Re: Live sports graphics package

it sounds like you're asking about the hardware to do live video production (or live to tape).

we do live local news casts and sports shows here, and we are currently using several deko boxes for most of the graphics for the live shows but also use some other machines, like a dekocast for a ticker and an old chyron for various things.

the live signal comes into the chain and the dekos and other graphics boxes are overlayed in series. the dekos are capable of animation (the old chyron is not), but the animation that the dekos do is generally limited to the updatable elements, like the text or maybe a graphic object like a logo. but, most all of the animations and effects in or out are prerendered from after effects with transparency (either included alpha channel, or separate matte) and audio, if needed.

there are multiple dekos to handle multiple graphics.... example: in a given point in the show, there may be a live shot with a shoulder graphic, that then goes to a full screen animated map that zooms in on a location, then they fly out a reporter with a name key and there's breaking bug over the whole sequence and there is a ticker up the whole time. so there is one deko that puts the shoulder graphic on the studio shot, the map is on another deko, once the map is taken they can switch the shoulder graphic the the name key for the reporter shot, that could free up one deko for the breaking bug, or they could use the chyron for the breaking bug, all these are being controlled in the booth and the dekocast with the ticker is downstream of everything with it's data streaming across (the ticker could be controlled by the booth, or by master control, it usually would only be pulled for commercial breaks)

so that's one way to get graphics displayed over live video... but we are currently looking into a vertigo box from miranda. from the sounds of it, it's one box that will composite multiple 'keyers' or layers on the live stream. so you could have the live video come into one box that has a layer for the shoulder graphic, another layer for the name key, another for the bug, another for any fullscreen graphics, maybe another for interstitials and a final layer for the ticker. all these layers can then be triggered from the booth.... it sounds simple enough, but i have a feeling that they will want 2 vertigos, because i have a feeling that going back-to-back with graphic switches on a single box will eventually lead to problems or have limitations.

Kevin Camp
Senior Designer
KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW