Interactive TV Graphics
Interactive TV Graphics
Graphics and animations using Inscriber Inca RTX
In the spring of 2005 Blu Productions decided to invest in a powerful - and completely programmable - system for TV Graphics, the Inscriber Inca RTX. Having worked with the previous version of RTX, and after attending an Inca RTX workshop, I was asked to develop the controlling software and user interface on top of the Inca RTX system.
The first live TV show to use the capabilities of Inca RTX for all live, and animated, graphics was Scenen er din (Starsearch).
Watch this video to see the system used in Scenen er din. Or click here to download a better-resolution version (WMV - 6MB)
One of the talented singers in the finals of Scenen er din, May 6, 2005
Technology
Inca RTX is a highend and extremely flexible graphics generating system. It allows developers to make software for all kinds of live, interactive graphics, outputting professional SDI signals and key.
By declaring sets of animations, framebuffers, transitions and more, the developer can build complex hierarchies of dynamic content. Below is a detail from one of the graphs, I implemented (click to see full image) - but other sets were more than 5 times as complex as the one shown here.
Part of Inca RTX graph for Scenen er din
By linking the inputs and events of the Inca RTX graph to elements of the frontend (developed in Visual Basic, using XML as both the document-format and frontend setup-control) I made the user-interface shown below. Using this frontend one person in the production team executes all the graphics in response to show-events. In the first season I acted as the controller during live shows, which is a fascinating - and intense - experience.
Frontend for Scenen er din, operated during live productions
In the image below, one of the judges gives the singer maximum points. After the judge announces her decission, a producer clicks the corresponding button in the application shown above, and the animation is executed.
Judge Etta Cameron gives maximum points
TV Graphics for Grib Mikrofonen
In september 2005 Blu produced 16 episodes of a show called Grib Mikrofonen (Grab a Mike) - a gameshow for TV2. I programmed the graphics-system using Inca RTX and Visual Basic.
During production I also controlled the execution of the graphics. We typically recorded 2 shows per day.
Host Casper Christensen in front of screen with Inca RTX showing categories. Under each category is a video-clip with a person singing a song, and the contestants in the studio must guess the song, and continue singing when the clip stops
From the rehearsals: Casper Christensen instructing the teams on the rules. The scoreboards are two plasma panels showing the output from a Visual Basic program created by Per Zachariassen
From the studio control. Sitting behind the producers, I controlled the graphics
Screenshot of the VB application for controlling the graphics and videoclips
Karaoke System for Grib Mikrofonen
Furthermore I developed the software generating the karaoke-titles in Visual Basic, allowing the producer to strecth the timing of each word individually. The animated sequence of subtitles was then added in postproduction.
The Olsen Brothers singing ABBA's Waterloo with the karaoke titles at the bottom
Additionally the program had to be able to substitute certain words, showing the wrong word in red color and revealing the correct word in green color. This was used for the finals where the contestants had to sing a song and avoid singing the wrong words.
The karaoke application where the user can time the speed of the reveal by stretching each word
Graphics for other TV productions
Below are some images from other TV shows where I created the graphics system using Inca RTX.
Kan du danse (Can you dance) - Dance competition on Kanal 5, autumn 2006
Zulu Awards 2005: The subs are shown using push-up transitions
Apart from programming the graphics-system for Zulu Awards 2005, I was also responsible of executing the graphics events: Showing subs, category-nominees and winners, when cued by the producer.
Zulu Awards 2005: After Darren Hayes and Julie Berthelsen have revealed the winner of the category 'Best Male Actor', the circles for the other nominees push down and leave the winner on for 3 seconds
Zulu Awards 2005: The application used for showing subs, nominees and winners
TV Graphics using previous version of RTX
Prior to the advent of the new Inscriber Inca RTX, I have developed graphics system for several TV shows using the previous Inscriber RTX. Just like Inca RTX, the RTX is a proffesional graphics system accessible from Visual Basic, and outputting SDI for highest signal quality, but without the extreme flexibility of the newer version.
In 2004 we automated the production of The Weakest Link for Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Part of this fully computer-controlled setup was the dynamic graphics (points, time, etc) generated using RTX functionality from within a VB application. Later that year we also produced a whole range of Weakest Link-shows in Tallin, Estonia
Weakest Link graphics showing points and remaining time
All the graphics-commands - including time-countdown - are sent from the BluBox sequences to the graphics -PC using DirectPlay (A Microsoft API mainly intended for interactivity between game-players over the internet) over standard network-cables.
Nominee graphics (and subs) for Zulu Awards 2007
