Deliver a commercial in 'broadcast quality'

R

Realdvxuser

Well-known member
Ok guys, here's the situation:

We have a job to deliver our very first commercial which should air on television soon. And it has to be as good as possible, but we are quite worried on how to handle codecs, output etc.

We've already done the shooting for this, with both a DVC-PRO camera as well as a DVX100a (PAL). As it turned out the footage that the cameraman with the DVC-PRO camera shot, sucked. It was really bad. Even worse then our own DVX footage, so we've actually chosen to use DV footage, even though 'in the books' it should be of less quality.

In Final Cut Pro we have captured all the footage in a DVC PRO timeline, in which we are working now, (so also the DVX footage). We have sent some clips to Motion to add motion graphics and exported this as an 'uncompressed 10-bit clip' and put this back onto the timeline in FCP.

I've just read an article that stated that as soon as one changes codec from DV to uncompressed or other codecs, information is actually lost. So does this mean that by having the DVX footage in the DVC PRO timeline, we have degraded our footage?

Also, if we do any color grading we can only check this on a normal tv hanging on FCP, not a calibrated monitor. If we put on a 'broadcast safe' filter, will this save us from possible color disasters?


The most important question of all:
Can anybody please explain the pipeline we must follow in order to get the best possible quality on tv with our combination of DV footage with motion graphics? We can deliver our commercial to the station as a file, so we do not need to write it back to a DV tape...

Cheers for your help!
--

yohenk
The Netherlands
 
In other words, you want us to type us what has taken years for us to learn and perfect? Or what I would have to take a day to explain the basics IN PERSON?

I think you need to hire someone to come in and finish this for you...an ONLINE editor. People whose job it is to prep a show for air. This way you deliver a quality show and don't have any possible issues that will arise if you try to do this yourself.

I'm sorry, it is like asking someone to please describe how to built a house...or at least how to wire it and add plumbing that works.
 
The simplest way is to keep your footage in the native DV format. The DVC-PRO codec is almost identical, so this conversion may be lossless (I don't know how exactly FCP handles this).

If you capture and edit DV - include any imcoming material as best you can - motion graphics for example can come in uncompressed and goign to DV won't hurt them (It'll bring it down to DV, but the next step makes that irrelevant.)

Then export the lot out to DV - Print it out to a MiniDV tape and deliver that to the stations.

- Mikko
 
yohenk,

On deliverables, you'll have different requirements per broadcast outlet. Who is doing the ad-buy for the end-client? You might normally deliver the masters to the agency in HDCam, D5, DigiBeta, BetaSP and so forth. What was your deliverables contract for? SD or HD?

All of this should be spelled out in your contract / deal memo from the hiring agency. If you went direct with the end-client, then you need to have a conversation about who is placing the spot and who will be responsible for satisfying deliverables standards and formats. You should have a full contract with your client if you're doing ad-buys.

That usually requires deep pockets because the agency is the one who interacts with the placement target(s) and pays for same. The client is then invoiced. Conversely, you can charge the buy in incremental packages in advance and then pay with the client's money. I don't know how often this is done.

These questions need to be answered before you consider rendering the commercial out.

e
 
Yes Shane Ross, that is exactly what I was asking for :) Can't blame a guy for trying. With all the small bits of help you can get on a forum like this you can really learn a lot. Now I at least know it is indeed a freakin' complex pipeline so it is not 'us' having this kind of thing. We'll fail and learn. Good.

Thanks for the helpful input so far guys! Nice insights on the deliverables.
 
What you should get first is the delivery specs from the broadcaster.

In Norway, that usually means: Deliver digibeta in 4:3 according to some quite exact technical specifications.

If you freak out when you see them, go hire someone who don't. The broadcaster will not air your work if you don't comply.

If you can read the gibrish, and are capable of complying: move on. But there are some implications in your question that suggests you should follow Shanes advice. It may be money well spent and you might even learn a thing or two on the way that can make your life easier down the road.

(...not that I ever followed this advice myself, but then again - I have a thick skull that takes enormous amounts of beating...)

just beware: They will NOT air if you don't comply.

Gunleik
 
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