[Steve Foley]

Hi Chad

Thanks for responding so quickly! I was just about to post an update — and that is that I finally worked the problem out. All it amounted to was working in HD 1280 x 1080 16:9 setup and rendering out in QT conversion using DVC Pro HD1080i60 compressor setting.

Pretty obvious really after I put it aside for a while and then came back to it.

Thanks again!

Steve

[Steve Foley]

What a great thread. I, too, started in the TV biz in the days of RCA-TK44’s and quad machines and so forth. One of those enormous cinderblock stations built in the early 50’s — studio big enough to house a jet — lots of asbestos on the walls, etc. Several standing sets including one for a cooking show and a daily children’s program. The news set was mostly plywood and cardboard — except for the backwall flats that were built like fortress walls and were so heavy it took two men to wheel them from place to place. All this was constructed by a 3 man carpenter staff that had been employed there since day one — kept on payroll because there was no retirement plan. Work til you die. Same went for the prehistoric engineering staff.

At this time we had a crude chroma keyer that the senior weatherman refused to use — opting instead for painted national and regional maps with stickpins and little smiley suns or angry clouds. The sports guys were so stubborn that they still shot on film! All this was allowed — even encouraged — because it was a powerful VHF with no serious competition. Using old equipment until it finally burned up saved ownership a LOT of money! The one extravagance we had was a LIVE booth announcer who actually did station ID’s LIVE. Never missed a cue even when drunk (which was usually).

This operation signed on at 5am and signed off at around midnight — and from open to close there was always a floating card game going on in the “directors lounge”.

Those were fun days — but, like many of you, I would not like to return to them. The only thing I miss is my lost youth.

Now — if you REALLY want to talk about threadbare conditions, we could discuss my radio days which predated my TV career. But that’s a surreal memory for another day.

Steve