Archive for the ‘NAB Preview 2008’ Category

615 Music goes 5.1 as it continues to evolve

615 Music continues to lead the way in news music production, unveiling many new packages and sounds over the past year.

 

As 615 Music moves into its third decade in business, its roots and history come in focus. In 23 short years, 615 Music has composed many of today’s most popular news music packages, including the first ever in 5.1 surround sound.

“We hope that what we’re doing in the news music area is continuing to be interesting to TV stations around the world,” said Randy Wachtler, 615 Music president. “I believe our quality is unsurpassed in the industry.”

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Giant Octopus reaches wide breadth of clients, styles

A longtime leader in the news graphics design market, Giant Octopus has built a solid portfolio in a wide range of styles.

“Whether we’re designing a package for New York City, or Terre Haute, Ind. — and we’ve done both — each project presents a unique set of challenges that need to be overcome. We are often called upon to help our clients get the most out of their production equipment by designing graphics that will exploit their capabilities to the fullest, especially in the smaller markets,” said Giant Octopus’ Kevin McWilliams.

The firm’s packages often feature bold colors, eye-catching animations and high-tech elements while still retaining feels that appeal to a wide range of viewers.

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Today’s set designers soup up sets with tech, flexibility

Once constructed solely with wood, nails and basic special effects, news sets have sprouted a slew of technological elements and flexible options in the face of the industry’s transition to digital and HD broadcasting.

Ranging from rear projection screens, flat panel and plasma monitors, LED boards and other high-tech innovations, these additions mimic the increasingly wired world we live in and give news sets an eye-catching look with stations vying to top each other with the most impressive array of gadgets.

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‘Hollywood’ sound, customization tools make Non Stop Music stand out

Over the past year, Non Stop Music has launched or updated more than 14 syndicated news music packages, all to deepen its routes in the news music field.

All along, Non Stop’s strategy has been simple: “The industry’s sounds are always changing — people always want the latest, coolest sounds, and we are just finishing updating over half of all our syndicated news packages with those latest sounds,” said Non Stop’s Mike Hicks. “Yet, some things never change, like the need for a musical logo a station can brand itself with. We’ve simply taken these proven musical logos and dressed them up in new, hip clothes.”

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VDO builds strong looks around solid elements

VDO has continued its trend of creating innovative graphics packages for stations of all sizes. One of VDO’s strong points is the ability to create a wide range of looks. Though the firm is skilled at the sharp, 3D look that’s so common in TV news graphics, the firm has also delivered clean, geometric graphics as well as fun and funky looks.

“VDO is not a singular style — it’s a style that can be categorized as fresh and innovative,” said Dianne Streyer, VDO’s vice president and general manager. “Our philosophy at VDO is to concentrate on unique design. The design team has a pioneering spirit and likes to create unprecedented concepts and styles for our custom clients,” she added.

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NAB preview series starts Monday

Starting Monday, NewscastStudio will be showcasing the industry’s top set design, graphics and music companies — all leading up to our coverage of NAB and RTNDA@NAB (more about that below).

In this series, we’ll profile the top firms in each category, giving you a look at their latest work. We also asked the companies to answer questions about their creative philosophy, style and upcoming projects for a unique perspective.

All stories in this series will be filed under the “NAB Preview 2008” category.

Over the next few weeks, there will be at least one new profile posted every weekday. We’ll also be posting any comments from the companies that come in — so be sure to check in often (a good way to stay on top of the updates is to subscribe to our RSS feed).

Plus, now that commenting is available on the blog, you can share your thoughts on the companies and work we profile.

The series will bring us right up to this year’s NAB and RTNDA@NAB coverage.

This year we’re excited to announce that NewscastStudio Editor Dak Dillon will be representing NewscastStudio at the shows. He’s already scheduled to check out some of the latest and greatest in the TV creative industry and will update the blog from the show.

By the way, this site’s fifth birthday is April 15, which is right in the middle of NAB…