Posted on 11/22/2005 6:11:06 AM PST by rabair
Wow! I hadn't heard that one!
That was a gold-plated invitation into their computers. Wonder if they'll find any DUpers there. Any bets on the laugher? This had better leave a mark. A BIG mark.
There is some stinky Cheddar at CNN
Somebody is wetting themselves right now ... they thought it would be funny to put the "X" on VP Cheney ... but guess who is no longer laughing and is getting ready to send out resumes?
LOL!
---A rival network news director asks: "When has an 'X' ever aired on CNN before?---
Exactly! CNN is full of it. They add amateurish lying to their churlish antics. How can they possibly be trusted with something as important as the news?
And wasn't it just Time that had the picture of Condie Rice with the evil eyes, and they were saying only an unsharp mask mistake in Photoshop, like they've got no editors to check these things.
Not enough contempt can be heaped on these tiny fools!
I really doubt the X placeholder was generated by a Chyron or other text generator in the control room. Any current news control, especially CNN, would be using a "Deko Thunder". It is an all-in-one server-based multi purpose computer that plays elements/transitions (like the source of the "X"), generates text, makes maps, etc.
It looked to me like the video server was hot on the Program side while it was being cued. It was just too quick for the TD to worry about trying to remove it. This would normally have only been seen in the Preview monitor - one that does not air.
There are two monitors that are prominently in the centre of the video wall. The one on the right is the "program" monitor. It is the feed that goes to master control and is considered the final picture before the crawl/ticker/bug are added in Master. The monitor on the left is the "preview" monitor. It is used for the director and TD (the switcher op) to "preview" what is going to happen next.
In turn, there are two busses (rows of buttons) that select cameras and other video sources - a "program bus" and a "preview bus".
The TD almost never uses the program bus, because anything happening on this row of buttons will appear immediately on air. So nearly all sources and keys are pre-selected on the preview bus one row below (the bottom row, because this is most convenient to the TD).
When the director orders a cut or transition to the next camera/video source, the TD uses one of two small buttons or a mix lever to the right of the preview bus. The leftmost button is "cut". The next is "auto-trans" - a pre-programmed transition duration, eg. 20 frames. Last there is a small lever that allows a manual transition by pulling the lever down or pushing it up for a tactile feel.
While Cheney was talking, the TD likely set up an ME (one of several "Mix Effects" busses higher up on the switcher) to have the Deko Thunder's source linear keying over Cheney's Sat Feed. This ME is selectable on the preview bus just to the left of the "cut" button. Crews use this side all the time to get their jollies, because it never airs.
It is worthy to note that the TD may not have wanted to tie up an entire ME for the linear keying of the animation. He/She could also do it with the linear keys selectable directly on the preview bus, called PST Keyers.
Intentional or not, this ME/Preset Linear Key happened to be hot on the Program bus when the X slate went by. And this could well have been intentional, as it is highly unlikely for an experienced TD to have an animation hot on the Program side. They re-cue their animations all day long, and they've seen the X appear all the time on the Preview monitor.
Perhaps it was very tempting to see what the X would look like on Cheney's Press Conference.
The reason for the difference in slate color is logical. It is used to double check that the linear key is properly set up on the ME upon cue-up of the animation on the video server. It looked to me like they use one frame of cue-up slate in black, and then another in white to make sure all luminances show on the linear keyer.
WHY THE "SWITCHER GLITCH/CRASH EXCUSE" DOES NOT FLY WITH ME:
This glitch was so short, the switcher could not have crashed. If there were a crash, how were they able to play the roll-in of Murtha (clearly pre-built on an ME) shortly afterward.
When a switcher crashes, it does not come back to life. The video sources freeze up (not freeze as in freeze frame, just that the TD cannot change the sources). The switcher then needs a reboot, but as soon as the reset button is touched, the whole screen goes bright green _until the software restores_. This can take over 20 seconds, just like any computer.
So if a reboot was needed immediately, Master would have had to switch from the Control feed to the raw Satellite feed, eliminating the CNN logo on the left and the lower third titles, and not the crawl, which is added last in Master. It also would have elimanated any chance of playing the Murtha roll-in which was pre-built on a background with supers - not something Master can do on a moments notice. And they won't have me believe there's a backup control that mirrors the main control - that would be far too expensive to maintain for a dying all-news channel.
Balk, that's the clearest discussion I've read yet. Thank you for lending some experience and expertise to the fray.
I agree with you that an experienced TD would be dealing with something like the "X" all the time, and on something as important as the VP presser, would have been extra cautious about making sure everything went smoothly.
Like you, I believe it was a combination of happenstance and poor judgement, along with a certain lack of respect for Vice-President Cheney.
Wow!
So they almost certainly did it intentionally and then lied about it, or there's a remote possibility they did it unintentionally then lied about it.
And how do you trust people that lie to give you the news?
Great explanation. But CNN says they can't repro the behavior.
Which means it was intentional.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - RTL Group is buying out CNN's 50-percent share in German news channel n-tv, taking its stake to 100 percent, it said on Thursday. It declined to name a price for the transaction, which is subject to approval from cartel and media regulators. "N-tv is an important member of our family of complementary broadcasters," RTL said in a statement. "The planned step will give n-tv the necessary room for maneuver for the strategic challenges of the future." RTL, Europe's biggest TV broadcaster, has 32 television channels and 31 radio stations in 11 countries. They include M6 in France and Five in Britain. CNN, a division of global media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., became a shareholder in n-tv in 1993, a year after n-tv was launched. RTL and CNN have been 50-percent shareholders in n-tv since 2002. RTL says n-tv attracts more than 5 million viewers per day, around 6 percent of Germany's population. It has less than 1 percent of the German TV advertising market.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051124/bs_nm/media_rtl_ntv_dc;_ylt=Alo2IiZ_mWFo4Ad0Jr.7YRxv24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.