by Scott Rothenberg
Vice President of Logistics
NEP Broadcasting
PITTSBURGH
NEP Supershooters is respected throughout the industry for providing state-of-the-art mobile broadcast facilities supported by the highest level of technical expertise and production services. NEP Supershooters is a division of NEP Broadcasting and operates mobile production systems, including 32 HD mobile units and 21 SD units, for coverage of many premier events around the world.
PBS CONVENTION COVERAGE
The Harris Inscriber G3 graphics system As vice president of logistics, I'm responsible for ensuring that our clients have the best possible tools to meet the demands of fast-paced, live-to-air mobile broadcast production. We recently outfitted mobile production units for one of our high-profile clients, PBS, for use during its on-site coverage of this summer's Democratic and Republican National Conventions in Denver and St. Paul, PBS selected Harris Corp. to provide graphics technology support in the trucks, specifically for the broadcast of the PBS program "NewsHour" during the conventions. "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" is an evening TV news program that appears weeknights on PBS and is produced at PBS stations WETA-TV in Washington, D.C., and WNET in New York City.
PBS expressly requested Harris Inscriber G3 HD/SD on-air graphics systems be installed in the trucks that we were dispatching to the event. PBS had been using the G3 system nightly during production of the NewsHour show for some time, so PBS operators were very familiar with the features and capabilities of the G3 system. A key benefit for them was the ability of their operators to pre-build graphics prior to working from the mobile system at the conventions.
The G3 allows the PBS graphics operators to perform infinite layering, character generation, and real-time animation and effects. The system makes it very easy to store, manage, retrieve and play out media files, including stills, templates, clips and animations. The G3 also allows multiple programs to share information in a database. The information in the database is linked to the graphic layout templates, so any database updates are automatically updated in the graphics. This is ideal for live event coverage such as political debates and elections.
UP AND RUNNING
The G3 systems were very easy to install and test. I had never seen one before I installed the two delivered here for pre-build. It took about 10 minutes to get both of them operational, and I was able to generate test pages without any training or having to ask questions. We then shipped them to the conventions, and they both worked out of the box without any hassle.
We were pleased to work with Harris in providing our client with a high-quality graphics solution they could depend on during these important live events. The G3 graphics system supplied PBS with the necessary tools to differentiate their look and protect their brand.
(The Harris G3 system was also used to support PBS NewsHour coverage of the Presidential debates, as well as the Nov. 4 election coverage.)
Scott Rothenberg is vice president of logistics for NEP Broadcasting in Pittsburgh, Pa. He may be contacted at scott.rothenberg@nepinc.com.
For additional information, contact Harris Corp. at 513-459-3400 or visit www.broadcast.harris.com.
