If you look very closely at the cue dot as the Breaking collapses down, (easier to see running the video in slow motion) you'll notice it's not QUITE aligned with the BBC News logo - meaning it's probably not coming from the same character generator. It kinda looks like they were trying to disguise it as part of the graphics! It's still invisible when the screen goes white before the news starts though...
It is an artifact of the Aston generator, not a cue-dot... which wouldn't be almost in the middle of the screen anyway... There's about 3 or 4 frames where it seems to move misaligned with the BBC symbol, but that's probably just the programming of the Aston.
I think the white rectangle isn't actually a cue dot but actually just a bug in the super's character generator. You'll notice that it starts at 0:00 as the backdrop to the 'BREAKING' text, then it gets replaced with a smaller white rectangle of itself at 0:02 and then gets shifted down at 0:06 as the super collapses. It then sticks for some reason until the character generator kicks in and shows a new super at 0:36
You asked in a deleted comment if the video was cut. Yes, it was cut as there were a few adverts that would have added no value to this video. I faded down the advert that starts and faded up the numberless countdown, cutting all the adverts that were inbetween. The cue dot was present throughout the whole several minutes of adverts. This happened on a Monday night when the “Daily COVID briefing” had overran by several minutes, which meant that BBC One had to leave the briefing to take the SIX. The News Channel stayed with the briefing until it ended (as in the video) it then played several adverts and the numberless countdown until such a point that it was able then join BBC One for the SIX. I still maintain that this is a cue dot and not a bug in the character generator. The only way we would know for sure would be if someone from BBC News were to comment. But, the whole video fits the way that cue dots are used on tv nowadays and if you read the (very long) full video description, it backs that up.
@@amrob2 Yeah good point, thought the cut was just an edit and not a live thing (otherwise the continuity would probably look too disjointed to viewers, fading out from an advert like that)! I see what you mean in your description ─ I suppose it's very hard for the BBC to know down to the minute/second when the COVID briefings will end and I've always wondered how they have to handle situations where events overrun. Must be a nightmare for the timetabling team!
@@jthecoder Luckily for the news channel, they don't have to worry too much - as long as they can hit the top of the hour for One, Six & Ten. And that is where the filler countdown comes in so handy, if BBC One is running a few seconds late, just run that instead of the numbered countdown and fade it out once BBC One is ready to take the output from Studio E or C.
@@amrob2 That's a good point. I've only ever seen the numbered countdown as a TOTH junction filler so that both BBC One and BBC News Channel can start on the dot at a given hour... Makes sense where if BBC One are late and BBC News Channel are waiting, they'd just throw in a bunch of bumpers into the News Channel and then when the managers of both channels agree on a revised start time, they can show the countdown on the News Channel and finally simulcast the news studio Thinking about it, simulcasting is actually a really big feat for all channels involved!
Daniel Baldwin-Stevens Those too are cue dots, but they were normally used by ITV/C4 and ran for one minute before the “end of part x” or “end of programme”, so that the broadcast centres would know to cue up the adverts. You don’t get those any more where most play out is down electronically. They can have everything set up at the start of the day if they wanted and breakdowns excepted, not have to have any human involvement for the rest of the day.
If you look very closely at the cue dot as the Breaking collapses down, (easier to see running the video in slow motion) you'll notice it's not QUITE aligned with the BBC News logo - meaning it's probably not coming from the same character generator. It kinda looks like they were trying to disguise it as part of the graphics! It's still invisible when the screen goes white before the news starts though...
It is an artifact of the Aston generator, not a cue-dot... which wouldn't be almost in the middle of the screen anyway... There's about 3 or 4 frames where it seems to move misaligned with the BBC symbol, but that's probably just the programming of the Aston.
I think the white rectangle isn't actually a cue dot but actually just a bug in the super's character generator. You'll notice that it starts at 0:00 as the backdrop to the 'BREAKING' text, then it gets replaced with a smaller white rectangle of itself at 0:02 and then gets shifted down at 0:06 as the super collapses. It then sticks for some reason until the character generator kicks in and shows a new super at 0:36
You asked in a deleted comment if the video was cut. Yes, it was cut as there were a few adverts that would have added no value to this video. I faded down the advert that starts and faded up the numberless countdown, cutting all the adverts that were inbetween. The cue dot was present throughout the whole several minutes of adverts. This happened on a Monday night when the “Daily COVID briefing” had overran by several minutes, which meant that BBC One had to leave the briefing to take the SIX. The News Channel stayed with the briefing until it ended (as in the video) it then played several adverts and the numberless countdown until such a point that it was able then join BBC One for the SIX. I still maintain that this is a cue dot and not a bug in the character generator. The only way we would know for sure would be if someone from BBC News were to comment. But, the whole video fits the way that cue dots are used on tv nowadays and if you read the (very long) full video description, it backs that up.
@@amrob2 Yeah good point, thought the cut was just an edit and not a live thing (otherwise the continuity would probably look too disjointed to viewers, fading out from an advert like that)! I see what you mean in your description ─ I suppose it's very hard for the BBC to know down to the minute/second when the COVID briefings will end and I've always wondered how they have to handle situations where events overrun. Must be a nightmare for the timetabling team!
@@jthecoder Luckily for the news channel, they don't have to worry too much - as long as they can hit the top of the hour for One, Six & Ten. And that is where the filler countdown comes in so handy, if BBC One is running a few seconds late, just run that instead of the numbered countdown and fade it out once BBC One is ready to take the output from Studio E or C.
@@amrob2 That's a good point. I've only ever seen the numbered countdown as a TOTH junction filler so that both BBC One and BBC News Channel can start on the dot at a given hour... Makes sense where if BBC One are late and BBC News Channel are waiting, they'd just throw in a bunch of bumpers into the News Channel and then when the managers of both channels agree on a revised start time, they can show the countdown on the News Channel and finally simulcast the news studio
Thinking about it, simulcasting is actually a really big feat for all channels involved!
This is quite interesting! I’m a such a nerd haha
Nerds of the world unite! 💪
Now I know what a cue dot is! You learn something every day!
Interesting how they came out to a clean GFX-free shot on their own desk before opting in
Were these the ones that would appear as you mentioned in your description, at the top right of the screen with like lines spinning on them?
Daniel Baldwin-Stevens Those too are cue dots, but they were normally used by ITV/C4 and ran for one minute before the “end of part x” or “end of programme”, so that the broadcast centres would know to cue up the adverts. You don’t get those any more where most play out is down electronically. They can have everything set up at the start of the day if they wanted and breakdowns excepted, not have to have any human involvement for the rest of the day.
Where?
Interesting