Character generator
Encyclopedia
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text. (The integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
, usually in the form of a PROM
Programmable read-only memory
A programmable read-only memory or field programmable read-only memory or one-time programmable non-volatile memory is a form of digital memory where the setting of each bit is locked by a fuse or antifuse. Such PROMs are used to store programs permanently...
, that decodes a keystroke in a keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
, and outputs a corresponding character, is also referred to as a "character generator.")
In the television business in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the digital on-screen graphic
Digital on-screen graphic
A digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...
s generated by character generators are also often called "Chyrons", after the Chyron Corporation
Chyron Corporation
The Chyron Corporation is a Melville, N.Y.-based company that develops products and services for digital broadcast graphics creation. The company’s solutions, which include the AXIS Graphics online content creation software and order management system and a range of on-air graphics systems, clip...
, whether or not Chyron made the character generator. Similarly, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, such graphics are often called "Astons", after Aston Broadcast Systems
Aston Broadcast Systems
- History :Following 15 years of employment with EMI Electronics, Sales Engineer Dennis Jones started up a company called D. N. Jones Electronics Ltd., selling electronic equipment. An ex-colleague then introduced him to a two-man firm in Aston, Birmingham, UK that manufactured digital Sync Pulse...
. These are examples of somewhat genericized trademark
Genericized trademark
A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
s. Even though genericized trademarks are present, it is generally known throughout the world that other character generator companies exist.
Character generators are primarily used in the broadcast areas of live television
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
sports or television news presentations, given that the modern character generator can rapidly (i.e., "on the fly") generate high-resolution, animated graphics for use when an unforeseen situation in the game or newscast dictates an opportunity for breaking news
Breaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
coverage—for example, when, in a football game, a previously unknown player begins to have what looks to become an outstanding day, the character generator operator
Operator (profession)
An operator is a professional designation used in various industries, including broadcasting , computing, customer service, physics, and construction. Operators are day-to-day end users of systems, that may or may not be mission-critical, but are typically managed and maintained by technicians or...
can rapidly, using the template "shell" of a similarly-designed graphic composed for another player, build a new graphic for the previously unanticipated performance of the lesser known player. The character generator, then, is but one of many technologies used in the remarkably diverse and challenging work of live television, where events on the field or in the newsroom
Newsroom
A newsroom is the place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio...
dictate the direction of the coverage. In such an environment, the quality of the broadcast is only as good as its weakest link, both in terms of personnel and technology. Hence, character generator development never ends, and the distinction between hardware and software generators begins to blur as new platforms and operating systems evolve to meet the live television consumer's expectations.
Before character generators were available, the primary method of adding titles to video images was to dedicate one camera to shooting white letters on a black background, which then was combined with the video from a live-action camera to form what appeared to be a single image with white letters seemingly superimposed over it. In fact, to this day (and despite the fact that this technology is long-since antiquated by the modern CG) some directors of live TV continue to order the Technical Director
Technical director
The Technical Director or Technical Manager is usually a senior technical person within a software company, film studio, theatrical company or television studio...
(TD) to "add the super" when they want the CG output "superimposed" over the image of another camera. As technology advanced, the ability to "key" (compositing
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
) these white letters over live video became available, involving electronically "cutting a hole" (analogous to cutting a keyhole) in the shape of the letters from the title camera and then electronically adding the letters to the holes cut into the live action camera image. Again, some directors today still call this "keying the graphic". Finally, the modern CG allowed not only more precise and realistic "keying", but also the addition of multiple picture elements from the CG to further the illusion of a 3-dimensional graphic physically overlying a video image. Today, the addition of full-motion graphics
Motion graphics
Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, graphics are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects. Motion graphics are usually displayed via electronic media technology, but may be displayed via...
from the CG and the animation of graphic elements by the CG blurs the line between "character generator" and "computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
", combining the CG's ability to elegantly present graphics and video with the computer's ability to interface with game scoring and timing systems, to keep running totals of an athlete's performance on the field or the court and to derive statistics both for individual players and the teams involved, and to interface with computer systems located at other game venues or at a television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
's master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
central broadcast center. Today, when you watch a sporting event on television, you're likely seeing a score bug
Score bug
A score bug is a digital on-screen graphic which is displayed at either the top or lower third bottom of a television screen during the broadcast of a sports game in order to display the current score and other statistics.-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, score bugs are commonly known as...
which not only contains CG data from that game, but CG data from other games in progress, other games already completed, and games yet to come, all in an effort to keep you, the viewer, from having to "channel surf" to another station to watch another television program. And the less often you surf away to another station, the more often you see television advertising (also included in CG output) which then generates revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
for the television network.
Although the distinction between hardware and software CGs is becoming less evident as technology advances, and as consumer-grade computing equipment becomes more graphically sophisticated, it remains easiest to view CG's as either hardware- or software-dependent.
Hardware character generators
Hardware character generators are used in television studioTelevision studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
s and video editing
Video editing
The term video editing can refer to:* Linear video editing, using video tape* Non-linear editing system , using computers with video editing software* Offline editing* Online editing...
suites. A desktop publishing
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
-like interface can be used to generate static and moving text or graphics, which the device then encodes into some high-quality video signal, like digital Serial Digital Interface
Serial Digital Interface
Serial digital interface is a family of video interfaces standardized by SMPTE. For example, ITU-R BT.656 and SMPTE 259M define digital video interfaces used for broadcast-grade video...
(SDI) or analog component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
, high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
or even RGB video. In addition, they also provide a key signal, which the composting vision mixer
Vision mixer
A vision mixer is a device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases Compositing video sources together to create special effects...
can use an alpha channel to determine which areas of the CG video are translucent.
Chyron Corporation developed the character generator specifically for broadcast use. The term lower third was developed to describe the chyron machine font that was predominately on the lower part of the TV screen. The original chyron was the only hardware that all professionals in the industry used for 2D and 3D graphics.
Software character generators
Software CGs run on standard off-the-shelf computer hardware and are often integrated into video editing softwareVideo editing software
Video editing software, is application software which handles the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a computer non-linear editing systems...
such as non-linear editing system
Non-linear editing system
In video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
(NLE). Some stand-alone character generator products are available, however, for applications that do not even attempt to offer text generation on their own, as high-end video editing
Video editing
The term video editing can refer to:* Linear video editing, using video tape* Non-linear editing system , using computers with video editing software* Offline editing* Online editing...
software often does, or whose internal CG effects are not flexible and powerful enough. Some software CGs can be used in live production with special software and computer video interface cards. In that case, they are equivalent to hardware generators.
See also
- 1st & Ten (graphics system)1st & Ten (graphics system)1st & Ten is the name for a computer system that generates and displays one version of the yellow first down line that a TV viewer sees during a live broadcast of a college or professional American football or Canadian football game A competing system that performs the same task using different...
- Acknowledgment (creative arts)Acknowledgment (creative arts)In the creative arts and scientific literature, an acknowledgment is an expression of gratitude for assistance in creating a literary or artistic work....
- Barker channelBarker channelA barker channel is a form of electronic media known as digital signage. It is a TV channel that is entirely composed of sales promotion and advertising, usually marketing various features of the service carrying the channel...
- Billing (filmmaking)
- Broadcast automationBroadcast automationBroadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human operator...
- Broadcast designerBroadcast designerA broadcast designer is a person involved with creating graphic designs and electronic media incorporated in television productions that are used by character generator operators...
- Clean feed (TV)Clean feed (TV)In television technology, clean feed is a term that describes a signal which has not come from the main output of the Video switcher, such as the output of a vision mixer before the downstream keyer stage - the clean feed is identical to the main program output but without any captions keyed into...
- Closing creditsClosing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
- Credit (creative arts)Credit (creative arts)In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgement of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense.-Credit in the arts:...
- Digital assetDigital assetA digital asset is any item of text or media that has been formatted into a binary source that includes the right to use it. A digital file without the right to use it is not an asset. Digital assets are categorised in three major groups which may be defined as textual content , images and...
- Digital on-screen graphicDigital on-screen graphicA digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...
(BUG) - Graphics coordinatorGraphics coordinatorA graphics coordinator, GC, or font assist is an individual who works, usually on a television show, as a producer of on-air still and motion graphics. The graphics coordinator decides what content should be displayed on-air - such as on a fullpage or a lower third...
- Local insertionLocal insertionIn broadcasting, local insertion is the act or capability of a broadcast television station, radio station, or cable TV system to insert or replace part of a broadcast network feed with content unique to the local station or system...
- Lower third
- Motion graphic design
- News tickerNews tickerA news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
- Opening creditsOpening creditsIn a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
- Production logoProduction logoA production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, vanity logo or vogo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce. Vanity logos are usually seen at the beginning of a theatrical movie , or at the end of a television program or TV movie...
- RasterisationRasterisationRasterisation is the task of taking an image described in a vector graphics format and converting it into a raster image for output on a video display or printer, or for storage in a bitmap file format....
- Score bugScore bugA score bug is a digital on-screen graphic which is displayed at either the top or lower third bottom of a television screen during the broadcast of a sports game in order to display the current score and other statistics.-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, score bugs are commonly known as...
- Station identificationStation identificationStation identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
- Side-By-Side (graphic)Side-By-Side (graphic)Side-By-Side is a television graphic originally introduced by ESPN which allows the broadcast to show commercials and live sports simultaneously. It is primarily associated with ABC's telecasts of the IndyCar Series and ESPN's coverage of NASCAR...
- Text modeText modeText mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
- Title sequenceTitle sequenceA Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
- Video productionVideo productionVideo production is videography, the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media. The term includes methods of production and post-production...
- WGA screenwriting credit systemWGA screenwriting credit systemIn the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...