How Digital Technology Impacts
TV Production and Post – 2014
4 Examples of Recent 4K / TV Workflows that are
affected by… or made possible by
recent advancements in technology.
Phil Squyres, SVP, Technical Operations
Sony Pictures Television
Since 2013’s HPA Tech Retreat...
Sony Pictures TV has shot the following shows in 4K
The Blacklist – NBC – pilot plus all episodes
Masters of Sex – Showtime - all episodes except for pilot
Rake – FOX – pilot plus all episodes
Michael J Fox Show – NBC – pilot plus all episodes
Bad Teacher – soon on CBS – all episodes
Welcome to the Family – NBC
Save Me – NBC
Justified – FX
TOTAL OF OVER 75 EPISODES IN 4K
MORE THAN HALF COMPLETED IN 4K
ANOTHER 70-80 PLANNED FOR 2014
Today’s Featured Workflows
How the Delivery Specs for “a Netflix” - OTT vs
Network/Cable impacts production and post
Workflow developed on The Blacklist – 4K plus HD
New 4K+HD workflow option for multicam sitcoms
Option for long distance editorial collaboration
OTT Distribution vs
TV/Cable
How OTT delivery specs impact
production and post
Delivery Specs - OTT / TV Cable
Netflix now specs 4K delivery
Netflix and the other OTT services focus
on supporting the binge-viewing subscriber
This requires access to ALL episodes at
once….
The streaming biz is world wide & 24/7
Comparison Overview
NetTV-Cable Productions
OTT Productions
Scheduled Viewing (weekly)
View Anytime – All the
time
You can bury weak episodes
Sequential Delivery
Tendency is to focus on 1 or
2 episodes at a time…
Foreign Language comes
later IF the show sells
Binge viewing reveals all
All episodes delivered
Everyone is more aware of
the entire story arc
All Foreign Language
versions must be completed
Foreign Language Delivery
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DUBBING
- Neutral Spanish
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Parisian French
- German
CAPTIONS
English
Neutral Spanish
Brazilian Portuguese
Parisian French
German
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Swedish
Dutch
Luxembourgish
Foreign Language Delivery
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DUBBING
- Neutral Spanish
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Parisian French
- German
+ 21 days !!
CAPTIONS
English
Neutral Spanish
Brazilian Portuguese
Parisian French
German
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Swedish
Dutch
Luxembourgish
This impacts…
Schedule – shooting & post backed up from dubbing
schedule prior to contract delivery – creates additional
domino effects on these schedules
Budget – dubbing costs moved into production budget
Creative – entire arc must be locked prior to Post…
Production/Post – must be 4K – dictates camera and
workflow for dailies and post production
What does this suggest?
Crafting these productions are maybe
more like making movies…than
traditional episodic television
The Blacklist
The Blacklist
Last year I presented the workflow for the pilot of
this 4K production
The Blacklist
We evolved a workflow to take advantage of unique
options available on the Sony F55 to solve issues in post
production
The Blacklist – 4K Pilot
The pilot was shot in 4K on the F55
Pilot was simul recorded on 4K and HD
4K captured on AXS cards/R5 – HD on SxS/INT
4K media cards were sent to LA…HD files were
held on set as backup & for the DIT to apply color
Color info arrived LA via email before the 4K cards
Shoot NYC – Dailies / Post LA
OCN moved by courier services using normal domestic flights
Breakoff late afternoon to make the next-to-last flight out to west coast
The after break-off material then goes out the next morning (2
shipments) or with the next days material (1 shipment per day)
Result – Editorial gets material in half-day increments – much later
than shooting locally
Monday PM footage arrives editorial Weds AM
The Blacklist – 4K
Series adopted the same 4K + HD capture as pilot
Dailies Color is handled in the lab by a dailies
colorist, instead of on set
The HD “proxy” captured on SxS cards was held
on set for backup in case of any issues w/4K
As soon as the 4K files were confirmed OK at the
lab, the SxS cards were released for re-use.
The Blacklist – 4K
This workflow was not ideal for Blacklist…due to
adjustments in the scripts that required pickups
Wanted ALL of the footage shot each day to be
available next morning in editorial – just like local
Since we were already capturing an HD proxy…there
was an easy and fast solution
Push the HD proxy via Aspera to the LA Lab for dailies
creation
NYC
SHOOT DAY
ALL OCN (AXS + SXS) +
SOUND FILES, ANCILARY
CAM FOOTAGE ARRIVES
POSTWORKS NYC
BLACKLIST DAILIES WORKFLOW
NEXT DAY
AXS CARDS VIA COURIER TO LA LAB
AXS CARDS WITH 4K OCN
PUT ASIDE TO GO OUT
NEXT DAY
HD PROXY FILES FROM SXS
CARDS + SOUND FILES, AND
ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE
PUSHED VIA ASPERA TO LAB
SERVER IN LA
LA LAB
VIA ASPERA
AXS CARDS WITH 4K
FOOTAGE PLUS - CF CARDS
WITH SOUND & ANY
ANCILARY CAM CARDS
SHIPPED TO LAB NEXT DAY
FILES ARE TRANSFERRED
FROM LAB SAN TO WORK
RAID ON CORTEX DAILIES
SYSTEM
DOWNLOAD TO DAILIES LAB
SAN
AS SOON AS PUSH IS
COMPLETE
LATER THAT DAY – 4K OCN ARRIVES LAB TO
BE COPIED TO ARCHIVE (FOR LTO) AND LAB
SAN (FOR PUSHING TO COLORWORKS) – 4K
FTG VERIFIED TO MATCH SXS FTG
RECEIVED & PROCESSED AS EDITORIAL
DAILIES THE NIGHT BEFORE
TO TV POST BACKBONE
HD FOOTAGE IS COLOR
GRADED FOR DAILIES –
CDLS GENERATED
COLOR
INFO
LAB SAN
EDITORIAL DNX PLUS
DELIVERABLES AS
USUAL
FOR CONFORM/COLOR
ARCHIVE RAID
TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO
PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING
NYC
SHOOT DAY
ALL OCN (AXS + SXS) +
SOUND FILES, ANCILARY
CAM FOOTAGE ARRIVES
POSTWORKS NYC
BLACKLIST DAILIES WORKFLOW
NEXT DAY
FILES TO LAB VIA 10-GIGE CONNECT ?
AXS CARDS WITH 4K OCN
PUT ASIDE TO GO OUT
NEXT DAY
HD PROXY FILES FROM SXS
CARDS + SOUND FILES, AND
ANCILARY CAM FOOTAGE
PUSHED VIA ASPERA TO LAB
SERVER IN LA
LA LAB
VIA ASPERA
AXS CARDS WITH 4K
FOOTAGE PLUS - CF CARDS
WITH SOUND & ANY
ANCILARY CAM CARDS
SHIPPED TO LAB NEXT DAY
FILES ARE TRANSFERRED
FROM LAB SAN TO WORK
RAID ON CORTEX DAILIES
SYSTEM
DOWNLOAD TO DAILIES LAB
SAN
AS SOON AS PUSH IS
COMPLETE
LATER THAT DAY – 4K OCN ARRIVES LAB TO
BE COPIED TO ARCHIVE (FOR LTO) AND LAB
SAN (FOR PUSHING TO COLORWORKS) – 4K
FTG VERIFIED TO MATCH SXS FTG
RECEIVED & PROCESSED AS EDITORIAL
DAILIES THE NIGHT BEFORE
TO TV POST BACKBONE
HD FOOTAGE IS COLOR
GRADED FOR DAILIES –
CDLS GENERATED
COLOR
INFO
LAB SAN
EDITORIAL DNX PLUS
DELIVERABLES AS
USUAL
FOR CONFORM/COLOR
ARCHIVE RAID
TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO
PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING
SxS FILES
BLACKLIST DAILIES
WORKFLOW
AXS FILES
TO TV POST BACKBONE
COLOR
INFO
FOR CONFORM/COLOR
TO BE ARCHIVED ONTO LTO
PROXY FOOTAGE ARRIVES DAILIES LAB IN LA BY MIDNIGHT ON SHOOT DAY (PST) FOR PROCESSING
F55 Dual Recording Capability
Creates identical files in two different resolutions
File names are identical but w/ different extensions
– simplifies final conform of the 4K material
Similar concept was leveraged for another
application = >>
MULTI-CAMERA SITCOMS
4K Raw vs. 4K XAVC
4K Raw - RGB data directly from the sensor + metadata
4K XAVC – Image data encoded and compressed
4K Raw – offers the closest thing to a film negative…giving the
greatest latitude in post, but requiring an external attached R5 recorder
4K XAVC – 10bit, 422, 240mbs, recorded interally on SxS
Dramas = 4K Raw gives us comfort w/ challenging exposure issues
encountered on drama schedules
½ hr Comedies = tend to shoot in controlled setups on stages and
limited location settings – 4K XAVC is safe
Bad Teacher
½ hr. comedy for CBS
Shot 12 episodes – yet to air
SPT wanted to protect the show for 4K
After testing and consultation with the DP and Post Producer
– went XAVC 4K
Experience was positive…so based on that…
The McCarthy’s Pilot II in 4K
Redo of pilot shot spring, 2013…but now written as a multicam to be shot in front of a live audience
Again SPT wanted to protect for a 4K future
Shot using 4 F55s configured in a traditional multicam
digital package (ie., w/remote iris & video control)
Because it was a pilot AND because most sitcoms are used to
conforming their shows in the AVID….
We used a different dual recording
approach for this pilot shoot…
Unlike Blacklist – this comedy was shot using 4K XAVC + HD
instead of 4K Raw + HD
F55 is able to capture 4K-XAVC and HD simultaneously on the
internal SxS recorder on the same media card
Plan is to complete the pilot in HD (on Avid)…then if picked up,
we’ll remaster in 4K using the 4K-XAVC files
And likely continue shooting with this approach
Potentially… ideal workflow for
multicam sitcoms
Shoot dual format…cut in HD on Avid / conform the 4K for
release and archival
Maintains all current infrastructure on stage and in show editorial,
which has all been based on HD
Allows for scene preshoots and audience PB – common practice
Keeps total data load inline with HD only
1 hr ProRes = 128 GB
45 minutes XAVC-4K + HD
= 128 GB
Concept Could be Employed on
Other Programming Genres
Reality Shows
Documentaries
Live Concerts
Any events you might want to protect for historical reasons
Case Study # 4
LONG DISTANCE
COLLABORATIVE
EDITING
Another Pilot – Another
Challenge
Shooting in NYC – Posting in LA
Talent/EP lives and works in NYC
NYC has a limited numbers of comedy editors
Solution – edit in LA – use technology to connect the
talent/EP to the live edit sessions
Technology => PCOIP
PCOIP
SATA card installed in the Avid
Very thin client – ZERO client at viewing end
Supports 2 HD monitoring streams, plus sound and usb Avid
Connectivity requirements 100-120 mbs
Plus an H.264 feed of the “Client Viewing Monitor Feed”
SPE has a 10gigE connection between our lot and 550 Madison – Sony
Headquarters NYC
Edit “viewing” arrangement setup in an office
Speaking of Connectivity
The original intent was to leverage that 10gigE connectivity
to move Blacklist 4K files to LA
That application was postponed when the pilot project
needed to happen as soon as possible
Current plan is to start moving those 4K files via 10gigE to
our dailies lab each day starting next week
Besides leveraging capacity of the line – this avoids potential
shipping delays due to weather
That’s it…thank you…
This presentation will be made available to the attendees
here…
Please DO NOT reproduce or publish these slides without
further permission from me and Sony Pictures Television.
And if you want or need more details based on this
information, please contact me at
phil_squyres@spe.sony.com