What is Character Generation (CG)? Character Generation, or CG for short, is the process of adding static or animated text and images into a video. Video productions use CG to help present graphic information to viewers and brand your show with appropriate titles and logos. For example, the image of a station’s logo that appears on the corner of your TV when you are watching broadcast television is done using character generation. Another example is news headlines or a reporter’s name that appears during a news show. This is called a lower third. Lower thirds are used in various video production applications such as sports games, news, award shows, game shows, and many others . CG can be a static image with text, or an animated logo with text. You can add an image of your school mascot or logo to your morning announcement productions using CG .

Character Generation is added to your news show with a combination of software and hardware. In our example, we will use Microsoft PowerPoint as the software to create the graphics and text for lower thirds. The HS-2600 is the hardware that overlays the titles and graphics over the video.

After completing this chapter, students will become Creative Communicators and communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats, and digital media appropriate to their goals.