| Feature:
How to keep your job as an editor |
November, 2008
How to keep
your job as an editor
by Jon Chappell
 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. When your job could
potentially be on the line, you can't double-check often enough.
Copyright 2008 Digital Rebellion,
LLC.
This article was first published
on Digital Rebellion
and is reprinted here with permission from the author.
Jon Chappell is an editor,
VFX artist and software developer originally from the UK. He
is the owner of Digital
Rebellion LLC and is a regular contributor to the Final Cut
Pro community. He is well known for developing the popular troubleshooting
applications FCS
Remover and Preference
Manager. His film credits include Perfect Sport.
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