First broadcast commercial - probably in over my head

Hi,

First time visitor and poster here. Long story short, I've been hired to produce my first broadcast TV commercial, just received the broadcaster's (Comcast) technical requirements, and don't know if I can meet them with FCPX. FWIW I've been very upfront with my client - they know I may not be able to deliver. We have a very long lead time on this project so I can easily back out with no harm done.

Anyway, does anyone know if FCPX can deliver to Comcast's broadcast specs, either SD or HD? I can post the specific requirements if that would be helpful, or if there's anything else just let me know. Thanks!

FCPX is used for broadcast TV commercial production all the time, so I am sure it is capable of doing what you need. We produce TV commercials for Charter cable and many local TV stations frequently and never had a specification that FCPX wouldn't accommodate. I'm not familiar with Comcast specs, but I doubt they are anything special. Posting your specs would be a good idea.

All of the major NLE's can meet broadcast specs. I know people who use FCPX and produce spots for Comcast and local broadcast television stations. The NLE is not the limiting factor. It is usually the ability of the user to know what they're doing.

theButton wrote: … I can post the specific requirements if that would be helpful, …

I guess, that is needed … a quick googling tells me, Comcast is web-delivery-ish, 'broadcast' is on this board more understood as 'TV, antenna, BBC' ...

If my assumption is correct, keep general advice in mind:
FCPX is a video-editor, no 'convert to exotic flash-video html stuff'-thingie ... LOL

… a word about 'broadcasters' (TV, not web): they require often higher chroma-subsampling than most consumer cameras (Canon Ti, Sony, etc) deliver out-of-the-box (usage of Ninjas etc excluded); so, 'standard-wise', the limiting factor isn't FCPX, but start of the working-chain, cameras....

Wow thanks a ton for your replies! Glad to hear the outlook is good.

Here are the recommended SD specs. There are three "non-recommended" SD columns using Quicktime instead of MPEG and I can post them if need be, just let me know.

VIDEO
Stream Type: MPEG-2 Program Stream
Video Bitrate: 12 Mbps (CBR)
Frame Rate: 29.97
GOP Structure: Closed Long GOP (IBBP)
Closed Captioning: EIA-608 (VBI or SCTE-20)
Chroma: 4:2:0
Interlacing: Upper Field First
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Width/Height: 720x486/512
Audio Type: MPEG-1 Layer 2

AUDIO
Encoding Type: MPEG-1 Layer 2
Number of Channels: 2
Channel 1: Stereo Left
Channel 2: Stereo Right
Bit Depth: 16
Bit Rate: 384 Kbps
Sampling Rate: 48 KHz
Instantaneous Peak: -8dBFS
Average Peak: -10dBFS
Average Levels: -20dBFS

There are two sets of recommended HD specs:

VIDEO Recommended-1 Recommended-2
Stream Type: MPEG-2 Transport Stream MPEG-HD
Video Bitrate: 15-100 Mbps (VBR) 25, 50 Mbps (CBR) or 35 Mbps (VBR)
Frame Rate: 29.97 (1080i) or 59.94 (720p) same
GOP Structure: Closed Long GOP (IBBP) Default
Closed Captioning: EIA-608 (SCTI-21) EIA-708 (SCTI-21) same
Chroma: 4:2:0 same
Interlacing: Upper Field First (1080i) or Progressive (720p) same
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 same
Width/Height: 1920x1080 (1080i) or 1280x720 (720p) same
Audio Type: MPEG-1 Layer 2 LPCM

AUDIO
Encoding Type: MPEG-1 Layer 2 LPCM
Number of Channels: 2-Stereo same (unless noted)
Channel 1: Stereo Left
Channel 2: Stereo Right
Bit Depth: 16
Bit Rate: 384 Kbps 1536 Kbps
Sampling Rate: 48 KHz
Instant Peak Ad Max: -8dBFS
Avg Peak Audio Max: -10dBFS
Avg Level: -20dBFS

anickt wrote: All of the major NLE's can meet broadcast specs. I know people who use FCPX and produce spots for Comcast and local broadcast television stations. The NLE is not the limiting factor. It is usually the ability of the user to know what they're doing.

The operator (me) is the weak link in this case, no doubt about it!

I've delivered to Comcast (as well as TimeWarner and Cablevision) for local TV spots although it's been a while.
If they accept Apple ProRes (and some are starting to accept that) that would be easy.
More common is MPEG2 Program or Transport Streams. Apple Compressor should be able to do that although I use Telestream Episode for broadcast delivery. I believe Comcast may accept H.264 Transport Stream as well.

For us to answer you're going to have to provide detailed specs. They should have given that to you.

Hi,

The tech specs for Comcast are here: login.comcastaddeliverylite.com/Document...cifications_Lite.pdf

I have delivered a number of commercials for UK tv - ( some using FCPX ) where things may be a bit different but Comcast seems to be similar to our Adstream service - a means of digital distribution across broadcast networks. There are a number of formats acceptable by Comcast - one is Apples own ProRes 422 so you will be fine. Although MPEG2 is preferred. Transport Stream for HD and Program Stream for SD.
Outside of the technical specs there a number of other considerations that may also be an issue - these are for the UK so may not be relevant in your location but it's good to know about these things as there may be U.S. equivalents.

Here in the UK generally, you would ensure that editorial content complies with Clearcast guidelines along with being technically compliant with Adstream. Clearcast ensures that your advert is legally compliant with BCAP and OFCOM. There are a number of things here that anyone new to commercial production may not be familiar with

Getting your adverts script initially approved by Clearcast:
Ensuring that the finished spot is legal at this stage will save a ton of money in costly reshoots and revisions if the completed ad is reviewed later on when finished and found to be non-compliant.

Creating a clock number:
UK commercial spots used to require a countdown clock and a unique i.d: called a 'Clock Number'. The clock itself is no longer necessary now that file based delivery is the norm ( an info slate will do ) but the i.d is still called a 'clock number' and it looks like this: AAA_BBBB123_030 The first three digits are the agency code. The middle group has four letters and three numbers you create yourself to identify the specific ad or version and the last three digits indicate the running time.
You used to use forward slashes as separators but now you use underscores and have to add '.mxf' and '.xml' as extensions depending on where you are using it.

Supers:
Supers are the name given to the legal onscreen small print often seen on tv commercials - "Your home may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage" that kind of thing. In the UK legally, these must be a certain size - too small is unacceptable. The duration of hold - how long it is visible on screen also has to be calculated - it's around 0.2 seconds per word plus an initial 2 seconds to recognise/find the text on the screen.

As part of the delivery specs for the file itself there have been some changes in the last couple of years:
There has been a move to EBU R128 loudness - adopted by the UK broadcasters in September 2014.
The intro slate and clock information have been reduced now that file delivery has replaced tape.
Now you have:
7 secs clock/ident.
3 secs black.
Start of message - 6 frames of picture only - no audio. ( This used to be 12 frames ) Timecode must read 10:00:00:00 here.
End of message - 6 frames of picture only - no audio. ( Also used to be 12 )
5 secs hold of the last frame at the end of the file - beyond the actual essence of the ad.
So the file for a 30secound commercial will actually be 45 seconds long.

This isn't comprehensive, just a guide to some of the hoops we have to go through in delivering commercials in the UK.
I don't think things are as strict in the U.S. but I could be wrong. Hopefully, it will give you an idea of some of the pitfalls you may need to check up on. Hope this helps.

Good luck!

Regards,

Steve.

This is extremely helpful but it's a good thing I didn't know about all this upfront or I never would have tried!

Ok so FCPX can handle it, check.

Camera wise, my plan was to film this with a P3P (drone) and a T4i. Anyone know if they can handle these specs? If they can't I'm willing to find something that can. Chroma and GOP Structure are especially confusing to me.

I truly appreciate the help guys, thank you!

Given that FCPX is broadcast capable, a bit strange there is no built in timer as mentioned above!!

I see the point of the hold the last frame, yet the broadcasters here, on almost every advert seem to cut the last 3-5 seconds of the advert off...then again this is Africa!!

I had no idea it was so complicated, 12 years of news editing, the only requirement was a 3-5 second shot at the end, no audio for the vision mixer to wipe out to the live read, presenter or bumper!!

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!!

theButton wrote: ...Camera wise, my plan was to film this with a P3P (drone) and a T4i. Anyone know if they can handle these specs?...Chroma and GOP Structure are especially confusing to me...

The T4i can produce 4:2:0, and probably the drone. Note they apparently want 1080i or 720p not 1080p. I assume this is 1080i @ 29.97 fps and 720p @ 59.54 fps, which are the two ATSC HD standards.

Some networks impose very high technical standards for what material they accept, such as 50 megabit, 4:2:2 or higher. This is despite their network affiliates often being allowed to produce a low-quality, bit-starved feed. Were these standards instituted for unbiased quality reasons, or was it to "freeze out" DSLRs and provide less competition for Sony and other ENG/EFP cameras? If quality was such a concern, why are the network affiliates allowed to so seriously degrade the image by bit-stealing the primary channel to produce subchannels? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_subchannel#ATSC_television

Regardless, it is increasingly common for major networks to use DSLRs in place of ENG cameras for field work. Here is ABC News shooting a three-camera interview in front of the White House using DSLRs:

joema.smugmug.com/Photography/ABC-News-Using-DSLRs/n-BsScJC/