The DeSisti Lighting Demo Studio is close, time to Focus and then Rehearse!

It’s in Hall C – Booth C– 7533 where you’ll get a chance to see demos of the latest in LED Lighting, LED Video Solutions, 3 D Digital Sets and Baron Services New VIPIR Touch Screen Technology integrated with a Key Wall.

DeSisti will also have a number of fixtures available for “Hands On” demonstrations with the latest in LED Studio Fixtures.

In addition we’ll share a few of the Key Findings from our recent Frank N. Magid Associates Viewer Preference Study “Aesthetics Matter”

We will have Demos on Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday beginning at 10:00 am each day with demos every hour on the hour with the last Demo beginning at 4pm.

So please stop by or to set up a private appointment please e-mail mmclaughlin@fxgroup.tv

Hope to see you in Las Vegas!

The DeSisti Lighting Demo Studio is beginning to take shape.

It’s in Hall C – Booth C– 7533 where you’ll get a chance to see demos of the latest in LED Lighting, LED Video Solutions, 3 D Digital Sets and Baron Services New VIPIR Touch Screen Technology integrated with a Key Wall.

DeSisti will also have a number of fixtures available for “Hands On” demonstrations.

In addition we’ll share a few of the Key Findings from our recent Frank N. Magid Associates Viewer Preference Study “Aesthetics Matter”

We will have Demos on Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday beginning at 10:00 am each day with demos every hour on the hour with the last Demo beginning at 4pm.

So please stop by or to set up private appointment please e-mail mmclaughlin@fxgroup.tv

Hope to see you in Las Vegas!

We are partnering with DeSisti Lighting and Baron Services to bring you demos of some of the latest trends in Design for Broadcasting!

A Sneak Peek at FX’s NAB offerings:

Second Generation 3D Digital Sets

ChromaTouchFX Screen with Baron Services Weather Demo

LED Lighting Demos with the latest Gear from DeSisti

LED Video Wall and Video Curtain Demos (Are Duratrans Dead?)

You can also view FX’s Online NAB Showroom – click here FX Online Booth C7934  and book your appointment today!

Or to arrange a meeting at NAB2013 – contact Mack at mmcclaughlin@fxgroup.tv or call 407-877-9600 to set up a time to meet, chat and catch up.

Look forward to seeing you in Vegas!

A look at the “Near – Future” of Viewer Preferences and Broadcast Design.

As mentioned in yesterday’s Post “NAB 2013 – Has Virtual’s Time Arrived” there were more “Virtual” Equipment Manufacturers at NAB last year than there were Scenic Designers, and there was quite a bit of Buzz around the Virtual Topic.

During the show we polled General Managers, News Directors and Engineers with the question, “Are you ready to go Virtual” and the responses were similar “No, it’s too fake”, “No, we deliver Real News and it’s just not believable”, or “Maybe, for Sports or Entertainment, but not News”.

We knew from our previous Magid study that the top two reasons Viewers choose to watch a particular Local Newscast are Accuracy / Reliability, and Believability / Trustworthiness.

We felt that 3 D Digital Sets and Virtual Sets when done well could meet these criteria and should be one of the prime focus’ for our Study; we wanted to find out if Viewers would find 3 D Digital or Virtual Realistic? Would they Trust a Newscast that used 3 D Digital or Virtual Sets? Could they even prefer a 3 D Digital or Virtual Set when compared to a Real Set?

The answer to these questions was a resounding Yes, but with a caveat, the Design must be high resolution and highly detailed, and for the most part be a Design that doesn’t take you to “Uncanny Valley”.

Here are a few of the findings:

When comparing Digital Sets to Real Sets

1. A well-designed highly detailed 3 D Digital set was the overall preference by a nearly 20% margin and compared equally with the Real Set for Realism, Trust and Believability.
2. A 2 D Digital Design was easily differentiated by the Viewer and lost by a margin of nearly 6:1 for Trust and Believability.
3. The Virtual Set lost on Realism but was actually chosen as the set that made the Newscast Believable and Trustworthy.

In addition to 3 D Digital and Virtual we did comparisons of Lighting, Motion Design and on Screen Touch Screen and Tablet Technology, here are a few takeaways on those topics:

1. When it comes to Studio Lighting, Viewers prefers sharp crisp lighting and feel that it enhances the Newscasts Anchors and Graphics by a 2:1 MARGIN.
2. For Motion Design:
   1. When watching in 4:3 Viewers preferred a simple uncluttered Graphics Package
   2. When watching in 16:9 viewers found additional graphics in the wings more informative.
   3. When comparing Touch Screens and Tablets for controlling Graphics on Screen it was overall a Tie.
      1. The Touchscreen did lose Viewer attention each time the Presenter turned their back to the camera.

Additional Findings:

1. HD Penetration has surpassed the 80% mark up from 66% in 2008
2. Nearly two thirds of local news viewers use a 2^nd Screen when they watch Local News.
3. More than a third of Viewers are engaging with your Station while watching the News via a 2^nd Screen.
4. Both of these 2^nd Screen behaviors are more likely among the 18 – 34 year old age group.
5. The top reasons Viewers choose to watch a Local News are still Accuracy, Reliability, Trust, and having Newscasters that are knowledgeable about the Local Area.
6. Other reasons include Sharp Clear Picture, Clear and Simple to Read Graphics and an Attractive Setting.

To see the study in its entirety please visit us at NAB Booth C-7934 call 407-877-9600 or e-mail mmclaughlin@fxgroup.tv for an appointment.

Last year we posted “Has Virtual’s Time Arrived” which really pushed the direction of our second Magid Research Study “Aesthetics Matter”

In the study we compare both 3 D Digital as well as Virtual sets with Real sets to find out Viewer Preferences and answer the question “How does the Audience perceive Virtual and 3 D Digital?”

We will share the answers tomorrow, but first we would like to share a bit of the post from last year that set the wheels in motion.

Funny there are more Virtual scenic companies here at NAB than traditional design companies; this was also true last year with the loss of the RTDNA presence at the Hilton.

The difference this year though is that in talking with Station Engineers and GM’s here at the show, it’s the first time in a long time that they are actually talking about Virtual Systems as a viable option for Local News Production.

Not sure if that’s due to the fact that Virtual has very little traditional competition here at the show or that the systems appear to be much better than in years past at crunching polygons allowing for a more realistic look and as with most Technology the price has continued to drop.

The reasons for considering Virtual or 3 D Digital scenery are numerous, including financial, artistic and environmental benefits.

Financially you will have; reduced fabrication, shipping and on site labor costs during set up, reduced lighting as you will be using one key wall to produce several areas of your set (we do recommend a second key wall be used in addition to your current weather key) reduced scenic footprint in the studio allowing room for production if necessary.

Artistically you will have the option of producing a greater variety of backgrounds which will give your more shot options and can easily be set up as time specific areas, your Sales department may like this as well as they can have backgrounds designed for them for specific Advertiser Sponsored segments.

Environmentally you will be using fewer materials in the construction, less power in lighting and less material for a landfill when you change out next time, thereby reducing your carbon footprint.

A baseline system can be purchased for as low as 10K, with most mid line Trackless single camera systems in the 50k range and a full tracking system for multiple cameras with all the bells and whistles can go for more than 500k.

In addition to the Virtual System Technology costs you will still need to hire a Design company to build your 3 D Environment.

[Show as slideshow]

Trackless or Tracking

I haven’t heard from one Local News Station that is considering a fully Virtual Studio at this time and I agree with them that it’s probably not the best option, we are recommending that if you use a lot of motion in your current Newscast and would like to go down the Virtual path that you consider a single camera trackless system that will allow you to keep the same camera blocking you typically use and use it for your franchise areas and possibly your interview area as well.

This can greatly extend your shot making capabilities allowing you to have a variety of different scenic backgrounds with all of the latest technology designed into the sets digitally, including giant RP screens and video walls which if the real technology were purchased on their own would cost more than the Virtual system.

These systems allow you to manipulate a single fixed camera inside the Virtual 3D World including trucks, pans and zooms to add a dynamic look to your Newscast.

3D Digital Design (Augmented Reality)

With many Stations moving towards fixed camera peds greatly reducing the amount of movement in camera shots, for them we are recommending 3 D Digital Designs which allow you to do multiple cameras in a fixed 3 D Digital environment.

The entire environment is designed in 3D with real foreground elements, then individual camera shots are set up and rendered which can then be played back in any sequence you wish.

There is no extra technology to purchase and this can be done while designing your main set elements, this is as simple as keying in your Weather standups.

Visit us at NAB

Please visit us at NAB Booths C – 7934 and C – 7533 to see the latest in 3 D Digital Designs, Touch Key Walls, LED Video Solutions and LED Lighting Solutions.

For an appointment please e-mail mmclaughlin@fxgroup.tv

Hope to see you in Las Vegas!

Most of the time I follow the recipe exactly. But other times I use it as a guideline only and I get creative adding unusual and fun ingredients to make it my own. However, the base recipe stays the same. To me a cookie is about the ingredients – the dough – that takes love, time and inspiration. That’s magic and the story of a great cookie.

When it comes time to lay them out on the cookie sheet, I often use a cookie cutter to create the shapes I want. It helps keep the shapes uniform in size, which ensures they are at the right consistency, and they all bake at the same rate. To me this is the business side of making a cookie, because the shape of the cookie cutter can change from batch to batch, or even cookie to cookie.

You may be asking yourself “Why talk about cookie cutters and baking in a FX blog?” Answer -because we know that in the design field, the term “cookie-cutter” has a bad connotation – i.e. uninteresting, unimaginative, and uninspired.

At FX, where we design and build sets and backdrops for television – you could say we make “cookies” too. We are using a tried and true “recipe” and process – i.e. the functionality and design elements that have worked - and won many awards – in the past. But we still create each one “from scratch”. Just as I do when making cookies, we start out with a favorite recipe as a base, then “add nuts and other ingredients” to customize it. But the recipe still uses the base ingredients that are needed to make the dough. This means many variations are possible from this one recipe.

Our team has created numerous designs that are inspired by other FX designs – as a way to save either time or money for our clients. We create many sets that are totally custom and unlike anything seen before – developing new recipes so-to-speak.

Over the past few years we have created many sets for a number of station groups. Typically groups do this for a number of reasons. It may be to get the most value from a base design. Or to help a group convert their stations to HD on a very condensed timeline. Or to simplify the new set process and make it more efficient. Whatever the reason, a single base set design is used across the entire group.

We’ve heard comments that these are “just cookie cutter sets”. They may have the same shape and consistency, but there are solid business reasons and strategies behind it. This option gives our group clients what they want – value, and a great looking, multi-functional set, that can deployed in a streamlined way throughout their family of stations in a budget-conscious way. Although these group-wide, consistent sets may not be exciting to the design community or other people in the TV industry, they make our clients happy.
And let me point out – even these Group-look sets are made from scratch. They are customized for each station’s market, brand and needs. The colors and graphic icons always change. And they are built and assembled by hand by FX’s experienced craftsman.

So when I hear disparaging buzz that FX created another cookie cutter set – I pause to think what that really means, because I know it was made from scratch – and from a time-honored recipe with Love. And…who doesn’t like Cookies?!

The point is – at the EIJ12 conference , FX will be presenting a session open to all attendees, titled Back from the Future! Delivering the News in 2020 – The Trends, Tools and Viewer Expectations of the Next Gen Newscast. The session will be held on Friday 9/21 from 2:30 – 3:30PM at the Harbour Beach Marriott.

The presenters are Mack McLaughlin CEO/Creative Director – FX Design Group and Marv Danielski Senior Vice President – Frank N. Magid Associates http://bit.ly/OvvaHw . The content and commentary is presented in an entertaining way, with the premise that Mack and Marv have “traveled to the year 2020” and are “bringing back Intel from the future of Television”.

They “return from the next decade” to share with the audience how news delivery and presentation will change, focusing on cutting edge trends, what viewers expect and what is effective at connecting with this audience. The takeaway will help broadcasters effectively invest in and plan for the future.

With the ever-increasing rate of change that is affecting the broadcast industry, our team at FX Design Group, led by Mack, constantly asks “What’s Next”, as we focus on providing broadcasters with designs that communicate successfully to television viewers. Several years ago, we commissioned Magid to conduct a landmark research study on viewers’ preferences in HD which has supplied extremely useful knowledge that informs our design approach. Currently we are in process with Magid with a follow-up research study on viewer preferences that we will launch later in the year. So keep an eye out for that launch as it should supply some interesting information.

As for the upcoming session, if you will be in Ft. Lauderdale for the EIJ12 conference, check out the Back from the Future session. If not, contact me at kboule@fxgroup.tv and we can send you a tip sheet and maybe even video from the session! –Kathy Mosher-Boule’

Here is a great web application from ZVORK that allows you to see the effects of various types of lighting instruments on people.

[Show as slideshow]

The program allows you to place up to 6 fixtures in the scene and locate them in a full 360 ring around the subject.

It has 5 different styles of lighting fixture from strobe to soft box allowing you to see the shadows and effects caused by different fixtures.

You can also control the intensity and add a color filter for effect, as well as a background color.

It even has a little light plot feature that allows you to see where all of the fixtures are located in relation to the subject.

And you can snap up to 8 frame grabs of your various configurations.

This is a great tool for the beginner to learn where to place fixtures to achieve different effects as well as what type of fixture is best suited to get the effect you are after.

I know this is funny coming from me but I sure wish he had hair; it would also be nice to see a variety of skin tones and hair colors as well.

But all in all a very cool application, Have Fun!

http://www.zvork.fr/vls/ (link to ZVORK's site)

http://zvork.fr/blog/vlsisbeta/ (link to ZVORK's blog)

Judging by the traffic at the show this year you would think the recession was over; we heard the total number was over 90,000 attendees!

I did have some time to get away from the booth to go out in search of Cool stuff and if you read the post on Monday “Has Virtual’s Time Arrived” you heard all about the Virtual Companies that were in attendance, except for one I missed which was Ross (they were over in North Hall) they have developed a partnership with Unreel to offer an add on Virtual system to their XPression package.

In addition to Virtual Systems I was also on the lookout for Cool Display Technologies that we can incorporate into our set designs.

3 D which was the BIG thing last year was very low key this year, but what we did find were several LED options that come in a variety of sizes allowing you to create unique patterns besides the standard 16:9 images offered by Monitors.

First up Christie Digital’s Micro Tiles-

Leveraging the strengths of both rear projection and Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, Christie^®MicroTiles^® offer substantially brighter images and a much wider color palette than conventional LCD and plasma displays. With no practical limit to the number of tiles in a display, Christie MicroTiles produce a virtually seamless canvas with an unlimited number of super-fine pixels.

I was able to work up close with the Micro Tiles again this year as we helped Christie with the Concept for the Micro Tiles Display as well as the Studio lighting.

My first concern when lighting the space was that since they were also introducing their New Touch Screen Technology that the lighting would wash out the video or cause glare like it often does when using standard monitors, I am happy to say that neither of these were an issue as the Micro Tiles were plenty bright at 80% intensity and there was no glare from the matte finish screens. Also of note the studio lighting did not affect the IR Touchscreen Technology.

Also even though the Micro Tiles have excellent Color Temperature adjustments I chose to light the booth with DeSisti’s 40 watt Magis LED fixtures with Daylight lamps, this allowed them to not have to adjust the display to 3200K and warm skew the display to the attendee’s eyes.

Next up we went looking for LED screen panels, there were several companies showcasing their wares at NAB this year and I believe that they were all China based companies.

With these screens the resolution is determined by the Pixel Pitch and the tightest we found was from Leyard with a 2.5 product, everyone else had a Pixel Pitch somewhere around 4.0.

In filming each product with my iPhone the 4.0 felt like they would work for most applications but there was quite a bit of moreying so I would still like to get one in a studio and see it under those conditions before signing off on it.

The 2.5 would definitely work but it is about three times the price of the 4.0 products and probably outside the realm of most Stations budgets.

[Show as slideshow]

We also saw most of the Display Technology we have been using lately the 55” zero bezel LCD Monitors, I know of at least 3 companies producing monitors using this same Glass, NEC, Samsung and Christie and there may be others.

Christie was the only company I found that showcased their monitors although the others were easy to find as they were being used as Digital signage in many of the booths on the floor.

Again a funny side note just a year ago Stations were happy with Multi Screen Display walls made up of Monitors with 1” Bezels then the Super Narrow Bezels came out at approx 3.6 mm and now the Ultra Narrow Bezels are 1.8 mm the Micro Tiles are even tighter as are the 2.5 Pitch LED screens.

Once you see the Narrower Bezel you just have to have it, fortunately the Micro Tiles have dropped in price about 25% over last year which still makes them about 2.5 times the cost of the Ultra Narrow Bezel monitors and on par with the 4.0 Pitch LED Screens.

The decision will need to be based on look but also you might consider ROI as the LED products should have a much longer life, Christie says the Micro Tiles will have a lamp life of over 60,000 hours at an average of 10 hours per day, they should last somewhere between 15 and 20 years.

What did you see at NAB that you think you just can’t live without?

Could it possibly look like this?

We certainly hope not, but do believe that our Avatar does have one thing right. There will be more 3D Digital Scenery used in place of 3 Dimensional Scenic elements in the years to come.

In 2009, FX Design Group in conjunction with Frank N. Magid & Associates, conducted an extensive research project to determine what viewers “connect” to in a local news broadcast. The results of this landmark study “Visually Connect with Your Viewers” were first released at the 2008/9 RTNDA@NAB show. The study results found that aesthetics really do matter. Some of the results were surprising, while others confirmed our thoughts. They included:

• News sets, lighting and packaging are reasons to watch a local newscast and matter much more than was originally thought.
• Aesthetics and packaging drive brand perception.
• The audience can make clear decisions about what they see, why they like it – and can determine clearly the superior newscast look.
• Backgrounds and lighting that help pop the talent off the screen, are critical to both HD and SD looks.

One graph in particular sums up Reasons to Watch Local Newscasts:

It’s been almost three years since we conducted that study and the move to HD was still in the early stages. So, in 2012, the FX and Magid Team is embarking on a follow-up aesthetic study to determine the direction and role Social Media, Scenic Design, (including Virtual and 3 D Digital) Motion Design, Lighting and Fabrication will be taking in Local News Production. To confirm if some or most of the original information still holds true.

We will be putting together our Study questions over the next few weeks and this is where we need your help. If you are headed out to NAB, please stop by our both C7243 and let us know what questions you would like answered as it relates to aesthetic elements of the news set. If you are not going to NAB, your questions are still just as important.  So, please email your questions to FXStudy@fxgroup.tv.

We will integrate questions which aren’t already part of the survey questions. As a Thank-You for your help, you will be invited as part of the first group to see the study results prior to our first public presentation at EIJ 2012 in Ft Lauderdale.

If you will be at NAB, get a sneak peek at some of the study questions and materials.  “Back from the Future! Delivering the News in 2020” is a session that will be presented by FX Design Group CEO, Mack McLaughlin and Frank N. Magid Senior VP, Marv Danielski.  It takes place on Thursday April 19^th in room S225 from 9:00 – 9:30 am.  This will be followed by a Panel discussion from 11:30am – 1:00pm in the same room.