Last week, the first publicly visible evidence of a four-year framework agreement between the BBC and broadcast graphics systems vendor Vizrt became apparent when BBC World and News 24 went live with new lower third on-screen graphics and captions.
The new graphics and captions, which went live Jan. 15, were the result of a combination of visuals created with Vizrt equipment and developed by the BBC's own in-house graphics system.
BBC London is also piloting Vizrt software on behalf of regional stations and will be conducting a soft launch later this month. The rollout will continue during 2007 and will incorporate further installations.
As part of the project, Vizrt has helped the BBC integrate the Viz|Engine with the broadcaster's own equipment and software. Most of the installations covered by the agreement use Vizrt's 3-D Ticker software for lower third and caption generation. The deal also covers maps from Vizrt subsidiary Curious World Maps.
As part of the agreement, Vizrt UK is also providing training and support to help BBC staff adapt to the new software.
For more information, visit www.vizrt.com.