Help with broadcast requirements

[Keith Troester]

Hey Lloyd,

1) If the requirement is SD, then follow the SD specs.

2) Digital Betacam (DigiBeta) is a popular standard definition digital tape format, with 4:2:2 sampling. You will need a PAL DigiBeta deck (usually with “P” in the model #–try Sony DVW-A500P).

3) 625/50 is referring to horizontal line resolution (which corresponds to PAL) and field frequency, respectively.

4) Not sure what you mean by your description here, but true anamorphic will look squeezed (kind of like a funhouse mirror), where as letterboxing will apply the black bars at the top and bottom to fit the correct aspect to a 4:3 monitor. Using Reformat and 16:9 Letterbox in Avid will create the letterboxing, but again, it depends on what exactly they need.

-Keith

My Weekly Comic for TV Techs: https://fpscomic.blogspot.com

[Bob Zelin]

hey Lloyd –
I have to ask – how did you shoot your music video ? What camera, what tape format did you use ? How did you edit your music video ?

Bob Zelin

[Lloyd Stas]

thanks keith! few more questions, sorry..

2)will i need to buy a digibeta deck in order to present in a digibeta format?

3) are these easily changeable in after effects?

4) what i mead about the widescreen is.. after i have converted it to 16:9 format, is it then alright to also add letterboxing to it?

Re: Bob Zelin, the video was shot on a canon XL1-s, miniDV. i edited it in Premiere pro and after effects. cs3

[Joey Burnham]

If you shot DV and you need to deliver digibeta, it’s going to look like poop. And going by your specs your client seems to want the best they can get.
I don’t know premiere, but I would suggest creating a new sequence with PAL 8 or 10 bit uncompressed and plop in your dv footage. You will need to render and see how it looks. Or you could do this in AE as well.
Unfortunately I don’t think it will pass muster and you might need to reshoot on digi. Oh, and you could buy a deck if you want if you have a spare 60k around or so…
Joey

[Bob Zelin]

Lloyd,
you can’t afford a Digi Beta deck (neither can I). I suggest that you bring your DV master to a professional post house, and let them do the transfer for you, so you can ATTEMPT to meet the delivery requirements. No matter how much this costs you, it will save you TONS of money from anything that you attempt to purchase your self, and all the time you will waste, trying to meet the required delivery requirements. All of this is complicated stuff that requires years of knowlege and background. If you must deliver now, I urge you to simply take your tape, or files from your computer on a drive to a professional post house. They can transfer your data on their system, and output what you need.

There is no simple answer for you on these forums.

Bob Zelin

[Lloyd Stas]

ok! thanks loads for your help so far.. have researched some post houses nearby that i will contact.

just need a bit more help..

when i convert the video to 16:9, does it matter if I then put letterboxing on that?

With the 625/50 (horizontal line resolution and field frequency), is this easy to change in after effects/premiere? this wont be hard to do will it?

thanks so much so far 🙂
Lloyd

[Bob Zelin]

Lloyd,
I admire your ambition. You are a newbie, yet are working very hard to understand what is going on. You must be commended for this. No matter how I respond, with your determination, you may find alternate ways of doing things –
replies below –

when i convert the video to 16:9, does it matter if I then put letterboxing on that?

REPLY – letter boxing has typically happened when shooting in film or HD video which is native 16:9, and converted to 4:3 for broadcast. To keep the 16:9 aspect ratio, you wind up with letterboxing, which some people find objectionable. So if you shoot at 16:9, you don’t ADD letterboxing to this – it’s already “letterboxed”. You don’t continue to squish a 16:9 image in a 16:9 display. If you convert to standard def, for 4:3 distribution it will automatically become letterboxed if the 16:9 aspect ratio is kept, and if you want to get rid of the letterboxing for 4:3, you make it anamorphic (at least with an AJA card).

With the 625/50 (horizontal line resolution and field frequency), is this easy to change in after effects/premiere? this wont be hard to do will it?
REPLY – this is done by a STANDARDS converter, which is a piece of hardware (a box with connectors on it), that converts NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC. You hand your master tape to a facility that has a standards converter, and they make an NTSC or PAL master for you, with a standards converter, and a VTR that records in the standard that you want your master to be delivered in.

bob Zelin

[Lloyd Stas]

wow! thanks Bob.. i’ve learnt so much in the past few weeks, my brain feels exhausted, haha. having fun doing it though!

Im just about done with questions i think :)..

with the standards converter, will this be done at the post house along with the Conversion to digibeta?

RE: the letterboxing. I shot it in 4:3 and am having to convert it to 16:9 anamorphic in order to send it to the broadcasting channels. I followed an online tutorial on how to convert it to 16:9 and it did not create a letterboxing effect. i wanted this effect so put it in myself. has something gone wrong if this is the case?

sorry if im not making much sense.

It probs won’t make much difference but here is the video that im working on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNkwRu8qT2M

Your help means a lot to me. thankyou loads
Lloyd

[Bob Zelin]

with the standards converter, will this be done at the post house along with the Conversion to digibeta?

YES – let them do it for you.

RE: the letterboxing. I shot it in 4:3 and am having to convert it to 16:9 anamorphic in order to send it to the broadcasting channels. I followed an online tutorial on how to convert it to 16:9 and it did not create a letterboxing effect. i wanted this effect so put it in myself. has something gone wrong if this is the case?

REPLY – MOST STATIONS will only want standard def, not hi def. I never heard of ANYONE wanting a 16:9 standard def signal as a requirement – ever ! Once you do an upconversion to HD, it will be 16:9, and you have to do NOTHING.

Bob Zelin

[Lloyd Stas]

sorry about my confusion again, here is what i have been sent:

Standard Definition material
Tape Format: Digital Betacam
Video: 625/50, PAL, 16:9 Full Height Anamorphic
Audio: Stereo Mix

So the digibeta conversion and 625/50 video will be converted by the post house. will the post house convert it to 16:9 Full Height Anamorphic aswell? (it was shot in 4:3). if not then how would i achieve this properly?