What is "Broadcast Quality"? And what camera's are you guys using for these shoots?

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commercialguy

Member
What is "Broadcast Quality"? And what camera's are you guys using for these shoots?

I'm getting into shooting commercials that are supposed to air on TV. I'm hearing the word "Broadcast Quality Camera" a lot lately. Supposedly the BBC requires all their camera guys to shoot at 50mbs+ and considers that Broadcast Quality. From what I hear the EX1 only shoots at like 35mbs by comparison so wouldn't be up to their standard. using that as an example, it's not the camera I own, but I've shot on it.

I'm also hearing about ENG. This is all new to me. Anyone with experience shooting Broadcast stuff, care to explain?

I have a client that wants it all delivered to a Beta tape or something to be given to a news station so it can air. It's great that I landed a commercial client that wants to air something, but at the same time, I got a lot to learn. lol

:cheesy:
 
It completely depends on the network. BBC for instance requires, for HD, 1080i25, 16:9, minimum of 100Mbit Intra/50Mbit Inter, 4:2:2 in an MXF container with an XML metadata file, up to 25% of the content can be considered "non-HD" by being below these standards, or by being HDV or using an image sensor under 1/2".

There is actually a 41page document going into the specifications for BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/dq/contents/television.shtml

Essentially, just type "network broadcast technical specifications" replacing network with whatever network you want to look up, and you should find a webpage telling you the specs
 
Networks could generally care less what you shoot commercials on. Companies pay them to air commercials, and they air them.

Now, when it comes to content created by/for certain networks, there may be restrictions as to what cameras are "qualified" or not.
 
FOUND IT! The BBC Camera requirements to be "Broadcast Quality".


Minimum Camera Requirements

Cameras usually have a minimum of 3x1/2” sensors or 1x1” and a recording format of a minimum of 50Mbs inter-frame or 100Mbs intra-frame.
You can find the EBU HD Camera Recommendations on the EBU Technical Website.
BBC In house staff can also find production support information and contacts on this BBC DV Solutions Gateway site page.
In-house camera hire information and contacts are available on this BBC DV Solutions Gateway site page.

source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/production/delivery/hd-production-delivery.shtml
 
I started shooting a series last year on 5d2 but after talking to people in Industry I was told the big networks won't even look at it if its not shot in broadcast 50mbs. To be honest I don't know all the technical stuff. I just went out and bought one that can c300 :)
Turns out my show ending up on fox who didn't care about broadcast quality though. And now people tell me you need to shoot 4k to future proof so I bought Red :)
 
atarijedi said:
It completely depends on the network. BBC for instance requires, for HD, 1080i25, 16:9, minimum of 100Mbit Intra/50Mbit Inter, 4:2:2 in an MXF container with an XML metadata file, up to 25% of the content can be considered "non-HD" by being below these standards, or by being HDV or using an image sensor under 1/2".

There is actually a 41page document going into the specifications for BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/dq/contents/television.shtml

Essentially, just type "network broadcast technical specifications" replacing network with whatever network you want to look up, and you should find a webpage telling you the specs
Click to expand...

Interesting. So what cameras meet these requirements? I need to do some research.
 
Stephen Mick said:
Networks could generally care less what you shoot commercials on. Companies pay them to air commercials, and they air them.

Now, when it comes to content created by/for certain networks, there may be restrictions as to what cameras are "qualified" or not.
Click to expand...

I see, so Broadcast Quality is just based on the TV shows and not necessarily a requirement to air a commercial. I have a friend with a T2i and he said his camera was Broadcast Quality, could air on TV. Have another friend with a GH2/GH3 who said they have aired stuff shot on iphones before, so shouldn't be a problem with his camera. It's all a bit confusing.
 
Owen Rennie said:
I started shooting a series last year on 5d2 but after talking to people in Industry I was told the big networks won't even look at it if its not shot in broadcast 50mbs. To be honest I don't know all the technical stuff. I just went out and bought one that can c300 :)
Turns out my show ending up on fox who didn't care about broadcast quality though. And now people tell me you need to shoot 4k to future proof so I bought Red :)
Click to expand...

That's great, congrats. I see, so you went with it because of the 50mbs+. I guess that is the big one they all want. I need to figure out which cameras shoot at that rate and buy one. I was interested in the FS100 or Blackmagic Design but it's looking like I might have to go with the BMCC because I don't think the FS100 shoots 50mbs+. And from what I hear the BMCC shoots well over 50mbs and would be broadcast quality.
 
commercialguy said:
I see, so Broadcast Quality is just based on the TV shows and not necessarily a requirement to air a commercial.
Click to expand...

Correct. Networks aren't generally in the habit of telling companies paying to air commercials how those commercials need to be shot. There are certain "broadcast-safe" guidelines, but pretty much any flavor of HD is going to be good enough for a commercial to be broadcast, in my experience.

If you're producing a show FOR a network, especially a show they've hired you to produce, there likely are production guidelines that you absolutely must adhere to.
 
I'm mot sure what cameras to recommend. I haven't used BMCC but I don't like the idea of them yet. Not version 1 anyway. Good luck
 
commercialguy said:
I have a client that wants it all delivered to a Beta tape or something to be given to a news station so it can air.
Click to expand...

Why do you care what the camera's data rate is, or what BBC standards are, if you're delivering on a SD Beta tape?

Did they tell you BBC standards? Is it local, cable, or what? What's the market?
 
For commercials, the BBC requirements make no real sense, as the BBC do not commission or use commercials. ITV and the satellite channels are not so tight spec wise, and based on some ads running in the cheaper slots, I'd suspect analogue was probably the original source of some of the childrens adverts - older products being resurrected for another splurge of marketing.
 
The term "broadcast quality" is a throw-away. It's nearly meaningless today in the States. It still means something for BBC programming as the BBC, as you have found, does have an approved list of cameras and a minimum data rate standard for acquisition.

On this side of the pond... perhaps it used to mean something, back when broadcasters were working on film, Quad, U-Matic, and later BetaSP, while the consumer market was relegated to Betamax, VHS, and 8mm video. There was a distinction, and the cameras used for broadcast production were markedly different from what was on the consumer market.

Fast-forward to the era of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and, shortly after, "America's Funniest People." Suddenly, there were videos shot on VHS, S-VHS, and Hi8 that were being broadcast. So what if they were home videos... they were being broadcast. As a result, camcorder manufacturers could now claim "broadcast quality" on just about anything. It was no longer defined by higher-end gear, but by the fact that someone, somewhere, would put it on the air. Yes, there were professional-grade versions of Hi8 and S-VHS that were marketed to broadcasters with 3 chips and time code and ENG form factors (along with full edit decks), but even consumer camcorders could carry the label of "broadcast quality" for very subjective reasons.

I think the term means even less now, and not just because it was gutted so many years ago. Formats available in the consumer/prosumer markets have caught up much closer to high-end formats. While there are still vey big differences, there are low-cost tools that can gather incredibly clean and sharp images in the right hands. We've seen "It's Always Sunny" shot on the DVX-100, "House" shot on the 5D, and countless shows on national cable networks being shot on a pick-your-flavor assortment of compact AVCHD camcorders.

I'd like to think that "broadcast quality" would have something to do with the skills and abilities of the content creator to deliver something that was up to spec, but that's rarely even the case these days. I see lots of local commercials here that prove the adage that it's the artist, not the brush... and they all use pretty good brushes.

The only things one can do are to create and deliver the absolute best end-product possible, and to conform to the individual network's or broadcaster's delivery specs.
 
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Alex H. said:
I think the term means even less now, and not just because it was gutted so many years ago. Formats available in the consumer/prosumer markets have caught up much closer to high-end formats. While there are still vey big differences, there are low-cost tools that can gather incredibly clean and sharp images in the right hands. We've seen "It's Always Sunny" shot on the DVX-100, "House" shot on the 5D, and countless shows on national cable networks being shot on a pick-your-flavor assortment of compact AVCHD camcorders.
Click to expand...

And if you shoot, say, AVCHD for instance, and deliver them a XDCam or ProRes 4:2:2 export, how are they going to tell any difference?
 
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