From Video to Broadcast TV - Workflow help

Hi there,

I wonder if anyone can help. As a video producer I have mainly been producing video for the web and DVD/ Blu-Ray. However recently we have been approached to distribute a program for broadcast. As this is a field we don't usually deliver to I am seeking advise on outputting for broadcast with the FCPX workflow.

Admittedly the requirement sheet (attached) looks intimidating, I understand about legal levels of broadcast within picture and sound levels, however the output I am unfamiliar with.

Our main camera shoots in 24mb not the required 50mb, plus it was shot progressive. I notice on the sheet that it requires 50mb plus interlaced footage. What would be the way around this so we can output from FPCX to XDCAM HD422 MXF files as requested? Is there anything else I missing here?

ANY help / advise would be greatly appreciated, especially any workflow guides.

Thank you very much.
Steve

Don't let all the technobabble put you off. This is the same standard I have to deliver to ExtremeReach here in the US. Good thing shooting progressive it, it encodes to interlace easily (the opposite isn't always true). In fact, I could email you the preset I created to meet these specs (benb at bbalser dot come). We're not having any issues at all. Data rate, again, don't sweat it. Compressor does a great job with this stuff. And using that preset inside of FCPX makes things even easier.

Hi Ben,

Thanks so much for the reply and taking the time to read the spec sheet. Just by reading your reply that has taken a weight off already, so thanks for that! It is easy to get stuck on the technicals so I was researching about it over and over. There isn't much out there regarding this workflow - that I have found anyway.

By all means if you could email me any preset so I can take a look that would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks again Ben, really has helped reading the info!

Kind Regards
Steve

Digital Emotion wrote: ....recently we have been approached to distribute a program for broadcast. ....the requirement sheet (attached) looks intimidating...it requires 50mb plus interlaced footage....

Despite all these requirements (and these are not nearly as high as some) broadcasters still often technically foul up the material. Here is an example Fox News did yesterday which has major baked-in interlace artifacts: video.foxnews.com/v/5487990681001/?#sp=show-clips

This is especially ironic since Fox, ABC and ESPN shoot and broadcast only 720p/60. They somehow mis-processed 1080i material, did not deinterlace it, then rendered and distributed it with the interlacing baked in. Maybe the over-the-air TV version worked better. I don't see the purpose of "broadcast standards" nit-picking every little technical nuance when they allow things like this.

This is one reason George Lucas was so adamant about THX certification for theaters showing his films. It does no good to have high standards for content acquisition and post production if the final link in the distribution chain severely degrades that. Whatever quality assurance Fox uses for broadcast did not work in this case.

Hi Ben,

Thank you very much for the reply, really appreciate it. You have certainly took a weight off my mind regarding this so thanks for that. I would gladly take up your offer to send me a preset that you use, it will be of great help for me to look through the settings to familiarise the typical workflow.

If thats ok let me know and I will send you my email across.

Thanks again Ben!
Steve

Hi Joe,

Thanks for responding to the thread. I'd be interested to know your particular workflow. How strict are some broadcasters about these kind of settings? If i'm on a tight deadline I am wondering how often it's going to get knocked back because it doesn't conform to a certain requirement listed. Have you had anything where you've had to back & forth with a broadcaster because of their standards requirements?

Thanks again
Steve