THE POST-PRODUCTION PROCESS The time has come to do a video project that is a bit more involved than a simple commercial or recording a "talking head" on camera. One that involves extensive editing, electronic graphics, custom audio, etc. This may be a scary proposition if you've never had to do this before, but also at times if you're somewhat experienced. How to properly estimate your needs. How to stay on budget and so on. We would like to take a few minutes of your time with this writing to explain the process in some detail in order to make life for you easier and more efficient. PRE-PRODUCTION As in the world of location shooting, pre-production meetings are also essential for post-production. It will help all aspects of a project if the post-production "team" is included in as many meetings as possible at the beginning of a project. This should even be before budgets are established and a treatment or script is finalized. This insures that the post team is aware of your requirements (no last minute surprises) and can also offer many suggestions to improve the production. It even helps to see how the chemistry of individuals, such as the client and the editor, works out at this early stage. SHOOTING There are many things that are done during the location or studio production process that can greatly effect the post-production phase - both for the good and the bad. Production can occur in any format desired (16mm or 35mm film, Digital Betacam, Betacam-SP, DVC, etc.) and still be independent of the post. Generally, if you are shooting on tape, it is best to record on the same format that is available for playback during post-production (i.e. without dubbing across or "bumping" to another format). This keeps the number of generations down and makes "housekeeping" much easier. In contemporary videotape editing, an electronic timecode signal is the reference for locating any information on the tape and parking it accordingly during play and editing. Timecode is recorded onto the source at the time of the shooting (though some formats allow the addition of timecode later) and is a numbering sequence similar to a digital clock, displaying consecutive, ascending digits for hours, minutes, seconds and frames (30 frames/second in standard NTSC video). Each frame is thus given a unique number which can be read by computer-assisted edit systems and by timecode readers. There are several types of timecode, such as "non-drop frame" and "drop frame". It is not important for you as a producer to understand the technical difference, since most edit systems can mix the two and calculate all necessary offsets. However, it is less confusing during editing when only one or the other is used and, therefore, as a producer, you should try to coordinate this type of decision between the shooting crew and the post-production facility. Avoid mixing non-drop frame and drop frame timecode recordings on the same 1 piece of videotape. Timecode is the basis for tracking all scenes on the tapes and therefore you can organize it to your best advantage. Producers often use the hour digits of the code to reflect the reel number of the tape being recorded. In this manner, reel one starts at 01:00:00:00, reel two at 02:00:00:00, etc. However, if you pass 23 reels, you may wish to use a different scheme, since the timecode "clock" resets to 00:00:00:00 after 23:59:59:29. Generally the most common practice is to call the 24th reel number 101 and start with timecode hour 01:00:00:00 again. If you use this practice, the 25th reel is number 102 (2 hour timecode) and so on in ascending order. Do not repeat numbers on the same reel as this will cause a lot of confusion! Other location questions include the nature of the audio. Is it sync sound? Was noise reduction, such as Dolby, used? Are the takes also slated? Was someone taking notes during shooting? Anticipating potential editing questions as well as selecting possible "takes" while still on location will greatly speed up post-production. In this vane, it is extremely critical to properly label all location tapes. Recommended information includes: Production company name Client name Project title and/or job number Location and date of the recording Reel ID number Approximate starting and ending timecode numbers on each tape What was recorded on each audio track (usually which microphone or talent’s name) Whether noise reduction was on or off FILM TRANSFER If your production is to be shot on film, the path into the edit suite will be slightly different than when shooting on video. In most film productions, the project will have been shot "double-system" (audio is recorded on a field recorder which is separate from the camera exposing the film). This will require the audio to be synchronized to the picture as part of the post-production process. Generally your project will have been shot on 16mm or 35mm negative at 24 frames or 30 frames per second. After processing, the film will usually be transferred directly from the negative (without a print) to videotape via a telecine device (e.g. a Philips/BTS or Rank Cintel "flying spot scanner"). This process usually involves scene-by-scene color-correction, may be silent and may or may not require your supervision (at your option). The transfer should usually be made to D1, D2, Digital Betacam or 1”, even though the post may be in a “lower” format, such as Betacam-SP. This makes it possible to always go back to a high quality image 2 transferred directly from the film negative. Often producers will transfer only the "select" takes (those deemed to be possibilities during the shooting and identified as “selected” or “circle” takes on the camera reports and shooting notes), in order to transfer no more than is absolutely necessary. Each take can be identified on the film and sound rolls via the slate or “clapstick” used during the filming at the beginning of each take. A negative film-to-tape transfer session with color-correction takes about 4-5 hours for every hour of footage, so, as you can see, it is not cost-effective to transfer undesirable or false takes. To easily synchronize sound during the transfer session, the sound rolls must have been recorded on location with timecode as well. If this is the case, a slate which displays timecode numbers on a built-in LED display should be used during filming. These “smart slates” make it easy to identify the timecode visually in order to easily find the corresponding start of the sound take on the audio rolls. This will add some time to the transfer session, but when the transfer is completed, all picture and sound are “married” together on the videotape transfer masters and editing can proceed. If sound is synchronized outside of the transfer session (in a separate audio or edit session), this will delay the start of the rest of the editing process. TRANSFER OF SLIDES AND FLAT ARTWORK TO VIDEOTAPE Many projects incorporate the use of existing slides, pictures, artist's renderings and other "flat" artwork to enhance a program or to cover material which cannot be filmed or taped for various reasons. Such scenes are usually "spiced up" by adding camera movement, thus giving at least the suggestion of a live action scene shot in the studio or location. Movement helps to keep the viewer's interest. Such camera movement is generally introduced by photographing the artwork with a video or film camera using either a tripod with a human camera operator or an animation stand with computer-assisted camera control. The resultant image is recorded on either videotape or film and then becomes part of the total available footage for the project. Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” is a good example of this technique. Slides must be front- or rear-projected against a screen or a ground glass to increase the image size in order to provide enough area in which smooth camera movement can occur. This often introduces additional grain and contrast to the picture, so it may be best to have all artwork converted to large prints, such as 11"x 14" or 16"x 20" cibachromes (budget permitting). It is also possible to transfer slides in a telecine suite (usually used for motion film) with advance notice for telecine set-up. The telecine operator can also add high- quality electronic moves simulating camera pans and zooms. It is also very effective to scan photos or slides into a Mac or PC and create all the moves electronically. Although this will generally take longer due to the rendering time required, it has the advantage of being to work a higher resolution than the normal video screen resolution. By scanning in a photo at the highest resolution, it is possible in an application like After Effects, to create digital zooms that do not cause the image to blur or soften. This method also allows you to apply precise color-correction and other touch-ups, if needed. 3 4 PREPARATION BEFORE EDITING Many functions must occur before either offline or online editing can start. First, all footage should be organized so that all material is on one format. Various formats can be mixed in multiformat edit suites (such 3/4", Betacam-SP, 1", D2, etc.), however, it is often most convenient to reduce all material to only one or two videotape formats.