This week’s incident of a bird wandering in front of a live camera that was feeding an on-set video background — creating the appearance of a giant gull “attack” — is a good reason to consider the options for video backgrounds like this.
It’s no doubt rear projection and huge flat panel screens are becoming more and more popular in set design.
The screens allow the flexibility to instantly changing out a background, instead of having to manually change out duratrans, as well being able to use motion and video.
When considering using a screen on any area of the set, it’s important to plan ahead and consider what imagery you’ll feed to it. While it’s exciting to have such a fun element on your set, using it ineffectively can look terrible.
Camera center video backgrounds often feature a live video loop of a cityscape, like the one seen in the seagull incident.
Feeding a live image is a great way to incorporate a real-time look at weather and lighting conditions, quite literally giving viewers a window on their world.
Be sure to consider, however, what you’ll use for a background if the feed isn’t available to prevent a jarring shift in backgrounds.
Typically the best option is to build a library of backup video loops taken in various lighting and weather conditions.
On the other hand, video loops avoid unwanted guests such as critters as well as the effect of effects of inclement weather such as a shaking camera or moisture forming over the image.
However, video loops do make it harder to convey weather conditions or lighting shifts that are prevalent as seasons change.
Video loops can also be used to project footage of a newsroom or control room or animated graphical collages. These techniques can be effective, but it’s important to ensure the background isn’t overly distracting and complements your anchors and rest of the set.
With any video loop, it’s important to make sure you have enough footage to avoid having a jump cut when the loop restarts showing up on the air. One strategy is to record an extremely long clip (say 30 minutes or more). However, if this isn’t possible due to technical limitations, another approach is to record a loop that’s a few minutes longer than a typical block and then restart it just before coming out of each break.
There are times, however, such as breaking news, where this might not be practical, so at the very least there should be a smooth cross-fade used when the loop starts over (this is also a helpful safety net in case someone forgets about the loop running out).
Animated collages, on the other hand, offer the advantage of, if designed correctly, infinite seamless looping.
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Michael P. Hill is founder and publisher of NewscastStudio. Contact him with your own tips and feedback.
