C. Park seward
Forum Replies Created
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A reference is a good think. It was absolutely necessary in the analog days and helpful to check levels in the digital world. You never know where the material will show up in the future.
With ESPN, we always send bars through the transmission path to check levels. We also do a lip sync test as well as a frequency sweep for audio. Yes, it all should be perfect and usually is but we still check it every time. You need a reference to check it.
From what I have seen, a circle test would be helpful due to all the aspect ratio mistakes I see on a daily basis.
Best,
Park -
I had an Abekas D-2 switcher that has some nice dissolve transitions. You could change the curves. For instance, like in an audio dissolve, the dissolve starts slowly, picks up speed and then slows down. Or you could do a straight linear.
They may have changed the shape of the curves in FCPX.
Best,
Park -
Ah. That’s much better. Thanks. I hope that don’t “improve” timecode with something “better”.
Best,
Park -
How does FCPX show rates? I can understand 1/15 equals 2 frames but what about a trim for three frames? Or four?
Best,
Park -
It’s an opinion. Any editing program that cannot adjust video in frames or fields is not professional, in my humble opinion.
New users who have not worked in editing for long may find other measuring methodology to their liking.
Best,
Park -
Tom,
I only work in NTSC, transferring legacy Quad and 1″ material to digital files.
I prefer to think in frames. After 40 years, I got quite good at it. I like to say, “trim that two frames minus on the recorder side” instead of “1/15 th of a second”.
Best,
Park -
[Nick Toth] “so that, even though VHS tape is not “broadcast spec”, the overall final one-inch master was.”
VHS tape IS to technical specs if time base correctly correctly. I think the OP may be confusing FCC tech specs to actual content. There is no spec for content. The only spec is for time base stability and blanking, alone with things like sync level, closed-captions, XML protocol and digital standards like CODFM.
Julie Barnathan at ABC once was asked about the picture quality of commercials. He said they would air anything as long as it was paid for.
[Nick Toth] “To get back to the original discussion – adding bars and tone to the front of a program does not perform any magic if the program that follows is not to spec in the first place.”
No magic. It just tells how to reproduce the material. If the bars do match the program, the facility that generated the material needs to be educated.
I get material that sometimes has no bars or tone at all. I adjust the Quad VTR to an average setting used on previous tapes and then look at the program. I then have to make an educated judgement to capture the material with reasonable adjustments. However, it is important for migration of archive material that you don’t change the content. You are to make an exact copy (or as close as possible). If the tape has bars, you set the tape to bars and do not change the levels.
Best,
Park -
I remember a story about the make-up for Spock when “Star Trek” was starting up. Make-up wanted to decide on the correct color green to make him look more “Vulcan”. They did a series of filmed tests. After getting back the first test, they saw a normal looking actor. Add more green. The second test came back and he still looked too normal. Add more green. The third test came back and he still looked too normal.
The color timer was correcting the film. Thinking, “no one wold want a green character. I must make it look normal. Boy, those make-up people need help”.
Best,
Park -
[Nick Toth] “I did not say anything about input to output. I said “if you produce your spot to spec”.”
When you said, “…then the digital file should not be any different no matter where it goes…”, that means it came out of one machine and went into another. That is input to output.
[Nick Toth] “You missed my point. I have seen this from any number of sources. I doubt that they are all “untalented amateurs”.”
You missed my point. If they are not knowledgeble in their job function, that doesn’t mean you should not follow industry practices. If the bars and tone were set incorrectly by someone poorly trained, that does not mean you no longer have to include them.
[Nick Toth] “If I set my proc amp and levels to bars and tone and the following program material has crushed blacks, whites pushing 110 IRE, blown out chroma and audio pinned in the red would I be doing my job to leave it like that?”
Ah. So you didn’t see the movie “300”? Crushed blacks, blown out whites, excessive chroma levels, over enhancement. So you would change that. Really? You assume you know more than the director how the image is supposed to look?
What if I have a commercial airing at several different stations in a market? Will my spot look different because someone at each of the stations will make different adjustments to my material?
What if you have a two hour movie? Should it be previewed completely to make sure levels are set correctly? Or if the first scene is soft with high blacks and low highlights, do you make the correction on that scene or watch the entire movie to set “to spec”.
Please list that spec. SMPTE spec? I have been a SMPTE member since 1982 and don’t remember seeing a spec that tells me how I must set a level to create an image. It all goes back to “how white is white”?
When I do a college football game and one of the teams has bright white uniforms, am I not allowed to clip the whites? If the team is coming out of the tunnel and I want a silhouette look, am I not allowed to crush the blacks?
Show me “the spec” that says I can’t blow out my whites and crush my blacks.
Set to bars and leave it alone.
Best,
Park -
“Today, you’re DAMN LUCKY if anyone qualified beyond the level of an overnight teenage button pusher sees your spot before it gets broadcast in a whole lot of cases.”
Every broadcast outlet should review spots for adhering to their standards, both technical and legal. For example, you would not want to air a spot for a cancer cure or a salve for healing baldness, not to mention pornography or slander.
Over-the-air broadcast stations run the risk of losing their license if spots are not reviewed before air. It used to be standard practice.
Best,
Park