The Gallery

BBC News 24 Countdown 1999

HD Recreation Mock (October 2014)

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KT
KT4YU
mdtauk - looking good, when I looked at the originals I assumed that the News 24 countdown's decoders acted like World's. But they're not randomised, it's all in sync (See: http://youtu.be/KMlRNFvX3ew?t=1m22s) :/ might've looked better random though... speaking of which, am I the only one who's noticed that Lambie-Nairn put in "BBC NEWS 24" in the decoder rather than just "NEWS 24" like they did "WORLD" bit of brand inconsistency ?


Jimmyson07 - loving the script mate! Smile I did what mdtauk did with the frames, except I tied them into the frame number... just uploaded the "bold" version now..

bkman1990 and Jimmyson gave kudos
MD
mdtauk
I don't know about you KT4YU - but I know I would appreciate getting hold of a higher or full resolution copy of those 1999-2002 titles and animations. 720x576 or non anamorphic 1024x576. I am struggling to pick out all the little details and feel my version so far feels a little flat.
KT
KT4YU
It's like you've read my mind, for me this is the best era, but every time I have a go to 'recreate' it, I get that flat feeling, like it's missing something. It could be that we're working in a higher definition, I was even considering doing the mock in 4K and then thought it would just look 'plain' or too too sharp, there's something charming about these idents but I think it may come with the fact they're SD. Even in HD when the mock's not played in full size it's too sharp, but blurring too much kind of defeats the object of doing them in HD.

But then again it could be that once you spend a significant amount of time on a design, particularly when it comes to recreation, you lose that objectivity or initial perception. I've spent a good week looking at my mock and for me I notice everything out of place which is basically the whole thing in my eyes. But looking at your World mock, to me it looks practically perfect, albeit unusual because its clear and legible - which we've not ever really seen before, hence perhaps why it doesn't seem right, am I making sense?
Maybe we should render them in SD, give them that old-school feel?? Very Happy

I would be more than happy to try to obtain the originals but I wouldn't know where to start, I messaged Lambie-Nairn via YouTube a while ago and asked them if they could post the original countdown (seeing as it's relatively iconic), but they haven't replied and it's been a while - I could always email them. Maybe via the BBC's Motion Gallery? Or contacting BBC News? Smile
Last edited by KT4YU on 21 October 2014 11:46pm - 2 times in total
JI
Jimmyson
Awesome that you like the script. Looking at the reference video, and yours, there is also a "frame" count-up too, going from 00 to 24 and repairing every second. (Must be why all the current countdowns use frames instead of milliseconds #conspiracy)

I would also agree with the notion of the sequence looking flat. Even in my early recreations, I have the same problem. I'm not sure if it is the way the background colours transition, or if the layered elements need to be blurred a little more. Old VCR footage does make it harder...

Also I doubt Lambie-Narie would reply via YouTube. It seems to be more of a dumping ground and a portfolio of their work.
MD
mdtauk
Both of you have said what I have been thinking and feeling, but couldn't quite articulate into words. I thought it may be because I am relying on old footage which is lacking some detail I am missing, but perhaps it is just the difference between HD and SD, and what is acceptable.

I wasn't going to post a full image of what I am working on until I was happy with it, but as you are both experiencing the same thing looking at your own work, we may as well all share our grief/frustrations.

I have added some radio waves, which feature in the idents to add some texture, and boosted the saturation a bit to try to give it some oomph. I hope you don't feel I am hijacking the thread...

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JI
Jimmyson
It's on the mark, especially for HD!

Considering the change in SD and HD, the quality of films vary on the medium use to record. At the time VCR was the default and since it's taken about 7 years and beyond, the quality can degrade and the tapes wear away, and also finding a good converted that won't desaturate the colours too. This video from TV Forum on YouTube is one of the best for colour and clarity in my opinion, until the News 24 countdown.

Otherwise, it's very hard!

KT
KT4YU
See the other thing is the background countdown grid, masking that is a pain, essentially I had to duplicate the grid, set them at separate colours and opacities and mask it twice (for each visable/dynamic row) to create the effect above, which takes time (that's the only way I know)... when it comes to my mock the vertical passes are there, but when it came to the horizontal ones, that's another story...

Colours are also a nightmare, at least in my eyes, I did exactly what you did mdtauk, literally created an adjustment layer and saturated everything up a bit to give it that "glowing" effect, but it's been a pain to say the least. Might play around with the animated grids give them a bit of a blurred glow, could spice things up a bit!
KT
KT4YU
Just played around with a few things including the size of the decoders to better match the original (click to see full size) Smile

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MD
mdtauk
Those numbers, ought they not to be bold?
KT
KT4YU
I don't know.... :/ I've tried them in bold, in both Gill Sans and Gill Sans MT, but it just doesn't look right, its too bold, I've been comparing to the video linked at the top of the page, because that's the clearest footage I've seen - but given that it's stretched itself, I have no idea. I need to increase the tracking, that's for sure...

I can try them again in bold over the coming days and post an update, but it'll take a while - the masks end up misaligned.

What effects did you add to the '10' in your mock? I played around with a load of things including adding a light sweep and a radial blur (fading zoom), but I'm liking yours more, might be worth a shot to try it your way? (if that's ok with you?)
VM
VMPhil
It isn't exactly HD, but David Lowe has a decent quality copy of the countdown on his website:

http://www.davidlowe.co.uk/uploads/media/video_96.mp4
KT
KT4YU
Cheers for that! Smile It's not crystal, but mdtauk you're right, bold it is! Give me a few days Very Happy

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