Preparing for Digital Post
Preparing for posting starts well before the editor makes the first "splice." During pre-production or early in post-production you must choose your facilities and work-flow in order to calculate the time and money required for the edit. After the shoot, the more thoroughly you prepare before entering the edit room, the more successful -- and economical -- your final cut will be.

Chapter Topics

* Logging and Transcribing

* Project Template Workshop: Logging and Transcribing

* Scripting Tips and Tricks

* Project Template Workshop: Preparing Final Edit Scripts

* Making Digital Post Decisions

* Project Template Workshop: Generat-ing Edit Plans and Facilities Requests

* Producer's Checklist: Preparing for Post

Logging and Transcribing

The first step in preparing to edit your program is to log and transcribe the footage. Digital methods afford you the opportunity to improve many aspects of what has traditionally been the most tedious and time-consuming task for the producer.

Advantages of Logging Digitally

Well-prepared digital logs enable the editor to expedite digitizing and to access shots quickly while editing. The editor can spend more time editing and less time searching for the right footage. For example, if the editor wants to find just the right close-up of a truck or the best line read, it should take little time to find the shot. This applies to projects with 1 or 100 hours of footage. Digital logs also allow you to pass information more easily between applications. For example, you can use your logs to build a script, or in most cases you can input your logs directly into a nonlinear editing system. There are many advantages to automating the logging process, among them:

* Reducing the chance of error during logging because you do not have to manually enter timecode and other numerical data

* Taking advantage of computer-based calculations for such things as time durations

* Better sharing of information with the editor because information can be imported directly into the nonlinear system

* Faster digitizing and better use of disk storage because you will make decisions about what to digitize while you log

* More efficient preparation of scripts and shoot plans, for example by automating the exchange of information between logs, tran-scripts, scripts, and shoot plans, as described in "Project Template Workshop: Preparing Final Edit Scripts"

Logging on Paper Versus Digitally

* Use paper logs only You create paper logs during or after the shoot, and then the editor and/or you look through the footage to make your selects before digitizing. This method takes time, but does not require any special software or computer skills.

* Log only your selects digitally You look through your logs and/or footage, make your selects, and digitally log your selects. This method saves logging time, but limits your editor's options.

* Log all footage digitally You look through your paper logs from the field and review your footage as you log your shots (or groups of shots), recording use-ful information for your editor. This method provides the editor with the best access to footage during the edit.

Planning to Log

Before you begin to log, you should think about how the footage you shot will be organized to represent the concept and structure of your video. The better you plan for the edit by knowing your footage and your concept, the more smoothly the edit will progress. This planning will be reflected in how well your logs are organized. The amount of planning you do can make the difference between an efficient or a time-consuming edit.

Option 1: Log each shot. Each shot is logged into a separate clip.

* Advantage: Log is the most accurate representation of the shoot.

* Advantage: Best method for sorting and sifting clips in bins, so you can later find shots.

* Disadvantage: Digitizing is slow because of separate tape preroll for each clip.

* Disadvantage: May input extra material because overlap may be logged for each clip.

Option 2: Log groups of shots.

* Advantage: Digitizing is faster because you reduce preroll and record overlap.

* Disadvantage: Log is not as detailed as Option 1.

Option 3: Log each shot and groups.

Log each shot, as in Option 1. When you discover a group of con-secutive shots that you would like to input into the nonlinear editing system, create separate clips for this series of consecutive shots. Make a note in the log to digitize the group shot instead of each individual shot.

* Advantage: The group of shots will be digitized, but the individ-ual clips are still available for sorting and sifting.

* Advantage: You conserve an accurate log, while reducing the dig-itizing time.

* Disadvantage: It takes longer to log.

Logging with LogExpress from Alba Editorial

For more infor-mation on LogExpress, visit albaedit.com In the previous chapter we described tools ideally suited for logging in the field (see "Logging in the Field" on page 99). In the following sections we describe three more tools that provide excellent features for logging after the shoot, prior to entering the edit room. LogExpress from Alba Editorial focuses on logging your media as digitized clips referenced by a user-designated thumbnail. LogEx-press allows for seven different methods of logging, and also interacts with key areas of production and post-production, including digitizing of clips. With this application you can:

* Digitize media clips to QuickTime or AVI format

* Add user-definable key words and descriptions

* Conduct Boolean searches on database contents

* Reference clips with multiple thumbnails

* Perform unattended logging via Parallel and RS422 VTR control ports

* Capture timecode via LTC (with most sound cards) or via OCR (from burn in window)

* Import EDLs * Import scripts in text format * Associate lines of script with thumbnails

Logging with Scene Stealerª from Dubner International

For more infor-mation on Scene Stealer, visit dubner.com Scene Stealer offers a low-cost solution for logging clips and manag-ing a video library. Scene Stealer features include:

* Color and monochrome video capture plus phrase cutpoint tech-nology for closed captioning and subtitling operations

* Automatic location and logging of video cut points

* Preparation of EDLs

* Insertion of phrase cutpoints on-the-fly or during playback for closed captioning and subtitling operations

* Printing of catalog pages and storyboards

Logging with Avid MediaLog

For more infor-mation on Media-Log, visit Avid.com Avid MediaLog is a logging program that is essentially a subset of Avid Media Composer. MediaLog has the same functionality as Avid Media Composer's Logging tool, and creates bins that are compatible with most Avid video-based editing systems. If you expect to edit on Avid systems, MediaLog is a good choice. This software, or another Avid-compatible logging program, should provide considerable cost savings in preparing and digitizing footage on an Avid system. Logging with MediaLog provides several features that save time and reduce error:

* You can create the logs on a separate computer, instead of monop-olizing an expensive Media Composer system.

* In most cases the bins you create can be opened instantly in Media Composer (in some cases, compatibility requirements might involve a brief translation of the bins to a newer version; consult with your editor).

* Timecode reading is automated, reducing chance of error. For example, the timecode is "marked" directly when you click the IN (START) frame button.

* You can create the logs on a Macintosh, Windows 98, or Windows NT system, whether the computer is connected to a tape deck or you type in the timecode from paper logs.

* You can print reports and lists of shots that meet specific criteria.

Preparing to Log Material

To prepare to log your footage, you must:

1. Create a new project and new user, or select existing ones. The project folder contains the bins and clips, along with other information about your project. Plan to give the project folder the same name in MediaLog and Media Composer. Only one project can be open at a time. To open another project, close the one you are in.

2. Create a bin where you want to store your clips. You may create more than one bin if your project size or organiza-tion requires it. Bins should contain no more than 100 clips for efficient handling.

3. With that bin highlighted, choose Go To Logging Mode from the Bin menu or press Command-B (Macintosh) or Ctrl-B (Win-dows).

Selecting Video Compression and Audio Rate

You can select the compression settings that affect video and audio quality using the Compression tool (select it from the Logging tool window or from the Tools menu). The editor can also set or change these settings for you while digitizing.

Logging Procedure

Method 1: Logging Timecode Manually

1. Select the tracks you want to log.

2. Type the IN timecode and press Return.

3. Type the OUT timecode (or Duration) and press Return.

4. Click the Pencil icon in the large Logging button.

5. Rename the clip.

Method 2: Logging from a Source Tape

You can use the Logging tool to log from a tape to a bin. This tool enables you to control a source deck, select shots (clips) from your source tapes, and record clip data directly into a bin.

Marking the IN and OUT Points to log clips directly from a source tape to a bin:

1. Load your tape in the deck. A message in the Status Display indicates that the system is wait-ing for you to mark an IN point. The Logging button displays an IN mark.

2. Using the motion control buttons in the Logging tool, play or shuttle to the point where you want to mark an IN for the start of the clip.

3. Mark an IN by doing one of the following:

* Click the large Logging button that now reads IN.

* Click the IN mark to the right of the motion control panel. The timecode for the IN point is displayed, the icon in the Log-ging button changes to an OUT mark and a pencil, and the Log-ging Messages bar displays a message that the system is waiting for an OUT point to be established.

4. Mark an OUT by doing one of the following:

* Shuttle or play to the place where you want to mark the OUT point of the clip. Click the large Logging button that now has an OUT mark and the pencil icon.

* Click the small OUT mark button, then click the pencil icon in the Logging button. The clip is logged into the bin. The tape pauses for a few seconds, then continues to play. The clip name is the name you typed earlier or a default name (the bin name plus a number).

5. Use this pause to type in a name for the logged clip, if you have not done so already. To log a clip, you must enter two of the following three timecodes, in any order: IN point, OUT point, and Dura-tion. The system fills in the remaining timecode.

6. Repeat these steps until you have logged all your clips.

Sorting and Sifting Clips

After you create custom columns, you can use them (and statistical columns) to sort and sift your material. Sorting and Sifting enable you to search logged footage for a specific clip, or to search for clips that meet specified criteria, creating different views of your data.

Sorting Clips

You can sort clips to find a specific clip, or to find clips that meet spe-cific criteria. You can sort clips in ascending order or descending order, or perform multilevel sorts on two or more columns. For example, you might perform a multilevel sort on our Customer database. Let's say you need a report of all names for each zip code in alphabetical order. You sort by all customer names in ascending order within zip codes in ascending order.

Sifting Clips

Sifting clips allows you to show only those clips that meet certain cri-teria. For example, you might want to sift the clips in your bin to show only the clips that contain "CU" in the Name column. You can use the sift function to display two sets of clips, each of which can meet up to three sets of criteria. For example, you might want to find all shots of John in tape 1 and all shots of Dede in tape 4. (Each sifting set can have up to three criteria.) Media Composer shows the clips that meet the specifications in the first set of criteria, as well as all clips that meet the second set of criteria.

Project Template Workshop:

Logging and Transcribing By using the Advanced Project Templates to log and transcribe, you can begin to bridge the major gaps that exist in the video producer's workflow. The Advanced Project Templates take into account the spe-cific ways in which the producer of a documentary, news-magazine segment, or A/V project works, as opposed to the developer of a fea-ture film or drama. In some respects the workflow is reversed. For example, a dramatic script may be written and rewritten a hundred times before a single frame of footage is shot. The final documentary script is prepared as the last step before editing, after all of the source material has been captured and painstakingly evaluated.

Before You Prepare a Final Script

If you prepared logs using the Advanced Project Templates, the fol-lowing steps are recommended before starting your work in the Script Entry form:

1. Print out the logged elements from the file 4-ShotLogs_Transcripts onto index cards, as described in "Sort-ing and Printing Logs and Transcripts" on page 151. Use the checkboxes onthe cards in a process of elimination to begin roughing out the order of elements in the final script.

2. Return to the logs/transcripts template and add notes you made regarding which shots to capture. Print out final logs or export files for import into a nonlinear editing system.

3. In the Script Entry form, use the notes on the index cards to auto-matically call up and organize the clips and sound bites you want, as described in the following sections.

Adding Voice-Overs

When you enter voice-over text in the Advanced Project Templates, you can automatically calculate the duration of the voice-over by entering a word-per-second rate. In most cases you should make a new record for all voice-over entries, rather than typing voice-overs into existing records containing transcript content from the field. This allows you to keep them separate in the final script. To add voice-overs to the script:

1. (Recommended) Create a new record.

2. Choose a word-per-second rate for the voice-over from the WPS rate pop-up list. The WPS rate entry is persistent: it will remain the same for all new records until you change it.

3. Enter voice-over text into the Voice-over text box.

Making Digital Post Decisions

Time and money -- the producer's twin burden -- are two sides of the same coin. How accurately you schedule the post-production pro-cess will definitely affect your bottom line. During preparation for a nonlinear editing project, you need to rethink the time it takes to do certain tasks (such as logging and online editing) and build into the schedule certain tasks unique to nonlinear editing (such as digitizing footage).

Scheduling

How much time does it take to post on a nonlinear editing system compared to the linear model?

* Less time, if you plan well and don't expect to do much experi-mentation. The same set of instructions will take less time on a nonlinear editing system than on a linear system. If you have limited time and/or money and if you plan well, editing on the nonlinear system can take significantly less time than on a linear system.

* Same amount of time, but you can create a better program. In the time you used to assemble a sequential rough cut, you can experiment, revise, and refine.

* More time, if you do no planning, provide no guidance, demand an extreme level of refinement, or get lost in endless revisions. It's easy to become seduced by the power and flexibility of the non-linear editing system, so it's particularly crucial to plan the scope of your edit before it begins. As producer, avoid too little involvement in or too much micro-management of the edit. If you do a nonlinear offline, you should save a lot of time at the online, whether you use a linear or nonlinear online system. That's because you have made more decisions in the nonlinear offline than you would have on a linear offline system.

Onlining on a Nonlinear Editing System

Until recently, it was assumed that you would need to use a linear online suite, either to build your video from scratch or to conform the offline edit. Many producers now finish their projects on the nonlinear system and output the master directly to videotape. You might ask yourself the following questions when evaluating whether to use an online nonlinear editing system to finish your video and/or audio:

Planning for Audio

Audio is often the most overlooked piece of the post-production puz-zle. But be forewarned: you neglect the requirements of audio at your own peril. Poor planning for your audio needs can end up costing you unexpected delays and expenses. You can decide independently how to finish your audio -- on the nonlinear editing system or at an audio post facility, depending on the type of project. For example, when editing a documentary with a simple set of audio tracks including narration, sound-on-tape, and music, you can save a big chunk of time and expense by handling the audio carefully at full audio quality during nonlinear offline editing, and then transfer the tracks directly at the online phase and conform the video only.

Selecting the Video Resolution

In addition to the physical resources required for storing digital media, the producer must also consider the various ways in which the media can be compressed. Your choice of image resolution (compression ratio) affects the size of the media files. You should choose the resolution that gives you the best combination of file size and image quality needed for the job.

Planning for Effects

Deciding how to handle effects in post can be a chicken and egg prop-osition: do you shape your effects based on the capabilities of the edit suite, or do you determine effects needs based on the requirements of the script and then make sure you have the right equipment?

Planning with the Editor

Don't organize your project in a vaccuum. Your editor may

* Review your concept of the project

* Give the editor a copy of the marked-up script

* Review any significant events of the shoot

* Agree on a logging approach (See "Approaches to Logging Foot-age" on page 118)

* Determine clip and bin organization, and logging categories

* Determine effects and graphics requirements Discuss how much you will do before the edit. At the very least, you should pick your clips and have a story structure, even if only a rudimentary one, before the edit. You should have screened the tapes and made story decisions. The earlier decisions are made -- and the more that are made -- the less footage you will need to diggitize. Discuss media storage requirements with the editor to determine compatibility requirements and to calculate the number of disk drives to use. How much storage you require depends on the following factors:

* Maximum amount of footage to be stored If you anticipate having more footage than storage space, ask yourself if you can edit the program sequence by sequence. If so, you can digitize the footage needed for one sequence, build that sequence, delete the unused media files from the disk, and repeat this procedure for the rest of the program.

* Image quality, dependent on the degree of compression the image undergoes during digitizing The lower the compression ratio, the better the resolution, and the more disk space occupied.

* Number of audio channels being digitized

Building the Edit Plan 

To build the edit plan:

1. In the top area of the Edit Requirement section, enter general information, such as Edit date and location, into the text boxes. If you do not know the shoot date yet, you can enter this later.

2. Enter a Start time for editing the scene using a 24 hour format shown in this example: 13:30:00 (i.e., 1:30 PM)

3. Enter a duration for the edit in hours and minutes. End time and total hours for editing the scene are calculated auto-matically.

4. In the Personnel area of the entry form, type information about staff personnel, freelance personnel, and talent that you would like to include in the edit plans for that scene. For example, you can type names and phone numbers of personnel required to perform the edit.

5. In the Equipment needs area of the entry form, type information about rental or in-house equipment required for editing the scene.

6. In the Additional Needs area of the entry form, type information about meals, sound elements, titles, graphics, animation, or other requirements for the edit.

Producer's Checklist:

Preparing for Post During/After the Shoot 

* Select a digital logging program.

* Select the logging method. Meet with the Editor to:

* Review the concept.

* Review the shoot.

* Discuss the bin organization and custom columns.

* Give the editor a marked-up copy of the script.

* Decide whether to log each shot, groups, or both.

Prepare to Log

* Acquire a source deck, if needed.

* Log all footage.

* Log footage "loose."

Logging Checklist When you log, think about:

* What custom columns should I create in the log?

* What entries will I enter in the columns so the columns can be sorted and sifted? For example, if you have a column, called Shot Size, will you list close-ups as CU, cu, or C-U? Be sure you are consistent or you will not be able to effectively sort and sift the items in that col-umn.

Do Yourself or Hand Off to the Editor

* Sort and sift clips.

* Print reports of sorted and sifted clips.

* Reorganize bins.Use Script Integration to Prepare for the Edit

* Build a virtual rough cut to hand off to the editor.

Plan for a Smooth Edit 

* Budget all post-production expenses.

* Schedule dates for the edit as far ahead as possible, building in time for reviews and revisions.

* Plan your offline/online strategy.

* Plan your strategy for finishing audio.

* Plan your strategy for designing and creating graphics and effects.

* Calculate your media storage requirements, and discuss them with the editor/editing facility.