[quote="Seth Madway"][quote="Bill D"][quote="sahonen"] The anchor obscures it if he overlaps it at all, so it has to be more than a simple graphic... Maybe chroma key, but that sounds too complicated for something that could be done more practically. I'm going with sideways plasma here.[/quote] True about the anchor overlapping it.. If it is a plasma it looks really good.. Bill[/quote] The OTS in SportsCenter is played from VIZRT, and is a rear projection.[/quote] It looks really good for an RP, usually RP's in an open set like that would be washed out.. Bill

[quote="Bill D"][quote="sahonen"][quote="Bill D"]Speaking of sportscenter how is the OTS graphic done. It looks like a 'vertical plasma (like what we use at msnbc) but since I see no frame I am thinking it is some kind of graphic. Is that all it is, a simple graphic? made to look like a plasma.[/quote] The anchor obscures it if he overlaps it at all, so it has to be more than a simple graphic... Maybe chroma key, but that sounds too complicated for something that could be done more practically. I'm going with sideways plasma here.[/quote] True about the anchor overlapping it.. If it is a plasma it looks really good.. Bill[/quote] The OTS in SportsCenter is played from VIZRT, and is a rear projection.

we replaced our SGI with VIZRT this year. i have to admit that i don't know much about it...i guess i should pay more attention! ; ) jonas

[quote="sahonen"][quote="Bill D"]Speaking of sportscenter how is the OTS graphic done. It looks like a 'vertical plasma (like what we use at msnbc) but since I see no frame I am thinking it is some kind of graphic. Is that all it is, a simple graphic? made to look like a plasma.[/quote] The anchor obscures it if he overlaps it at all, so it has to be more than a simple graphic... Maybe chroma key, but that sounds too complicated for something that could be done more practically. I'm going with sideways plasma here.[/quote] True about the anchor overlapping it.. If it is a plasma it looks really good.. Bill

[quote="Bill D"]Speaking of sportscenter how is the OTS graphic done. It looks like a 'vertical plasma (like what we use at msnbc) but since I see no frame I am thinking it is some kind of graphic. Is that all it is, a simple graphic? made to look like a plasma.[/quote] The anchor obscures it if he overlaps it at all, so it has to be more than a simple graphic... Maybe chroma key, but that sounds too complicated for something that could be done more practically. I'm going with sideways plasma here.

We use some VIZ RT graphics on my ABC show, especially for our open and teases, and they look awesome! We pre-pro our elements and lay them to EVS (my show doesn't have the same toys as MNF or SNF) but the stuff just looks awesome!

[quote="mtiffee"]What you saw was generated by VIZ RT. SNF used it last season and it's being used on a lot more of ESPN's "A-shows" including MLB, NBA. It's used heavily on Sportscenter. The big advantage to the VIZ RT over other graphic devices is it's speed. Recalls are virtually instant and you can hit "run" immediately. No waiting around for the animation to load. It's not llke a traditional CG where you have a blank canvas and you start typing and can create anything you want. Everything is generated using prebuilt shells. .[/quote] That is very cool, thanks everyone for the info, the graphics look great. It also makes the TD's job easier because like you said just key it and go. Similar to when everything went from lum keys to linear keys. No need to check clips, just play the thing and key it. Speaking of sportscenter how is the OTS graphic done. It looks like a 'vertical plasma (like what we use at msnbc) but since I see no frame I am thinking it is some kind of graphic. Is that all it is, a simple graphic? made to look like a plasma. thanks Bill

What you saw was generated by VIZ RT. SNF used it last season and it's being used on a lot more of ESPN's "A-shows" including MLB, NBA. It's used heavily on Sportscenter. The big advantage to the VIZ RT over other graphic devices is it's speed. Recalls are virtually instant and you can hit "run" immediately. No waiting around for the animation to load. It's not llke a traditional CG where you have a blank canvas and you start typing and can create anything you want. Everything is generated using prebuilt shells. It sounds limiting, and it is somewhat, but actually the shells can be made to be very flexible. Adding rows or highlighting a stat is as simple as modifying properties in that shell. The shell pretty much takes care of all the formatting for you. Also, the pages aren't saved as full rasters. A Viz RT page is more like a HTML page where it pulls and reuses the same element in all it's shells. You can load your entire show using a 512MB memory stick instead of DVD's and CD's. All the operators and graphics AP's that I've talked with that use it regularly seem to love it. The AP's love it because they can build stuff on their laptop on the plane- and see full motion real-time previews- and the operators love it because of it's speed. It does remove a lot of the creativity from the position and makes it more technical job. When you have the VIZ RT on your show you have to pay a bit more attention since almost every graphic is a blind reveal and can also animate off to nothing but it's also makes some things simpler too. Instead of a FFW transition to a wide shot with CG for starting linups and maybe a DVE transition from page 1 to page 2, now you simply key a graphic and maybe underdissolve and all the flashy stuff is done for you. I don't even build font flys or blurs anymore unless the client wants them or it's part of a shows "look". I'm tired of seeing the DVEOUS white lighting blur on/off and the Deko's, Duets, and VIZ's jizz it up for you now anyway. Sahonen, Sportvision offers a comparable product that does more than just a yellow line. In golf, we've used thier 3D telestrator that could draw animated arrows, etc. in 3d space- where a line you drew on the green went up and down the slopes of the green as you drew. You can also superimpose data, like where every ball has landed on a green today. We still use their tele with animated arrows, etc. but without the 3D data.

Something I'd like to add... I don't remember which network, either Fox or ESPN (I'm leaning toward Fox here) did some baseball coverage earlier this year where they used similar-looking lower-thirds to tag players. I thought at the time that the sort of Z-axis feel took too much screen real-estate and made the shot composition look a little awkward, and I guess someone agrees because I haven't seen it since. They look great for bumps, though. Vizrt also lets you do stuff similar to Sportvision where you use pan/tilt and lens encoders to draw stuff on the field that syncs up with camera movement, but you're not limited to just a little yellow line. I don't know this for sure from seeing how it's done, but I believe when you see stuff like animated arrows or statistics drawn on the field, that's Vizrt. Apparently it can also use motion tracking to do a similar effect even without the encoders.

Bill, I believe the lower thirds are the output of a device made by VIZRT. I saw them at NAB and they had all the ESPN graphics in their demo. Not sure which product is which, as they do virtual sets also. Google them as I know our ABC affilitate has one of their boxes, but that's the extent of my knowledge. They do look really cool, especially the z-axis feel. Scott S.