Shooting entertainment TV - take 3 (hardware and software)
So, this is the third part of a series of articles about how entertainment TV shows are filmed. The first part was about pre-filming training, the second about the filming process and the people involved, this part will be about the software and hardware used.
I have to say, I did not see the shooting of ALL TV shows on ALL channels - just a few, while others may be different. And I am not a pro in almost any of the areas described below. But I am a programmer and a bit of an electronics engineer, so I think I understood a lot and remembered correctly.
')
Shine
Under the ceiling hang the farm, which cling to the spotlight . As a rule, they rotate in all axes, glow in different colors, allow you to smoothly change the power of light. There are, of course, still outdated iron - monochrome or fixed, but less and less. Inconvenient it. All the lamps are connected to each other in a chain for the transmission of control signals. Each device is assigned a number (set by switches on the side of the searchlight). All this is controlled from the control panel in the hardware via DMX protocol. Computer for control is not used - inconvenient. Further work takes place as follows: the director, the main cameraman and the main light designer gather and start discussing light programs. The director says: “When the hero correctly answers the question, there should be a green studio lighting, a faint light on the crowd and light spots on the participant and the presenter ... even greener, so the light is stronger, ... and the spot is slightly wider, so ...” - in this time, the operator of the remote moves the rays of the spotlights, changes colors and brightness, etc. As soon as the director and cameramen like it - they say “Oh! This is how it should be when recording! ”The operator presses the“ save ”button and the current settings of all the projectors are saved, say, under the program“ 1 ”. Now, at any time, the operator can press the “1” button on the remote control and the remote control will give commands to all the devices that exactly reproduce this light scheme. Usually 5-8 light programs are done: greeting, rules of the game, participant’s exit, correct / incorrect answers, winning / losing in the game, farewell, plus any non-linearities of each individual program.
The so-called “light cannons” stand apart - special searchlights, usually of white light, which accompany the presenter and / or participants during their movement around the studio. They are controlled not by remote control, but by individuals who are right behind these “guns”.
Sound
Common microphones in the hall, lapel microphones from the presenter, heroes and guests, speakers in the studio, “eavesdropping” in the ear of the presenter. Sound console in the hardware, on which all inputs and outputs converge. It switches “this input to this output”, records all input lines in digital form, allows you to emit all sorts of sounds / savers to the lines (usually - to the speakers in the studio). The sound laces are sometimes very long, so the sound is symmetrical. Plus on the sound system, the entire communication system, but about it - below. Of the manufacturers, most often met Sony and Sennheiser .
Cameras
I have to say right away that a professional camera has very little in common with those fucking mukhra for 400 bucks, which is sold in the electronics store on the corner. Everything is different - size, form factor, usability, settings, interfaces ... Well, in general, everything else.
First of all mounting. The camera can be mounted on a tripod . The tripod is on wheels or rubber feet (if on wheels - the wheels are fixed with a stopper). The tripod is adjustable along all axes, it has convenient handles for turning the camera, it has a marked scale for moving along all axes. As a matter of fact, the operators are oriented on it. For them, the words of the director “the general plan” mean approximately: “50 in height, turning by 20 along the X-axis and tilting by 5 up”. In units of measurement, I did not penetrate. Movement along any axis can be fixed independently of the others. For example, if the operator knows that his camera is at the level of the eyes of the participants and he does not need to look at the floor / ceiling, he simply fixes the height of the camera and the possibility of its tilting up and down. And already 2 less controlled coordinates, it is easier to work. Another camera can be mounted on a trolley that rides on rails. As a matter of fact, there is a tripod on the cart (i.e. everything is fair, it is written above), plus there is a person who pushes this cart back and forth (on command or the engine, and the person controls the movement). Another option is a crane . This is such a long arrow, on which the camera is mounted on top. It is necessary for spectacular filming from the top, “raids” on the presenter and heroes, well, in general, seriously adds to the transfer of entertainment. The crane is operated by two - one person directly turns this arrow on the counterweights, and the second (the operator) remotely turns \ tilts \ focuses the camera according to the control screen taken out of its limits. The most sophisticated version is the camera on the crane, which is located on the trolley that drives along the rails. As TV people manage to manage such things - I'm lost.
Next, the camera itself. Large zooms, good photosensitivity. Input / output interfaces are typically SDI . Why does the camera need an input interface? So that any operator on his control monitor could see a picture from another camera. Yes, sometimes it is necessary. Of cool features - built-in range finders and color temperature detectors. Of the companies I most often met Sony and Philips , from lenses - Canon . By the way, the lens may well cost a couple of times more expensive than the camera itself. A camera can cost up to several tens of thousands of dollars. All cameras are connected with control modules in the control room (about them below) and through them - among themselves.
There are all sorts of cool night vision cameras, slow motion, but we have little use of them, because they are expensive. And behind the hill - quite .
Prompter
A prompter is such a thing with which the presenter reads large amounts of text. Almost always used in news programs, but sometimes in entertainment (when you need to accurately read the rules or ask a question). Many people for some reason think that the prompter is such a monitor next to the camera where the text scrolls. Nifiga like. So it was about 20 years ago, the minus is obvious - the presenter’s gaze is directed not at the camera lens, but slightly sideways / down. Today the souffler is such a special nozzle on the camera lens. It consists of a 45-degree one-way transparent mirror located on the bottom and in the horizontal plane of the screen, which shows a mirror-inverted text. It turns out that the presenter looks straight into the camera and sees the text in the lens normally located after the reflection in the mirror, and the camera looks at the other side of the mirror, and simply removes the presenter. Here, of course, you need a good camera sensitivity, but television cameras are designed for such use. The text is scrolled either by an individual person in the control room (responsible for the prompter) or by the pedal under the feet of the presenter (quite comfortably, pressing force controls the speed of the text).
Screens
The studio of the usual cardboard walls and bare floor looks weak. Therefore, for entertainment, many shows are equipped with such a large video screen, which demonstrates the rules, ask questions, select topics, show video / tele-bridges. In the old days, projectors and virtual studio technology were actively used for this purpose. Both of these things have become obsolete due to the extreme dullness and vagueness of the first method and the very large insincerity and unnatural picture in the second. Today, such screens are made either on the basis of LED technology, or from seamless plasma panels. Both are quite expensive things. A wall the size of a pair of a couple of meters may well cost a million to a half dollars, and such walls are taken for rent for a short time, for big money, for insurance, etc. As a plus - a large and clear picture, high resolution (many times higher than HD and FULL-HD), good brightness, contrast and color reproduction. The picture immediately seems much richer and more spectacular.
An image is formed on such walls with special video servers with several (sometimes very many) video cards. Special software allows you to render them a single "whole" picture, manage scenes, show pre-prepared screensavers, jingle, overlay and combine live video, capture an image from video cameras in the studio, instantly respond to the director's commands, record and run macros, work with alpha channels, display questions or topics, use special effects, etc. The possibilities of this software are orders of magnitude greater than any standard video players / PowerPoint there, approaching professional video editors, but still lie a little in a different plane due to their focus on real-time work.
The background videos shown on the screens and jingle are rendered tentatively, usually on an Apple platform (well, dyingers like Final Cut s there).
So, what is in the hardware.
-The above-mentioned sound console with sounds. The story above, I will not repeat.
- Camera control modules . These are the things to which cameras in the studio are connected. In short, what for this thing is needed. The fact is that putting the camera in the studio in the right place and turning it in the right direction is another quarter of the matter. The camera still needs to be adjusted: white balance, brightness, contrast, aperture and a bunch of other things. And the operator in the studio does not have either time, desire or opportunity to do this - the studio is often dark, the camera screen is small and sometimes black and white. Moreover, setting up a single camera is still half the battle. It is 10 times harder to configure ALL cameras so that they give the same picture. Therefore, all these settings are controlled remotely, by an individual in the hardware, with the help of such devices. One Camera Control Unit per camera.
- The camera control panel - in fact, everything mentioned above is not regulated by handles on ten different boxes, but from one remote control, with convenient handles, wheels and buttons. It turns out beautifully and quickly. Even in the course of the transfer, you can change some kind of aperture.
- VCRs , on which the transfer is recorded. In terms of standards and unification in this matter - confusion and vacillation . Each country and each channel decides whether it broadcasts in analog or digital, on the air or satellite, in Pal, Secam, Ntsc or some HD. Based on this, and selects the format, methods of recording and storage of material. For the sake of justice, I must say that now almost everyone is writing in the figure, regardless of how they will continue to broadcast. But both digital formats and carriers are a whole bunch, not all are compatible.
- Monitors of camera control (one per camera) and recording control monitors (one for each VCR). These can be separate hardware monitors , or one or two large panels (50-60 inches), to which images are displayed in separate windows. It is on these monitors that the director (s) are watching while working.
- Linear console . The simplest linear montage is performed while recording the transfer. A linear montage director looks at the camera control monitors and presses buttons on the remote that switch the signal from a specific camera to a specific VCR. There are many cameras, there are also a few VCRs. It is necessary to write the “main line” according to the scenario planned in advance and just in case “sign” other cameras. Suddenly on the main plan to happen some crap? Or suddenly a non-core camera will take some unexpectedly successful plan? Then on the installation all this will be carefully watched and possibly useful. Or perhaps the master record will be the best.
- Computer control breather . It is filled with texts for the prompter. Well scrolled in the course of the transfer. Or the usual mouse scrolling, or a special device with a twist. The task is simple, the platform is Windows.
- Consoles or computers controlling video screens, lighting and special effects with their operators. It goes without saying that all the hardware in the studio is controlled remotely, and the people who control it should be near the director to listen to his commands and coordinate with each other.
Well, the fact that members of the film crew use mobile phones is probably not a big secret. :) But they use mobile phones only at the preparatory stage and at the beginning of the working day - when not all have gathered yet. After that, mobile phones are turned off. There are two goals: so that the phone does not accidentally ring during the shooting and because the phone is not suitable for operative communication - until you dial the right person, while the connection happens, until it answers - 15-20 seconds can be lost. What is unacceptable. Therefore, during filming, the means of communication are:
- Speakerphone in the studio (as the director communicates with the extras, with the participants, announces the beginning and end of filming, breaks, etc.). These are just 2-3 ordinary columns. Of them, background music, beats, etc. may sound during shooting.
- podlushki (the director communicates with the leader (s), with the head of the crowd, if there is a jury, experts, guests - sometimes with them). These are such small tablet headphones. They are inserted into the ears, from them there is a cord to the radio module, which hangs on the belt behind its back. Radio modules on batteries, they last for a day of work. Charged at night. When the director needs to say something to the presenter or to someone else, he presses a button on the console (everyone in the hardware is silent), and only then does the recipient hear it. If the presenter constantly heard what was going on in the hardware room, he would often be distracted, and if the crowd heard it, the participants or guests would be offended and left. So the link is just a button.
- shortwave radio stations . Walkie talkie Such small boxes with two buttons (on / off, talk / listen) and two knobs (volume control and channel selector). Sometimes with a headset jack. Work radius - less than a kilometer (and more is not necessary). Before the start of the broadcast, such radio stations are distributed to all key participants in the process who are not in the control room - lights, administrators, producers, etc. Announced the policy of using channels. On smaller programs, one common channel can be used for all. On the big ones, they agree, they say, the first channel - for communication between sound engineers, the second one - the light-emitters, the third one - the administrators. And when the director needs to ask what the hell the big spotlight went out in the center of the stage, he knows that it’s necessary to ask on the second channel.
- communication director with operetorami . Not conducted by any of the above methods. Operators always wear the audio headset attached to the camera and then to the “camera-camera control module-video control” communication highway. Next to the picture there is a sound.
- oral speech , enhanced obscene turns. In fact, everything is very close. The radius of the studio is rarely more than 10 meters, the distance to the equipment room is rarely more than 30. It is possible to shout just with your voice. And the record? Come on, this is a sound. Its installation is much easier than video. Installation of audio tracks will still be conducted from the microphones of the presenter and participants. And they are directed and left noises are well quenched.
Used equipment eats a lot of energy. But when designing and studio pavilions, and especially those of the old abandoned workshops, which I talked about in the first part, very good stocks were made in this area. The presence of 5-8 independent phases and the consumption of up to 50-80 kW / h of electricity is a common thing. At key points (hardware, video server) are bespereboyniki. An electrician and a power engineer are necessarily present (they are different people).
All this, however, does not prevent burning the wiring, enter into another phase, connect heaters to the lighting circuit and do other nonsense. The weakest link in the electrical circuit is man.
In fact, the series of articles about shooting entertainment programs is over .
Thanks to all readers. I would be glad to know, articles on which topics of television production would be more interesting to the community.
I have to say, I did not see the shooting of ALL TV shows on ALL channels - just a few, while others may be different. And I am not a pro in almost any of the areas described below. But I am a programmer and a bit of an electronics engineer, so I think I understood a lot and remembered correctly.
Studio
')
Shine
Under the ceiling hang the farm, which cling to the spotlight . As a rule, they rotate in all axes, glow in different colors, allow you to smoothly change the power of light. There are, of course, still outdated iron - monochrome or fixed, but less and less. Inconvenient it. All the lamps are connected to each other in a chain for the transmission of control signals. Each device is assigned a number (set by switches on the side of the searchlight). All this is controlled from the control panel in the hardware via DMX protocol. Computer for control is not used - inconvenient. Further work takes place as follows: the director, the main cameraman and the main light designer gather and start discussing light programs. The director says: “When the hero correctly answers the question, there should be a green studio lighting, a faint light on the crowd and light spots on the participant and the presenter ... even greener, so the light is stronger, ... and the spot is slightly wider, so ...” - in this time, the operator of the remote moves the rays of the spotlights, changes colors and brightness, etc. As soon as the director and cameramen like it - they say “Oh! This is how it should be when recording! ”The operator presses the“ save ”button and the current settings of all the projectors are saved, say, under the program“ 1 ”. Now, at any time, the operator can press the “1” button on the remote control and the remote control will give commands to all the devices that exactly reproduce this light scheme. Usually 5-8 light programs are done: greeting, rules of the game, participant’s exit, correct / incorrect answers, winning / losing in the game, farewell, plus any non-linearities of each individual program.
The so-called “light cannons” stand apart - special searchlights, usually of white light, which accompany the presenter and / or participants during their movement around the studio. They are controlled not by remote control, but by individuals who are right behind these “guns”.
Sound
Common microphones in the hall, lapel microphones from the presenter, heroes and guests, speakers in the studio, “eavesdropping” in the ear of the presenter. Sound console in the hardware, on which all inputs and outputs converge. It switches “this input to this output”, records all input lines in digital form, allows you to emit all sorts of sounds / savers to the lines (usually - to the speakers in the studio). The sound laces are sometimes very long, so the sound is symmetrical. Plus on the sound system, the entire communication system, but about it - below. Of the manufacturers, most often met Sony and Sennheiser .
Cameras
I have to say right away that a professional camera has very little in common with those fucking mukhra for 400 bucks, which is sold in the electronics store on the corner. Everything is different - size, form factor, usability, settings, interfaces ... Well, in general, everything else.
First of all mounting. The camera can be mounted on a tripod . The tripod is on wheels or rubber feet (if on wheels - the wheels are fixed with a stopper). The tripod is adjustable along all axes, it has convenient handles for turning the camera, it has a marked scale for moving along all axes. As a matter of fact, the operators are oriented on it. For them, the words of the director “the general plan” mean approximately: “50 in height, turning by 20 along the X-axis and tilting by 5 up”. In units of measurement, I did not penetrate. Movement along any axis can be fixed independently of the others. For example, if the operator knows that his camera is at the level of the eyes of the participants and he does not need to look at the floor / ceiling, he simply fixes the height of the camera and the possibility of its tilting up and down. And already 2 less controlled coordinates, it is easier to work. Another camera can be mounted on a trolley that rides on rails. As a matter of fact, there is a tripod on the cart (i.e. everything is fair, it is written above), plus there is a person who pushes this cart back and forth (on command or the engine, and the person controls the movement). Another option is a crane . This is such a long arrow, on which the camera is mounted on top. It is necessary for spectacular filming from the top, “raids” on the presenter and heroes, well, in general, seriously adds to the transfer of entertainment. The crane is operated by two - one person directly turns this arrow on the counterweights, and the second (the operator) remotely turns \ tilts \ focuses the camera according to the control screen taken out of its limits. The most sophisticated version is the camera on the crane, which is located on the trolley that drives along the rails. As TV people manage to manage such things - I'm lost.
Next, the camera itself. Large zooms, good photosensitivity. Input / output interfaces are typically SDI . Why does the camera need an input interface? So that any operator on his control monitor could see a picture from another camera. Yes, sometimes it is necessary. Of cool features - built-in range finders and color temperature detectors. Of the companies I most often met Sony and Philips , from lenses - Canon . By the way, the lens may well cost a couple of times more expensive than the camera itself. A camera can cost up to several tens of thousands of dollars. All cameras are connected with control modules in the control room (about them below) and through them - among themselves.
There are all sorts of cool night vision cameras, slow motion, but we have little use of them, because they are expensive. And behind the hill - quite .
Prompter
A prompter is such a thing with which the presenter reads large amounts of text. Almost always used in news programs, but sometimes in entertainment (when you need to accurately read the rules or ask a question). Many people for some reason think that the prompter is such a monitor next to the camera where the text scrolls. Nifiga like. So it was about 20 years ago, the minus is obvious - the presenter’s gaze is directed not at the camera lens, but slightly sideways / down. Today the souffler is such a special nozzle on the camera lens. It consists of a 45-degree one-way transparent mirror located on the bottom and in the horizontal plane of the screen, which shows a mirror-inverted text. It turns out that the presenter looks straight into the camera and sees the text in the lens normally located after the reflection in the mirror, and the camera looks at the other side of the mirror, and simply removes the presenter. Here, of course, you need a good camera sensitivity, but television cameras are designed for such use. The text is scrolled either by an individual person in the control room (responsible for the prompter) or by the pedal under the feet of the presenter (quite comfortably, pressing force controls the speed of the text).
Screens
The studio of the usual cardboard walls and bare floor looks weak. Therefore, for entertainment, many shows are equipped with such a large video screen, which demonstrates the rules, ask questions, select topics, show video / tele-bridges. In the old days, projectors and virtual studio technology were actively used for this purpose. Both of these things have become obsolete due to the extreme dullness and vagueness of the first method and the very large insincerity and unnatural picture in the second. Today, such screens are made either on the basis of LED technology, or from seamless plasma panels. Both are quite expensive things. A wall the size of a pair of a couple of meters may well cost a million to a half dollars, and such walls are taken for rent for a short time, for big money, for insurance, etc. As a plus - a large and clear picture, high resolution (many times higher than HD and FULL-HD), good brightness, contrast and color reproduction. The picture immediately seems much richer and more spectacular.
An image is formed on such walls with special video servers with several (sometimes very many) video cards. Special software allows you to render them a single "whole" picture, manage scenes, show pre-prepared screensavers, jingle, overlay and combine live video, capture an image from video cameras in the studio, instantly respond to the director's commands, record and run macros, work with alpha channels, display questions or topics, use special effects, etc. The possibilities of this software are orders of magnitude greater than any standard video players / PowerPoint there, approaching professional video editors, but still lie a little in a different plane due to their focus on real-time work.
The background videos shown on the screens and jingle are rendered tentatively, usually on an Apple platform (well, dyingers like Final Cut s there).
Hardware
So, what is in the hardware.
-The above-mentioned sound console with sounds. The story above, I will not repeat.
- Camera control modules . These are the things to which cameras in the studio are connected. In short, what for this thing is needed. The fact is that putting the camera in the studio in the right place and turning it in the right direction is another quarter of the matter. The camera still needs to be adjusted: white balance, brightness, contrast, aperture and a bunch of other things. And the operator in the studio does not have either time, desire or opportunity to do this - the studio is often dark, the camera screen is small and sometimes black and white. Moreover, setting up a single camera is still half the battle. It is 10 times harder to configure ALL cameras so that they give the same picture. Therefore, all these settings are controlled remotely, by an individual in the hardware, with the help of such devices. One Camera Control Unit per camera.
- The camera control panel - in fact, everything mentioned above is not regulated by handles on ten different boxes, but from one remote control, with convenient handles, wheels and buttons. It turns out beautifully and quickly. Even in the course of the transfer, you can change some kind of aperture.
- VCRs , on which the transfer is recorded. In terms of standards and unification in this matter - confusion and vacillation . Each country and each channel decides whether it broadcasts in analog or digital, on the air or satellite, in Pal, Secam, Ntsc or some HD. Based on this, and selects the format, methods of recording and storage of material. For the sake of justice, I must say that now almost everyone is writing in the figure, regardless of how they will continue to broadcast. But both digital formats and carriers are a whole bunch, not all are compatible.
- Monitors of camera control (one per camera) and recording control monitors (one for each VCR). These can be separate hardware monitors , or one or two large panels (50-60 inches), to which images are displayed in separate windows. It is on these monitors that the director (s) are watching while working.
- Linear console . The simplest linear montage is performed while recording the transfer. A linear montage director looks at the camera control monitors and presses buttons on the remote that switch the signal from a specific camera to a specific VCR. There are many cameras, there are also a few VCRs. It is necessary to write the “main line” according to the scenario planned in advance and just in case “sign” other cameras. Suddenly on the main plan to happen some crap? Or suddenly a non-core camera will take some unexpectedly successful plan? Then on the installation all this will be carefully watched and possibly useful. Or perhaps the master record will be the best.
- Computer control breather . It is filled with texts for the prompter. Well scrolled in the course of the transfer. Or the usual mouse scrolling, or a special device with a twist. The task is simple, the platform is Windows.
- Consoles or computers controlling video screens, lighting and special effects with their operators. It goes without saying that all the hardware in the studio is controlled remotely, and the people who control it should be near the director to listen to his commands and coordinate with each other.
Connection
Well, the fact that members of the film crew use mobile phones is probably not a big secret. :) But they use mobile phones only at the preparatory stage and at the beginning of the working day - when not all have gathered yet. After that, mobile phones are turned off. There are two goals: so that the phone does not accidentally ring during the shooting and because the phone is not suitable for operative communication - until you dial the right person, while the connection happens, until it answers - 15-20 seconds can be lost. What is unacceptable. Therefore, during filming, the means of communication are:
- Speakerphone in the studio (as the director communicates with the extras, with the participants, announces the beginning and end of filming, breaks, etc.). These are just 2-3 ordinary columns. Of them, background music, beats, etc. may sound during shooting.
- podlushki (the director communicates with the leader (s), with the head of the crowd, if there is a jury, experts, guests - sometimes with them). These are such small tablet headphones. They are inserted into the ears, from them there is a cord to the radio module, which hangs on the belt behind its back. Radio modules on batteries, they last for a day of work. Charged at night. When the director needs to say something to the presenter or to someone else, he presses a button on the console (everyone in the hardware is silent), and only then does the recipient hear it. If the presenter constantly heard what was going on in the hardware room, he would often be distracted, and if the crowd heard it, the participants or guests would be offended and left. So the link is just a button.
- shortwave radio stations . Walkie talkie Such small boxes with two buttons (on / off, talk / listen) and two knobs (volume control and channel selector). Sometimes with a headset jack. Work radius - less than a kilometer (and more is not necessary). Before the start of the broadcast, such radio stations are distributed to all key participants in the process who are not in the control room - lights, administrators, producers, etc. Announced the policy of using channels. On smaller programs, one common channel can be used for all. On the big ones, they agree, they say, the first channel - for communication between sound engineers, the second one - the light-emitters, the third one - the administrators. And when the director needs to ask what the hell the big spotlight went out in the center of the stage, he knows that it’s necessary to ask on the second channel.
- communication director with operetorami . Not conducted by any of the above methods. Operators always wear the audio headset attached to the camera and then to the “camera-camera control module-video control” communication highway. Next to the picture there is a sound.
- oral speech , enhanced obscene turns. In fact, everything is very close. The radius of the studio is rarely more than 10 meters, the distance to the equipment room is rarely more than 30. It is possible to shout just with your voice. And the record? Come on, this is a sound. Its installation is much easier than video. Installation of audio tracks will still be conducted from the microphones of the presenter and participants. And they are directed and left noises are well quenched.
Energy
Used equipment eats a lot of energy. But when designing and studio pavilions, and especially those of the old abandoned workshops, which I talked about in the first part, very good stocks were made in this area. The presence of 5-8 independent phases and the consumption of up to 50-80 kW / h of electricity is a common thing. At key points (hardware, video server) are bespereboyniki. An electrician and a power engineer are necessarily present (they are different people).
All this, however, does not prevent burning the wiring, enter into another phase, connect heaters to the lighting circuit and do other nonsense. The weakest link in the electrical circuit is man.
In fact, the series of articles about shooting entertainment programs is over .
Thanks to all readers. I would be glad to know, articles on which topics of television production would be more interesting to the community.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/52043/
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