Advice needed for online tech spec

[Chris Borjis]

1) you will do this

2) you can use the fcp bars, but set the audio for -18 as it defaults to -12

3) fcp has a built in countdown, that should suffice

4) you have to check the manual for your deck on this one to be sure.

5) just make sure the 4:3 video is 4:3 within the 16:9 program

6) not sure on this one.

I feel your pain, some of this jargon is a little more “engineer speak” than it needs to be.
reminds me of a legal document lol.

when in doubt, ALWAYS contact the facility you are delivering to for clarification.
Just be honest and say you need it in “laymans terms”

[Shane Ross]

1) This is something that you, as the online editor, are tasked with. You need to know how to read a video scope and have the ability to color correct your footage to fall within the guidelines specified.

The other 1) Yes…as Chris said, you do this.

2) Standard bars, but you might need to lower the tone from -12 to -20.

3) For PAL shows? Where did I get mine? Ah…here:

https://idustrialrevolution.com/component/option,com_sobi2/sobi2Task,sobi2Details/catid,2/sobi2Id,8/

4) This is done when you output. Or someone else outputs.

5) Just capture the footage that way. If this is an HD show, the SD content must be full screen with bars on the sides. Many capture cards have this option when capturing.

6) This means if you have any graphics, you need to include them, with Alpha channel, at the end of the program…typically 30 seconds after the show ends…in the area where you include all the textless elements.

If you have never done an online I highly suggest you hire someone to do this. There is so much room for error that even people who do this for a living sometimes make a mistake. Someone who hasn’t even seen someone do this…that is ripe for issues. I was an offline editor who was trained to online…first I watched as the online editor onlined shows, and told me what he was doing (for 10 shows), then he watched as I onlined, giving me pointers (for 5 shows), then I onlined a few on my own, and they just checked them. Being a creative cutter is one thing, but onlining is a whole new world…there is a reason people can make it a full time profession.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Mark Raudonis]

I agree completely with Shane. There are just so many things to know that if you’ve never done this before, you’re just asking for problems.

TO CHRIS: “some of this jargon is a little more “engineer speak” than it needs to be. reminds me of a legal document”

In a sense, it IS a legal document. If you don’t hit these specs, then they can kick it back to you. You then are LEGALLY in default of the contract…. no acceptable delivery, no pay day!

Some networks are more leniant than others, but at the end of the day, it’s YOUR responsibility to know how to meet these specs. Otherwise, pay someone who does know how to do it.

Mark

[Chris Borjis]

[Mark Raudonis] “In a sense, it IS a legal document. If you don’t hit these specs, then they can kick it back to you. You then are LEGALLY in default of the contract…. no acceptable delivery, no pay day!”

well yeah, but what I meant was the terminology used = confusion mixed with ambiguity…the creme de la creme of Legal documents. 🙂

[Shane Ross]

[Chris Borjis] “what I meant was the terminology used = confusion mixed with ambiguity”

Actually, to a trained professional online editor, this is pretty plain english. Again, because they were trained to know what those terms are. To the creative editor, this is highly technical…and might be beyond their grasp. Just like if I tried to read the blue print to a house…I might not understand what most of it means. Which is why we hire contractors to build houses, instead of doing it ourselves.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Bob Zelin]

Hi Peta, and everyone else.
The purpose of “silly” documents like this is to make everything adhere to professional broadcast standards. If you don’t own lots of expensive professional broadcast equipment, you cannot meet the requirements of professional broadcasters. In simple language, if you spend LOTS OF MONEY on equipment, you can make this happen. But what if you don’t have lots of money, and can’t afford this equipment? Then you dont’ get to participate in this process. This process (meeting broadcast standards) had become more complex as the years go on (and as some broadcasters abandon any standards, and play anything back on air – with no technical requirements) –

Replies below –

In regards to the tech spec:

(1) “The tape should consist of a silent/mute leader before the start of any colour bars comprising black & silence across all tracks with LTC and matching VITC for a minimum of 15 seconds ending no later than 09:57:30:00.” – is this something I need to do or is this something the facility will do when they play out to tape?

REPLY – your Digi Beta VTR (or the one you rent to output this show)
has both longitudnal time code and Vertical Inverval time code. These numbers must match (and will match if you create a black basic, and insert your show into this tape). You insert color bars (and tone), and then black and silence (minimum 15 seconds) ending at a specific time code # of 9:57:30:00. You do all of this on your FCP edit system.

(4) “VITC should be recorded on lines 19 and 21 with matching LTC” – I’m not sure what this means, can anyone explain it to me?

REPLY – VITC is vertical interval time code, which is TC recorded in the vertical sync portion of the video signal. This is setup on the Digi Beta VTR (VITC ON), and should match the longitudnal time code. You preset the TC # you want to start with on the Digi Beta VTR, make sure you are internal, and preset, and make sure that VITC is on. You can switch TC displays on the Digi Beta to view either VITC or LTC. If you dont’ have a Digi Beta VTR and the time to play with it, and to learn how to use these menus, then hire an outside facility to do this for you. You can check your VITC on a waveform monitor (not the FCP scopes, and not even the new Blackmagic Ultrascope) with an expensive professional waveform monitor, to confirm that you are recording VITC on vertical lines 19 and 21. It costs money to be able to do this.

The standards you have mentioned are meager compared to those required in the US by Discovery Channel, PBS, NBC/Universal, and others. You need a LOT of expensive equipment to conform to the standards of broadcast or cable television.

“But why” – you ask ! Because – and when companies (like Blackmagic and others) come out with new, inexpensive ways to accomplish all of this, NEW standards will be created (think Dolby LM100 audio meter for average audio level) to torment young producers that think they have all the equipment they need to make a show. It will never be over (until YouTube takes over the world).

Bob Zelin

[Chris Borjis]

[Shane Ross] “Actually, to a trained professional online editor, this is pretty plain english. Again, because they were trained to know what those terms are. To the creative editor, this is highly technical.”

thank you Shane, that is PRECISELY the point I was trying to make.

[Shane Ross]

[Chris Borjis] “that is PRECISELY the point I was trying to make. “

Yup…and this is why a creative editor…someone without any online training…shouldn’t be doing the online.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[David Roth weiss]

[Shane Ross] “this is why a creative editor…someone without any online training…shouldn’t be doing the online. “

However, as our wonderful secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld once said, “…as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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