You Mean There’s No SET??? Inside, ‘Inside Edition’
Last week, inside CBS Studio 45, I was stunned to learn that this green screen area is where Deborah Norville hosts ‘Inside Edition’.
Don’t freak out, but this is not the only show done this way and the list of others is growing. In the photos below you see the before and after. The mannequin is a camera test stand in for Deborah, and each day, video checks are done to adjust the chromakey settings so that the effect does not “tear” when the virtual set is added into the mix.
Although the show is videotaped for later playback, this is all done in real time. A key point of a virtual set like this is that the real camera can move in 3D space, while the image of the virtual camera is being rendered in real-time from the same perspective.
That means the virtual scene has to instantly adapt to and mirror the camera’s output including zoom, pan, angle, traveling, etc. This is what differentiates a virtual set from the traditional technique of chromakey.
Integration of camera tracking is done with either optical or mechanical measurements to create a live stream of data describing the exact perspective of the camera. In this case, the tracking is measured digitally by capturing the information generated by the robotic pan heads.
The 3D virtual software used on ‘Inside Edition’ is made by the granddaddy of chromakey innovation, Ultimatte, who’s been on the cutting edge of chromakey hardware and software since 1976. Enjoy and share!
That was an excellent read – thanks!
I never thought that was 100% Chromakey. Wow!
Reality is just a simulation!
Wow…..
I had no idea. That is pretty amazing. And it makes for a quick set change!
It’s also being used on the local level. New England Sports Network (NESN) uses it for their “Sports Today” show.
Amazed
Are you sure Entertainment Tonight does it? I have seen so many behind the scenes pictures of the ET set and it seems to be there.
Just waiting for GM’s at the local level to save money by NOT building that new news set and just do it with chromakey…..
Sunday Morning is across the studio form IE
New meaning to cheap and dirty!
ET has a real set that spins and moves. I’ve shot on it.
Very technically proficient.
Smoke and mirrors , back in the day at Ch 10 in Waco where i worked on the sets with book backdrops most of the book titles had cuss words on them and various remarks. We always would put the talent in the FU section
Remember seeing a setup like this for NAB and at that time they were promoting it for local stations as an alternative to building elaborate news sets. The demo even then was impressive.
I tech managed a televised BINGO game show that utilized a VR set. 3 cameras with “magic” XYZ interfaces that talked to a Silicon Graphics workstation. Our cyc was 8′ x 24′ but the VR made it appear to be huge.
NBC has used virtual sets during election coverage. This was in Studio 3K:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennisdegan/2535013591/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennisdegan/2534923187/
From Germany, ZDF’s 30-million-euro studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rskH1wsTC8U
Here is a picture of the real set in 2011. It is at the CBS Radford Studios lot. This is Mary Hart (retiring) showing ABC News correspondent David Wright how it works. The base turns, as well as the giant monitors on set. When everything is moving you really have to watch where you stand or walk. I had always thought this was a virtual set, but it is real.
Jeff Freeman
Broadcast Images, Inc.
I guess the Talent has to keep an eye out for the tape marks on the floor so they don’t accidentally find themselves walking through a virtual column.
Welcome to the magic of video!
Totally amazing. Learn something new everyday here!
Film and television have always been smoke and mirrors.