How to keep your job as an editor

As an editor, there are certain technical things you can do that will, in most cases, result in instant dismissal by your employer. Here are some tips on how to avoid these pitfalls.

Black frames

We've all done it - you've got the timeline zoomed out, you drag a clip and think it snapped to the end of another clip but really it snapped to a marker or overlapping bit of audio right next to it. Consequently there'll be a gap and a flash of black when the clip is played back - which producers and audiences never fail to notice.



Before you output, put the playhead at the start of the timeline and press Shift-G. This will jump the playhead to the next gap in the timeline. If you encounter a gap, press Ctrl-G to close it. If no more gaps can be found, the playhead will jump to the end of the timeline.

Unsafe luma levels

Maximum white is higher on a computer than it is on a TV. Consequently, it is possible to set white levels beyond maximum levels for NTSC broadcast. If this happens, overmodulation can occur which means that the signal can leak to radio frequencies other than the ones assigned to the TV channel, resulting in the TV company getting into big trouble with the FCC. Not surprisingly, this trouble would come your way very quickly (that's a worst-case scenario by the way).



When I am color correcting, I always switch on the luma indication in Final Cut Pro (View > Range Check > Excess Luma). This will tell you with a warning triangle and red "zebra" lines which areas are above the recommended limit. You can then use a 3-way Color Corrector to bring down the highlights until the triangle changes into a green tick.



Then, just before my project is ready for output, I create a new sequence in Final Cut Pro and nest the old sequence inside it by dragging it from the Browser into my new timeline. I then go to Effects > Video Filters > Color Correction > Broadcast Safe to make the entire nested sequence broadcast safe.

Why do I perform this step when I already made it safe earlier? Because you can't be too careful. Maybe I thought I'd corrected each one but I'd actually missed one out by mistake. Maybe I added a last-minute clip that I forgot to correct. And if you're wondering why I nest it instead of just selecting all the clips and applying the filter to all of them, that's because I might be asked to make a last-minute change right before it goes out (in the world of broadcast TV anything is possible at the last minute). Nesting the sequence ensures that everything inside that sequence will be broadcast safe, no matter what I change later on.

It's also worth mentioning that the default settings for the Broadcast Safe filter work for the vast majority of cases. It's rare to have to modify them.

Peaking audio

Like luma levels, audio levels have a maximum limit as well. If they exceed 0 dBFS on Final Cut Pro's audio meters, they will produce an audible "crunch" noise that is very ugly to hear and will instantly distract any engaged viewers.

For broadcast work, it is recommended to have your dialogue around -12 dBFS (but not lower than -18 dBFS), with very loud sounds not exceeding -6 dBFS. Film post production tends to work with a higher dynamic range so the dialogue is normally around -18 dBFS.

The most important thing, however, is that your audio doesn't exceed 0 dBFS. To ensure this, after you've completed your mix, drag the sequence from the Browser to the Viewer, then go to Mark > Audio Peaks > Mark. This will put markers in your timeline at every point where the audio exceeds 0 dBFS. This is another of those situations where even though you've already mixed it, it's so quick and easy to check for peaks that there's no reason not to do it.



To remove the markers again, go to Mark > Audio Peaks > Clear or Mark > Markers > Delete All.

Incorrect field dominance

Here's one you probably won't spot unless you are using a broadcast monitor. This is why it's important to use a broadcast monitor or at worst, a regular TV, to view your work before output.

Interlaced video uses fields to display the image. There is a field for odd-numbered lines and a field for even-numbered lines, and they are displayed one after the other for every frame. But which one should be displayed first?

NTSC video uses the Lower (Even) field dominance, meaning it shows the even-numbered lines first. If you add a clip to your timeline that has Upper (Odd) field dominance, its fields will be reversed and the motion between those fields will be reversed, so moving objects will tend to judder as they move forwards and then backwards. PAL and HD video use the Upper (Odd) field dominance, with the exception of DV-PAL, which uses Lower (Even).

This is generally not a problem with footage acquired from an NTSC or PAL camera, as it will already have been shot with the correct field dominance. The problem usually occurs with motion graphics and visual effects sequences because they have been created in software that can create both types of footage and has to be manually told which dominance it should use.

If you have been given footage that has the wrong field dominance, first try to obtain correct footage from the person who originally supplied it. If this is not possible, go to Effects > Video Filters > Video > Shift Fields to swap the fields around.

In some cases, Final Cut Pro can get confused and think that a file with the correct dominance is incorrect, so it automatically adds a Shift Fields filter when you import it. If you suspect that the file is actually correct, first check the clip for automatically-assigned filters and remove them.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that when you drag the first clip to a new sequence, Final Cut Pro 6 will ask you to change the sequence settings to match the clip if they differ. A lot of people click Yes without thinking, but taking a moment to check whether the clip in question does actually have the correct settings will save a lot of head-scratching later on.

I hope this article has given you ideas on how to avoid these problems because in a lot of cases, mistakes aren't made through ignorance but instead lack of time, lapses in concentration, tiredness, etc. That's why most of the steps in this article are very quick and easy ways of double-checking after you've already implemented corrections. These are important aspects to keep under control so it helps to have a range of defensive measures in place. When your job could potentially be on the line, you can't double-check often enough.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Monday November 17 2008 5:32 PM to Industry, Final Cut Studio, Analysis
6 comments Posted Permalink

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Why release a 28K camera?

As you surely must know by now, RED yesterday announced a revamped product line which included a camera capable of shooting at up to 28K.

Once the excitement of such a large number had worn away, I started to wonder what their strategy was. In a world where the biggest display available (IMAX) maxes out at around 9-10K, what is the purpose of releasing a camera that shoots nearly three times this resolution?

The answer can be found by looking back at the RED One. Now here was a camera that bucked the trend in all areas, but particularly the area of workflow. The unique workflow resembled photography more than film, and a lot of its features were designed so that you could be very flexible and change things in post that would normally be baked into the footage of a regular camera.

It seems that RED is putting large sensors in its video cameras for the same reason that SLR camera manufacturers are putting ever-larger sensors in their cameras. For a start, it's good for marketing, but more importantly, it offers you increased flexibility. For a long time, still photographers have been taking large photographs and cropping them down to frame the areas they want in the image, without having to make that decision on location.

So with RED's 28K camera, you could just sit the camera on a tripod shooting a static wide of the whole scene, add close-ups, zooms and pans in post, and then still be able to release for IMAX. Directors would not be tied to any of the decisions they made on set.

Now, to my mind, this would appear to take away some of the skill of filmmaking - following the general trend in which directors are increasingly directing their films in post, rather than on set. But then again, films are not judged on how they are made. If Francis Ford Coppola had made The Godfather the movie it is by sheer accident and luck, that would not change the fact that it is a masterpiece. Still photographers have been doing this for a while and they are not considered any less-skilled because of it. And although such a trend is uncomfortable for the purists like myself - if it results in better movies, this would be a good thing for the industry as a whole.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Friday November 14 2008 2:56 AM to Industry, Cameras, Analysis
10 comments Posted Permalink

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Replacing the CRT

Broadcast Engineering has a great article called Replacing the CRT. This details some of the existing and upcoming technologies looking to resign CRT broadcast monitors to the grave. They are:

* Plasma
* DLP
* SED (which looks very promising - not out yet though)
* OLED
* FED

This article is well worth checking out.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Friday October 31 2008 3:46 AM to Video Editing, Industry, Hardware
0 comments Posted Permalink

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iPhone SDK NDA dropped

Generally speaking, I love Apple, but sometimes they do things that are just plain wrong. And I've been disillusioned with them a few times in the past but every time they've fixed the issue and put themselves back in my good books again.

And so it was great to read today that Apple has dropped the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) from its iPhone SDK. The NDA was something that was introduced with the first pre-release of the SDK, which was totally acceptable as it was pre-release software. However, it was also carried on into the final release and developers were not allowed to help other developers with problems or give details on App Store rejections. It led to a lot of confusion and general dissatisfaction among the developer community, especially as the app review process seemed somewhat inconsistent and developers were not allowed to bring these inconsistencies forward publicly.

Apple said:


This is a great day for iPhone developers and it is good to see that Apple is looking for ways to improve the development process. If they reduce waiting times and the number of steps required to submit an app, I will be very happy indeed.

[via TUAW]

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday October 1 2008 4:05 PM to Apple, Industry, Software
0 comments Posted Permalink

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RIP Paul Newman

We just lost a legend. RIP.



More details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7639614.stm

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday September 27 2008 10:59 AM to Industry, Off-Topic
0 comments Posted Permalink

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How to get your films on the iTunes Store

This is very cool. TuneCore is a company that acts as an intermediate between indie musicians and Apple, allowing them to put their content on the iTunes Store for a flat fee per month. They've now extended this to video content.

I actually think their video deal is better than their music one because you just pay an up-front fee and then any money made on the film (after Apple's cut) goes to you in full. The fee varies according to the length of the content - for example, a 60 minute film costs $550 and a 90 minute one costs $770. The deal is non-exclusive, can be canceled at any time and you retain all rights to your content. Note that your content must be approved by Apple first.

This is a great way for independent filmmakers without a distribution deal to get their projects out to a large audience. More details are available here.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday September 13 2008 4:31 PM to Industry, Useful sites, Indie
0 comments Posted Permalink

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Escape Studios delivers online CG learning tool

I just received this in my inbox. Escape Studios, a London-based visual effects facility well known for its excellent CG courses, are now offering a system to study various CG courses via the internet. Previously the barriers to their courses were that you had to take the course in London (and if you're not a citizen, visas complicate things) and that you had to commit a period of several months to the course. You can now learn from anywhere in the world, at any time and take as much time as you like to complete the course.

The courses take the form of HD video tutorials and they are currently offering Maya Core (an introductory course) and Renderman as course options. Maya Core is 1,999 GBP (around $3,500 at today's exchange rate) but each module is available separately for 400 GBP (~$700). Renderman Freelance (for individuals) is $995, Renderman Commercial (for companies) is $3,995 and Renderman Education (for schools) is $3,995. Renderman certification is also available for an additional $100.

With over 600 videos for the Maya Core course alone, it looks incredibly detailed. Should you run into problems, you can ask an instructor a question or seek help from Escape's online community. They are offering a demo area with 2.5 hours worth of footage for free (after registration) which is definitely worth a look.

And if you're looking for work in the visual effects industry, I fully recommend their job site. It's UK-centric but they are now starting to branch out into other countries.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Monday September 8 2008 3:28 PM to Industry, Visual Effects, Useful sites
0 comments Posted Permalink

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"How the West Was Won" restoration

The BBC has an interesting article detailing the on-going process of restoring the Oscar-winning 1962 John Wayne epic How the West Was Won.

This movie posed particular challenges because it was printed for Cinerama release, which meant that there were three different film rolls playing through three different projectors at the same time. Then add to that the fact that each film roll had deteriorated differently (often with physical warping and buckling of the film) - there is a real challenge.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday July 26 2008 3:04 PM to Color Grading, Industry, Visual Effects
0 comments Posted Permalink

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iTunes App Store RSS feeds

As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit disappointing that Apple hasn't offered up RSS feeds for iTunes App Store applications. Well, the kind folks at Pinch Media have decided to fill that gap, offering up their own feeds. They've got four feeds listing New Applications, Recently Updated Applications, Top 100 Free Applications and Top 100 Paid Applications.

While I was on their site, I also spotted another article detailing how the percentage of free apps is falling. This doesn't really surprise me but it is a little disappointing. All of our apps so far (both web apps and desktop apps) have been free - I am running a business but I don't like charging people for something I don't feel is worth paying for. That's not because I feel the quality of DR's apps is poor, just that the functions they perform fall into a very narrow category (e.g. FCS Remover). I will undoubtedly create certain paid software applications in the future but these would be larger applications with more wide-ranging uses and not small utilities for a single purpose. It disappoints me to see people offering "flashlight" applications (basically just a white screen) for $0.99 when you could just open a blank Safari page for free to achieve the same effect. It really cheapens the store, as do the applications with loads of symbols in front of their name (e.g. "!!!!!!AAAAAAAAA++++++ Application" just to get their apps to the top of the alphabetical listing.

Unless your app is very popular (or very expensive) you will lose out because Apple won't even write you a check until you hit $250 (which is quite a high threshold compared to other revenue schemes such as Google AdSense), and if you're past the cutoff date for that particular month, you have to wait until next month to receive your check. The small apps are free money to Apple because Apple can earn interest on the money while the developer is trying to reach $250 and in some cases, they may never end up having to write that check. I know Google makes tens of millions every year from small sites that never reach the $100 threshold.

DR apps will come, I promise. Just not this month. Maybe late next month, when I should have fewer time pressures. Come the end of August, I should have some more time to work on things like this and work on improving our other apps like FCS Remover and Preference Manager, in addition to creating a few new ones that I have in my head. In the meantime, we still have the web apps.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday July 16 2008 5:45 PM to Apple, Industry
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Rough cuts

Shane Ross has a great post about "rough" rough cuts and how frustrating it is when producers cannot see past a lack of audio or sound effects, or a dodgy transition. What is worse is when the producer gets it into his or her head that you are trying to pass that off as the end product, despite your protestations to the contrary. That has happened to me and is a nasty situation for all involved.

I think the key is to make the producer comfortable with you. Normally these kind of problems go away on the second or third project as the producer realizes that you can do the job and are not a cowboy, and they get familiar with the way that you work. I also find that a comfortable producer will give you a lot more creative freedom (I prefer to see scripts as a guide rather than a rulebook for example) and in return you will take advantage of that freedom to return a better product, so it is mutually beneficial.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Monday June 2 2008 11:41 PM to Video Editing, Industry, Analysis
0 comments Posted Permalink

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