiently small size it that would be able to fit into the Birmingham/Hull studios but somehow looks bigger than that (wide angle lenses? A perception trick resulting from the depth of the outdoor view shown on the LED walls?), or the MT one is smaller than the EMT one but somehow manages to not seem so. Black magic?

[JexedBack]

All the new sets are the same size with one or two height alterations.

[DTV]

When the new Nottigham set debuted the other week, it was commented upon here that the set size would no way fit into the Birmingham or Hull studios and therefore dispelled the notion that all regions would be getting an identical size of new set.

But the new Birmingham set revealed yesterday looks to me to be the same size as the Nottingham one.

So, now I'm confused.

Either the EMT set is of a sufficiently small size it that would be able to fit into the Birmingham/Hull studios but somehow looks bigger than that (wide angle lenses? A perception trick resulting from the depth of the outdoor view shown on the LED walls?), or the MT one is smaller than the EMT one but somehow manages to not seem so. Black magic?

I think you're misremembering the discussion a bit - the discussion about studio sizes concluded that, while they might be making all the sets to Birmingham's template (at the smaller end of the scale, but reasonbaly proportioned), there were still some more extremely sized/shaped studios that would probably require a bit of bespokeness - at least Hull, Tunbridge Wells and Salford (you aren't getting a set that tall in TW or the Salford regional studio and I feel you might need a slightly differently proportioned set in Hull due to the narrow but long studio).

It would appear that the Nottingham and Birmingham sets are virtually identical, but, of course, the surrounding studio spaces and cameras aren't. Nottingham's studio is bigger so, depending on how they've oriented the set, it might be the case that the cameras can be set further back from the set - which naturally gives a more spacious feel. Plus, as you mention, it may be the case that the Nottingham studio is shot with wider angle and, of course, lighting can also have an effect on how big a space feels.

[peterrocket]

Also worth pointing out that the new sets go right to the edge of the studio - right up to the fire lane - so they don’t need to be as far in to accommodate projectors or other large sections.

There is also a large amount of power works that will need to take place at most studios. That amount of LED wall has requires, in some cases, new cabling into the studios running off several distribution boards to accommodate the LED.

[RDJ]

Seemed to be a few power issues on this evenings Midlands Today.

Some picture distortion just before the weather followed by the snazzy new set completely going black. Sara Thornton very nearly had to do the weather in complete darkness!

[Mike]

We learned that the BBC Midlands set can colour change...

Also a new image on iPlayer for the programme preview:

[all new phil]

Watching Midlands Today for the first time since their new set appeared. Looks really good on screen. Only thing I’d change - there’s a lot of light grey in the fixtures and fittings that I’d either darken or have black, it looks a little cheap. Being darker would make the red and the city scene pop a little more.

Also I can’t put my finger on it but something about the animation of the straps looks off. Are they using the up to date system for this or does it look odd because they’re still on an older one?

[MFTJA]

Also I can’t put my finger on it but something about the animation of the straps looks off. Are they using the up to date system for this or does it look odd because they’re still on an older one?

AFAIK they’re not on VizRT yet, but they’re clearly using a system that allows them to animate graphics. I think The Mailbox are due for a gallery update in the coming weeks which would inevitably mean they start using the official graphics.

[harshy]

Also I can’t put my finger on it but something about the animation of the straps looks off. Are they using the up to date system for this or does it look odd because they’re still on an older one?

AFAIK they’re not on VizRT yet, but they’re clearly using a system that allows them to animate graphics. I think The Mailbox are due for a gallery update in the coming weeks which would inevitably mean they start using the official graphics.

It’s the same one as Look North Leeds, jittery animations and weird font rendering.

[Mike]

They use CasparCG, which was a pilot for English Regions. It works through HTML templates and sometimes Flash (yes, that Flash).

It’s integrated to BigTED and can be cued through automation and the VM.

However it downscales to PAL/SD 25fps from 1080p50, it doesn’t anti-alias well when downscaled.

The system is the template for all the regions AIUI but the HD ‘ready’ sites don’t downscale and tweak the output hence the nicer animation quality elsewhere.

Most of the MTD gallery and apparatus date from 2003/4 fit out, and haven’t been replaced. Some parts have been updated piecemeal as parts have failed or in the case of the old screens they had a Raven setup for it.