[17671]

its about time

 

[scrooloose]

The 6:00 pm Global Toronto news is HD now too - as of Monday. They have a new set as well - which looks a bit odd.

-Mike

 

[17671]

Yeah, so is anyone excited to see Anne Mroczkowski in HD again?

 

[Lindsay649]

Congrats to Global for finally pulling the switch to HD! Unfortunately it does not make bad news better but it looks great.

 

[j0dest3r]

Well Edmonton is partially doing HD. I noticed at lunch the main camera that shows both anchors is SD with the filler on both sides, but when they switched to one anchor the camera was HD. I also noticed a commercial for the news in HD as well.

 

[j0dest3r]

Global News in HD Edmonton Starting Monday Nov 15

Well the morning show announced today that this would be their last show on the old temp set and that Monday they would be going to the new one in HD!

 

[j0dest3r]

It looked pretty damn sweet!! Nice new set for sure!

 

[downbeat]

Strange things happening on CICT (Global Calgary).
The Noon News Hour today is using the new widescreen graphics package. Reporter packages and stock/scene footage are also shown in widescreen.
However, the anchors are still being shown in 4:3 using their temporary studio. Live reports are also in 4:3.
Everything still looks SD, including the widescreen stuff.

 

[j0dest3r]

Global News HD in Edmonton

Here is a pic.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=530&pictureid=3273

 

[downbeat]

Well how odd is this. To follow up my messages about the Global Calgary, things progressively … regressed during the day.
At supper time, they were still using widescreen graphics but all their video was 4:3.
And now, on News Hour Final, everything is being shown in 4:3, including the new opening graphics sequence and all the supers. Weird.

 

[j0dest3r]

They must have had some issues. Time to check with the Edmonton group to see what they did right! ;-) I'm sure it will get sorted out before too long.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

Well Global Calgary finally made it to HD.... Angela Kokot however did not (she's off to QR77 I believe).

Last night they were using HD graphics but were still SD on the old set. This morning they were bright and clear in HD. New set seams somewhat strange ... might take a bit for me to get used to.

UPDATE: On the 6PM news, they're back to 4x3 graphics but on the HD set (at least in the first few mins). The number of times that Global Calgary gets the graphics overlays wrong or with errors is amazing. You really have to wonder what sort of cracker-jacks these guys have punching the buttons and if they even realize how incompetent they are!

 

[17671]

I would hold off on calling htem incompetent. Maybe blame the contractors who setup the gear and trained them how to use the new equiptment first before you blame the staff.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

Nope. I've been watching that channel for years and years (since moving to Calgary in 1982 actually though I can't remember what mistakes they made back then ). It's nothing to do with the new set or the transition to HD - they are constantly making mistakes. Overlaything the wrong graphics is a common one. Once they showed the weather data for the wrong day. Things like showing the "Global Morning News" splash screen when starting the 6PM news.

I've remaked many time (to my wife) about how many of those little mistakes that Global Calgary in particular makes. One after the other over years and years. So when they had HD splash screens or graphics on the SD set on Sunday, and had HD graphics on the HD set on the morning and 5:30PM news yesterday but then accidently threw up the old SD graphics for the 6PM news, it doesn't surprise me.

The fact that they got it all perfect yesterday in the morning and perfect at 5:30PM but then started the evening news a mere 30 minutes later incorrectly points to "whoops I pressed the wrong button" type of mistakes or lack of quality control (i.e. double checking for the human errors) and not a contractor/vendor issue.

 

[DTVGuy]

North - I disagree. The transition to HD is the reason for the errors. Yes, 5:30 looked perfect, but that was Global National, which is produced in Vancouver, so a completely different control room altogether. Then, 30 minutes later, the News into is in SD, mainly because Global Calgary, and every other station, pre-tapes the opening. Why they're not recording the opening in HD is beyond me, but to say mere incompetence is uncalled for. There are many factors in going HD, rather than just pushing a button, but if it were that easy in pressing a button, as you suggest, then I'm sure CTV would've gone HD a long time ago. Other than cameras, virtual set, graphics, etc., it looks as if all video clips, including the opening pre-tape, is in SD.

Give it some time, I'm sure everyone is working hard to get to air correctly. At the end of the day, everyone makes mistakes.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

Sorry I meant to say the 5:00PM Calgary early news was perfect - I was referring to that, not Global National. And hence I guess I meant to say 60 mins prior - not 30 - my bad.

But I still hold by my comments that these guys are continually making mistakes over the last 2 or 3 years. So when they executed it perfectly for the 5:00PM Calgary early news but then went wrong in the opener of the 6:00PM news it's just more of the same. It's a continual pattern of this errors with these guys.

I didn't catch either newscasts tonight to see how they faired today.

 

[17671]

mainly because Global Calgary, and every other station, pre-tapes the opening.

why are they still using tapes?

 

[DTVGuy]

Pre-tape (industry jargon) doesn't have to mean using tape. The opening is pre-recorded.

Some places use tape, some are straight to server. Tape hasn't gone away, not by a long shot. Many post houses still favour tape for transport, like HDCAM.

 

[North_of_Calgary]

I'm actually liking the new HD sets now - didn't take me long to get used to that. I like it when they flip the graphics tiles behind the newscasters (like virtual TVs turning off). I haven't had time to watch the Global Toronto, Edmonton, or Vancouver news yet - does anyone know if the sets the same or similar across the country?

 

[downbeat]

Sadly, I find there's a level of visible fakeness to the virtual sets.
For example, when the weather person or another reporter is standing next to the anchor desk, the background will have a reflection in the shiny surface of the "ground" but obviously there is no reflection for the human standing there.
Also, the anchors don't seem to naturally blend in with their backgrounds. There is a visible clipping path around the people and real objects on the set.