TV Event Sequencing
TV Event Sequencing
BluBox - Automated TV Production System
From 2002 I was working for TV production company Blu in Copenhagen, developing a totally automated TV studio where all cameras, lights, samplers, audio- and video-mixers, and other devices are controlled from a central computerbased sequencing software, allowing TV shows to be executed and produced quickly, rationally, and with a total production crew of only three persons!
Boxen host Keld Heick with three contestants
The first production to utilize this automated setup was a TV gameshow called 'Boxen' which was broadcast by national danish TV channel DR 1 every Sunday at 19.30. In May 2002 we also produced 30 shows in Thorshavn for the Faroese TV, and Finnish MTV3 also used the system for producing 260 episodes of the gameshow. The following list shows where we have been with the BluBox system, and what shows we produced.
| Copenhagen, 2002 | Steal (called 'Boxen') for DR1 |
| Torshavne, 2002 | Steal (called 'Satsa') for SVF - Faroese TV |
| Helsinki, 2003 | Steal, for MTV3 |
| Oslo, 2004 | Weakest Link (called 'Det Svakeste Ledd') for NRK - Norwegian TV |
| Tallinn, 2004 | Weakest Link (called 'Nõrgim Lüli') for Estonian TV channel Kanal 2 |
From the Norwegian version of the Weakest Link gameshow
The basic idea of the system is that any given TV production can be automated as a list of sequences controlling all equipment and gameplay. The sequences autmatically adjusts to variables and changes in the flow - eg. skipping contestants that are voted off out of camera-panorations, keeping track of score, etc.
In the control room the producer controls all parts of the production
One of the premises of the system was to rationalize TV productions (typically studio-located gameshows) in order to reduce production time and number of errors, and do as much of the 'post'-production (editing, graphics, etc) live as part of recordings. Adding to this was a significant reduction of the labour-intensive functions typically associated with these types of productions.
The system
The BluBox system consists of three large ISO containers (Shipping containers): One packing the light-rig and all the lamps, one having robots and all the parts of the scenography, and the last continer housing the control room with video- and audio-equipment, graphics-computer, and main control computer, running the BluBox sequencing software.
Trucks arriving in Tallin, Estonia with the full BluBox system
I was in charge of developing the BluBox sequencing software, which enables the producer to create sequences of automated commands for each of the many devices in the setup. This was implemented as a modular design with the interactive level being developed in Visual Basic, and specific device-controllers mainly in Visual C++. All the sequence- and command-data, and communication flowing between the modules is formatted as an XML vocabulary.
After having developed the core software system for building and executing sequences, and controlling all production hardware, a game-module - specific to the individual format to produce - was programmed.
The BluBox light-rig being setup in a convention-center. In the background is the blue Control-room container
The BluBox main control application (Click to enlarge)
Using just the main control application the director executes the sequences that make up the show, and at the same time controlling camera-views (framing), and game progress. All the sequences are prepared in advance - when implementing the given format - using the Sequence-Builder
The Sequence Builder showing a sequence with some of the devices and the commands for each device positioned on a timeline (Click to enlarge)
When designing a sequence, the director can place commands for individual devices on a timeline, and entering values for each commands parameters. These parameter-values can be constants, or variables, and even functions, enabling extremely complex sequences to solve all recquired aspects of production in the individual formats. In addition any sequence can call othe sequences, transferring variable paramters. This design has given us a vast flexibility when preparing different game-show formats for the BluBox.
The commands in each sequence are output to specific devices using different protocols: For example the audio-equipment (audiomixer and samplers) are controlled via MIDI. The list shows the devices controlled by BluBox sequences.
| Device | Connection |
| Philips videomixer234 | Serial port |
| Sony videomixer | Serial port |
| RadaMec Cameramotors | Serial port |
| Robot Cranes | Serial port |
| Yamaha audiomixer | MIDI |
| AKAI audiosampler | MIDI |
| Grandma lighting-mixer | MIDI |
| Graphics computer | DirectPlay (over network) |
The Weakest Link
As a preparation for building the specific game-module (implementing, game-flow, rules, logging, statistics, etc) for this format, we visited the Pinewood Studios in London to get an overview of how BBC produces the show. We met the host, the directors, and other people from the technical staff, and learned a lot abou the complexity and procedures of this format.
After returning from London I started developing the Weakest Link Game-module, in order to incorporate all elements of game-rules, logging of points, score, information and statistics presentation, to be added as a new format to the core BluBox system. This involved acquiring a thorough knowledge of the 1000 page BBC production bible, detailing rules and all other aspects of the production, implementing these in the sequences and the game-module.
It is my estimate that nearly 50 people were directly involved in the production at Pinewood. After having implemented the show in the BluBox system we reduced this amount to 3 persons: the director, a judge, and a remote camera-operator.
The robot-crane with a camera on top
A dedicated robot was built for this production: A robot-crane used for making the flying shots that is a central part of the visual identity of The Weakest Link. The robot-crane was also added to the list of programmable devices in the Sequence Builder.
Watch this clip where the result of all the automation is shown. Note the shots taken from the crane shown above.