Tips on how to create a home TV studio for anchors and reporters

Picking a video background

Technical issues aside, having a well designed background to feed behind talent seated in front of video monitors is a “nice to have” but not absolutely essential feature. 

• While it’s not uncommon for networks and TV stations to use video loops, stills or 3D renderings designed to mirror the look of sets, newsrooms or control rooms, it’s worth considering if those are the best option since it could be confusing or even misleading to suggest your anchors are at the station.
• Instead, consider a generic look that matches your station’s logo, channel number, graphics package or other branding elements.
• Adding a simulated frosted band or layer with your station logo or other branding elements can be a good accent.
• Cityscapes can be another good option, though keep in mind that you may want unique ones for different dayparts. To avoid this, you could stylize the background to have a look that can be used any time of the day.
• Consider where the talent’s head will be and how tight the shot is framed as well as how often the talent is likely to move his or her head. Avoid placing logos or text in positions that could be covered by talent. Also check that if any text shown on screen is partially covered it doesn’t create any undesirable words.
• In general, putting a big logo that fills most or all of the screen behind talent isn’t a good solution since it obscures the logo.