Format question please

[Steve Roberts]

“Common” means nothing. You have to ask the specific station or network (to whom you are delivering) what it wants. When it wants a specific format, it will accept no other, no matter what happens to be “common”.

So. In my experience, they will accept Betacam or Digital Betacam, but some cable networks are accepting digital formats such as MPEG-2 or WMV. Yes.

So find out what format you need (in advance) and if necessary, rent the relevant deck until you get steady work in that format. If you have no experience running a Beta (or especially a DigiBeta) deck, I recommend you take your AE render to a post house and let them lay off to tape, running the thing through the scope, making bars and tone, slate, and so on.

Don’t start setting up a studio by purchasing expensive hardware without having the specific, paying need for that specific hardware. You might just end up having an expensive Beta deck (check bhphotovideo.com) sitting around, not being used, while you can’t afford the rent.

[Reggie Spires]

Thanks Steve

[Frank Hardie]

Just to add to what Steve has written, the terms “most common” and “least expensive” are two entirely different things, often contradictory of each other when used in the same sentence. Unfortunately, maximizing output compatibility sometimes means spending the big bucks. Which is why renting (as Steve suggested) is a wise option.