BBC Studioworks is providing full studio and post production services for tonight’s Comic Relief broadcast.
The live fundraiser will be filmed at Studioworks’ 11,800 sq. ft. Studio D at BBC Elstree Centre in front of an audience of 490.
Studioworks will use its bespoke ‘multiplexer’ hub for post production services, which takes three days to build from scratch.
The multiplexer enables the ingest of regional contributions and play-in of pre-edited VTs, completed in Studioworks’ edit suites during the two weeks before the show and loaded into the multiplexer EVS servers ready for the start of the show.
An EVS-Avid ingest workflow, using tapeless recording core infrastructure, allows fast turnaround edits to build highlights compilations for TX in the latter part of the show.
Integration with the Riedel talkback system means that the multiplexer can behave as an extension of the production gallery. The 16 lines each way between the multiplexer and Studio D provides capacity for taking outside sources, as well as recording the show and playing the VT content in live on the night.
Studioworks will stream incoming regional content and the show itself into its Avid storage system. Editing continues through Saturday, putting together the highlights show for TX on Sunday.
The Studioworks team spent a week building the set, comprising over 300 individual pieces. Technical requirements included the configuration of 10 cameras, including two jibs and a rail cam, while the audio team will support several live music acts, as well as a live celebrity phone bank on set.
Read more about this in TVBEurope‘s interview with the show’s showrunner and executive producer.