Broadcast Quality?
 

I have been hired by a friend to shoot a 30sec. broadcast commercial I will be using the Canon A1 to shoot and FCP to edit, because I've never shot anything for television before I am wondering if there is anything I need to do in FCP to make sure that the video complies with broadcast standards. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Bob.

2 things come to mind right away.

#1-check to see that the video format your delivering in is acceptable to the station.

#2- Watch your maximum white level. Cannot exceed 100 percent on an IRE scale. Apply the "broadcast safe" filter in the video filter/effects menu in Final Cut. This should clamp your whites to less than 100%. However, doing that when shooting is always preferable.

Thank You David. Another question, what would be an acceptable format to deliver it in?

Have your friend- or you can do this yourself- get in touch with his sales rep or someone at the station where your spot will be airing. They will be able to answer all of your questions.

Are they broadcasting in HD or SD? This will dictate how you set up your camera and your FCP project.

If they want SD, you'll need a project set up for the NTSC standard. Its 720X480 at 60i. You'll need to find out if they accept 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen. If its HD, they'll have different requirements. If the sales rep can't help you, talk to someone in commercial production, or even an engineer. Anyone worth their salt will know.

As for media, one of the people above will let you know. Most places can accept DVDs. Other formats they might take include BetaSP, BetaSX, Digibeta, HDCAM, DVCPro, and there are others. If you're lucky, they'll have an FTP site and give you instructions on what kind of MPEG2 you can encode to send them. FTP sites are great especially if you're dealing with HD, as tapes are expensive.

David's right too. You'll definitely need to check your scopes and color levels. If your color levels go above 100 IRE, you won't notice anything on your monitor, but the actual broadcast image will flicker and look horrible.

Hopefully this helps. Let me know if you need help, as I've worked for a couple years in commercial production at a local TV station.

Shawn,

Thank You very much for the info. It looks like I have a little homework to do.


Bob.