The function of the video board, or switcher, is to join various video sources into one picture and transmit that mix. A good example of the result of using a switcher can be seen on the nightly news. In order to have a picture of a newscaster and the graphic with the newscaster’s name, you need three things: a picture of the newscaster, the video from a character generator or art card with the newscas- ter’s name, and a device that will superimpose the graphics over the picture. That mixed picture can be sent to a live feed, as in a news broadcast, or to a videotape or hard drive. The video board performs all of these functions. When you walk into a control room, it’s surely the most intimidating piece of equipment in the room—particularly if it’s a big switcher. Large or small, however, it’s really a sim- ple piece of gear.
In the early days of television, the switcher was very simple. Explaining it from that simplified per- spective may make the modern ones easier to under- stand. The basic studio had two cameras and a black generator. The director “faded up” from black to one of the cameras and then “took,” or dis- solved, to the other one.
Fading up from black occurs at the beginning of most programs and commercials. To “take,” or “cut to,” a camera means to put that camera on the air. In film terms it would be an edit. The fade-up from black is the way one gets to see the first shot of most dramatic productions. After that there’s a “cut” to the next shot and succeeding shots.
When there were only two cameras in a studio, all the director could do was cut back and forth between the two cameras or dissolve between them. In a “dissolve,” you see progressively more of a sec- ond picture until it takes over the frame. Sometimes, for a special effect, the switcher would be stopped midway through a dissolve to hold the two pictures on the air, in what is called a superim- position, or “super”—one image superimposed on the other. Essentially, it’s what would be called a double exposure in film. It was a wonderful effect, particularly in musical numbers, and it is still used today (you can see an example of this in Figure 7.6). In those early days of television the only other techni- cal effect was the fade to black at the end of the show—a practice still commonly in use.
One device—a little switcher—made these basic maneuvers possible. Early switchers had two sets of switches or buttons with a rheostat between them. The rheostat in the video switcher is like a fancy
light switch that gradually brings up the lights in a the- ater, only this switch gradually brings up a picture— usually from black. At the end of the program, the director would fade the picture ever closer and, finally, entirely to black. Today, the most sophisticated switch- ers do the same thing. For daytime dramas and sit- coms, that’s really all that’s needed, although modern switchers have many more options. In fact, today’s switchers can do a lot of things that they couldn’t do before.
One of the first improvements over the simple super was the “key.” In a key, one source goes over another. That’s almost always the way a person’s name is handled when it appears in white letters in the lower third of that person’s picture (Figure 2.11). Originally, a name was supered, and you could see the person’s clothing through the white of the super. With a key, the letters seem to be placed on top of the person’s clothing. As the switchers became more sophisticated, the white let- ters could be changed into any number of colors.
More sophisticated switchers allowed the direc- tor to wipe between sources and to hold a wipe midway. Holding a wipe midway created a split screen. This was a popular early convention, which was often used to show two people talking to each other on the phone as inFigure 1.12.
As switchers evolved, they offered the ability to mix many more sources in many more ways. Now video is digitized, and pictures can be made to appear to fly in from any part of the screen.
Figure 2.11 The words “I guarantee it!” and the signature are keyed over the picture. If these words were a super, the letters would be more transparent, and their edges would be softer. Courtesy of The Men’s Wearhouse.
The picture can twist and fold over like a book. New switchers can zoom in and out on predeter- mined parts of pictures. They can highlight one part or another, and they can handle multiple sources at the same time.
Essentially, however, the switcher is used to select a particular source (a camera, for example) or sources (a camera with a super from a remote feed) from a wide variety of sources, including cameras, hard drives, videotape decks, remote feeds, graphics, and so on. It then mixes the sources into one picture and sends the mix to any of a number of different receivers, including “on the air,” hard drive, video- tape, or remote feeds.
As a director or producer, you need to know your production requirements. If you suspect that the switcher will be inadequate, you need to develop a fallback position. Most of the time, directors and producers run into trouble by requiring more from a simple switcher than it can do. To prevent this from happening, be very specific about what you intend to do. For example, you might say, “I will need a switcher that can handle a camera on the audience, super graphics, and then dissolve under- neath the graphics to another camera, and then another and another. From that we need to dissolve to a remote feed that will require a key over it.” One way to become articulate about specific needs is to imagine what you want to have happen and then say every part of it out loud. If the switcher can’t handle your needs, get a new switcher or change your plans. For practice, try calling every video event in a news broadcast. Turning off the sound will help.
Video
At one time video operation was a part of all pro- duction, but with the advent of digital cameras and operation, the need for constant hands-on control of the video has diminished. It is still critical in some kinds of productions— for example, outdoor sporting events where contrasts may change sud- denly. Where it is still a part of the production the video operation may be located in a different part of the building from either the control room or the studio. In some operations it’s totally eliminated. Video, too, has a board or switcher that is dedicated to controlling elements of the video. Here a video engineer, surrounded by a number of instruments that help evaluate various aspects of the video (Figure 2.12), manipulates the picture prior to send- ing it to the switcher. Essentially, the video operator
enhances the picture through the use of several con- trols. It’s here, for example, that one increases or decreases the amount of specific color, or chroma, in the sources—camera, film, remote feed, and so on—that are being sent to the switcher. The video operator can open or close a camera’s iris to increase or decrease the amount of light that hits the picture chip or tube. In part, this manipulation of the picture is done to try to match the signals from many sources. Sources may appear different for a number of reasons: One camera may be older than another, or the cameras may have different kinds of lenses, and that can affect the picture. Each camera or source will probably render even the same pictures differently, and the video operation compensates for that difference.
Before charged couple device cameras (CCD) became as prevalent as they are now, a studio’s cameras were lined up on various charts prior to each day’s production and were matched by hand and eye. Now much of the matching of the outputs of cameras and most sources is done through digital technology. Usually, the intent of the manipulations is to be sure that the viewer is unaware of the differ- ences between sources so a cut from camera to cam- era as well as to playback yields consistent picture quality.
Sometimes, however, the video operator is called on to do just the opposite and is instead responsible for distorting the picture in a way that enhances an effect. Once during a commercial I directed, we changed all the reds of a particular shade because a woman walked through the background wearing a
Figure 2.12 Some of the scopes used by the video engineer to determine the parameters of the video signal.
very bright red dress. The system was told to read that shade of red as a dark wine, and the woman remained a part of the background, which is where she was supposed to be.