In Broadcast - November 2012 - 71

ISSUE 14 - NOV/DEC 2012 | WWW.INBROADCAST.COM

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

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InSTUDIO
Robotics And Weather Studios - A Perfect Combination
Weather presentation studios, where reliable and accurate positioning of the studio camera is critical, are ideal applications for robotic camera systems.
For years weather broadcasts have been an important and regular part of TV schedules seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. More recently the increasing number of 24-hour weather channels has further increased the need for cost-efficient, high-performance production facilities, invariably using camera robotics. The use of robotics provides several advantages in addition to keeping production costs down. Camera angles and on-air moves are accurate, precise and perfectly consistent; they can be quickly preset to the right position for each presenter, standing or sitting, left or right of the graphic display. Productions are often finalised at very short-notice and with minimal or even no technical staff other than the presenter. For these reasons the robotics systems must be highly adaptable, reliable and above all very simple to use. Canada’s The Weather Network is one of the world’s leading dedicated weather news service channels, providing up-to-the-minute rolling weather news, as well as many weather-related documentary and general interest programmes to millions of Canadians every day. Robotics have been used at The Weather Network for several years but in 2011/12 a significant upgrade of the system was undertaken. At that time they upgraded to full HD production and their operation expanded to a five camera robotics system combining existing legacy systems with new Shotoku channels based on the small TG27 pan tilt head and TI-11 elevator pedestals. All studio cameras now come under the control of a single, unified control system, so operators can immediately access any of the studio cameras and rapidly reposition them for the broadcast when necessary. The use of the elevator for height adjustment is important, because it ensures the eye-line is always right regardless of the presenter’s height or the positioning of the graphics within the studio. For other broadcasters the need for flexible, simple operation has taken the design of automated, fully integrated systems to an even higher level. Here the entire weather production process integrates the robotics control into studio automation systems enabling the weather presenter or operator to instantly recall prepared on-air graphics sequences and exact camera positions required for a particular presenter at the press of a button. In some cases the presenters themselves may easily adjust the camera height with a convenient hand-held control during final changes and rehearsals from the studio floor, sometimes just seconds before the live broadcast. Regardless of the exact requirements of a particular weather production, be it a fully virtual 3D production with real-time camera tracking, or a simpler operation with minimal on-air movement, robotics offer a powerful and cost effective solution - whatever the weather! n

Shotoku TG-27 pan tilt head and TI11 elevator pedestal at Canada’s The Weather Channel

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In Broadcast - November 2012

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