VSN Graphics Written September 24, 2012 Background:  The Vulcans, from California State University of Pennsylvania, compete in the NCAA's Division II.  In 2007, they assembled a Vulcan Sports Network to televise a few of their football games.  Pittsburgh-area firms were hired to take care of the nuts and bolts. At the game sites, the mobile unit and crew were provided by Viewpoint Productions.  There were two graphics specialists.  I ran the larger Duet machine, while another operator ran the Scorebug to provide constant information like score, time, and down & distance. In 2010, Cal U decided they wanted their own distinctive TV graphics look. Ryno Production (left) designed graphic elements for them, choosing a muscular Aurora Bold Condensed to be the main font. But before Ryno's computer images could be used on Viewpoint's graphics machines, they had to be converted to Targa files.  Becky Hawranko did that. Then, in September, I spent three days in Viewpoint's field shop, resizing and grouping the elements and slapping on the text to make actual football-themed pages for the Duet.  In most cases, the font had to be un-condensed (stretched horizontally) to serve our purposes. I would return the following January to add basketball-specific pages.  These had to accomodate four squads, not just two, because VSN planned to televise a women's game and a men's game in the same show.  I wrote about the results in February of 2012. A typical 21st-century Duet sports package draws its roster information from a database which includes names, numbers, hometowns, season stats, and so on.  For major-league teams and Division I, this data can be downloaded from a national sports service into a “plugin.”  Alternatively, the data can be entered into an Excel spreadsheet. But I was old-school.  I had been typing the data directly onto graphics pages for two decades.  Also, I hadn't yet become comfortable with the process of interfacing pages with spreadsheets.  So I came up with another method.  I typed each player's name onto a lower-third graphic only once, then modified that graphic for various other purposes. For any other operators who might find themselves working for VSN, I spelled out what I had done in a five-page manual.  Now you, too, get to read the technical instructions, lightly edited.  Basketballs are brownish.   DUET GRAPHICS FOR CAL U  REVISED SEPT. 24, 2012 This graphics package has been adapted from the 2010 Cal U football package, organized by Tom Thomas to work for both football and basketball.  I'll use the word promote to mean “click an item in the Scene Graph to turn it on,” while the word demote will mean “click it to turn it off.” On the Viewpoint truck, the “I” drive should already be prepared for use.  There are no audio files and nothing on the “J” drive.  You can simply launch Lyric Pro 6.5, then load the user profile I\CalU FB-BB\Database\Profile_HD1080i.reg.  Under “config,” set your hardware output channels to 1080i 59.94, and set your default effect for a 7-frame dissolve.             Scorebug A separate clock-and-score device provides a horizontal strip during action.  The bug operator can animate notes with such messages as the commentators' names or promos of upcoming games. For basketball only, Duet messages called “tabs” can also animate above the strip.  These are used for team stats or player notes during action.  Before going on air, have the technical director key the Scorebug on top of the Duet's alignment tab (99), and have the bug operator adjust the bug's screen position until everyone's happy. Each “tab” has a corresponding lower-third version available for use during stoppages in play. Some of these stat categories are for football and some for basketball.  A few, like Time Outs and Turnovers, will work for either sport.             Duet Numbering System We don't use a plugin or spreadsheet; everything is typed manually.  Therefore you can record messages at whatever address you like, without regard for uniform number or “odd or even” team restrictions. Of course, we do use certain addresses for basic messages; see the attached sheet.  And we have set aside four-digit numbers for standard individual-player graphics, which are organized as follows. I0uu      Bio I2uu      Stats (at first Season, later In-Game) I4uu      Rushing Stats, or Points/Season PPG I6uu      Other Stats, or Points/Free Throws/Season FT% I8uu      Other Notes, or Tab Here the letter I means “one,” except for women's basketball where it means “zero.”  The underlined digits apply to the Vulcans; add one for the opponents.  And uu is the player's uniform number. For example, if a Vulcans quarterback (or tailback) wears #2, his bio will be at 1002, his passing (or receiving) stats at 1202, and his rushing stats at 1402.  If the women Opponents' forward wears #42, her bio will be at 0142, her stats at 0342, and so on.  (Because basketball uniform numbers don't exceed 55, addresses like 0065 or 0470 are available for other purposes as noted.)             Team Logos Inside I\CalU FB-BB\Images\Team Logos, you will find various folders including Away, Home, Opps, and Vulcans — as well as xCalU, xClarion, xGannon, xSlipperyRock, and so on. Inside each folder are two jpeg logos named Chip (98 by 52 pixels) and Chab (40 by 20).  You may also find other images.             Updating the Opponent Suppose the game you're doing is Mercyhurst at Cal U.  To obtain the correct logos, copy the contents of the xMercyhurst folder into both the Away and Opps folders, replacing whatever's there, and copy the contents of the xCalU folder into both the Home and Vulcans folders.  This will automatically place the correct Chip and Chab logos wherever “embed” has been disabled. Sometimes you may have go to the Scene Graph to demote one team's logo and promote the other.  And you'll have to type in team names or nicknames as necessary. Bio lower-thirds may have already built for the key Mercyhurst players.  If so, they will be in a separate folder inside the Messages folder.  First delete pages 1100-1199 from the Messages folder.  (If you're doing women's basketball, also delete 0100-0155.)  Then copy the contents of the “Some Mercyhurst 1100s” folder into the main Messages folder.             Preparing a Biographical Lower-Third Create a Bio page for at least the players who are 1st- or 2nd-team on the depth chart.  (This may already have been done for you.)   Type using upper case almost always, except for special cases like “McCOY” or “2nd HALF” or “ROAD vs HOME” or tabs like 0860. Start with the shell from 3997 for football or 3999 for basketball. Confirm the team logo.   Type in the player's uniform number, name, position, height, weight (men only), class, and hometown.  Record the result at I0uu. Later, if you want to create a two-line note, just type the new words over the bio information and save the message at a different address.  If you need only a one-line note, demote Text Twoline and promote Text Oneline.             Headshots This being a Cal U telecast, we've prepared headshots only for the Vulcans.  They're in the “Headshots” folder, cropped to 200 pixels wide by 220 high, somewhat off-centered to the right to allow room for the number button. If you have a headshot available, promote Group Headshot and expand the group.  Import the correct photo using 2D Object Properties.  Then retype the uniform number for the smaller number button.             Preparing an Individual Stats Page Create Stats pages or notes for the leading players as time permits.  To begin, call up the bio you've recorded at I0uu.  In the Scene Graph, promote Group Qualifier, which should read “THIS SEASON.”  Also demote Group Text and promote Group Stats. If you want to highlight certain numbers, promote one or more red dots plus the Footnote, where you can type “LEADS PSAC” or whatever.  Then shift the whole page up 20 clicks so the Footnote text is within the safe area. There are three holes for numbers.  Some possible choices for the categories: 14 70 5.0 ~ RUSHES YARDS AVG ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 47 1 ~ CATCHES YARDS TD ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 15 6 1 ~ TACKLES FOR LOSS SACKS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 10.2 55% 4.2 ~ ~ PTS FG REBS ~ Record the results at I2uu, I4uu, and so on.  Later, after a graphic has aired during the game, demote Group Qualifier “THIS SEASON” and re-use the page for in-game stats.             Preparing Additional Basketball Pages If you have time, you can create three more pages for every player on the roster. Points Tonight vs Season:  Call up I2uu and demote Group Qualifier.  On the categories row, pop in 3991.  Now the page looks like this: 10.2 55% 4.2 ~ PTS SEASON AVG ~ Then retype the numbers like this (leaving a hole in the middle) and record the result at I4uu. 0 10.2 ~ ~ PTS SEASON AVG ~ Points with Free Throws Tonight vs Season:  Call up I4uu and, on the categories row, pop in 3992.  Now the page looks like this: 0 10.2 ~ PTS FT SEASON ~ Then fill in the numbers like this and record the result at I6uu. 0 0-0 86% ~ ~ PTS FT SEASON ~ Blank Tab:  Starting from the shell at 3998 (confirm the team logo), type in a player's uniform number and name and record the result at I8uu.  During the game you can add any interesting text to the row.             Personal Fouls When a basketball player commits a foul, you can call up I0uu Bio, demote Text Twoline, and promote Text Oneline.  This should initially read “3 PERSONAL FOULS.”  Change the number if necessary. After the fifth foul, call up either I2uu Stats or I4uu Points/Season, update the current numbers, and promote Group Qualifier “FouledOut.”             Sponsorship For each sponsor, there should be a logo inside a standard-sized white rectangle.  Many of them have been also been cropped, or “cropt,” to fit onto specific graphics. Here are some details. REPLAY BADGE:  If each quarter has a different sponsor, call up message 94 on Duet frame buffer 2 and leave it there; it will be inserted over every replay.  At the end of the quarter, change the sponsor on 94 by clicking in the Scene Graph.  But for the 2012 football season, there's only one replay sponsor.  It's at 95, and the TD grabs it in the switcher so you don't have to worry about it. LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS AND RECAP:  This was a new feature in 2010.  We guessed they'd want to include the score of last week's game, as on page 4107. SCOREBOARD:  Again the quarters have different sponsorships.  During the commercial, you'll need to promote the next sponsor. If you need an unsponsored scoreboard, you can demote the sponsor and its Sponsor Background, then promote the round VSN Flames group.  BILLBOARDS:  For each group — for example, 5071 is the animation for Billboard Group 1 — the sponsor images are listed in the Scene Graph.  You might have to click an image and use 2D Object Properties to replace it. To start the upper-left animation, control-play 5071.  Spacebar to bring the Cal U Vulcan logo onto the screen.  Coming out of commercial, the announcer says “California University of Pennsylvania Football is brought to you by...”  Then hit the spacebar repeatedly to dissolve through the logos as the announcer quickly recites the names. HALFTIME AND POSTGAME SPONSORS:  For 2012 football, all the various halftime elements are sponsored by Trib Total Media (green on the list of addresses), and any postgame elements are sponsored by DPS Penn (blue on the list of addresses).  So far the only DPS we've used has been 4102 Play of the Game.  Others might be needed in the unlikely event we have to fill. CREDITS AT THE END OF THE TELECAST:  Confirm the “off air sequence.”  Maybe the copyright should be worded differently, maybe we don't want to advertise the station's next program because we're on more than one station, and so on.             After the Game Don't delete the I\CalU FB-BB folder from the hard drive.  More telecasts are coming up from this same truck. Optional:  If you want to save today's newly-created messages to a backup USB drive, we suggest the following for football.  In Windows Explorer, list the contents of the Messages folder.  Sort them by number and delete the one hundred messages comprising the opponents' roster, messages 1100-1199.  You may want to also delete the 1300s, 1500s, and so on.  Then sort the remaining messages by Date Modified and copy only those with today's date.