TECHNICAL GUIDELINES

FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION MOST SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS TO AVOID ...... 3

FRAME RATE REFERENCE GUIDE ...... 4

BASIC GUIDELINES FOR FILMING / FIELD PRODUCTION ...... 6 - 7 A. APPROVAL ...... 6 B. NO MIXING OF FRAME RATES ...... 6 C. JUDDER, AND HIGH SPEED ACQUISITION ...... 6 D. SHUTTER SPEED AND POWER GRID INTERFERENCE ...... 7 E. HIGH QUALITY EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL ...... 7

BASIC GUIDELINES FOR EDITING / POST-PRODUCTION ...... 8 - 12 CONTENTS F. FRAME RATES ...... 8 G. CONFORMING AND CONVERSIONS ...... 8 H. DE-INTERLACING ...... 9 I. SLOW MOTION AND SPEED CHANGES ...... 9 J. JUDDER ...... 10 K. QUALITY REQUIREMENTS FOR PRE-EXISTING MATERIAL ...... 11 L. USE OF MATERIAL FROM THE RED BULL CONTENT POOL ...... 11 M. TRACK ASSIGNMENT FOR OBSERVATIONAL DIALOG ...... 12

ASPECT RATIOS ...... 13

GENERAL DELIVERY NOTES ...... 13 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION MOST SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS TO AVOID

A dropped and/or duplicated frames (freeze frames) F luminance and chrominance values in excess of RBMH specifications due to improper mixing of source frame rates (which are identical to the recommendations of EBU R103-2000)

B dropped and/or duplicated frames (freeze frames) G graphics and titles outside of title safe limits due to improperly executed speed changes and speed ramps H audio out of sync with picture C compression artifacts such as pixelation and macroblocking, de-interlacing artifacts, aliasing and other image quality issues due to the use of lower audio issues due to low quality recording equipment and/or lack of quality cameras such as DSLRs or smartphones, or low quality archival / I qualified audio personnel on set/location standard definition (up to 10 percent of a finished program, in segments of one minute or less each, may consist of material generated with lower quality equipment, assuming that no serious additional quality J poorly balanced and/or poorly leveled audio mixing issues are present in the material) K average audio signal gain exceeding the target peak level of -8dBTP D flicker/interference caused by shooting with 50 Hertz-based cameras under (current requirements) or -9dBFS (legacy requirements), frequently 60 Hertz-based lights (or vice versa) without proper shutter adjustments followed by the excessive application of audio limiting effects

E judder (edge flicker) due to excessive pan and tilt speeds when shooting in L incorrect audio channel mapping lower frame rate formats, when speeding up certain slow-motion sources to natural speed without sufficient motion blur compensation, or due to rolling of stereo sources as mono titles / end credits that are exceeding appropriate roll speed / pixel advance M accidental panning values, especially in lower frame rate formats

3 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION FRAME RATE REFERENCE GUIDE

a) global format for Blu-ray and DVD releases b) global format for theatrical releases (when conformed to 24.00 fps) + c) ‘Film Look’ 23.98 PROGRESSIVE d) can be sped up to 25 fps for RBMH format compliance and for TV broadcast in Europe and other 50 Hz regions without any loss in image quality a) less suitable for fast moving action due to low tolerance for judder, requiring slower panning and tilting speeds b) less suitable for handheld camera work – c) conforming to 25 fps will alter TRT

a) ‘Film Look’ b) can be conformed (slowed down) to 23.98 / 24.00 fps for global Bluray, DVD or theatrical release without any loss in image quality + c) suitable for European / 50 Hz region TV broadcast

PROGRESSIVE a) less suitable for fast moving action due to low tolerance for judder, requiring slower panning and tilting speeds 25 b) less suitable for handheld camera work c) might suffer significant quality loss when converted for TV broadcast in North America and other 60 Hz countries/regions – d) requires audio pitch correction when conformed to 23.98 fps e) conforming to 23.98 fps will alter TRT

a) native format for European / 50 Hz regions TV broadcast b) can be converted without major loss in image quality and without change in TRT for TV broadcast in North America and other 60 Hz countries/regions + c) well-suited for handheld camera work and fast-moving action INTERLACED 25 a) requires high-quality for digital distribution b) ‘TV look’ – c) might suffer significant loss in image quality when converted for use in progressive 29.97 fps programs

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a) offers good compromise between ‘film look’ and need for capturing fast-moving action and faster camera movements b) better suited for handheld camera work compared to slower progressive frame rates + c) suitable for North American / 60 Hz regions TV broadcast 29.98 PROGRESSIVE – might suffer significant loss in image quality when converted for use in progressive 25 fps programs.

a) native format for North American / 60 Hz regions TV broadcast b) can be converted without major loss in image quality and without change in TRT for TV broadcast in Europe and other 50 Hz countries/regions + c) well-suited for handheld camera work and fast-moving action INTERLACED 29.98 a) requires high-quality deinterlacing for digital distribution b) ‘TV look’ – c) might suffer significant loss in image quality when converted for use in progressive 25 fps programs

a) native format for European / 50 Hz regions TV broadcast (at 1280x720 pixel resolution) b) can be converted without major loss in image quality and without change in TRT for TV broadcast in North America and other 60 Hz countries/regions + c) well-suited for handheld camera work and fast-moving action 50 PROGRESSIVE a) ‘TV look’ – b) might suffer significant loss in image quality when converted for use in progressive 29.97 fps programs

a) native format for North American / 60 Hz regions TV broadcast (at 1280x720 pixel resolution) b) can be converted without major loss in image quality and without change in TRT for TV broadcast in Europe and other 50 Hz countries/regions + c) well-suited for handheld camera work and fast-moving action 59.94 PROGRESSIVE a) ‘TV look’ – b) might suffer significant loss in image quality when converted for use in progressive 25 fps programs

5 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION BASIC GUIDELINES FOR FILMING / FIELD PRODUCTION

A. FRAME RATE APPROVAL C. JUDDER, SLOW MOTION AND HIGH SPEED ACQUISITION a) Do not begin shooting prior to receiving written approval of your acquisition and delivery frame rate from RBMH Quality Management. a) In order to minimize the risk of judder issues (please see a more detailed explanation of judder issues further below), try to avoid shooting natural b) If you already know that you will be using substantial amounts of pre- speed scenes in high speed frame rates “just in case” (i.e., try to avoid existing footage, make sure to provide as much information as possible shooting footage in slow-motion if you are fairly certain that most, if not all about this footage (i.e., frame rate(s), frame size(s), scan type(s), legal of the scene will be sped up again to run at natural speed anyway). If you clearance potential) to RBMH Quality Management prior to the start of are planning to use scenes at natural speed, shoot them at natural speed, shooting to facilitate the determination of the frame rate that is best and set up slow-motion shots separately. suited to your project. b) Shoot dedicated slow motion sequences whenever possible.

B. NO MIXING OF FRAME RATES c) If you are shooting in slow motion, make sure to stick to high speed frame rates that are full multiples of your base frame rate (i.e., if your base frame Don’t mix acquisition frame rates and, under most circumstances, rate is 25 fps, use 50/75/100/125/150/175/200/225 fps etc.; if your base don’t mix scan types. frame rate is 29.97 fps, use 60/90/120/150/180/210/240 fps etc.).

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D. SHUTTER SPEED AND POWER GRID INTERFERENCE E. HIGH QUALITY EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL

Make sure to adjust your shutter speed accordingly should you be shooting a) Avoid using low quality cameras unless they are serving a unique purpose under artificial light sources with conflicting frequency (i.e., when shooting in (such as POV cameras to cover otherwise inaccessible angles). 29.97 fps under 50Hz lights in Europe, or vice versa). As a basic rule, the shutter speed denominator should be a full multiple of the local power grid frequency, b) Utilize qualified audio personnel and high quality audio equipment i.e., shooting in 29.97 fps (natural speed) in Europe (50 Hz power grid), the whenever possible. shutter speed should be 1/50 sec. or 1/100 sec.; in the reverse case, shooting in 25 fps (natural speed) in North America (60 Hz power grid), the shutter speed should be 1/60 sec. or 1/120 sec. Especially when shooting in high speed frame rates, we strongly encourage the use of an external reference monitor. We also strongly recommend consulting with, or retaining the services of, a cinematographer with substantial experience shooting in slow motion in locations with conflicting power grid frequencies. When shooting with DSLRs, the shutter speed must remain constant at all times, and exposure must be adjusted using the DSLR’s aperture only.

7 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION BASIC GUIDELINES FOR EDITING / POST-PRODUCTION

F. FRAME RATES G. CONFORMING AND CONVERSIONS

a) Don’t mix frame rates. a) Conforming = adjusting the playback speed to the target frame rate, thus preserving all original frames but also altering the speed of the b) If it is editorially essential to use sources of different frame rates and/ motion, the pitch and sample rate of the audio as well as the running or sizes, make sure all frame rates are properly adjusted, and frame sizes time. For Apple ProRes sources, this can be done with Apple Cinema smaller than the edit frame size have been scaled with high-quality tools. Tools as well as other utilities. Pro and After Effects In certain cases, where very substantial amounts of footage with different can conform any source with the help of the “Interpret Footage” frame rates must be accommodated, RBMH Quality Management may dialog options (audio must be handled separately, though). determine that it will be necessary to prepare for a dual frame rate delivery. In Avid , a conform can be performed by setting the playback speed of sources with frame rates different from the project c) If frame rates need to be adjusted, they should be conformed. frame rate to 100% and adjusting audio playback speed accordingly Frame rate conversions should be avoided as much as possible since the entire program will always be converted for a secondary distribution PLEASE CONSULT RBMH QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRIOR master, subjecting converted material in the primary master to a second OR DURING POST-PRODUCTION SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY conversion which is likely to cause a major loss in image quality. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.

b) Converting = maintaining playback speed, audio pitch and running time, but generating blended and/or interpolated frames to accommodate the target frame rate, requiring specialized conversion equipment such as a Snell / SAM Alchemist or a SiliconOptix or Blackmagic Teranex.

WITH THE POTENTIAL EXCEPTION OF ON-CAMERA INTERVIEWS, FRAME RATE CONVERSIONS ARE GENERALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE IN PRIMARY RBMH PROGRAM MASTER FILES.

8 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION BASIC GUIDELINES FOR EDITING / POST-PRODUCTION

I. SLOW MOTION AND SPEED CHANGES

c) In most cases, B-roll can be conformed easily between 23.98 fps, 25 fps, a) If you want to accelerate slow motion sources, stick to speed changes and 29.97 fps, while interviews might require conversion from 23.98 and in increments of 100%. Unless high-quality optical flow technology 25 fps to 29.97 fps and vice versa. Both interviews and B-roll can and (found in Autodesk Smoke, for example) is used, speed changes at any should be conformed from 23.98 fps to 25 fps, ideally including a pitch rate other than multiples of 100% will either require frame blending, adjustment of the interview audio. which in many cases will lead to significant loss in image quality (such as ghosting), or will result in dropped frames, which will likely lead to a QC d) If you are planning to use un-conformed or un-converted sources of failure. frame rates other than your edit frame rate during offline editing, make sure to keep them clearly marked and place them on separate tracks in b) Optical flow technology even in high-end applications is still not very your timeline so that they can be easily identified and conformed prior mature. Any After Effects Timewarp, Avid Timewarp/FluidMotion, RE:Vision to picture lock. Twixtor render, as well as Autodesk Smoke or Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve effects etc. must be carefully reviewed for warping and other unacceptable distortions. H. DE-INTERLACING c) Slowing down natural speed sources is only acceptable if highquality a) If you are using interlaced sources in a progressive timeline, make sure optical flow effects can be successfully applied, and generally to apply a high quality deinterlacing filter such as Red Giant Magic Bullet decelerations below 70 percent of source speed should be avoided. Frames, the de-interlacing unit in Boris Continuum Complete, or some Any frame duplication will lead to a QC failure. In interlaced projects, other high-quality filter or hardware during offline editing or . a deceleration to exactly 50 percent speed might be acceptable if unique frames are properly interpolated from every field. b) No de-interlacing will be necessary if progressive material is used within an otherwise interlaced project that will be delivered in an interlaced format/ container.

9 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION BASIC GUIDELINES FOR EDITING / POST-PRODUCTION

d) Unless a high-quality optical flow render is successful, multi-frame speed shooting in progressive 29.97 fps already allows for slightly faster pan and ramps should be avoided as they will frequently lead either to significant tilt speeds since the motion within the frames is spread across a larger ghosting (if frame blending is applied) or to frame dropping and/or frame number of increments per second. Shooting interlaced 25 fps or 29.97 duplication (freeze frames), which will lead to a QC failure. fps, or progressive 50 fps or 59.94 fps, allows for much faster pan and tilt Speed adjustments should instead be made in 100% increments from speeds due to the much higher number of motion increments per second, one frame to the next. but at the expense of displaying much higher sharpness, the ‘TV look,’ which is often considered as too clinical from an aesthetic standpoint.

J. JUDDER b) End Credit Judder occurs when rolling graphics or titles, especially rolling end credits, are moving too fast. Again, low frame rate progressive The term ‘judder’ in the context of film and television describes formats (25 and 29.97 fps) require more attention to this problem, while several different quality problems: interlaced 25 and 29.97 fps and progressive 50 and 59.94 fps formats can accommodate relatively fast roll speeds. For rolling end credits in a progressive 25 fps program, the general rule is that the pixel advance a) Low Frame Rate Judder occurs when elements within a shot, especially areas with high contrast, move across the screen at such speed that the (the distance each pixel travels from frame to frame) should be set to full human eye is no longer capable of combining the series of still images into number values (i.e., 2, 3, 4, no fractions) and should not exceed 4 pixels one coherent, smoothly flowing moving image. Instead, especially areas of per frame (i.e., the top edge of a letter should move up four pixels from high contrast will appear to be flickering at the edges as they are moving one frame to the next). End credits in progressive 29.97 fps programs in across the screen. This problem has been known since the early days of many cases can advance up to 6 pixels per frame without displaying any film, and has resulted in detailed rules for cinematographers regarding judder. In cases where the pixel advance is too high, the end credit roll the maximum speed with which a film camera can be panned or tilted will flicker and stutter, and will not appear as one smooth motion. without causing judder. In other words, judder can be avoided by making sure that pans and tilts are slow enough. While shooting in progressive 25 fps requires almost the same attention to judder as shooting with film,

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c) Sharpness Judder: judder can also occur - and, again, this is more likely K. QUALITY REQUIREMENTS FOR to happen in lower frame rate progressive formats - when slow motion sources, which by definition have to be shot at relatively high shutter PRE-EXISTING MATERIAL speeds and therefore will contain very little, if any, motion blur, are accelerated to play at natural speed. Similar to regular low frame rate It is very important to carefully check pre-existing source material judder, motion within the frame might appear to be flickering along high (even if obtained from the Red Bull Content Pool) for any quality problems contrast edges, which is a significant quality problem. Unless motion (such as dropped and/or duplicated frames, noise, ghosting, judder, artifacts blur can be successfully added to the accelerated slow motion frames from compression or interlacing etc.). Unless those quality problems are (using the motion blur options in the Timewarp effect in After Effects or in repaired prior to delivery (assuming a repair is possible), faulty pre-existing Autodesk Smoke, for example), certain high-speed sources should not be sources should not be carried over into a new program. used at natural speed. Sharpness judder also frequently occurs within GoPro footage, even when shot at natural speed, due to the design of the GoPro cameras. The fully L. USE OF MATERIAL FROM THE automatic cameras by default are shooting with very high shutter speeds, RED BULL CONTENT POOL resulting in the stuttering motion that is found in typical fast-moving GoPro footage. Only Red Bull Content Pool footage obtained from the ‘Internal Outlet’ and carrying clip names starting with the letters ‘MI’ followed by a 12-digit code has been cleared for use as editing source material. Red Bull Media House clips whose names start with the letter ‘P’ are NOT CLEARED for use as an editing source, both for legal and technical reasons. If ‘P’-labeled sources are found in a final delivery, the program will, in most cases, be subject to rejection by RBMH.

11 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION BASIC GUIDELINES FOR EDITING / POST-PRODUCTION

M. TRACK ASSIGNMENT FOR OBSERVATIONAL DIALOG

While traditional interview situations must have the mono audio channel placed on Track 15 or, if available, the stereo audio channels on Tracks 15 and 16 in the Clean Program Master as well as in the ‘Interview’ section of Audio Stem Packages, observational dialog (such as several athletes talking with one another) must be placed on the ‘Effects’ Tracks 9 & 10 (stereo if available, dual mono otherwise) and be included in the ‘Effects’ Audio Stems. In cases where a scene shifts from unscripted conversation (passively observed by the camera) to an interview (i.e., where the athletes end their conversation and instead directly address the camera, typically prompted by questions from a director or producer), the audio from the interview part of the scene must be switched from the ‘Effects’ tracks to the ‘Interview’ track(s) as soon as a clean shift between the tracks is possible.

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ASPECT RATIOS GENERAL DELIVERY NOTES

We can only accept deliveries in 16:9 (Full Frame, 1.78:1) a) RBMH reserves the right to refuse taking delivery of finished programs in cases where dropped or duplicated frames and/or other serious deficiencies are found. This also applies to the use of preexisting footage, even if deficiencies originate in sources obtained from the Red Bull Content Pool.

b) It is the responsibility of the delivering party to ensure that all delivered 1.85 programs comply with the quality standards of RBMH as outlined in (but not limited by) this document. Deficient programs that fail the RBMH quality control process may be considered ‘not delivered.’

1.78 c) Contact RBMH Quality Management prior to finishing and delivery should you have any questions or concerns. 2.39

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