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What Production Managers need to know
On a recent call sheet for a job on a magazine-type show, the Production Manager wrote under “Special Equipment” category:
“Panasonic 720p Varicam; 59.94fps; Drop Frame; 16×9; Tripod; Audio Equip. (producer has tape stock).
What’s wrong with this picture?
They’re in their second year of production on an HD show for a major cable network (I won’t say what show as not to embarrass anybody) but, of course they want 29.97 (more commonly known as 30) fps, not 59.94 fps as indicated on the call sheet. What the call sheet should most accurately say is “30fps/59.94Hz”. So I wrote the following not back. Perhaps it will be useful to someone else out there so I’m cc’ing in full:
Just so you know, the camera has a “systems frequency” setting that can either be 59.94 or 60Hz. This setting is defaulted to the 59.94 to conform to the speed of NTSC video which is often derived from the HD originals (either by down conversion or by import and editing on NLE machines). The “60 Hz” setting is only used for PAL speeds of 25p or 50i (notice they’re full numbers) or occasionally for film shoots without sound where the video will be “filmed out” and cut into A&B rolls otherwise shot on a film camera at 24 fps.
In addition to the frequency setting on the camera, there is also a “framerate” setting; the most common rates are 24 which is really 23.97fps, 30 (which is really 29.97fps) and 60 (which is really 59.97fps) when the frequency setting is in the correct 59.94 setting.
24p is used primarily when the project is either intended for “film out” use to be shown on film in a theatrical cinema setting, or alternately to give a “film look” to video that is exhibited in broadcast, cable, dvd or other forms on video monitors (CRTs, projectors or otherwise).
30p is used primarily for Internet, progressive DVD and broadcast of “feature” type material where this look is to be distinguished from a completely “video” or “live” look.
Finally, in the Varicam the 60p speed is used for two reasons, either for “frame rate conversion” to give a 2.5x slomo effect when converted to a 24p project, or a 2x slow motion conversion to a 30p project, or to give a super “live” or video-look which is especially appropriate for live sports and live newsroom studio settings.
The Varicam, of course, by virtue of it’s name is capable of “variable speeds” from 4fps (undercranking) to 60 frames per second (overcranking) and every speed in between. The on-board recorder always records 60 progressive frames per second and by repeating frames converts every speed to this format. At 30fps for example it repeats each frame twice making 30 discrete pairs of pictures per second, at 60p each of the discreet frames is a new sequenced picture creating great clarity and very smooth motion effect.
When shooting at 24 or 30fps it’s also very important to turn the shutter on to at least “half” or 180 degrees, otherwise the shutter speed is so slow that the motion blur is weird. For example at 24fps with 180 degree shutter, the shutter speed is 1/48th of a second; at 30fps at 180 degrees it’s 1/60th of a second, just as it would be for example on an NTSC Betacam with the shutter off. At 60fps the shutter is defaulted to an “off” position so that the shutter speed is our old friend 1/60th of a second.
Of course the shutter can be set higher or lower for effects.
Any questions?
The funny thing is that I had this same discussion with the same company two years ago!
JS
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3 Replies
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Great post.I have to say the varicam was a bit of a mystery for me,and it took a while to get most of what you have posted here in one go.As even the guys in the rental place didnt seem to know either !
Thanks
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John,
It’s sometimes a full time job just finding out what they want isn’t it? I was recently on a job for a network sports show. When I asked what frame rate they wanted the producer said ” I don’t know….just do it so its like beta sp. All this stuff gives me a head ache.” The thing is there were a bunch of crews and for a while there were a ton of tapes at 3 different frame rates. The editors were ready to hang themselves. In the end the DPs got together and figured out the needs.I also had a very long discussion with on PM for a “large cable show” that kept insisting that we had to make sure that we shot 16:9 and not 4:3. I kept telling her that HD is by nature 16:9 but she insisted that they got some footage back in 4:3 and she was under orders from the EP to make sure that it didn’t happen again. It does get confusing and I’m sure that people that are not in the field every day tend to have their eyes glaze over with all the 720p/1080i/HDV/DVCProHD/24p/23.9/long GOP/protect 4:3 etc…etc. talk. I find that it takes a very careful conversation with some PMs to make sure that we are on the same page. Perhaps the folks at HD Expo should put together a producer/production manager bootcamp.
Dale West
Dale West Video
12225 NE 13th Court
North Miami, FL 33161
305-892-1201 -
Dale,
The note that I published earlier in this thread dealt exclusively with system frequency, frame rate and shutter speed. Obviously the next most important discussion is aspect ratio.
This is a little simpler, because it should be fairly apparent to the cameraperson what to do by asking a single question (presuming the shoot is for broadcast or display on video screen as opposed to exclusively for film output and theatrical exhibition); one should innocently ask, “will you be letterboxing or side cuting?”. If the answer is letterbox, knock yourself out with exquisite 16×9 frameing, if they are sidecuting (i.e. showing the 4×3 center of the picture) then you must “protect” both frameings, which is what you must also do if they don’t know and/or can’t say with authority.
Until such time as all the square TV’s that are in use today disapear, we must seriously think about always protecting the 4×3 picture, I know it’s no fun and often a compromise but that’s the cold hard facts. Only when there is an assurance from up high that the final project will be letterboxed can we relax our vigilance.
The issue is that if the project is really for HD broadcast, the network will only show it in one form; if they’re a conventional broadcaster, the HD broadcast will be widescreen and the SD broadcast will be center cut (4×3). They neither have the facilities or intention of sending out two versions (HD & Letterboxed SD). Now if they’re a cable network, they just might have both an HD and an SD channel (like HBO, Food Network, Discovery and many others). In this case it is possible that the SD version will be letterboxed to preserve the intentions of the director and cinematographers…or not!
OK, so we’ve dealt with systems freq, frame rate, shutter and aspect ratio, what other questions should you ask your new HD clients?
For me, because I have both Sony HDCAM Cine Alta and the Panasonic Varicam cameras, the first question I usually ask new clients is what editing platform do they favor, own or use? This question is to cut to the chase as regards post production workflow complexities. If they answer “FCP” then I know that the Varicam is the most appropriate camera choice, unless of course their sole intention is film out for the cinema, in which case the 1080 HDCAM format might be a better choice. Not necessarily, but a full-on beginning-to-end test should be considered and critcally judged by observation on a big screen. Some types of movies will work with the grittier look of 720 others require the extra little bit of sharpness of 1080; it is both a technical and an asthetic choice.
The fact is that the Sony format ends up being much more expensive; the camera costs more, rents for more, the tape stock is more, the storage requirements are more, it is less practical to edit in the native codec, etc.
Of course if they say they edit with Avids then the complexities are exponential. Because Avid is not DVCPRO100 native capable, nor does it support the Firewire workflow like FCP, the master footage must be downconverted, the editing must be done on an off-line basis and then an expensive on-line session is required to complete the project. This decision, which is often driven by what platform a favored editor is comfortable with, or by what editing system the company already owns is often illogically made despite economic imperatives that would seem to dictate another workflow(namely Varicam, DVCPRO100, Firewire and FCP).
This is the most difficult area of the HD discussion for the cameraperson to breach, because it has not traditionally been within our pervue, yet we are often the ones who have more knowledge and experience in this area, often more than the favored editor, who might be dealing with HD for the first time.
I had a case just this last week, where a four camera shoot that should have gone Varicam because of all the economic considerations mentioned above (it’s for DVD release) went Sony HDCAM, because I think the editor owns a HDCAM VTR and wanted the rental! This is what I mean as regards logic; sometimes the producers, who are new to High Def can easily be snookered by folks that they have trusted in the past. As camera owner/operators often we want to “sell” the format own, but we must be sensative to a whole variety of issues, but between you and me, at this point in time, the Varicam is still the best, smartest, most economical and user friendly solution there is. That is until we go to NAB in a couple of weeks!
JS
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