Broadcast Quality Commercials

Pardon the newbie question, but it has been 20 years since I produced commercials. I have played with iMovie and FCE over the last several years, but now am looking at getting back into video production. With FCE 4, can I:
1) Use manufacturer-supplied video tracks/commercials supplied on beta, dub to a mini-DV cassette, import into FCE 4?
2) Produce/export a broadcast quality master of the assembled commercial with FCE 4?
3) Export the final commercial to the miniDV recorder and supply to broadcaster and expect good quality?
Thanks for the input.

I think I get what you mean. Back when I was head of an ad agency in the '80's, I taught electronic publishing and set up a lot of agencies, printers, newspapers, etc. While early gen electronic publishing had its limitations, when used within those limitations, you could produce stunning material. However, in the hands of untalented, untrained people, it did end up turing out a lot of cr*p (and still does!).
My main point in this thread was, is it worth my time learning FCE4 (given that it will take reading yours and other books, etc.), a lot of playing, trial and error? If in the end I can achieve broadcast quality, great. I just didn't want to go down the path if in the end it still looked like home video.
By the way, I used to have a partner in the yacht business named Wolsky.
Thanks for the input. Look forward to reading your book.

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Mpeg2 broadcast quality

Hi,
I would like to export Mpeg2 TV broadcast quality files directly from Final Cut. We produce commercials and want to stop encoding files from beta tapes.
The file quality we need is Mpeg2 15-18Mb (4:3 ratio, 4.2.0 or 4.2.2).
Any idea if this can be achieved with compressor or another utility?
Thanks,
Ariel
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

You could try with BitVice(http://www.innobits.com/). I have never used it but it's a very popular (not free) MPEG2 encoder for Mac.
Alberto

URGENT project settings to use when creating broadcast quality television

Hi,
What project settings do I use to create broadcast quality television in a widescreen format. Note I use a mac book and also I'm in NZ so we use PAL. I'm only using animation and still pictures so haven't got any video to import.
I work for a charity museum and my boss has asked me (last minute) to make the ad as we have no money for a professional studio. I'm used to making videos for exhibits only.
Many thanks
Amy

Use the PAL DV Widescreen preset.
You will also find links to many
free tutorials in the PremiereProPedia that will quickly show you how things are done in Premiere Pro.
Cheers
Eddie
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Hello, I am contemplating buying a video camera, used. Its a PANASONIC DVC PRO AJ– D 200 BROADCAST QUALITY CAMCORDER.

Hello, I am contemplating buying a video camera, used. Its a PANASONIC DVC PRO AJ– D 200 BROADCAST QUALITY CAMCORDER.
I see it uses S-video 4-pin x 1, to transfer from the tape. I do not know if I can do this with my intel imac. Would I need a special cable?
I have no clue. thanks
Ann

Hello, I am contemplating buying a video camera, used. Its a PANASONIC DVC PRO AJ– D 200 BROADCAST QUALITY CAMCORDER.
I see it uses S-video 4-pin x 1, to transfer from the tape. I do not know if I can do this with my intel imac. Would I need a special cable?
I have no clue. thanks
Ann

Broadcast quality output

I've just spent hours chroma keying and I want to be sure of the quality of my output. As this is going to television, it needs to be broadcast quality. I'm I correct in assuming that I should output it as a quicktime movie and not use quicktime conversion? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks

Export it as a QuickTime Movie and it will have the same quality as the original.

Broadcast quality uncompressed video to Keynote solution???

World,
I would be really grateful if someone would help. I've done a lot of searching and cant find a definitive answer. I am looking to design a solution for generating the best quality video output through Keynote.
I am used to making slide presentations using Powerpoint/Keynote, with video output from an alternate device. My objective is to output highest quality video of around 5-6 minutes.
Most projectors are 1024x768. (Although I understand many projectors now are WXGA at 1280x800).
If I have a budget I use a professional operator and request SPBeta or a DigiSP, Pal player. In most cases however there is no money to spend and so I use a DVD player. In both cases the video is of course 720x576 (Pal).
I have the video source files as uncompressed broadcast quality, captured with various codecs, eg "Blackmagic 10 Bit, Integer (Big Endian)".
What I want to understand is whether I can compress the video files and run it through Keynote in a way that will not compromise the quality.
1. What quality is achievable?
Using a MacbookPro for output, what quality is achievable, when compared to what I am am familiar with from a) DVD and b) broadcast quality player? Assuming the same decent quality XGA projector.
When I first looked at this some years ago, there were some resolution conflicts using slides and video in Powerpoint.
But it seems to me that things have moved on and I should be able to get a comparable quality video image from the Mac, as compared to using a player. Better even (???). Good as DVD?? Good as a broadcast quality player?? Is this correct?
One of the issues that may have some impact (the impact of which I don't fully grasp) is that normally a video projector will require a change of the input "source" setting from "data" to "video" for the different outputs which presumably changes the resolution from 1024x768 to 720x576. Depending on the "source" setting.
Whereas with the solution I am seeking to plan here, I am channelling a 720x576 resolution video (however it may be compressed) into Keynote, which is outputting it at 1024x768 (to match the data/slides output resolution). That sounds really problematic and a quality killer to me. But perhaps Keynote does this well (???). Perhaps there is a conversation tactic that I can adopt to solve any issues.
So, then, which if any compression should I use, what compression format etc? I don't care about cost (give or take a few hundred) or hard disc space. I am looking to design the best solution. Using a MacbookPro as engine. I am not looking for a solution that will work "OK" or look "pretty good". I am looking to design the best solution to get the best output of the video.
But really I suppose I am trying to understand whether it is time to definitively get rid of the DVD player because I should be able to achieve that quality, definitely, as a minimum ????).
This seems like one of those things that is really easy if you're working in the space all the time. But hard to work out if you're coming at it from the purely "technical research" angle, as I have been.
Any help or advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Stephen

What is your source material?
Remember that the Hollywood films are mostly shot on film at 24 fps. The film is then scanned in at an amazingly high resolution. The online H.264 files are compressed from that and at 24 fps.
Let's compare that to DV, for example. Not only are you starting with far fewer pixels, you're working with 60 interlaced fields. That often gets turned into 30 frames per second for the online file.
So you've got two problems here: 1) Fields combining won't be as good looking as starting with a progressive format and 2) by having 30 fps instead of 24 fps you're going to have a larger file size even with the same settings!
Ok, so maybe you're working with HD video. You're better off, but it's still not even close to the same resolution. And unless you're working with some kind of 24p format that you've properly converted, you're still dealing with 30 fps. (Many 24p modes on cameras are actually recorded at 30 fps, and have to be properly converted later.)
I don't know if any of these things apply to you or not, but hopefully it's given you some clues. The bottom line is, this IS a "garbage in/garbage out" situation, even though your video is not "garbage." It just means that you're fighting an uphill battle here by comparing yourself to something that started at a much higher resolution to begin with. That makes a difference, even when everything is shrunk down to the same size in the end. (And that 24 vs. 30 fps thing is a big thing too.)

Using Compressor for broadcast quality?

I apologize for posting this question here, but I did a search and found in one thread that nobody goes to the Compressor forum and they all post here.
Are there any online tutorials on what the best steps are to preparing a broadcast safe MPEG2 file? There are so many options , and I honestly have not used this part of FCP much. We've got a computer playback system now and it's something I am going to utilize more often now.
Or if anybody reading this has a suggestion to steps I could take I'd appreciate it greatly.
Thanks for any help

From what I can gather, it won't be as easy as creating a file with Compressor. For starters, you will probably need to "mux" (that is, mix the video and audio together) so this automatic system will play the program when you provide it to the server. This will need to be done in a program like DVD Studio Pro. Below are some VERY BASIC step-by-step instructions. If they don't make sense, pull out your manuals and start reading. I've left out explanations and alternatives as time and space doesn't allow for everything. That's why they have manuals. But here goes otherwise:
Export the final FCP timeline out as a Quicktime file. You can do this as a self contained movie but it's faster if you don't. Place the resulting file where you can readily find it. (Note: you can also export directly from FCP to Compressor. This is a long way to do it, as FCP has to first encode it out to Compressor.)
Open Compressor and drag your new QT file into the Batch window. Look over to your right in the same Batch window under Settings and using the pull-down menus, choose something like "MPEG-2 60 min High Quality Encode". Choose "All" in this situation because you'll want to go ahead and encode your audio too. You should see two entries: one for audio and one for video. Note the Destination tab (where the file will end up). In this regard, I suggest you use the pulldown menu and choose Source. This will place the resulting file(s) in the same location as the QT file. Click Submit to begin encoding and sit back, have some iced tea and wait a while.
When it's done, open up DVD Studio Pro. (If you don't have Studio Pro, then you're really stuck because -- again-- you have to provide it as a format that the player, be it server-based system or disc based, can read). But let's assume you have DVD Studio Pro and when it opens, import up the two files into your Assets (bottom left corner). When they import, drag the video (the one with the .m2v suffix) over into the Tracks timeline. Since they both have the same name, but different suffix, the audio file should follow over and sync up with the video. You can test it by playing the Timeline. Now go to the top left hand corner of DVD SP and click on the disc icon within the By Type window. Over on the right of the interface, in the Disc window, you'll see the name of your disc (probably Untitled) and under it, a pulldown menu again. Holding it down, choose Track 1. Save your project under a name, like the name of your video. Click on the little hammer, or Build, icon near the top middle of the DVD SP interface. You'll be asked where to place the results. Create a new folder and name it-- and decide where it will be placed. Click Build and sit back. This too takes a while. When done, you can upload the resulting folder (with the two folders that will be inside labled VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS) to your server. How your "juke box" player system will locate your file is beyond me but I'm sure there is a way to make it locate the folder. When it does, there are instructions written in the DVD standard so the player can play the program.
Once again: this a very basic explanation!! But you didn't really ask for details. If you get stuck, try some of the tutorials in FCP/Compressor and DVD Studio Pro. Good luck!
Oh yeah, as the others have written, "broadcast quality" is a very loosely based term these days. When providing programs to media outlets as "DVD quality", it usually means as good as a quality you can get with the amount of space on a DVD. This all depend on your bit rate and the length of your video. There are bitrate calculators out there that can certainly help!
http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm
PowerMac G4 (Mirrored Door) Mac OS X (10.4.8) Extra Media Drive, 400 Gig External LaCie

Mac + FCS 2 + SONY HDR Z1 for broadcast quality?

Can I get the broadcast quality US TV channels (PBS, Discovery, Nat Geo...) are asking for if I shoot a documentary with a SONY HDR Z1, edit and the post production in FCS 2 ? I also need to make a Blu Ray DVD, is it OK?
Thanks.

hey there paoloj,
it can depend on the context-- POV & Independent Lens are shows on PBS that may consider your doc as they are for indies shooting intimate, "closer look" stories generally using non-intrusive means. the same may apply for a similarly styled show on Discovery. it would be best to check out the requirements for submission to POV & Independent Lens or anything you're interested in. several years ago(pre-DV) there was a doc on PBS shot on Hi-8, the standard then was Beta SP--i believe it was "Reflections On A Spring Roll".
good luck.

Is firewire capture broadcast quality?

I know the data rate from firewire is only 3.6MB per sec. i have only a sony DSR11 dv deck which has only firewire, i figured out that if i want uncompressed 8.5mb per sec i need component out, video capture card and a bigger deck. right now, my clients are happy with the output,and the tv stations are accepting the outputs i am giving but i wonder if it is really broadcast quality . thanks
yours
sameer

Hi Sameer
What do you understand to mean by broadcast quality?
Generally, a broadcaster will provide a set of strict guidelines, on the technical side mainly related to legal chroma and luma limits, limitations on flashing imagery etc, and on the artistic side sometimes relating to the quality of image. Broadcasters differ and so do their levels of tolerance relating to these guidelines.
By firewire capture I think you mean DV quality footage. You can capture uncompressed footage over firewire too.
As Denis said, converting DV footage to uncompressed won't improve the quality of your footage - it is still originating from a compressed source - however it might allow you to perform more exacting grading on the images and bring it within legal broadcast limits.
Most of the broadcasters I have worked with have required footage to be provided on Digibeta masters but that doesn't mean you couldn't take a Mini DV tape to a facilities house and have them convert it over before you submit for broadcast.
At the end of the day, if the broadcaster accepts your footage, it is broadcast quality in their eyes and you have no problems. For your own peace of mind, though, do make a legalisation pass to make sure your footage will conform when seen on other televisions.

IMovie back to VHS: Broadcast quality? Need quick answer

I have a short film that can very well see television broadcast in the next few weeks.
I need to know what is the absolute best quality compression settings for this.
It has to be 720x480 (NTSC). Can I get away with just about any setting (I primarily used a 720x480 Quicktime setting, it's gotten the best resolution), and have it come out virtually the same quality as seen on a desktop?
The other problem is I worked on it in an 720 HD setting by mistake, so now there's black borders. Can I copy/paste the work into another project with only the frame size changed?

+So explain this to me: why does the .264 setting look way better than a NTSC or just about any other resolution on my screen? I'm inclined to think that given the proper frame rate (29.97) set, .264's resolution is going to look like gangbusters on a video tape.+
Video tape and television work very different than your computer screen, and you cannot use your computer screen to judge how well a video would look when played back on television. For starters, TV is interlaced video, but a computer screen is progressive scan, and so is H.264. To get a H.264 onto television, it has to be converted into interlaced video. You'll have a quality loss right in that step.
Do you have a DV camcorder? Export your video to DV, then hook it up to your television, and watch it there. Then start a new iMovie DV project, import your H.264 clip, export it to DV, and compare. If you provide a H.264 clip, it has to go through a similar conversion at the TV station before being broadcast.
You mentioned you accidentally started in 720p. If you really care about optimum results, I would start all over, with a DV project. By going 720p, you introduced two extra conversion steps into the process: importing and converting your source material into 720p format with black side bars, then cropping back to 4:3 and exporting to DV format. Every time you go through a conversion like that, you loose a little bit of quality.

Creating Broadcast Quality Photos

I'm going to be broadcasting my iMovie production on the local cable network and will be using a variety of photos (ken burns effect) in the project.
What are the optimal settings in terms of dimensions (height/width) and resolution for creating an effective viewer experience on TV?
Thanks!

My thumb role is:
NTSC: 720 x 480 and I scann about 1.5 times more and
let iPhoto or iMovie
adjust it = WITH NO ZOOMING AT ALL.
PAL: 768 x 576 - likevice.
If You zoom You have to recalculate.
- My lazy day I scann slides (35mm) to 18Mb files
2048x3096 -
Yours Bengt W
Thanks for sharing you experience Bengt. I'm pretty new at all this so I have a another question.
I'm intending to take my photos with a digital camera at its maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 (4:3 aspect ratio) and import those pictures into iphoto and then into iMovie.
Will this process give iMovie the pixels it needs to do a moderate size ken burns and still get good quality?
Thanks for your help?
core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)
core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Compressing dv in broadcast quality

Hello,
I have to do some filming in africa, and will try to send the items I made to a broadcast company via the internet.
I'll film in DV format import it in final cut pro and then send a 2 minutes film in a compressed format.
Any idee what the best I can do so the quality will be ok for broadcasting?
thanks for helping.

Pastis, unless you're going to be in South Africa, then I'd burn a CD or DVD and FedEx your material. Internet connections in most of sub-Saharan Africa are horrendous (we're talking sometimes five to eight minutes just to get into your mailbox on Yahoo) and you can waste a huge amount of time and money trying to upload or send big files. That said, almost every major African city has a FedEx or DHL office and the cost will probably be less than what you'd spend trying and failing to send it over the internet.

Audio Level Broadcast quality in Final Cut ProX

At which volume level shall I keep the final video movie to broadcast?
When it shows -6db to -12 db on the audio meter level is that OK?
Basically what's the level above which I should not go?
Thanks,
Jacqui

My 2 cents as an audio engineer. Audio db leaves are standardized. Voices should average around -6. Everything else should be balanced around that. Don't go much over -3, never hit 0, you'll be fine. It's not about hearing damage, it is about digital audio artifacts ending up in the final mix.
The level meters and the volume db readings are not the same thing. The level of an audio file, at 0, is normal, the level it was recorded at. That can register as anything on the level meter. If I record someone whispering, it'll playback lower. A gun shot will playback louder. But both playback with the "volume" (technically "gain") set to 0, normal. Just like luma levels. Everything imports at the level it was recorded at, then you adjust as needed.
So, for broadcast, if your lowest sounds are averaging -12, your normal speaking voices around -6, and your loudest bangs and explosions averaging around -3, and nothing touches 0, you're broadcast safe. Simple as that. And the Limiter audio effect can be your best friend with problematic audio levels.
Here's a PDF that can help you understand all the audio filters from Logic that are included with FCPX, and how they work.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1651/en_US/logic_pro_x_effects.pdf

What is the best format for broadcast quality

I am a web developer, but some of the things i did in flash my company wants to use for a tv commercial. They are not taking no for an answer (I tried). I have limited experience with video editing, but i have some.
My question is what size (dimentions) + format do I output a finished product in for the tv station? I know some formats don't have a size (dimentions). For example a wmv doesnt realy have a pixel size like 640 x 480.
I would be exporting a .mov from flash. Then editing it accordingly in Final Cut. So i would need to know what size to make my flash piece, because in flash you need to set dimentions in pixels by height and width.
If anyone could help me out by pointing me in the right direction i would really appreciate it.

Jumping into HD, when you don't even know the basics of SD, is not recommended. SD is simple: 720x486 (sometimes 720x480) and 29.97fps. That's it. Simple. Digitbeta, betasp, DVCPRO 50...maybe DV (if cable access)
HD is not simple. 1080i? 720p? 1080p? 23.98fps? 29.97fps? 59.94fps? HDCAM? HDCAM SR? D5? DVCPRO HD? Not to be entered into lightly.
No offense, but they need somone experienced with broadcast standards to make this output. You can provide the file, but someone needs to take it from there. I know that I would be the LAST person to go to for encoding a flash video for the web.
Shane

Broadcast quality, not quite there....?

Looking for some advice from the powers that be! I have been editing for web based stuff for years and had a client that wanted me to do a TV commercial. After upload to HD TV, ABC Network it looked ok, but not what I wanted. I will explain my workflow and please tell me what I should do different...
Sent spot in H264, 59.94fps, 1280x720 as requested by network. Shot the footage in 29.97 1080p, converted with Mpeg Streamclip
-After I saw the spot on HD TV the color was off which I can change, needed to lower the saturation. I am editing on a Macbook Pro (new Mac Cylinder shape computer with thunderbolt monitor on order). Do I need an external such as a TV, to edit on so that I can see the outcome as it will be on TV?? What is my mode of operation here?
-Next, there is a curb going up a road from bottom left to top right of the screen, so the curb is diagonal, but there is very tiny lines that run horizontal (left to right) on the curb..? Wondering if that is a "deinterlacing" problem? Will it fix this if I choose the deiinterlace function on Mpeg Streamclip?
-This sort of pertains to the above question. My graphics, letters, where the "S" is in the words on screen they look kind of like the curb I described above? In other words if it is not vertical or horizontal line it appears to be broken on TV.
As a side note EVERYTHING looks perfect on the web version! Not bad on TV, but not perfect... Please advise?? Thanks in advancequality

I don't use a broadcast monitor so I'll let others who do address your color question.
As for the image artifact, there shouldn't be any interlace combing if it were shot progressive. But from your description, it does sound like interlaced. What's the camera?
Wondering whether it was progressive shot in an interlaced stream and FCP isn't reading it correctly.
Also, try a custom test project set to 720p. Bring one of your 1080 clips into FCP without reformatting in Streamclip.
Export the clip as a Master File. Check for artifacts in QTX.
Russ
rzrrider wrote:
As a side note EVERYTHING looks perfect on the web version! Not bad on TV, but not perfect...
PS, If you used one of the Web presets, they automatically de-interlace.

Broadcast Quality Commercials

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