In Broadcast - December 2011/January 2012 - 55

InMEDIA

Robotics In The Newsroom
By Karen Walker, Vinten Radamec
The face of television news has changed dramatically in recent years. In the 1990s, most news bulletins consisted of static anchors reading to camera linking pre-recorded stories. Now we are in to the realms of virtual reality and robotics, as technological advances have paved the way for rolling news channels, seamless graphics and fully automated studios. News is vitally important to broadcasters. The way that news is delivered – through its branding and its character – often determines the personality of the station and provides a window to the rest of the channel. Viewers have high expectations in terms of production values, having grown accustomed to a dynamic and varied production style. The days of using one or two locked-off cameras in the studio presentation for every bulletin seem to be firmly behind us and will leave most audiences reaching for the remote. quality television that establishes, maintains and enhances the brand values of the station.

Karen Walker

Studio Setups

News studios need to deliver multi camera coverage as well as the

becoming increasingly common in news environments, allowing X,Y and Z movement around the floor to cover different parts of the studio. The location system uses an extremely unobtrusive target, Vinten Radamec’s is a

automation to achieve the best operational efficiency. The programme editor can then make changes to the running order and these are implemented in every device. It is also vital that there is a seamless interface to

Sky Italia Studio A

Viewer Expectations

Unsurprisingly, production costs have spiralled along with viewers’ expectations. News is expensive to produce. More teams need to be out in the field gathering news, and the demand for live broadcasting has increased, resulting in a significant cost increase – especially for 24-hour news channels. Managing budgets has become a challenge for broadcasters and many newsrooms are moving to automation to shift operational costs from studio staff to newsgathering, so the skilled camera people can go out on location with reporters to get the best coverage of breaking news stories. The structured nature of news programmes makes them ideal for automated production and the automation means that computers, rather than people, can do the highly repetitive tasks, diverting resources to where it matters. It is important that the automation doesn’t compromise the aims of news broadcasting. It should deliver not just good broadcasting, but consistent, visibly high

ability to be flexible with the shots. News operations vary greatly, and the demands on studios can change by the hour - from a simple middle of the night news bulletin to a flagship evening programme. In the studio, the required degree of flexibility can be achieved with modern robotic camera systems. The robotic system must first be capable of multiple set ups, which are triggered by the automation timeline. The pre-set positions must also be capable of being trimmed live, because the news anchor is slightly out of position, for example. Live control also needs to be more sophisticated in the case of bigger bulletins, when an operator may need to move cameras to cover unusual configurations. Camera moves need to be smooth to provide a professional appearance on air, so the dynamics of the robotics must be carefully designed.

Full Control

small L on the studio floor, and can be incorporated into the set design or other studio operational requirements. Versions are available which can be converted, at the flick of a switch, from robotic to manual. The control system is just as important as the camera supports. It needs to be capable of a very large number of set ups, which can be readily selected, and enable changes to pre set positions. For bigger productions, the robotic control systems can be extended beyond cameras in the local studio to control external cameras for back drops and weather images or even to control remote studios with multiple cameras. The Vinten Radamec controller uses IP technology to communicate with robotic camera supports over local and wide area networks. This allows connected devices to be under the control of the main studio, regardless of their location in the world.

the production system. Vinten Radamec uses IP connectivity to integrate the robotics with the automation or play-out system. The automation system has access to all the shot management and recall functionality of the underlying Vinten Radamec control system. The high positional accuracy of robotic camera mounts and pedestals means that the data can be continually streamed to the virtual reality system, allowing dynamic moves to be synchronised between real and virtual environments.

Automate

News robotics are frequently confined to pan and tilt heads with full lens control. However, fully robotic camera pedestals are

Editorial Control

The robotic cameras need to be controlled by the newsroom

These sophisticated robotic systems are rapidly turning the heads of broadcasters. More news operations are opting to move to an automated environment because it allows them to switch operational costs from studio staff to newsgathering and it makes high quality, dynamic programmes. Automation seems to be an automatic choice. Viewing figures are boosted along with the back pockets of the television executives.

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In Broadcast - December 2011/January 2012

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