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Going to Broadcast?

joshua csehak

joshua csehak

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www.magicgoggles.com
Hey guys, what kind of magic do I need to do to make a project good to go for broadcast? I've pretty much only finished for the web so far. It's color-corrected and everything, looks great on a calibrated computer monitor, and on a TV when I burn it to DVD. But am I missing something? Specifically, to be compliant with a broadcast signal? It's 23.976 fps, 16/44.1 audio, that's good, right? What file format does a TV station expect, anyway? I've heard of an HD legalizer, is that something I need to look into? This is pretty low-budget, so spending tens of thousands of dollars on specialized gear is out of the question, unfortunately.

thanks for your help!
Josh
 
joshua csehak said:
Hey guys, what kind of magic do I need to do to make a project good to go for broadcast? I've pretty much only finished for the web so far. It's color-corrected and everything, looks great on a calibrated computer monitor, and on a TV when I burn it to DVD. But am I missing something? Specifically, to be compliant with a broadcast signal? It's 23.976 fps, 16/44.1 audio, that's good, right? What file format does a TV station expect, anyway? I've heard of an HD legalizer, is that something I need to look into? This is pretty low-budget, so spending tens of thousands of dollars on specialized gear is out of the question, unfortunately.
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It won't cost anywhere near tens of thousands (or even thousands) of dollars to just give your output to a post facility and have them check it for you, as well as make delivery elements to satisfy any deliverable specs. Why would you want to do these things yourself when you're basically stating here that you don't understand what needs to be done in the first place?
 
Because it's in my nature? ;) I mean, I don't know if I understand what needs to be done. I imagine that I'd review it for excess luma in final cut, make sure the whites don't go over 100 IRE, the blacks don't go below 0, provide color bars in the beginning to that effect, and check the vectorscope in Color to make sure the chroma isn't too crazy, and it'd be good to go. But maybe I'm missing something. I guess, if it has to go to a post house, I at least want to know why it has to go to a post house. Also, the more I can do on my end to get it as close as possible to finished, the less I pay the post house. Right?
 
I agree with M Most, and just for starters, your audio should be 48khz, not 44.1.

Michael
 
Broadcast Use

Broadcast Use

This work does not have to be done at a post house, but it sounds like you have three choices.

1 - send the material in as is and maybe / probably have it rejected.

2 - educate yourself about what the specific requirements are and make sure you can comply with that.

3 - seek professional help ( i.e. for a fee ) from a Post House.
 
joshua csehak said:
Because it's in my nature? ;)
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That's not a very good reason. But then again, you seem to realize that :001_cool:

I mean, I don't know if I understand what needs to be done. I imagine that I'd review it for excess luma in final cut, make sure the whites don't go over 100 IRE, the blacks don't go below 0, provide color bars in the beginning to that effect, and check the vectorscope in Color to make sure the chroma isn't too crazy, and it'd be good to go. But maybe I'm missing something. I guess, if it has to go to a post house, I at least want to know why it has to go to a post house. Also, the more I can do on my end to get it as close as possible to finished, the less I pay the post house. Right?
Click to expand...

You keep referring to "it." What is "it?" A Quicktime file? What format? What codec? "It" is ultimately going to have to be in the common deliverable formats for broadcast, which today usually means either an HDCam SR or Panasonic D5 videotape that meets specific delivery specs that are different depending on the network or broadcast entity it's being delivered to, as well as being different than delivery specs for other forms of distribution. There are a whole host of things that could and will cause those deliverables to be rejected, and that will ultimately cost you more than getting them done correctly and professionally in the first place.

Take Michael Phillips' and my advice. Do it yourself is fine if you're also viewing or showing it yourself. When money and broadcast deliveries are involved, give it to those who deal with that and know what they're doing. You wouldn't try to fix your car if you don't know anything about how cars work. This is no different.
 
Thanks Stuart. #1 is definitely not an option; that's not how I work. I've been googling all day, mostly everyone treats it as a black box. But I dunno, it's not brain surgery, for crying out loud. What it's looking like it's coming down to, is if the requirements include specialized gear (like they demand delivery on Sony HD Cam tapes, for instance), I'll go with a post house, but if they'll accept a file, and they nice about answering any questions I have (I know, doubtful), and I 100% understand and can comply with the requirements, maybe I'll give it a shot myself. OTOH, it might be a good idea to talk to a post house and at least get them to describe what they're doing and why they're doing it. Anyone have any recommendations for one in the Boston area?
 
M Most said:
Take Michael Phillips' and my advice. Do it yourself is fine if you're also viewing or showing it yourself. When money and broadcast deliveries are involved, give it to those who deal with that and know what they're doing. You wouldn't try to fix your car if you don't know anything about how cars work. This is no different.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice. I really appreciate it! Yeah, I obviously don't have a deck, so if they need a tape, it's post house all the way. I can't believe they don't accept files in this day and age?! Well, I guess I can believe it... So, do I do as much as I can to prep the file before it goes to the post house? I mean, switching to 48k audio is a no-brainer. But do they have better tools than I for going from 23.976 to 29.97? Shouldn't I be setting the whites and blacks myself? How do they know if I want it really dark with everything below 50 IRE (I don't, this is just a "for instance")?

Your car analogy is apt. If I had manual windows and one broke, I'd for sure fix it myself. If I turned the key and nothing happened, I'd check the battery and connection. If my multimeter said the battery was charged and the connection was good, I'd take it in, cause that about exhausts my expertise. But I'd expect my mechanic to explain to me in layman's terms just what he did to fix it and why.
 
Most networks have a set of deliverables they expect, but for now you are ensuring that your program master passes QC for picture and sound. If you include foreign deliverables, then of course there are a few more thrown in there. In Boston you can start with National: http://www.nationalboston.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102&Itemid=28

All facilities should be able to take a file. I work that way myself. The type of file and codec will be determined by the facility depending the system they will use.

Michael
 
Most post houses will have a legalizer (in addition or instead of human engineers) which (or who), once you give them the specifics of the target broadcaster will be able to lay whatever you have to tape according to spec (assuming the file you have is compatible).

They should do it at an hourly rate and the cost should not be too bad depending on the market they are in and how much they have to screw around with your files to make them work. The better you make the files, the less time they will spend. Don't forget that the audio can be a separate issue depending upon how you have set it up.

But it is by no means rocket science, particularly to an experienced on-line house. Find somebody that can work at your scale of business and you will probably be fine—depending on the files you give them and how well these have been created in the first place.
 
Ask the tv station for details on what they expect you to deliver. Sound is something you will want to take care of as well. Check at what maximum db level things should be mixed. And have it properly mixed. Take out frequencies that make the tv speakers tremble and voices sound like everyone is inside a cardboard box. Talking to an audio post guy/facility will help the whole production a lot and it shouldn't break the bank to have them check your audio mix. Same goes for the pictures. I recommend to have it checked and transferred by a post facility. There is a fair chance they'll simply say 'looks good' after you explained the situation and dump your file to the tape. Simple safe and cheap. Might still cost a few dollars but you also have the chance to learn from it.
 
Henk van den Doel said:
Ask the tv station for details on what they expect you to deliver.
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I'm kinda surprised it took this long for someone to bring this up. While all the previous advice about taking it to a post-house is totally valid, your first step should *always* be finding out what your deliverable needs to be. Different broadcasters have different requirements, so if you were to just show up at a post house and say "Make this ready for broadcast", they'd probably give you a funny look.

That said, there are *some* standards. Most of the video-based ones can be met by running a 'Broadcast Safe' filter on your final FCP output. Will the results be pretty? Probably not. But you'll get a good idea of what needs fixing. Color's 'Broadcast Safe' setting is a little wonky, in my experience. It does OK at luma limiting, but at the default settings it sometimes lets Chroma (Especially reds) go way out of bounds. Dunno why. Again, it's a start.

Ultimately, if you've never done a broadcast out before, your best bet is going to be having a post house do the transfer. Sure, it'll cost money, but the results will be better than anything you can do yourself if you're starting from zero knowledge-wise.
 
Always ask your broadcaster for info. In most cases, when I've asked a broadcaster for technical specs I receive a 3-6 page PDF files of the exact technical specifications they require. Audio levels, video levels, how long to run bars and tone and slates, whether or not they want a 2-pop, and specific tape requirements.

Even if you are taking it to a post house, get this info from them and provide it to the post house. The last thing you want is to get an HDCAM 23.976PsF tape on Maxell stock sent to a broadcaster that can only handle 59.94i and insists on Sony tape stock.
 
Thanks guys! I feel like I have a good handle on it now. The guy at National seemed pretty cool, and their rate is reasonable, so I'll be going with them -- though I'll be trying to get it in as good a shape as possible before handing it off. Should be fun seeing how much work they have to do!
 
Thanks Curran! MTV, actually. But we'll see if it actually comes to pass. I'm cautiously optimistic ;) And lousy with adverbs, apparently.

Hey, guess who I met the other day? This really cool chick named Alexis. She was in the 48 with my friend Stu over at Optic Sugar in Providence. We were talking about Red and she said she knew someone with one who saved up all his money and blew it all on a Red One and I said, "Wait, Curran?" Hilarious.
 
I would call the station that is going to air your project and ask them what their specs are.
As far as a codec, different stations ask for different things. Usually a broadcast safe filter is all that you need to add to make sure all your levels are good.

I have never had any issues exporting for TV.

I have also mastered for cinema and no extra steps where needed.
i repeated !!
 
90% of broadcast is trafficked via DG Fastchannel (sadly) and they accept both SD and HD (mpeg2 and H.264 respectively) file formats uploaded to their drop box server. Get their specs which include how your timeline needs to be setup and run some test with their engineers, which they require. You will learn a lot.
 
Brandon. You should try Extreme reach.We just switched to them and so far they are great.They also accept APPLE PRO RES
 
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