Broadcast Masters

[Shane Ross]

I black tapes starting at 58:00:00…then I have enough preroll.

The format of a broadcast master differs from station to station, network to network. They generally provide the specs for how they want the show output.

Sorry, I don’t know of any books or websites on this.

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Oliver Peters]

I don’t know for a fact that this is adequately covered in the manual, but have you thoroughly reviewed the Edit-to-Tape functions in the FCP manuals?

Sincerely,
Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[David Roth weiss]

Martin,

The traditional standard is:

1) 40 seconds of Bars & Tone starting at 00:59:00:00
2) 10 second slate starting at 00:59:40:00(Production company, Project Title, Date, TRT (total running time), Format (NTSC/PAL), and Audio tracks (full mix, stereo, mono, M&E, etc.)
3) 10 seconds of black starting at 00:59:50:00
4) program starts at 01:00:00:00

Some broadcasters may have slightly different requirements, but the above is the traditional broadcast standard. Some engineers prefer an entire minute of bars and tone, so you’d just start it earlier at 00:58:50:00, with both slate and black remaining as I mentioned above.

DRW

[John Pale]

Every broadcaster you deliver to should have a spec sheet for you.

If they want bars to start at 58:30:00, there is not a problem to have black before that to ensure you have enough preroll.

Some broadcasters also want the tone at different levels. Be sure to give them what they want. You can adjust the tone in your mastering settings.

[Scott]

hey, what ever happened to the 10 sec countdown (beep and black at -2) Anyone still using Type-C out there in TV land?

Man, have I been in the biz too long or what?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Martin Sterling] “What is the proper way to crank out a Broadcast Masters. I know your program needs to start at 1 hour and you are supposed to black the tape starting 58:30 but the actual how-to’s are a bit fuzzy.”

Not always. One network I deliver to wants Black to start at 09:58:00:00 and show start at 10:00:00:00.

You have to get either the Producer’s Guide for that network or at the very least a Master Spec Sheet. Each network and station is different. In particular, where Bars Start/Stop and where Slate Start/Stop is. One network wants a countdown while another wants 20 seconds of black prior to the start of the show.

There is no “one size fits all” when making a broadcast master and the easiest way to get your show rejected is by not following their specs.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Stuart Simpson]

[walter biscardi] “Not always. One network I deliver to wants Black to start at 09:58:00:00 and show start at 10:00:00:00.

You have to get either the Producer’s Guide for that network or at the very least a Master Spec Sheet.”

All the UK broadcasters stick to the 10.00.00.00 rule. If you’re interested the BBC provides a very good set of technical standard documents here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/dq/contents/television.shtml

and the current BBC worldwide delivery spec is here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/dq/pdf/tv/tv_standards_worldwide.pdf

Page 13 details the Bars and Clocks.

-Simmie
2 G5 – Kona LH
3 G4s – Cinewave
1 xbox360, 1 PSP, 1 PS2 & a Gamecube
https://www.speak.co.uk