HD set design
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY MICHAEL GROTTICELLI
New news sets offer the freedom to roam.
Moving
WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA, currently broadcasts in SD. Planning for an HD future, the station worked with the Devlin Design Group to an HD set. A large-market on-air look was created by using a lot of wood grains, new lighting and native HD graphics to highlight the talent.
It's not enough to plan for what a new HD set should include. You must also figure out how to get the new set in place. The trick is to move the newscast from its existing stage to another area while new construction occurs. This process is perhaps the most challenging because a station's newscast can't go off the air. Extensive planning by the station's operations manager and chief engineer is critical.
Often, sets are built off-site and then assembled at the studio to decrease the disruption. Another option is to temporarily move the newscast elsewhere and build the new set on-site. This is what WNYW-TV in New York City did. The old set was sliced into pieces and reassembled in another studio in the parent company's building. For four weeks, the station produced its three-per-day newscasts from this secondary location while a new set, designed by Blyth Designs, was built in the home studio. According to those involved, the move was smooth and seamless, and most importantly, viewers didn't experience a disruption.
The final set
Changing sets every time a new news director is hired is no longer feasible. Today, stations are expected to live with a news set for five to seven years. With HD's emergence and limited budgets, new sets must be as flexible as possible without looking temporary.
Designs have to be versatile, yet, with many stations using robotic cameras and automated station-in-a-box systems, must accommodate new and existing production technologies and the limitations they bring, Devlin said. Many times camera movement, location and proximity don't always work well together, and that's affected by technology, lighting and studio space, he said. Having the freedom for the talent to move around a set may be nice, but often that works against the benefits of new developments like robotics that were championed over the past few years. The key is to know what you have and what you plan to keep in a new design and then make it work.
Michael Grotticelli regularly reports on the professional video and broadcast technology industries.
Web links
- Blyth Design
www.blythdesign.com - Broadcast Design International
www.broadcastdesign.com - Devlin Design Group
www.ddgtv.com - The Express Group
www.theexpressgroup.com - FX Group
www.fxgroup.tv
Set inspiration
Looking for new set ideas? The SetStudio features more than 1000 photos of sets from 100 stations and networks around the world. Founded in 2003 by Michael P. Hill, the Web site is a great resource for any engineer or station employee looking for set design inspiration.
The site is not affiliated with any set design firm or manufacturer. Hill relies on user submissions for his collection of photos. Users are encouraged to submit photos of their station's set for consideration. The site is accessible free of charge at www.setstudio.com.
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