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Some settings for broadcast in Final Cut pro 7
Hello everybody!
It will be my first time doing editing for broadcast and I have lots of new set up I have to make sure I do right before I start…I will really appreciate if some of you have the information to help me out with my doubts?
By the way, I decided to go with FCP 7 instead of FCPX because they also want the OMFs…and X can’t create them yet. Do you think FCP7 is good for broadcast?
Ok, here my questions for master submission:
they ask for:
60 sec color bars and tone+slate+10sec countdown 2pop+ 2sec black+3sec video pad header at the 01:00:00:00 mark + film (starts at 01:00:03:00)+ 3 full second video tail + trailer(10sec black and silence)
my questions:
– The video has to be 1080i at 29.97fps, so in final cut 7, which color bars should I use? there are many, but the ones I think that match will be either there is the HD 1080i60 or the NTSC one? is it correct? which one is best?
-what is this “video pad, header and tail” exactly? just video on the same film track? not black?
– what exactly they mean with “trailer”? is just a black silent end?
– they want a 2pop “keyed” over my slate, with white circle, do you guys have a standard 2pop countdown for broadcast or know where I could find it?
THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE EVERYBODY!!
Esther. -
20 Replies
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Dave, thanks so much, this is what I thought for trailer…they want 20sec slate..
Another question for you: they say they want a 2 pop countdown “keyed” into the slate….and beginning 10 sec before the program. What do they exactly mean with this? “key out” my countdown from background(?)or do they mean it to overlay? Not sure what is standard for broadcast for this..
Thanks again!!! 🙂
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[Esther Casas] “Do you think FCP7 is good for broadcast?”
Yes. Used it for 6 years cutting for broadcast.
Looks like Dave has your other questions well in hand, but I have one to ask you. Do you have an online editor for this? Someone skilled with delivering a show to the broadcast specifications of the network? That isn’t some easy thing that anyone can do. Not only is there color correction (to make things look pretty, and match shot to shot), but also picture legalization…making sure the video levels fall within broadcast safe. If you’ve never done this…I suggest hiring someone to do this.
Because you mentioned OMF, I assume you are having the show mixed professionally…which is good. FYI, FCX can export OMF files…or rather the newer, better format of those called AAF…with the aid of third party plugins:
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Hello Shane,
This is actually a program for PBS…a low budget one though, this is why I am doing this and not a super skilled in broadcast….So yes, I have to deliver what they want and they ask for OMFs, so I also assume that they have technicians checking my master for color and audio. the program on the link you sent (thank you)costs money…and as they don’t pay enough…for now I will stick with FCP 7…
BUT, I have to mix the audio and add a color bar with tone on my monitor to make sure we are within their parameters…which is not the easiest thing to do if you have never done it before, this is why I am on this forum now…So my next questions are for sound….i hope you can help me on that too. I am going through all now and will post later my audio questions if you don’t mind and think you can help?
thanks so much! can’t do many things without this forum!!
Esther. -
[Esther Casas] “This is actually a program for PBS…a low budget one though”
Local PBS? or National? Because PBS has some of the strictest broadcast specs around. They are often used as the go to standard when people ask for broadcast delivery. Because if you can meet their specs, you can meet just about anyones.
[Esther Casas] “so I also assume that they have technicians checking my master for color and audio.”
Yes, that’s called QC…Quality Check. And they are tough.
[Esther Casas] “BUT, I have to mix the audio “
YOU are doing the final mix? Or they are hiring someone to? You are beginning to scare me. If this is a local PBS airing, I’d feel more comfortable. I was able to squeak a show or two for air on Montana PBS by doing things myself. Back when we had AVR75 as a full res codec (Avid thing…and it wasn’t all that high res). Trial by fire. Please tell me this isn’t national, or big market.
As for sound, I have done my own mix, but only on promos where I received masters with fully mixed audio, broken into stems, so levels were already set and mixed to appropriate levels. That and I’ve done a fair amount of work on non-broadcast work to get my chops in. But I’m not a full audio mixer, and audio specs for network are beyond me, so I send it out.
Budgets that are too low to pay for proper online and mix to meet specs? Recipe for disaster.
Shane
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Hello Shane! my fault writing it wrong…
I am NOT doing final mix…they are, but they ask for very specific set up for tracks and I am not sure what they mean, I am ashamed to ask them directly…this is why I am here.If anybody knows what these specs mean, please do let me know, I have two questions for you:
1) AUDIO PHASING and SYNCH
Channel/track
1 stereo full mix left
2 stereo full mix right
3 stereo M & E left
4 stereo M & E right“whether audio is delivered mixed or not, you must provide OMF files as well as separate and clean audio tracks for: band, vocal and dialogue
WHAT ARE EXACTLY M & E MEAN?
IS FULL MIX A TRACK WITH ALL OF THE tracks I HAVE TOGETHER?I still don’t have the audio actually, so I am not sure what will they be giving me, but once they are, the turnaround is very fast so this is why I ask now…Do you think I should ask what exactly they are giving me in terms of audio files so I can plan ahead?
2) time code (this is for camera operator, correct?)
“Drop-frame tiemcode SMPTE 12M must be present on the longitudinal track with identical VITC recorded as follows”:
fORMAT: 480I
FIELD1: 16&18
FIELD2: 16&18(279 & 281)I might be confused, but this is while recording, correct? the timecode they use for camara purposes?
does mine from Final Cut 7 has to match exactly this one I assume? they don’t say…Do you normally add one time-code on video when deliver broadcast? (sorry again if this is a naive question…first time, a but confused..)
thanks to all of you!
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As far as the 2-pop, what they are asking for I think is the way I do a slate, which is that the countdown appears ON the slate, in one corner of it. This goes back to the days of cuing actual tapes on reel to reel or cassette video decks. They roll the tape up to the 2-pop mark and park it there, so that when ordered to play, the tape starts in black and program begins 2 seconds later, giving the machine time to get up to stable playback speed. But if all you have is a slate, THEN a countdown, nobody knows exactly what’s loaded on the machine, without rewinding it and reading the slate over. To prevent accidentally taking the wrong tape source live to air, better to see the slate and countdown simultaneous, dig?
More and more, at least for commercials and PSA’s, I’m requested to not even do slates, countdowns, or even bars and tone anymore; where feeds are file-based, and sent by FTP, played off of servers, they just want one or two frames of black, the program, and a few seconds of black at the tail end, to cover the switch to the next source. This of course puts a lot more responsibility on the editor to get the levels right the first time, as there’s usually no longer a dedicated tape op engineer adjusting those levels at the destination. So you’re more likely to get a pass/fail as far as Q.C. because the facility isn’t interested in spending their time correcting your mistakes.
For the audio specs, they want four independent tracks of audio: they want to be able to make alterations in level or content without having to un-do the rest of the audio mix.
M&E track I think might mean Music and Effects, but that’s a guess.
They want the time code a specific way because that is how their automation handles cuing and sequencing playbacks. Everything in a TV station and network is tied to a master clock. Your final tape or file-based output can have any time code you want on it: the settings for it are controlled in your timeline preferences. So, set them to match what these specs want. If your first frame of video is supposed to appear at 1:00:00:01, By Farnsworth, it had better.
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Hi MARK, thanks for your answer!
Ok, so I will put the countdown over the slate. Clear now, makes sense.Timecode, I know I can use the TCG or the TCR form Final Cut 7, but I am not sure what these settings mean? I have been searching only and can’t really find what this means exactly, so I am not sure if my time-code will be the one they want? any idea? THANKS AGAIN!!!
“Drop-frame tiemcode SMPTE 12M must be present on the longitudinal track with identical VITC recorded as follows”:
FORMAT: 480i
FIELD1: 16&18
FIELD2: 16&18(279 & 281) -
Hi mark! i forgot to ask you something else, as you seem to know much more than me…
They talk about “video blanking” and ask for “horizontal blanking must not exceed the limits specified per SMPTE standard: 1080i(240M) maximum 3.94 usec
full-screen content should fill the raster in each field as shown:
1080I format and 21-560 for field1 21-560 (584-1123)for field2
Is this the information for the camera when recording on set? I am not sure if an editor has anything to do with video blanking? it is responsible of the camera operator, correct?
thanks again!!
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When you make the slate, be sure the countdown part doesn’t obscure any information.
They are not so much interested in the time codes of the sources in your timeline, but in the master timeline’s own code itself, and more to the point, of the tape you output this program onto. You ARE putting this out onto video tape, right? Something like Digi-beta or D-2 or what? Or is it going onto a hard drive or into the “cloud” via FTP?
TCR is a time code READER, reading the codes of sources or the timeline. TCG is a Time code GENERATOR, and you can customize the time that it begins from in those settings in the control panel.
There are two basic “flavors” of Time Code: drop-frame, and non-drop-frame. Spend some time reading up on these in wikipedia later, but for now, they are asking for drop-frame time code, which adjusts the numbers on the timeline and master tape created by the “print to tape” command, so as to coincide with real time. Non-drop-frame TC will create a gradually increasing offset between what the time display for the timeline says, and what the real-time clock says. We don’t want that to happen. For the OMF files to be of any use, the time codes on the master timeline and the master tape made FROM that timeline need to be exactly the same.
I wish you nothing but success, Esther, and please do’t be insulted, because that’s not my intention al all, but the fact you have these kind of entry-level questions suggests they’ve put you in the deep end of the pool and handed you an anvil to swim with. That’s not fair to you. You need more training, without the deadline pressure, to do your job well, and I hope you ask them to get it for you soon.
Good luck!
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[Esther Casas] “Channel/track
1 stereo full mix left
2 stereo full mix right
3 stereo M & E left
4 stereo M & E right”Channel 1 is the full mix left, channel 2 is the full mix right. Channel 3 is Music and Effects ONLY (No narration nor dialogue nor b-roll audio) Left,a nd Channel 4 is Music and Effects right. This means that they are expecting you (the company that is delivering the show), to do the mix. And then they want an OMF on top of that…so that they have all the separate tracks of audio.
This is a complex delivery. The OMF you can send of the timeline of your locked cut. But for the other deliverables, if you are doing the mix yourself on the timeline, you need to export each track separately (or in pairs). The first two are easy, the next to require that you mute tracks and then export. Then make a new sequence, bring in the exported audio, arrange them as requested.
[Esther Casas] “I still don’t have the audio actually, so I am not sure what will they be giving me, but once they are, the turnaround is very fast so this is why I ask now…Do you think I should ask what exactly they are giving me in terms of audio files so I can plan ahead?”
What sort of program is this? Concert video? Documentary with b-roll and interviews…where you add music and sound effects? If the turnaround is VERY fast, then recording audio levels properly from the start is key. But you also then need to make sure the mix on the timeline falls within spec, and doesn’t peak. Unless they have an audio mixer who’ll do the final mix. If you aren’t skilled with mixing audio on the timeline, for broadcast…it would be wise to hire someone for that.
[Esther Casas] “2) time code (this is for camera operator, correct?)”
No. This is for you…they are talking about the final tape delivery you are giving them.
[Esther Casas] “”Drop-frame tiemcode SMPTE 12M must be present on the longitudinal track with identical VITC recorded as follows”:
fORMAT: 480I
FIELD1: 16&18
FIELD2: 16&18(279 & 281)”Standard information for timecode to be recorded onto a tape. This happens when you black a tape, and then output the program. A capture card is required for this action…AJA, Blackmagic Design, Matrox, MOTU.
[Esther Casas] “I might be confused, but this is while recording, correct? the timecode they use for camara purposes?
does mine from Final Cut 7 has to match exactly this one I assume? they don’t say…”No…this is while outputting the master. They need the timecode track on the tape to match that of the sequence…which happens when you output the show to tape. If you’ve never done this before…you need someone to do it.
I hate to say this, but you might be in over your head. I’m not questioning your creative cutting ability. There are many a creative cutter who know darn little if anything about online and delivery. There are those that can do the creative, and the online and output. Typically what is seen where I work (Los Angeles), there’s a separation between creative cutter and online editor and audio mixer. Those who can do all three are rare. Unless you have skill doing all three, I highly suggest you inform the producers of this, and make sure they get the proper people to do the final work. Because you want delivery to happen right the first time.
Shane
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Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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