Delivery Format for TV Commercial

[DC Brandon]

Not sure if this belongs in this forum, but here goes:

I am about to jump into TV commercials here in our local Canadian market and was given the delivery specs for local broadcast. I have a few questions I am hoping senior members can answer for me.

They sent me a form that says the following:

HD creative must include SD down convert aspect ratio
Framerate: 1080i 59.94
HD Audio Info: CH 1& 2 - left / right
DV on track 7 if available
Discrete: 1-LF 2-RF 3-C 4-LFE 5-Left Surround 6-Right Surround 7&8- DV 9&10-Stereo
(7&8 can be stereo if no DV track)
Must have Audio Metadata
We don't accept Dolby E

I understand that I must deliver the commercial with a resolution of 1080i and at a framerate of 59.94, that part is no problem.

We will be shooting the commercial with a GH4 and recording the audio dialogue on an NTG-3 into an MM1 pre amp and into a Tascam DR60.

It is the audio requirements on this sheet that has me all confused. I usually mix everything in Adobe Audition and then export as a final track which which is then the only track that accompanies the video. I don't have any experience mixing 5.1 tracks and am not sure if this is something I should spend time learning.
When you look at the requirements above, do you think I can just submit the commercial with a stereo mix or do most places require a 5.1 mix as well?

Also, not sure what audio metadata stations usually ask for. Do they just want to know if it is 48 or 44 khz or is there someting else they may be looking for?

Thanks in advance!


Derek

 

[ryanjf]

Hi Derek,

Your audio specs looks like pretty standard and is what I usually deliver every week, though I'm not sure what they mean by "DV" for channels 7 & 8. Usually, tracks 7 & 8 is the "LtRt" track. Can you get clarification on that spec?

It is possible that you can probably just submit the stereo mix, but you'll need to call the network (or post supervisor) for that.

Typically, the audio files you deliver should be at 48kHz @ 24bit (.wav) and should have a head 2pop at 00:59:58:00 and a tail pop 2 seconds after the last frame of action (LFOA) unless they have special specs for this.

When I deliver the final mix, the very start of my .wav files start at 00:59:52:00, then the 2pop at 00:59:58:00, then the program starts at 01:00:00:00. This might be different for you, though.

Hope that helps,

Ryan

 

[DC Brandon]

Thanks Ryan, that helps. I contacted the station and they said a stereo mix only is fine for commercials. Thanks for the explanation about the pops at the beginning and end. I actually found a local studio who can "finalize for delivery" for about $100. Seems pretty cheap to me but it would also be nice to save the money and just do it myself. I'd really don't mind putting in the effort to learn more about broadcast delivery but not sure on what sources to look to. Do you have any suggestions? Are there any well-respected resources out there for training purposes?

 

[ryanjf]

$100 seems like a good deal too, but what would that include?? "Finalize for delivery" can mean a variety of things. I noticed that your original specs does not specify a loudness target, such as, "-24 LKFS/LUFS" which is now common in the US at least. The specs also do not indicate a maximum peak value, such as, "Your audio mix cannot exceed -6dB True Peak"

If the local studio can take your current mix and conform it to a LKFS/LUFS target value and maximum peak value (if specified at all by the network), then $100 is pretty darn good if they have the right tools/plugins to do the job.

For example, I use iZotope's Insight plugin as a meter and/or guide to achieve a specified loudness target value mentioned above. I then use a True Peak limiter such as Avid's Pro Limiter to "brick wall" the mix to a maximum true peak value like "-6dB True Peak"

This is all under the assumption that your TV network has such a target value. They usually specify it but the network I'm working with right now buried those specific values in a paragraph far way from the main "audio spec" section.