Assisting Protocols for Reality Shows
As there are different formats and methods for making documentaries, each reality show also has its own personality and style. Every production house will create its own procedures for shooting and posting its shows. Reality television relies on capturing events as they happen with multiple cameras rolling simultaneously. What all productions have in common is usually hours of footage providing great coverage and multiple choices for the editor. Again, meticulous organization of material and group clipping of multicam setups becomes essential. Most production companies use some shared editing system so that all the editors and assistants have access to the same media whether they are posting on Avid or FCP. Similarly, each house finishes a project differently. Some have in-house online systems, and some use outside post houses to online and title and color correct. But once again, there is a commonality in the work flow and in taking a show from dailies to online.
One of the great advantages of getting a job as an assistant on a reality show is that they usually staff with nonunion personnel. It is a good place for assistants to secure entry-level jobs and learn the business. Many shows have multiple—sometimes seven or more—editors and several assistants prepping the work for editing. You will most likely share the workload with other assistants and could well land the night or graveyard shift. Be prepared!
The assistants all prepare the footage, group the multicam shots, organize the B roll, create the GFX, and organize SFX and MX; they format the shows and then prepare and do the outputs when the show is locked. The assistant could also be the online assistant if the online is done in-house. On a large show, you will work long hours with probably no overtime. But remember, when you start a task, you must finish it before going home. Do not leave an output or work half done.
TIP
Work past your shift when you need to. This is one of the ways to impress your producers and shine.
Some work flow suggestions for assisting on reality shows, using the Avid DX Nitris, follow.
One of the first tasks for the assistant is to load all the dailies into the system. Most shows manage the media on an Avid Unity (or SAN; XSAN if you are on FCP). The assistants partition the drive space for projects, renders, media, VO, music, and OMF. It’s best to keep each unity partition at 400 GB or less. When digitizing, if you reach 400 GB on one drive partition, you should make a new media partition, e.g., MEDIA_01, MEDIA_02, etc. Avid does not like dashes, symbols, or spaces, so it’s best to use underscores or no spaces at all.
To keep the Unity functioning at its best, on Avid there is a defragmenting operation called Optimization. The unity drives organize the media to be continuous and occupy the fastest part of the disks. Always optimize after digitizing large amounts of film or purging media. This is done in the Avid Unity Administration Tool. The assistant does not need to perform this function on FCP because it optimizes automatically.
8.3 Work Space Synchronization
Unity allows users to protect drives, or what Avid calls mirroring. When enabling or disabling protection if a work space already contains data, assistants synchronize to make sure all files truly have a mirrored copy. In the Avid Unity Administration Tool, two small pieces of paper appear near the work space icon, which indicates synchronization is needed. This usually happens after changing work space protection. Adding protection to a work space will require double the disk space (i.e., a 250 GB work space requires 500 GB of disk space). Disabling protection and then synchronizing a 250 GB work space will free up 250 GB.
8.4 Offline and Online Management
Media drives for offline and online should be kept separate so that the media formats are not mixed. When editing a show in SD 30i NTSC, 10:1 m, but finishing in HD 1080i/59.94, DNxHD 220, have separate media drives and project drives on the Unity.
To save drive space, 10:1 m is the (low) resolution recommended for offline editing. Full resolution is 1:1, so 10:1 is 1/10 the resolution of the full-quality picture, which means you can digitize 10 times the amount of footage at 10:1 m than at 1:1, and it would use equal drive space. It is useful to offline edit at a lower resolution because you can fit a lot more footage on the Unity drives. The m in 10:1 m refers to multicam, and in older versions of Avid you needed to digitize with an m resolution to make grouping possible. With the newer versions of Avid, grouping is no longer restricted to the m resolutions.
It’s best to not even give the offline editors Unity login access to the online drives, so they don’t have to worry about rendering to the wrong drive. On the same note, creating a separate login to the Unity for the online editor and only giving him access to the online media, project, and renders ensures he won’t render HD media to the SD drives.
8.5 Digitizing and Organizing Dailies
To digitize a large amount of footage for offline editing, using 10:1 m or 15:1 s will take up less space than higher resolutions. The designation 15:1 s means the media is 1/15 the resolution of the original media, and s stands for single field. Both of these resolutions can be group clipped on the Avid DX Nitris. Older versions of Avid, such as Meridian, needed the media to be m, or multicam, to be groupable. This is not an issue with the newer versions of Avid. Digitize footage from the deck being used (e.g., XDCAM deck), targeting one of the media drives on the unity. Some shows digitize in one video track, four audio tracks, and the timecode from the tape. Media is coming in at 10:1 m. The bin, file name, and tape name in Avid should all be the same as the tape name that production gave to the tape so that there is no confusion when looking for or sorting footage. Under Settings in the Project window, and then under Capture Settings, always make sure Capture Through Timecode Breaks is selected so that Avid knows to continue capturing even if there happens to be timecode breaks on the tape. Do a custom preroll of 1 second so that the Avid does not default to 4 seconds. If the editing machine prerolls for 4 seconds, you could end up losing a few seconds of a scene on the top of each clip.
Some reality shows have each episode in its own separate Avid project, all located on the Projects_Users partition on the unity. There is a separate AssistProject that contains all footage and everything that the other projects contain so that the assistant editor can easily switch between episodes if necessary. When there is enough footage to begin organizing, sync the dailies if necessary (sometimes the audio is recorded right onto the tape and not to a separate audio recording device), and then group the footage that can be grouped.
Grouping can go pretty fast if the production jam-synched the cameras on set frequently and the timecodes of each camera angle match up perfectly. Sometimes production jam-syncs the cameras only once before starting to shoot, and by the afternoon they have drifted several frames out of sync. The assistant will need to check each group clip now for sync. It is still groupable, it just takes the assistant a little more time to adjust the sync for the group clip.
Combine all footage into one long sequence, or create a sync map, as some people call it. In other venues it is called a kem roll. Usually do one sequence for each shooting day. The master timecode of the sequence corresponds to the timecode of the cameras. You can do this by changing the start timecode of the sequence in the Avid to match the first clip’s start timecode. Also, make sure your sequence timecode is set to match whatever the cameras were shooting—drop frame or nondrop frame. The start timecode of the sequence can be changed in the bin by typing the correct timecode into the Start column in the bin or by clicking on the record monitor and then select Get Sequence Info from the File menu and type the correct timecode into the window that pops up. The best way to build the sequence is to lay in the first and last clips of the day. Then add filler between the two until the sequence is long enough to go from the timecode of the first clip to the timecode of the last clip. After this is done, just type the timecode of the next clip into the record monitor, the cursor will jump to the correct place, and then put the clips in the sequence. If the bin is sorted by timecode, then by tape name, it seems to go faster because they are in the correct order. Keep each camera on a separate video track (V1 for cam A, V2 for cam B, etc.). When you have laid in all of the clips from that day into the sequence, you will have one long sequence that, if played in realtime from the beginning, will exactly re-create the shooting day.
When all the footage is in a sequence, it’s easy to see what you need to group. Any time there are overlapping clips, more than one camera was shooting at the same time. That is what will need to be grouped together.
…Step 3: Check for Timecode Drift
Pick a few points throughout the sequence and play the audio from one camera with the video from another to see if they match up. If audio was only recorded on one camera, check for sync on the video side and look for a distinctive frame of video that will be easy to tell if it is the same on each camera (e.g., a blink, hand clap, or something to that effect).
…Step 4: Synching Each Camera to the Base Camera on V1
There might be some timecode drift, and if there is, the footage needs to be adjusted and put in sync. When adjusting, it’s important to not move any video that’s on V1 because that is the base camera. Slip what needs to be slipped, putting things into sync. Audio waveforms are sometimes a useful tool to slip things back into sync.
…Step 5: Set Auxiliary TC for the Base Camera
Under the Bin menu, under Headings, the assistant editor should click AUX TC to display that column in the bin. For the base camera on V1, copy the Start Timecode into the AUX TC column. This is because you did not shift the base camera around, so its AUX TC and Start TC will be the same.
…Step 6: Adjust the Aux TC for the Rest of the Cameras
Starting with track V2, because V1 is the base camera, step through the edits of the sequence using the fast-forward button. Enter the sequence master timecode of the first frame of each clip into the corresponding Auxiliary TC column for that clip. The TC will differ from the Start TC of the clip only if it is one of the clips that you had to slip for sync reasons.
…Step 7: Add Edits at Every Place on the Sequence Where a Clip Starts or Stops
Make sure all of the tracks in the sequence are highlighted, and put the cursor on the first frame of any camera that drops out or comes in. Do an Add Edit at each point throughout the entire part of the sequence that needs to be grouped. The edit should go through all of the tracks. This will divide all of your clips into smaller pieces, and each of the smaller pieces is the same duration so they can be grouped together.
…Step 8: Creating the Subclips from the Sequence
After all the add edits are done, these smaller pieces need to be subclipped back out to group. The easiest way to do this is by setting keyboard shortcuts for commands 1 through 7 on the keyboard (e.g., they could be F1 through F7 at the top of the keyboard). When all the subclips are created, you will have a bin of hundreds of subclips. The correct auxiliary timecode for each subclip should have transferred from its original master clip.
…Step 9: Create the Multigroup by Auxiliary TC
Sort the bin by tape name and then by Auxiliary TC. Select all of the subclips, go to the Bin menu, and click Multigroup. A window pops up asking what to group by. Select Auxiliary TC. Avid will create a bunch of groups and one main multigroup. Scroll through the multigroup to make sure everything looks right and everything is in sync.
In each episode’s project, the following folders are included. The episode’s current showbuild is kept at the root level of the project in a bin called 101_Showbuild (for episode 101). There is a folder at the top of each project called 00_Old_Showbuilds in which you can put all old cuts of the showbuilds for the editors to reference if needed. After that, the following folders are in each episode’s project:
• Source tapes folder: In the project, organize the source tapes by date so the editors have access to all the raw footage if they need it.
• Cast folder: This folder is all of the footage by cast member, and then by date, including all grouped footage for each cast member and a sequence for each shooting day for the cast member.
• Interview (intv) folder: This folder has a bin for each cast member. Within that bin is each grouped clip, organized by the date of each interview for that cast member.
• Editors folder: Each editor has a folder within this folder to work from, and this is where they keep their current cuts, work bins, render bins, etc.
• B roll folder: All B roll is organized into as many places as it fits, so that if one editor is looking under Car Footage and one editor is looking under Cast Member, they can both find what they are looking for. Organize the B roll by cast member, driving shots (by each different car), day and night shots, time lapses, and exteriors of city. All B roll is logged in the Name column in the bin. Here is an example of a clip name: EXT WS HIGH ANGLE NIGHT FREEWAY, BUSY, CARS DRIVING.
• Graphics (grfx) folder: Put any templates for graphics that the editors might need in here. This includes an example of the correct subtitles so the editors know what font and what size font to use for anything they need to subtitle. Also in here are the lower thirds for each character, the coming up graphic, and the time stamps that are often used. For example, each scene could be opened with a time stamp of an intersection where the scene takes place and the time of the scene. If these are created in Avid, create them and add the music that is agreed upon. Make sure the graphic is the correct duration so all the editor needs to do is copy it and change the time, if necessary. If it is a graphic you have from a source outside of Avid, import the graphic with the correct specifications (alpha channel, pixel shape, etc.) and cut it into a sequence with the correct music. Label it so the editor can find it, see how it looks in a cut, and copy it to use it easily. Always include in the bin name if the graphic is final or temp so the editor knows what he is dealing with (e.g., COMING_UP_GFX_FINAL or TIME_STAMP_GFX_TEMP).
• Music folder: The company hired to do the music might give you a music library to use. If all of it is cleared, you can air it. Import the library to the Music work space on the Unity. All music is assigned a color. It is organized into folders by genre (e.g., drama, quirky, western, rock, electronic, etc.). Put the theme music for the show in a bin at the root level of the Music folder, and in the label indicate if it is final or temp, such as THEME_MUSIC_MIXED_FINAL or THEME_MUSIC_TEMP_V1_0714.
• SFX folder: All SFX are assigned a different color. Often the SFX comes from the music company and from the mix house. Import all SFX and organize them logically. They are organized into bins, like sirens, cell phones, ambience, etc. They will probably already be cleared to use and to air as is. If they are not cleared, it is helpful to color them differently so that they are easily found in the cuts. If they are not cleared SFX, when prepping for the mix they have to be separated out and replaced.
• VO folder: This is the folder that all VO goes into. If the editor has to record temp VO for the episode himself, make sure he has a VO work space on the Unity that he has write access to so he can record easily. Also, any VO done out of house by the professional voice-over artist will be imported and located here for the editor. Be sure to label if the VO is temp or final in the file name, such as JOHN_DOE_TEASE_VO_TEMP_0815 (John Doe is the name of the VO artist, and 0815 is the date).
• Outputs folder: Put a copy of each completed output of the episode in this folder. An example of a bin that contains the output is EP_101_RC_OP_0814, which indicates episode 101, rough cut output, and the date. It is labeled like this so that when the notes come back, if they reference specific timecodes from the output, the editor can easily go to the output sequence and find what the note is referring to.
• Assistworks folder: This is a folder where all your work for the episode and the other assistants’ work is placed so it is out of the editors’ way. Always ask each editor if there is a certain way he prefers B roll to be organized or if he would like the project to be organized differently. That way, everything is organized to his liking, and everyone is happy.
An assist bay could have an HDV deck, XDCAM deck, Digital Betacam deck, and DVD recorder. The online bay could have an HDCAM-SR deck. Some shows don’t have any decks in the bays and instead have a machine room in which all of the decks are located and can be patched. In the assist bay there is often a router and several patch bays that allow you to choose which deck is going into the Avid or which deck the Avid is going out to.
8.8 Things to Check Before Outputting a QT or DVD
The sequence needs to be drop frame, if that is what you are working in. Tease tags out of the act to commercial are usually exactly 3 seconds, and there are exactly 5 seconds of black between acts. In some shows, no act can be shorter than 4 minutes, and it is preferable that the first act is longer than 8 minutes and the last act is longer than 5 minutes. Each show and network has different specifications. It is important to be aware of your show’s specs and check all of this before output.
Always make sure you have the clip color of your sequence set to offline so that if any media is offline in the sequence you can find it easily because it shows up in red. You can re-create any title media that is offline, which perhaps was saved to a local C drive by accident, by setting an in-point and out-point around the offline media and going to the Clip menu. Select Re-create Title Media. You can add a slate, stating the show name, episode number, which cut it is (rough cut 1, fine cut 2), TRT, and the date. The slate goes on the sequence from 00;59;50;00 to 00;59;55;00, then 5 seconds of black, then the picture starts at 01;00;00;00. Again, this varies from network to network. For a show that is 16 × 9, you may need to add a 16:9 reformat letterbox onto the sequence if you are outputting to an SD 4 × 3 format.
You will also want to add visible TC in the middle top of the screen, with the background of the timecode slightly opaque. (DVD and QT outputs are SD, so you use the reformat 16:9 letterbox so that the show is the correct aspect ratio on an SD DVD and when outputting a 4 × 3 QT from an SD 30i NTSC project. The footage in Avid will be 16:9, if it was shot that way, which it would have been if you are finishing HD.) Render the sequence. (Not the TC generator or the 16:9 letterbox because these things show up on playback and in QTs without rendering. This will save time.)
You can post cuts on your network’s FTP site for producers and networks to view, as well as send them DVDs. There might be file size restrictions for the FTP site (400 MB), so make various QT tests using different settings to see what would be best. Some workable settings are shown in Figures 8.1 through 8.3.
Figure 8.1 Movie settings
Figure 8.2 Standard video compression settings
Figure 8.3 Sound settings
For shows whose cuts vary between 44 and 49 minutes, these settings give a QT that is right around 380–390 MB, which is perfect for uploading to a network FTP.
Do all the same checks that are listed in the QT section. When the sequence is ready, patch the Avid to the DVD recorder, and the DVD recorder to the monitor, so you can watch what’s going onto the DVD. Check levels going out of the Avid to the DVD recorder on a VCR that can be attached to the DVD recorder. This will show the audio levels. Adjust the audio levels on your Mackie (or comparable machine), and then hit record on the DVD recorder, play on the Avid sequence, and watch the output. After it is done, stop recording and finalize the DVD. QC the DVD and check both the sound and picture at the beginning, middle, and end of the episode. Then duplicate it in the DVD duplicator. Be sure to QC the duplicates as well.
Check the same things that you checked before DVD outputs (e.g., check to see if the sequence is drop frame). Tease tags out of the act to commercial specs. These numbers vary according to the show. The first frame of picture of the show is at 01;00;00;00. The entire show (six acts), for example, could be exactly 43;55 (this varies from network to network).
Some networks or shows will require that an extra scene be delivered with each episode to be used if the show airs internationally because the show length requirements may be longer in other countries. If there is an extra international scene, make sure that it is to the proper time as well. It will be located at the end of the episode sequence after several seconds of black, with its own slate.
It is necessary to up-rez your show when onlining in-house because the offline edit is usually at a low resolution to save drive space. When up-rezzing, prep the sequence so that you only recapture the media used in the cut (including a defined amount of handles on each clip; 60 frame handles is a good reference). You do not want to up-rez any more media than needed. High-resolution media will take up a lot of space on your Unity. It is best to give the online editors an up-rezzed reference picture because the image is clearer and therefore easier to read lips and check sync. An up-rezzed D-Beta may be requested for an SD show.
DEFINITION
Up-rezzing is taking the offline locked cut and recapturing the media at a higher resolution. This is the format required for finishing and delivering the show
It is good to know that if this show were onlining out of house, instead of up-rezzing from a copy of the sequence, you would have to generate an EDL to give to the online house. (There are various forms of EDLs—C-sort and A-sort—and it all depends on the specifications that the online house gives you.)
Duplicate the locked sequence and copy it into a bin called EP101_LOCK_FOR_AUDIO. Delete all video from this sequence, leaving audio only. Then separate all of the audio tracks, splitting up production audio, music, VO, and SFX. Avid Nitris can play only 16 tracks of audio at a time, but when prepping for an OMF, the audio can spread to as many tracks as needed. Avid allows 24 tracks of audio to be in a sequence, even though only 16 will play at once. Try to get all of the production audio to tracks 1–4, SFX onto tracks 5–10, music onto tracks 11–18, and VO onto tracks 19–20. Sometimes production needs tracks 1–6, so SFX will not start until track 7, and so on. The goal is to use the least amount of tracks possible but not to mix production, SFX, or MX onto any one track of audio. Sometimes mix houses will like VO on the track below production instead of at the bottom. Many of these details may vary. It is important to be aware of the delivery requirements and prep everything as it is requested.
When the audio tracks are all organized, the audio sequence needs to be consolidated onto the Unity partition called OMF. This is because when the OMF is created, it is only taking media from what is needed. If it takes media from the source footage audio, usually the OMF ends up being a much bigger file than needed.
When the consolidation is done, unmount all Unity drives except for the project drive that has the assist project you are working in and the OMF drive. After all of these drives unmount, make sure the sequence can still read the audio from the OMF drive and that all are still online. Then you are ready to create the OMF. OMFs cannot be larger than 2 GB. For a 44-minute show, it can often be close to 2 GB. To ensure the file is not too big, you can do an OMF of each act separately. AAFs export more smoothly from Avid than OMFs. Basically, OMF is the old standard, and AAF is becoming the new standard. Use the settings shown in Figures 8.4 and 8.5 in the OMF window.
Figure 8.4 Settings for OMF
Figure 8.5 Settings for AAF
Set the file name to be the episode number and the act it is in, click Save, and it will export to the OMF (or AAF). Continue this process until you have done all the acts. When all of the acts are complete, burn a singlelayer data DVD of all the OMFs to give to the mixing house. Along with the OMFs, the mixer needs a reference picture to mix to. If it is a QT, it needs visible timecode. It is good to give a reference HDCAM-SR tape of the up-rezzed, locked cut for an HD show.
There are a few more steps to take to prep for online. You need to organize the video tracks for the online editor. Every online editor likes things organized a bit differently, so make sure you ask how he would like things to be set up so it is all ready to go when online begins. One example is as follows:
• V1: All video except for interview footage.
• V2: Left empty for the online editor in case he needs it for blurs, FX, transitions, etc.
• V3: All interview footage. The online editor color corrects these differently from the rest of the footage, so he likes it all on its own track.
• V4: All subtitles. These subtitles need to be re-created in DNxHD 220 when you are in online. You will subtitle people who are not recorded well. For example, it is sometimes hard to hear everyone in intense cop scenes, fight scenes, or whispering scenes.
• V5: All lower thirds and graphics (GFX). These are GFX created out of house, so you just need to cut in the HD versions to replace the SD versions.
• V6: Time stamps that begin each act. These are Avid titles, so you need to re-create them in DNxHD 220 for online.
Marry the audio mixdown you did to the sequence, and put the offline video mixdown on V7 so that the online editor has the reference he needs. This sequence is then ready for the online editor, and you can use a copy of this sequence to output to HDCAM-SR for the mix house reference tape.
8.15 Assisting on FCP in Reality Television
Many reality shows today edit with FCP (Final Cut Pro), and even though the work flow remains basically the same as the Avid, the procedures for the system will differ and possibly entail another set of technical skills. A scenario for an FCP show could be as follows.
After a shoot, the production hands over XDCAM tapes to the assistants, who will then digitize the media through the Sony XDCAM decks using XDCAM Transfer. As soon as the assistant editors receive the tapes, they will name and number them. This is a critical convention. If this step were not performed, every tape would be named Untitled. Tape names are organized by the following:
• Shoot date: 0618
• Camera and tape number: 01
• If using the B camera: B01
• Show’s two-letter initials: TS (“The Surprise”)
This information would then be written on the tape as 0618B01TS.
For interview tapes, the same process is used, but the initials of the cast members are added to the end. For example, if the tape contains the actor John Doe, the initials JD would be added, and the tape would be labeled 0618A01TS-JD. If using the B camera, it would be denoted as 0618B01TS-JD.
8.16 Importing and Organizing the Project
When the tape is renamed, select all the clips in XDCAM Transfer (each clip represents each time the digital camera captured footage) and click Import. Assume the video format production shoot is MPEG HD, bit rate of 50 Mbps, frame rate of 59.94, 16 × 9 aspect ratio, and a frame size of 1920 × 1080.
In Figure 8.6, the XDCAM is importing the selected footage locally.
Figure 8.6 XDCAM importing selected footage
When the footage is imported locally, it is dragged over to the SAN (or XSAN, FCP’s version of the Unity). Each holds 23 GB of information. It takes a long time to import 23 GB locally and to transfer the media to the server. Coverage from a daily shoot can average anywhere from 2 to 12 hours of footage on 10–30 tapes a day. These tapes could include reality footage from multiple cameras to interviews of the cast members. Handling this work flow on a daily basis can require four decks running with two assistants on two computers.
When the footage is transferred to the SAN at full-res (resolution), it then has to be compressed to an offline file size capable of being handled in FCP. The Cluster is a system used through Compressor over the SAN. It uses processing power from each computer that is connected to it. This is the system used to compress the files. It runs large processing tasks, such as compressing 23 GB full-res footage to 1 GB low-res footage. However, using the cluster during the day slows down the processing power and speed of each individual computer that is connected to the SAN. One tape being compressed over the cluster works well, but when you have 20-plus tapes to compress, it slows down your editor’s computer and does not allow him to keep working. Because of this, digitizing, transferring, and compressing footage is usually done during the lead assistant’s shift (probably at night). When the second assistant arrives, the lead assistant will hand over the remaining undigitized tapes to be organized into multiclips (group clips in Avid) and into B roll.
The assistant editor organizes the footage on the SAN starting in two ways: media then projects. Media is dailies, graphics, audio, QuickTimes, and photos. This raw material should not be altered in any way. The material that can be altered is placed in the Projects folder on the SAN. This includes multiclip projects, B roll, transcriptions, episode projects, and editor backup projects (see Figures 8.7 and 8.8).
While in dailies, the assistant editor has three main jobs: organize multiclips, B roll, and prep for interview transcriptions.
To organize the multiclips, the assistant editor should create a new project. Label it with the show’s initials, the date, “Groups” and then the assistant’s initials. This way everyone knows who set up which project. Create three folders: media, multiclips, and sequences (see Figure 8.9).
Figure 8.7 Media folders These media folders are not to be altered
Figure 8.8 Projects folders The Projects folders can be updated or altered
From there, drag all the dailies into media. Then start with camera A footage, comparing it to cameras B, C, D, and E; media start; and media end. Any timecodes that overlap can be given a color to stand out (orange is the first color available in FCP). (There is software that can vastly speed the process of creating multiclips, like PluralEyes from Synthetik Software.) Then select all clips with overlapping TC and create a multiclip sequence. Using that sequence, check to make sure all the clips are in sync and the cameras are jam-synced. To check sync, solo the audio tracks from each camera and listen to make sure there is no echo (reverb sound). If there is an echo in the audio, you have to slip an individual track to line them up. When they are lined up, set in-points in the sequence on each individual clip at exactly the same point. Then create a multiclip using in-points or timecode (see Figures 8.10, 8.11, and 8.12).
Figure 8.9 Browser
Figure 8.10 Multiclip sequence
Figure 8.11 Multiclip bin
Figure 8.12 Multiclip folders
Look for matching or overlapping TC. V1 and V2 have the same TC. Drag the final multiclips (groups) into the proper folder (bin). Place the multiclip in the multiclip folder, and move on to the next set of clips. Color the next set red (next color available) to differentiate between what clips are used.
When all the dailies are digitized, the assistant sorts the B roll into major categories for the show. A logical method is to break down the B roll into day, dusk, and night shots. From there you can further build folders based on various footage that is covered—aerial shots, city locations, restaurants, cast vehicles and living areas, etc. (see Figures 8.13 and 8.14).
Figure 8.13 B roll location
Figure 8.14 B roll sequences
It is a good idea for the assistant editor to generate and print a B roll list for production and for the editors so they have a quick reference of what was covered in their notebooks (see Figure 8.15).
Figure 8.15 B roll list
Many reality shows are given music from the music coordinator. Some of the music is in MP3 files and some is in AIFF. Convert all audio to AIFF before placing it on the SAN. A demo program called Switch converts audio files to the appropriate ones needed, as does iTunes, QuickTime, and Soundtrack Pro. FCP does not support MP3 audio and requires either WAV, AIFF, or SDII files. When the audio is on the SAN, it is then dragged into iTunes on an individual playlist and organized by artist, album and genre. From iTunes, export the playlist labeled by date, and import it to every editor’s computer on iTunes. It references all the same media on the SAN. There is a great search feature in iTunes that you can use to look for a particular song or sound effects. When the desired audio is found, right click in iTunes to reveal it in Finder, and the file is shown. That file is then dragged into FCP.
To send the filmed interviews to a transcriber, the assistant needs to compress the interview tapes into a small size so they can be uploaded to the website of the transcriber. The compression creates a large timecode stamp as a visual reference and guide. (Adobe also offers automated transcription using special software.) The transcriptions will then be sent back as Word documents with encoded timecode from each interview tape notated in the margin at regular intervals. This allows the easy identification of what was said at what time (see Figure 8.16).
Figure 8.16 Transcription movie
When the assistant completes the prep of the material, it is passed on to the story editors. They view all the footage, multiclips, and nonmulticlips and look for story points to create the show. FCP is eminently affordable, so every staff member has access to the footage through SAN. The story sequence, or the stringout, is the guideline that the story department assembles from select material. It is the spine of the narrative and includes highlights of the shoot from which the editor will create the film. The show starts here. Some stringout sequences have been known to be more than 2 hours long for a 42-minute show!
On some series, the producers will view all the material and deliver a rough story line on paper. It is the assistant’s job to find the footage through the timecode guidelines and create an assembly for the editor to cut (see Figure 8.17).
When the editor has completed his cut, he will hand it over to the assistant editor for an output. The cut time line will consist of many video and audio tracks. Note that V7 will probably contain all titles, lower thirds, and graphics (see Figure 8.18).
Figure 8.17 Story stringout The different colors represent alternate multiclips
Figure 8.18 Time line cuts
To complete an output, the assistant will receive the editor’s cut either as a full sequence of the show with each act tied together, or he will receive each act as individual sequences. Whichever the form, the assistant will build the final sequence with a 5-second head slate for the show, the episode, the cut, the total run time (TRT), and the date it is shipped. That is followed by 5 seconds of black, and then picture starts at hour 1 (e.g., 1:00:00;00) (see Figure 8.19).
Figure 8.19 Editor’s cuts and the built sequence for an output
Labeling the cuts with the right information is important. It is equally important to remain consistent when naming projects. Here is some of the vital information that needs to be included:
• Give two initials for the show: TS
• Followed by the episode number: 108
• The date: 0904
Also include an underscore between each piece of information to prevent using spaces (e.g., TS_108_PreCut2_0904). In general, editing systems, FTP sites, and storage systems like the SAN and the Avid Unity don’t like file names with spaces.
Each act is timed, and proper title slates are created for the beginning of each act. The sequence is then rendered, and the audio is mixed down to only two tracks, 1L and 2R. When each act is timed (drop frame), the total running time (TRT) is added to the final slate, and the sequence is exported at its current settings (Offline RT HD 29.97) to a QuickTime movie. This QuickTime is then compressed through Compressor to an H.264 QT movie. The Compressor settings compress the QT and adds timecode in the upper right-hand corner. (In FCP 7, the new Share feature simplifies this process. It is automated, runs in the background, and automatically transfers the file to the FTP site of your choice.) The timecode is used as a reference when making notes about changes that need to be made on the show. That H.264 QT is then uploaded to the FTP (file transfer protocol) site. This site has an assigned login name and password for clients, producers, and executives so they can access the cut for viewing.
To create DVDs, another process is required. Because DVD Studio Pro cannot burn H.264 files, the assistant must take the H.264 QT movie and run it though Compressor again and have it create an audio file (AC3) and a video file (M2V). The assistant then drops those two files into DVD Studio Pro to create a DVD. This DVD is then duplicated and mailed to the executives. If the assistant is provided with data DVDs and he has Share (available in FCP7), he will be able to automatically create both an H.264 file for FTP and an SD DVD from a single sequence automatically and in the background. This speeds things up dramatically because he no longer needs to spend time exporting. This is preferable to wasting time and recompressing already compressed footage that creates very low quality visuals.
When a show is finally locked, the assistant editor must format the sequence and prepare it for online. All reality footage, B roll, and interview backplates go on video tracks 1–3.
DEFINITION
During an interview process, interviewees are filmed against a green screen. Backgrounds (a forest, the pyramids of Giza, a nightscape), called backplates, can digitally replace the green screen.
Any photos or still images go on V tracks 4–6, and GFX and titles go on V tracks 7–9. Video track 10 is used for slates only. This way you know exactly where each act starts and ends, which makes it easier for timing. To format the audio, the assistant puts all reality audio on audio tracks 1–4, interview or VO goes on tracks 5–6, all SFX (including bleeps for cursing) go on tracks 7–12, and all music goes on tracks 13–16. If there are more video or audio tracks needed, then everything is pushed up. But at no time do two different classifications (dialog, FX, MX) rest on the same track. This is done to keep the media organized for online and for the mix.
When the sequence is formatted, add the following:
• Bars and tone for 30 seconds
• 10 seconds of black
• 10 seconds of show slate
• 10 seconds of black
The first frame of footage starts at 1:00:00;00, then add the following:
• 10 seconds of black
• 10 seconds of act slate
• 10 seconds of black
• Start the next act
Now add tail slates for the end credits and dot.com SLATE.
The online editor will handle all main titles, titles, final GFX, and end credits (see Figure 8.20).
Figure 8.20 Timeline with soundtracks organized and all video pulled down to V1 and V2
Due to budgetary reasons, the assistant editor often has to help out in online. Take the offline media and create a batch list from the locked cut. The batch list carries each tape number and timecode needed for each cut. It tells you what media needs to be recaptured at full resolution and relinked to the locked cut. This batch list can now be handed over to the online editor. The assistant puts the required XDCAM tapes from the batch list into the XDCAM deck and allows the application to capture only the required TC for each cut. The assistant will then relink the high-resolution footage to the locked cut and sync check it with the video assembled master (VAM) created from the offline cut (basically a QuickTime movie used as a reference). This VAM is placed in one of the lower corners, and the assistant should go cut by cut to make sure each shot matches. In the screen grab shown in Figure 8.21, the VAM is on the top video level.
Figure 8.21 VAM on V7 to check cuts
The assistant editor then media manages the sequence at XDCAM HD422 1080i60 format. This will create an HD sequence that will be used to create a batch list that tells exactly what clips need to be redigitized for the locked cut (see Figure 8.22).
Figure 8.22 Media manager settings
Media managing creates a new project with the HD sequence and a list of all the master clips. Create a folder to put your reference QuickTime (VAM) in for sync (see Figure 8.23).
Figure 8.23 Media manager browser
The sequence creates a list of the master clips needed to be digitized at full-res for online. Use the XDCAM Transfer to digitize the needed clips back in, add the reference QT (VAM) to the top track of video, and check the sync (see Figures 8.24 and 8.25).
Figure 8.24 HD sequence with mixed down tracks checked with VAM
Figure 8.25 VAM VAM can be seen in the lower right corner. This is a great way to double-check that all the cuts match
If you turn the locked audio over to an outside mix house, they might require the OMF to be delivered with 10-second handles. These are very large handles, so the OMFs might have to be broken up by acts. Larry Jordan, author of several FCP handbooks, recommends using Automatic Duck, which removes many of these limits and simplifies the prep work. The OMF is then output from the formatted sequence with audio tracks in their proper places and delivered on an external hard drive. The assistant includes a reference QuickTime (chase cassette) and an audio guide track created by mixing the editor’s tracks onto one track.
The assistant will also upload the final locked show to an FTP site that handles transcribing the show for closed caption.
As you can see, the work flow (receiving dailies, importing, organizing, measuring, formatting, outputting, and locking) is similar on Final Cut Pro and Avid. However, each editing systems uses different terminology, methodology and the user interface will vary.
From features to television, from documentaries to reality, and from Avid to FCP, there are also many commonalities. The tools change, the language alters, the specs differ, but the overall tasks remain the same. With careful attention to minute details, an understanding of the functions of various editing programs, and a vigilant eye toward the needs of the editor, you can successfully become a worthy assistant.
All that remains for your education to be complete is a heightened awareness of the editorial department. This is probably the trickiest part to becoming a successful assistant editor in any venue, on any machine, in any country in the world.