Exporting for broadcast

[Bill Dewald]

[Scott Dressel-Martin] “a high quality hd format that will work for broadcast”

[Scott Dressel-Martin] “that will fit on a standard dvd for distribution”

Unless you’re talking about a piece that’s under 5 minutes, these are mutually exclusive goals.

Broadcasters all have different standards for the programs that they air. This same sort of discussion is going on here:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/126/859627

[Scott Dressel-martin]

Bill,
Thanks! The piece actually is under 5 minutes.
I’ll also check the other thread for information.

[Scott Dressel-martin]

Bill was helpful but after more thought I can be more clear on my needs.

I must take the footage and provide it to a tv news station as b-roll to accompany a digital press release. I’m looking at being able to make about 20 copies of the final disk for distribution around town. I want the best quality I can get through FCP. Can anyone reccommend the best way to output the file for that purpose? Thanks!

[Bill Dewald]

Funny coincidence – I’m currently working on an entertainment show, and we get our epks delivered digitally in:

DVCPRO HD 1080i

Which will fit about 5 mins on a data DVD.

Having worked in news, I know that they can have big problems when trying to deal with digital files. It might be useful to do a quick phone survey of a few stations in your area.

[Scott Dressel-martin]

Thanks Bill! I spoke with one local producer and was told surprisingly that quicktime would suffice. My client has been sending out b-roll disks with VIDEO_TS files and that has been working for them for years.
That is what I’m re-doing for them. However, I know HD is different. Is it possible to output from Final Cut Express to a dvd and have that work? I also have a new unopened FCP box on my desk in case I need Compressor and DVD Studio Pro to pull this off. Ultimately I could use advice on a codec and format output combination and DVD burning method that will work for HD and retain the HD quality. I don’t expect it to be “Planet Earth” quality. Just good enough to get my client some airplay for their event! If anyone has specific settings they can recommend I would really appreciate it.

[Bill Dewald]

If a Quicktime file works, then I’d recommend a DVCPRO HD file burned to a data DVD.

Keep the format the same, i.e., if you’re shooting 1080i HDV, then transcode to 1080i DVCPRO HD.

You will need compressor to use the DVCPRO HD codec.

By the way, here an example of the types of formats that epks are available in for download.

https://www.epk.tv/view.aspx?request=campaign&campaign=changeling&clip=trailer-1st-pass-texted-split-audio

Surprisingly few are available in HD.

[Scott Dressel-martin]

Thanks Bill,
I will give your advice a try. I appreciate the follow through. I feel much more confident that I can meet this need now.